dirty pretty things

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Laura Love                                                                                            English coursework

 

A grotesque discovery

The shift seemed to drag on that night, my coffee had gone stale and there was nothing to amuse me apart from a meagre cluster of people who liked to congregate outside the doors, for light I assumed.

Unnoticed to anyone but me the lady of the night cascaded her lean body down the grand staircase towards my direction. Dressed in a crumpled black garment and scuffed well worn shoes she fluttered her weary eyes and began to smile as she got closer. I tried to speak as little as possible to her as I didn’t want to get a reputation speaking to scarlet women. Justifying her reasons for being in the hotel I nodded my head gave her a sympathetic look back. She mentioned that I should go and check the room that she had attended and then proudly began to make her way to the door, drained yet glad to be leaving the hotel doors.

I decided to take the lady’s advice and made my way up the never ending staircase to the fifth floor. Out of breath and now very thirsty I approached the door with its shinny handle apprehensive as to what was waiting for me.  I twisted the door handle and commenced into the room. The first thing that hit me was the smell. Fragrances of men’s aftershave and women’s cheap perfume mixed with stale smoke and sweat. The room was obscure; the lighting was nothing but a tiny ray of light beaming through a small parting in the curtain. My hand slid up the wall to find the switch I turned it on but to my amazement there wasn’t as much mess as what I had anticipated.

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The bed sheets where still warm and looked like they had been slept in or maybe something more. As my eyes made there way round the room I noticed the various cups and saucers, beer cans, half empty wine bottles, cigarette butts and discarded food on trays. These people had no regard for what state they kept the room in as long as they were having a good time. I looked down at my feet only to find numerous stains, food trodden into the carpet and ash scattered throughout. There were draws half open with abandoned socks crumpled up ...

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