Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Story: Service With A Smile

A friend requested that I take a crack at writing a story. I was very happy to hear the request and decided to go for it. Let me know what everyone thinks. I would love to hear any ideas on how to advance the story as I go on and on the content of the story too. 

Service with a Smile

Chapter 1 – Exit Stage Left

The phone in my office rang at about 2pm. It was usually a quiet part of my day in my job as Guest Relations Director at the high end luxury hotel I work for. 

“Ryan. We need you down here in the banquet room ASAP. We have a situation.”

It was our day shift manager – Liz – on the other end of the line.

 “What’s wrong?” I asked.

 “One of the speakers at the nurse’s convention has fallen off the stage. She was rehearsing for her speech this evening and tripped. It looks like a broken leg. We’ve called the paramedics.

I didn’t hesitate. “I’ll be there in 3 minutes.” I said feeling my pulse increase with the crisis.

I needed to be down there, because an accident like this could lead to a lawsuit against our hotel. How the guest is treated immediately after the accident is paramount in avoiding a lawsuit. Make sure none of our staff members admit to liability, make sure the guest receives as much attention as they need, so they know we went the extra mile.

As I walked onto the elevator I started to think… A broken leg, I wondered what the guest looked like? How badly was the leg broken? Did she suffer any other injuries in the fall? And back to wondering what the guest looked like. Secretly hoping she was attractive. I am 30 years old and single.  I have a raging foot fetish… Perhaps an even more curious fetish I have is a cast fetish.  The thought that an attractive woman might be placed in a leg cast gave me an erection. I would never wish harm to anyone. I hoped the guest would not need surgery. But the thought of an attractive woman wearing a cast excited me.

I opened the doors to the banquet room and walked in at a hurried pace. I walked towards the side of the stage where Liz and Phil our Director of Security were kneeling on the floor next to the injured guest. “Liz” I called out as I approached. Liz turned around and said – “Ryan, I’m so glad you are here, this is Kelly, she is a guest at the hotel for the Nursing conference. She seems to have fallen of the stage and hurt her leg. It looks broken to me.”

I knelt down beside the guest, Kelly, and introduced myself. That is when I noticed that not only was she attractive, but she was downright stunning. A striking brunette, with flawless skin, who looked to be in great shape. She was in casual attire, yoga pants, a Nike dry fit tank top and workout jacket and Nike running shoes. She was obviously down here by herself going through a dry run of her speech. It was hard to tell with her sprawled out on the floor, but she seemed tall. Not quite 6 feet, but maybe as tall as 5’9 or 5’10.

Hi Kelly, My name is Ryan, I am Director of Guest Relations, I’m very sorry to see you are injured; I’m here to help you on behalf of the hotel and make sure you get everything you need throughout your stay with us. The paramedics are on their way and should be here any minute.

I tried to start a conversation with Shelly to keep her mind away from the pain and the injury.

“So what happened?”

“Oh God, I’m so embarrassed.” Kelly began. “I feel like such a klutz”
Her brunette hair hung just below shoulder length. Her facial features were strong; she had mesmerizing eyes and was well tanned. But the gorgeous face was etched with pain and I knew Kelly was hurt. Her right leg looked broken. Her foot was pointing in a direction that wasn’t natural.

“I had just stepped on the stage and realized that I left my notes on the table next to the stage and turned around to get them. I must have missed the step because next thing I know I was falling to the ground; my ankle seemed to take a brunt of the force. I am an orthopedic nurse… I know my leg is broken. Probably a trimalleolar fracture. I’l be lucky if I haven’t shredded all the ligaments in my ankle too.  

“You sound really sure of your diagnosis Kelly”

 “Yes.” Came the reply as Kelly stared at the leg. “I heard a snap and I can feel a grating sensation whenever I move it.”

Ryan expected Kelly to be more upset, more frantic. But there was a sense of calm. Yes she was in pain, and you could see was handling it like a pro. Perhaps it was her medical training that kept her calm, perhaps the shock was setting in.

“Is there anyone you would like for me to call?” I asked. I didn’t notice a wedding ring on her finger, but maybe there was a boyfriend or friend.

“No, there is no reason to bother my family – I’m sure I’ll be ok for now.  If it is worse than I think where I need surgery or something, then I’ll call them. There is really nothing they could do for me now. They are back in hometown; I’m just here in Texas for this convention.”

Just then the doors to banquet room opened and in came a pair of paramedics with a stretcher. We cleared the area and let them work on Kelly.

They stabilized Kelly’s leg with an orange splint and loaded her onto the stretcher for transport. She cried out in pain as they were putting the splint on her and had to move her leg. I’m sure the pain was caused by her bones grating against each other.

I escorted them to through the lobby to the front of the hotel where the ambulance was parked. They loaded her in and I climbed in the back with Kelly and one of the paramedics carrying Kelly’s purse and belongings. Lucky for me, I was now Kelly’s chaperone until she checked out of the hotel. She would be my responsibility, and hopefully if I took good care of her, she would not sue us.

Kelly had a surprised look on her face when she saw that I was coming with her. I explained that I would be there to help her every step of the way until she checked out. It was the level of service that our hotel offered to guests. She seemed genuinely happy and relieved that she would not be going at this alone.


The drive to Presbyterian Hospital would take about 8 minutes at this time of day. As we were driving and the paramedic was working on Kelly, it gave me a chance to take a breath. I allowed myself to briefly slip into a thought wondering what Kelly’s feet looked like. Would they be as attractive as the rest of her? Would her toes be well groomed and painted? I wondered what color. Her fingers looked to have a fresh manicure and were painted a very soft pink. What would the toes be shaped like? What about her arches? I wondered how much bruising the toes on her broken leg would have. I snapped out of my daydream as the ambulance slowed. We were pulling into the hospital. 

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