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    Clean Bedding
    Clean Bedding
    Clean Bedding
    Ebook66 pages51 minutes

    Clean Bedding

    By Alp Mortal

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Arno manages a little seedy hotel in Bloomsbury, dreaming of the day when maybe he can open his own lavish, five-star boutique hotel. But dreaming alone won't make it happen. A long-stay guest – an American writer – plants the seed of change.

    However, when Nigel, the owner of the hotel, unexpectedly bails after a run-in with the Tax Man, the dream looks pretty shaky when it's almost certain that Arno is going to have to leave with nowhere to go. And to make matters worse, Nigel's sidekick, Adrian, also disappears, dashing any chance that he and Arno might have had of finally getting it together.

    Just as Arno is readying to bail himself, he is saved by an unlikely ally. Yet, despite keeping his job, and after two years, during which time the hotel is transformed, Arno's thoughts repeatedly return to Adrian and where he ended up.

    Does the attractive stranger whom Arno finds in the hotel's lounge one day have the answer?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Alderbourne Press Ltd
    Release dateSep 27, 2024
    ISBN9798227813534
    Clean Bedding
    Author

    Alp Mortal

    I'm English by birth, from the Isle of Wight, living in Newport, spending part of the year in France, in the stunningly beautiful department of Haute-Saône in the Franche Comté region. It is heavily forested and very tranquil but the winters are pretty harsh and my home is 820 metres above sea level so I get plenty of snow. I am also spending increasing amounts of time in the USA, co-managing The Carter Seagrove Project LLC - an independent publishing house, incorporated in the State of Indiana. I will be 50 years old in 2015. I only started writing in 2009, proving, I suppose, that it is never too late. I didn't think about self-publishing until late 2012, now, more than two years later, I'm even more energized by the process than ever before. I'm a qualified English teacher, specializing in teaching English as a second language (TEFL), though I don't do much of that now. In the distant past, I taught software skills. In the very distant past, I was a project manager on big IT projects and at the very beginning of my career, I was an Internal Auditor. I have degrees in "Internal Auditing", "Computer Auditing" and "Project Management". I'm studying for my degree in Sustainable Development at the moment. Renewable energy is what really interests me and I generate my own power at home via a solar panel. I'm a member of The Society of Authors, The Society for Editors and Proofreaders, and The Independent Author Network. I grow some of my own food, and from Easter to the end of October, I'm outside for the largest part of the day, tending the garden. I write in the evening and during the winter when there is very little else to do. I have no great philosophy except "energy follows intention" and "honour your gifts". These two principles keep me sane, very happy and exceedingly busy! I am always very happy to receive your feedback. If you wish to contact me directly, please email me at: alpmortal@hotmail.com. Visit the website, alpmortal.weebly.com, for updates on the next gay romantic story or crime thriller which I am working on. Together with Chambers Mars, I am half of Carter Seagrove, author of Dust Jacket and The Inspector Fenchurch Mysteries. Me (Alp Mortal), Chambers Mars and Shannon M. Kirkland are The Carter Seagrove Project LLC - an independent book publisher. Find us at www.carterseagrove.weebly.com, on Twitter @carterseagrove and on Facebook www.facebook.com/thecarterseagroveproject.

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      Book preview

      Clean Bedding - Alp Mortal

      About This Story

      Arno manages a little seedy hotel in Bloomsbury, dreaming of the day when maybe he can open his own lavish, five-star boutique hotel. But dreaming alone won’t make it happen. A long-stay guest – an American writer – plants the seed of change.

      However, when Nigel, the owner of the hotel, unexpectedly bails after a run-in with the Tax Man, the dream looks pretty shaky when it’s almost certain that Arno is going to have to leave with nowhere to go. And to make matters worse, Nigel’s sidekick, Adrian, also disappears, dashing any chance that he and Arno might have had of finally getting it together.

      Just as Arno is readying to bail himself, he is saved by an unlikely ally. Yet, despite keeping his job, and after two years, during which time the hotel is transformed, Arno’s thoughts repeatedly return to Adrian and where he ended up.

      Does the attractive stranger whom Arno finds in the hotel’s lounge one day have the answer?

      Alp

      Chapter One – Home sleazy home

      A run down sleazy little hotel in Bloomsbury is going to attract that sort of customer; the afternoon shag brigade ... pay in cash and leave the key on the desk as they head out for dinner. Still, taking the cash and changing the bed and replacing the towels in time for the just one-night brigade means that I can actually survive on the pay from this loathsome job.

      Not that I don’t take pride in my work; you won’t find a stray pubic hair in the bath or skid marks in the toilet pan or dried cum on the sheets. Oh no; this place sparkles; it’s only the customers who lack lustre.

      We offer bed and breakfast; a 'continental style' breakfast buffet from eight until ten and if anyone should be brave - or stupid enough - to venture into the dining room, they will leave assured that we really don’t care; yoghurt in tubs that you have to break from the pack of eight yourself, cereal in kids’ packs, juice and milk in the carton, bread to toast yourself, jam in the jar and butter in single serving portions. It means less work for me and no hassle for the boss, Nigel; a guy I rarely see.

      I live behind reception, the only truly magnificent thing in the hotel. No doubt a left over from the heyday it enjoyed about a hundred years ago. I have a bedroom and a shower room.

      I sit behind the reception desk when I’m not cleaning and continually polish the glowing mahogany surface until it shines like antique glass. Behind me are the pigeonholes for the keys and the messages, which is a joke since no one who stays ever stays for more than one night and none use their real name. Smith is still the favourite, followed by Jones and for some bizarre reason, Walsh.

      Ten rooms, all twins with an en suite bathroom with a shower over; four on the first floor, four on the second and two on the third in what is effectively the roof space. The ground floor consists of the lobby and reception, a small kitchen, dining room and lounge. The basement is rented out to three Romanian guys who sell drugs, judging by the security.

      I smile and welcome my sleazy and often drunk guests; ask them to sign in, take the cash - always cash - hand them the key and remind them of the breakfast buffet opening times, ending with a cheerful 'enjoy your stay' by which time they’ve disappeared to shag each other’s brains out and collapse for a few hours. Then they make a discrete exit, slipping the key onto the desk. If I’m lucky, the guy will slip me a tenner which I take to mean that I’ll say nothing should someone come asking; like I remember anyone’s face, they all look the same.

      Chapter Two – A turn up for the books

      Adrian, the young guy who works for my boss, delivers the breakfast goods once a week and gives me my pay packet; a hundred quid after stoppages. Thank fuck for the cash paying afternoon guests from whom I make another hundred at least. Still, I don’t have to pay rent and

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