It was after seven thirty when the manager started feeling sick. He is stumbled over to a chair and set their for a while , pressing his stomach , as if he had just been shot. A greasy sweat clung to his forehead . ' I think I had better go to the hospital ' hey muttered.
For him to be taken ill was a wholly uncommon occurrence : he had never missed a single day he started working in the restaurant more than ten years earlier.
It was another he had never been out with illness or injury , but his painful grimace made it clear that he was in a very bad way.
She stepped outside with an umbrella and hailed a taxi. One of the waiters held the manager steady and climbed into the car with him to take him to a nearby hospital.
Before ducking into the cab, the manager said to her hoarsely,' I want you to take a dinner up to room 604 at 8 o'clock. All you have to do is ring the bell say "your dinner is here" and leave it.'
'That's room 604 right ? 'she said.
' At 8 o'clock' he repeated. ' on the dat. He grimaced again, climbed in, and the taxi took him away.
The rain short no signals of letting of after the manager had left , and the customers arrived at long intervals. No more than one or two table so occupied at anytime , so if the manager and one waiter had to be absent , this was a good time for it to happen. Things could get so busy that it was not unusual even for the full stop to have trouble copying.
When the honours male was ready at 8 o'clock she first the room service trolley into the laid and rode out to the 6th floor. It was the standard male for him: a half bottle of red wine with the cork loosenced, a thermal pot of coffee, a chicken entree with steamed vegetables, rolls and butter. The heavy aroma of cooked chicken quickly filled the small lift. It mingled with the smell of the rain. Water droplets dotted the filt floor, suggesting that someone with a wet umbrella had recently been aboard.
She pushed the trolley down the corridor, bringing it to a stop in front of the door marked '604' . She double- checked her memory:604. That was it. She cleared her throat and pressed the doorbell.
There was no answer. She is too there for a good 20 seconds. Just as she was thinking of pressing the bill again, the door opened inword and skinny old man appeared.