Chapter 4 - The Cancellation Fee
Marcus turned back to the trembling concierge, his tone returning to crisp, professional authority. "Julian, bring up the reservation file for the party under the name of Madison Caldwell."
"Yes, Mr. Sterling! Right away, sir!" The young man’s fingers flew across the keyboard with frantic speed. Within seconds, a blue light reflected off his glasses as the reservation screen loaded.
"Show me the log history," Marcus commanded, walking behind the desk.
"Here it is, sir," Julian whispered, pointing a shaky finger at the monitor. "Reservation number 4409. Three adjoining luxury suites in the West Wing, booked four months ago. This morning at 8:15 AM, Mrs. Madison Caldwell accessed the portal via mobile app and manually canceled Room 204—the Standard Deluxe King suite assigned to Mrs. Elaine Caldwell—with a notation citing 'guest removal without refund.'"
Marcus’s jaw clenched tightly. He looked up from the screen, fixing his gaze on Madison.
"You canceled the owner's suite to save a few hundred dollars?" Marcus asked, his voice dripping with icy contempt.
"I... I didn't know!" Madison cried out, her composed facade completely disintegrating. "Daniel never told me! How was I supposed to know she owned the resort? Daniel, why didn't you say anything?!"
"How could I say anything when I didn't know myself?!" Daniel yelled back, turning on his wife in public for the first time in their twelve-year marriage. "You planned this! You told me in the car that we needed space from my mother! You told me it would be better for our marriage if she had to find her own way! I went along with it because I was too cowardly to stand up to you, and now look at what you've done!"
"Enough," I said, raising my hand slightly.
Both of them fell silent instantly.
"Marcus," I said, turning to the General Manager. "What is our standard resort policy regarding guests who engage in hostile, disruptive behavior toward other guests on property premises?"
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Marcus smiled faintly—a razor-thin, dangerous smile. "Under Clause 14 of the Silver Pines Guest Conduct Agreement, management reserves the unilateral right to terminate any active reservation immediately, without prior warning and without reimbursement, if an individual creates a hostile environment or causes distress to our patrons."
Madison’s eyes bulged with sudden panic. "Wait! No! You can't kick us out! It's three days before Christmas! Every hotel in Aspen has been sold out for six months! We have nowhere else to go! Our luggage is already upstairs!"
