Free The Maestro's Apprentice by Rhonda Leigh Jones Page B

whew! Let me tell you.” He put the PDA away and brought his hands together enthusiastically. “Okay, so tonight, Freddie will be addressing everyone. We’ll get some room assignments going, where you’ll find laminated booklets with all the information you’ll need about prices and costs and which activities you’re eligible for and areas of the house you’re allowed in. I’m assuming most of you are free boarders?”
    The Indian guy raised his hand. “Actually, I’m a Gold customer. I don’t know why they wanted me to come in this way.”
    “It’s the blue jeans, man. They send everybody in jeans to me. You do know, though, there is a pimped-out dress code to most of the Gold functions, right?”
    “I sent my clothes here beforehand.”
    “Oh, okay,” Mick said, wagging his finger at him to come up. “We’ll just get you to the right place. Everybody else, just hold tight and my assistants and myself will get your information…Oh, before I forget, I would also like to mention that in addition to helping guests feel welcome here at Biali House, I give seminars on fitting in and keeping up with the culture and social mores and not talking like a dusty old artifact and all that good stuff, so everybody make sure you get my card before you leave.”

    * * * *
A half-hour later, the three were in a suite three times the size of their hotel room, with a queen-sized bed under a royal blue canopy and matching chairs. “If this is what 70
    they give to freeloaders like us, I wonder what they give to the real guests,” Adam grumped as he dumped his things on the mattress.
    Autumn plopped down beside him. “We are real guests. This place is here to help people get on their feet as much as it is to give them a place to show off.”
    Adam held up his saxophone. “Eighty-plus years old and all I got to show for it is a beat-up old horn.”
    “You have us,” Autumn offered.
    “Yeah, well. Not for long,” he said, and put down the instrument. “I’m going to shower and change. I think my spare jeans can hold up through one more wear. Then one of you has to find a washer and dryer.”
    “One of us?” Maria said, putting her hand on her hip. “Why can’t you do it?”
    “I’m old school,” he said. “Two of you ain’t feeding me, least you can do is my laundry.” At the bathroom door, he turned around. “Ain’t feeding me? Hell you ain’t, if you’re feeding these people in here we don’t even know.”
    Autumn widened her eyes at him, surprised he would use such a bossy tone. For a moment, there was the hint of a jolt in her tummy, the beginning of a heat that would make its way down into her nether regions. But when Adam pawed at the air dismissively instead of following through on his demand, the feeling dissipated. Adam shook his head and mumbled his way into the bathroom.
    “Wow,” Maria said. “This thing is really affecting him.”
    Autumn watched the door close behind him, confused about her reaction. “It’s affecting us all,” she finally said.

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    Maria nodded. “Yeah. I haven’t said much about it, but…that thing with the money…sleeping with the guy…”
    “I’m sorry,” Autumn said, jumping at the opening. “You are the last person I would ever want to hurt, you and Adam.”
    Maria pressed her lips together. Her nose and eyes reddened. “That’s what people always say before they drop a bombshell.” She tried to smile, but wound up looking away and wiping at her eyes. “Shit.”
    Autumn leaned forward and put her hand on Maria’s shoulder. “I didn’t know what I wanted back at Claudio’s. How could I? That kind of life is all I’ve ever known. But now, I can do anything. I just…I want to experience things, Maria. And…” She sighed. “I think I’m going to have to go off on my own to do it.”
    “You like guys better?”
    Autumn looked down. “I love you. I do. I just don’t think I can keep being a couple with you. I want more freedom than that. I