The Masked Singer

[Chapter Thirty Six]

Chapter Thirty Six

"I've ordered you pancakes and vanilla ice cream on the side," Archer explains as he walks into my room. He leans his back against the frame and taps his phone against his other leg as he nervously stands there waiting.

Dropping my pencil on my sketch book, I focus my attention on him. There's obviously something important if he's acting shifty and nervous around me. Archer is always cool like and confident about things.

"But?" I ask.

"I have a business meeting to attend. Ava was supposed to watch you, but you decided to leave," he says.

"Please tell me Ava isn't coming down here. I want everything business related out of my eye space and she's the first person who screams do things. She literally screams at me to do things." Archer shifts on his feet uncomfortably.

"Your father —"

"Ava treats me like a shiny robot who can jump hoops like a trained poodle, please just leave me here by myself. I promise not to set food outside the door and only open the door for my room service — nothing else," I beg.

"I'll gain access to the cameras in the hall and post someone close by to keep an eye on the door. Does that sound fair to you?" he asks.

I quickly nod my head, "Sounds fair to me. Thank you Archer."

Archer doesn't have to worry about me leaving my room, I actually want to be in my hotel room. I've been yearning to be by myself.

"I'll be back at eleven, Ava will come by at seven thirty to wake you up to greet your family at the airport," he explains.

"Is there any chance you can give her the wrong room number? I would like to sleep in until eight." I smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Archer discards my last question, which makes me laugh.

As Archer leaves the room and heads for the front door, I call out, "I can still answer the door, right?"

There's a deep laugh followed by, "Room service will be here in ten minutes."

If I could chose Archer over Ava for an assistant, I probably would. She started off nice, like a sweet cute butterfly cocoon. And now that the cocoon has hatched, she's turned into a two headed ugly monster. I'm not a fan of her strict robotic management approach. It's amusing that Archer and Ava are complete opposites. I mean, he looks like a psycho ex-convict but has a sweet, friendly personally and a kind approach to his work ethic. Archer is turning into my travel father for on the road purposes.

My thoughts are disturbed by the sound of someone knocking on the door. I already know who it's going to be — room service. I'm just surprised I was lost in my thoughts for that long. Before I can answer the door, I gather my pencils into my case and remove my sketch equipment off my bed.

When they knock a second time, I quicken my face and yank the door open. I'm surprised to find none other than my mysterious pancake boy.

What's the luck that he would be serving my room? Out of all the servers wandering around the place, he magically gets my door for the third time with the same order.

It takes a brief moment before his cold blues light up with amusement. "You're... you're, don't tell me," he says as he rubs his white gloved hand through his blonde fringe. "Riley, the pancake girl," he chirps happily.

"Riley's the name." I nod my head with a forced smile playing on my lips. All the nicknames he could give me, and he comes up with that one? Well, I hope he knows I call him pancake boy.