“Yeah, I bet you would just love the Versace mansion,” Miss Castillo says as she walks past me. I hold in my scoff, not wanting to give her any validation. She walks ahead of me with confidence, carrying her two Louis Vuitton bags. As she makes her way towards the airport exit, I can’t help but think that this is going to be interesting.
Peering around at our over-the-top hotel, which is walking distance to the track, the lobby is shaped in a circle with marble floors and murals of beaches on the top of the ceiling. The inspiration is clearly that of the Vatican, but it’s executed in such a tacky manor.
I will admit that I can be judgmental, but this is the epitome of trying to extract inspiration from something and having it go extremely wrong. Once at the front desk, I say the team’s name, and immediately they give us all the information, handing it to our travel accommodations manager. She takes it carefully out of my hands and nods.
Turning around, she ushers all of us up the stairs leading to the silver elevators. Going up a few floors, we reach the lounge, which is on the eighth floor out of thirty-four.
“Now that I have all of you here, I will tell you which floors you will be on for the remaining time that you will be at this Grand Prix. The entire social media team will be on the eleventh floor, as well as all the engineers. Here are your key cards.” She hands out the cards as she calls out our names, each person coming up and taking them out of her hand and going up to their rooms to get accommodated.
Once most of the team is gone, she turns her head towards us.
“As for the two drivers, you will be on the floor below your team principal, which is the thirty-third floor. You’ll be in rooms right next to each other.” She hands them their key cards and then faces me. “And for you, Mr. Donatello, as requested, you will be in the penthouse suite on the thirty-fourth floor.” She smiles and I give her a grateful look as I grab my things out of her hands.
“Everything should be in your suites ready to go. If you need anything, feel free to call me. My phone number is on a sticky note right next to the room’s landline.”
“Thanks, Nancy,” Miss Castillo says as she smiles walks towards the elevator with her bag.
“No problem, anytime.” She waves before she walks off into the lounge. Xavier looks at me before he steps into the elevator, standing right next to Miss Castillo. I walk in behind him. Pressing our own numbers, we stand in silence while the cheesy elevator jazz music plays in the background. I can feel the tension as I watch the numbers go by.
Once the number hits thirty-three, I step aside as Xavier and Miss Castillo walk past me. Xavier stops in the middle of the door before it closes.
“We’re going to change before we go around and explore. I already told Nancy, and she has transportation scheduled for five o’clock.” Looking down at my watch, I see it’s four on the dot.
“We will meet you down there in fifty minutes, Luc.” Turning back, he makes his way out of the elevator and then turns around again before the doors close.
“Also, make sure to bring a swimsuit,” he says with a smile taking up his whole face. I nod as he walks out and catches up to Miss Castillo.
Letting out an abrupt sigh, I wait for the elevator to get to my floor. After inserting my card into the reader, both doors open, allowing me to pass through.
As I walk out of the elevator, I realize that I don’t have a swimsuit.
ChapterFourteen
Maria Alejandra
At five sharp, Xavier and I are down in the lobby. Just minutes ago, Xavier came to my door, knocking like a banshee. Finally, when I opened it, he was smiling up at me while dripping with excitement. The whole elevator ride down, he was talking about how excited he was that he would be able to walk around Miami for the first time.
Currently, we’re waiting for Mr. Donatello to come down. Right next to me sits a nervous Xavier. His leg is bouncing up and down on the beige couch in the lobby.
“There he is.” Xavier points at the gift shop.
I turn my head towards that direction and see a Mr. Donatello holding a gift shop bag. I thought our renowned team principal only shopped at Tom Ford.
“Sorry I’m late.” He looks down at his watch before continuing his speech. “There was a weird woman in there trying to get a discount on everything in the store.” I wonder what he bought. As if he reads my mind, he lifts the bag to eye level. “I forgot swim trunks, so I went to go buy some.”
Now that makes more sense.
“I’m surprised you didn’t get your assistant to go down to the luxury shops and get you some fancy swim trunks,” I retort.
“Okay, let’s calm down, kids. The car is here so we should get going,” Xavier says.
I nod my head in agreement as we make our way to the car.
Getting into the back seat, I sink into the leather. I feel the air conditioning blast onto my skin, taking me away from the Floridian humidity. Xavier goes to the driver’s side while Mr. Donatello makes his way to the passenger seat of the car. Connecting my phone to the Bluetooth, we set the Waze app for our estimated location. Turning on the voice command mode, we get going on this long, excruciatingadventure.
So far, the trip has been bearable. The three of us make our way to Lincoln Road, which is five minutes away from the beach. Xavier and I walk around, people-watching while I also go into some shops. One thing I will say about the shops in Miami is that there is a large variety of things that you won’t be able to find in Mexico. Walking out of my last shop, I see Mr. Donatello sitting outside on the phone.
Looking over at Xavier, I mutter, “I’m done with the shopping, should we go to the beach now?”