The Unexpected Guests (The Gambler and the Whores Part 2)

    I was going to write the second part not soon after finishing the first part but i had no motivation to do so. I wrote the intro long ago and after such a long time, feeling like writing and completing the part makes me feel like the words in intro were not my words, as if i changed a lot. I don't feel like i changed though. I am writing these words miles away from where i started to tell the story of the Gambler. When i started it, not many things were going on in my life. I stated that I am just lazy person in the previous intro. But I am not. I am wrong. It is true that I am often unmotivated. I also stated that I am writing this for the record. To some extent, it is true but there is more to that.. I also write about this incident to practise and taking a step for a new challenge in my life which i think that will keep me occupied in the coming years. Now I don't remember the chronology of what happened but i have the voice records which will help me tell this story in a better order and credible way.

    The check-in and stay of that family was a bit different than ordinary times but their check-out was as normal as any guests. I don't remember anything particular about their leaving. All the guests are allowed to check out until 12pm which is more than any other hotel. And they are served a huge breakfasts. People, who return, return for the late check-outs and breakfasts. Breakfast is nothing special. You can eat it once, twice but not three times. Same breakfast for the third time is just too much. It starts to seem not so huge. But about this family who showed up out of blue did not give me the feeling about their return. Because they were living in the same city actually. in a town only one hour away which is also located on beautiful coast which is rich in terms of virgin beaches.

   It was just any other day at the hotel where i was probably trying to pass the time with preparing the menu for the hotel, trying to lower boredom to minimum since the hotel was not even half full but not totally empty either. A co-worker approached and said me:

 ''Look, some people have come and they are using the pool. They are not staying at the hotel.'' 

I reacted this notification with a surprise  ''What a nonsense.'' 

I went to the stairs near the pool and greeted them behind the iron bars of the stairs. There were 6 people and among them i recognized one of the men. The Gambler... Even though he stayed before at the hotel, a proper visit needs a greeting and a request for using the pool. one can not use the pool without accomodating at the hotel. I told this to the Gambler.

''We are going to order food and drinks'' he replied. 

He has a look of a man that is not so auspicious. his two other male companies do not have a better look as well. I did not look at the other people. there are 3 women in Bikinis and you never know what kind of reaction you might receive from men with such look in not so free countries. That's why i avoided looking at them. Especially their women... I made a quick decision. I remembered that this man's family paid cash in the previous time and they are 6 people. My decision included a calculation that they were already going to spend an amount of money that they would pay for renting one room. So it was not much of a problem. I told them that they can use the pool in this case but right at that moment, a question arose from one of the women with a little bit of ironic yet sweet tone.she was right under the stairs. 

''Can we use the bathroom without check-in?'' 

I looked down directly at her face and replied ''Yes.'' 

                                                                                                TO BE CONTINUED...

My Trip to Spain Got Delayed

    I have a supersitition. When i am going to do something that is very crucial for me or can make a great impact on my life, I never tell anyone until i finalize it. I don't tell my friends. I feel like it won't happen somehow if i tell them before make it come true.  And also I believe I am not the only one who has this supersition.  I even didn't tell it to my family at first and waited for a few days to tell them when i got accepted for a project in Spain. I got accepted in December. 

    For a great deal of time, I have been waiting and the arrival date keeps changing. First I thought I would arrive in February then just before i had my visa interview, it was arranged to March. 15th of March to be exact... that's when the program starts for me. Everybody knows how hard it is to wait under the current circumstances.Trying to be patient, I waited and waitied and counted days for this date. I wrote a mail to the organization and i got no reply. But a friend from there called me and i thought it was okay. 10 days before the date, I bought my ticket excitedly and then i thought i am good to go!  Then i started to tell my friends that i would leave soon and won't be able to say goodbye to them. And 5 days before the mail I got a mail that i am supposed to wait until the same day next month due to some arrangements that must be done. So I was disappointed...  They asked me if i can change my flight date and it was flexible, i said yes. But to change it, the airline system charge a good amount of money.And On my new arrival date, there are a looot cheaper flights then my flight. Half price...

     a picture from a small Spanish town where i actually had to spend quarentine after getting covid

                 

    So I had to do something since the cost of my flight would bother me if i got on the plane with that ticket. I bought that  because only that company had flights on 15th of March from Ankara. But luckily i have a friend who works for the help desk of that airline and deals with problems of the passengers.  So he gave me some tips about what to do to get refund. that i should give some proofs about corona restrictions and stuff. And i got my refund submission accepted and would be  getting my money back.

    However, even though they accepted my submission,they were taking their time to resolve the case. what's worse is  they hadn't canceled my ticket yet. My friend told me that there are a few related firms that do the customer service and they don't work properly and he also wants to quit. Anyway, I called maybe 3 times at least  and talked to them about the refund and that they should do it before the flight and before it was reflected to my credit card monthly statement which is also on the flight date.  5 hours  before my flight, which was at 9:50, when i was in bed, wallowing and couldn't sleep, I remembered to check my flight ticket. And it was still active. if i cancel myself from the airline's website myself, i will not get my money. and I didn't wanna seen with ''no show'' status which also will cause a problem. So what i did  was to call the airline customer service.

    So i called and was so sleepy that i could not talk very vivaciously and my voice was kind of cracking. you know how it sounds. I did the talk in such a bad mood. While talking, i said something like ''due to corona, I won't be able to fly bla bla'' even though i didn't intend to manipulate her or make demagogy.  the girl in the customer service  directly canceled my ticket after making me hang on a bit long time on the call. My case was resolved that day.  and while she was hanging up she told me ''by the way, hope you get well soon'' in a very sad tone. she felt sad for me and thought i had corona.

    Today I have gotten my refund and I feel good about it since i will be able to buy a flight that is half price. Now all i have to do is have  patience and stay strong till my new date. So this was a little story about my flight ticket experience and a superstition's coming true. I think i will keep believing in it. Hope you enjoy reading!