Blumaroom Service

     "Anything else, ma'am?" he asked the wealthy Maraquan Kau.

     She placed her glass on the tabletop beside her. "Yes. A Snow Cake would be nice. Add some extra snow on it as well."

     Bernard rolled his eyes, exasperated. How did that idiotic Kau expect him to add more snow when it was boiling hot outside the hotel?

     "Anything else?" he stated monotonously. The hotel had a policy to continue asking guests for more foods so that they could make more Neopoints.

     "Hmmmm, yes. I'll have a Pepperolive Pizza. Just make sure it has no peppers, no olives, and no tomato sauce. Oh, and no crust."

     "Anything else?" inquired Bernard.

     "No, I'm quite fine! Now hurry! The clock is ticking!"

     The Blumaroo left the room, walked down the winding staircase of the hotel, and made his way to the kitchen. Once inside, he called an Acara chef, and asked her to quickly whip up a Snow Cake.

     All of a sudden, the doors of the kitchen swung open, this time revealing a mammoth green Skeith, dressed in an elegant and sophisticated business suit.

     "Bernard!" the Skeith roared, peering around the kitchen to find his unfortunate employee.

     Bernard swiveled around, his face holding an expression of boredom. "Yes, Mr. Doitch?"

     "I'm not happy," hissed the Skeith slowly, stepping right in front of Bernard, his face only centimeters away from the Blumaroo's.

     "Why aren't you happy, Mr. Doitch?" Bernard yawned, looking off into the distance.

     "Because I keep getting complaints from customers about how annoying you are! How you're boring, unintelligent, and non-pettish!"

     "Non-pettish?" Bernard questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Is that even a word, Mr. Doitch?"

     "That's not the point!" shouted Mr. Doitch, balling up his fists in fury. "What matters is that you're displaying a bad attitude for this company! This is hurting the hotel critically and financially! Now, if I don't hear rave reviews from you by tomorrow morning, you're F-I-R-E-D! Got it?"

     Bernard bobbed his head. "Yes, Mr. Doitch."

     With that, Mr. Doitch charged out of the kitchen, leaving Bernard to stand there alone.

     **************

     The sky was now wrapped in a black blanket covered with twinkling stars. The entire hotel was illuminated with bright lights, and there were many functions and galas currently being held at the hotel. But it wasn't Bernard's job to organize and hold the events. He was a room service waiter, and it was possibly the most boring job in Neopia, in his opinion.

     However, Bernard was still determined to try his best to hold an energetic and enthusiastic attitude for his night shift. It had taken him a long time to find a suitable job that gave some decent cash, and he certainly didn't want to lose this just because of boredom.

     Neatly tightening his black bow, Bernard clutched onto his large service notebook, and began stalking down the halls of the hotel. He had been assigned room 666, and he was definitely prepared for his next snooty guest.

     Soon, Bernard halted at the door that held the gleaming numbers 666. He twisted the doorknob, and crept inside.

     "Hello?" he called out, gently closing the door behind him.

     No one replied.

     "Hmmm, guess they're not here yet. Odd."

     Bernard slowly walked around the extremely luxurious room. This, by far, had to be the nicest room he had been assigned to. A nice perfumed scent wafted around the dining room, and everything was spick and span.

     All of a sudden, a loud rumbling shook the entire hotel room. Bernard fell to the ground, startled. He looked around frantically, trying to figure out the cause of the sudden disturbance.

     Then, without notice, a huge bolt of lighting erupted from the night sky, illuminating the hotel room with an eerie light.

     "W-what's going on?" cried Bernard, his eyes widening in horror.

     The door of the room suddenly burst open.

     "Walakazam, what a fabulous room!"

     Bernard's throat choked up when he saw who it was. Standing there before him, with chilling orange-hued skin, a swooping black cape, and terrifying pointy fangs from which a red substance slowly dripped at the ends was the almighty Count Von Roo.

     Another rush of lightning cackled throughout the night sky again, making Count Von Roo's appearance seem more frightening than ever.

     "Oh, hello!" boomed the malevolent villain. "You must be the room service waiter! I'm exhausted, so get ready with that notebook!"

     Bernard sat there in shock and disbelief. Thoughts of confusion and panic flooded his find. He didn't know whether he should stay or run out as fast as his little feet could possibly take him.

     "Well, what are you waiting for?!" Count Von Roo exclaimed, seating himself down on a plush beige sofa.

     Bernard shook his head, and pushed himself up from the hardwood oak floor.

     "Uh-what can I get you, Mr…Count?"

     "Oh, just call me Von!" cackled Count Von Roo. "I sound cooler with that name!"

     "Okay…Von." Bernard grasped onto his notebook tightly, sweat rolling down his fingers.

     "Well, to start off, I'll have some red wine. I just love the taste of it. Sort of reminds me of an exquisite delicacy that you can only find in the Haunted Woods." Count Von Roo's eyes emitted a devilish red color, chilling Bernard to the bone.

     "S-sounds d-delicious," he stammered, trembling.

     "That's all for now!" Count Von Roo shouted, shooing Bernard away.

     Bernard was enormously happy to have finally been allowed to leave the room. It was as if a cloud of happiness and relief overcame him as he walked through the door.

     Bernard tried to consume time by slowly trudging down the stairs so that he wouldn't have to go back to Count Von Roo's room. But when he noticed Mr. Doitch walking up the stairs, he knew he'd have to go back to being speedy.

     "Hello Mr. Doitch!" he said forcefully, an artificial smile glued to his face.

     Mr. Doitch shot him a cold glare and continued on. He was praying that Bernard would blow his chance and he would finally have that golden opportunity to fire him.

     However, Bernard has a plan of his own. He was simply going to try to stay as far away from Count Von Roo as possible, and continue on with his job. Even if it meant the risk of having a heart attack.

     "Can somebody get me some red wine?" groaned Bernard as he entered the kitchen.

     One of the chefs eyed him curiously. "Red wine? Weird. We usually never get anyone asking for that."

     Soon, a rainbow Ixi came up to Bernard with a golden goblet filled with sweet red wine. Bernard quickly thanked her and made his way back to Count Von Roo's room. The Blumaroo's stomach felt like it was tangled in knots now that he knew who he was serving.

     When he was at the door of the room, a sudden 'BOOM' caused a small amount of red wine to fall out of the goblet and land on the white carpet.

     "Oh my blagh!" cried Bernard, immediately panicked.

     Mr. Doitch would know that it was him who had caused the stain because he had made it very clear that 666 was the room he would be serving at. Beads of sweat rolled down Bernard's brow

     But the stain on the carpet was the least of his worries. At that exact second, another violent BOOM shook the entire hotel aggressively.

     Bernard held onto the doorknob for dear life, causing it to twist and open the door.

     "AAAAAARGH!" screeched the Blumarro as he saw what was happening in the room.

     Count Von Roo was laughing maniacally as the furniture in the room floated around him. He had his hands held up high, and flashes of blue light were emitting from his palms. However, once he caught sight of Bernard, all of the furniture immediately plopped back down to its proper location, and everything seemed normal again.

     "Ah, I see you got my red…wine…" Count Von Roo trailed off as he saw a large puddle of red wine absorbed by the carpet. There was nothing left in the goblet.

     "I-I'm s-so s-sorry!" whimpered Bernard, grasping onto the goblet as tight as possible with one paw, and covering his neck with the other.

     Count Von Roo held an amusing expression. "Oh, don't worry! Just go off to fetch another one." Suddenly, his eyes narrowed menacingly. "Quickly."

     And for the rest of the night, everything was like a cat and mouse chase. Bernard would come back to the room with a new item in his hand, and what he saw would terrify the wits out of him. The room would be completely made out of jelly, or paper, or stamps. And one time, there were only shiny white toilets in the room!

     But the worst was yet to come. For the umpteenth that day, Bernard dragged himself up the stairs of the hotel, exhausted. This time, he had a basket of Peachbread in his paws. He was shaking, for the thought of what was in that room next terrified him. But he continued on, the fear of losing job being the strongest emotion of all.

     Knocking on the door once having arrived, Bernard stood there, petrified. The door abruptly swung open, revealing a horrific army of Meepits!

     "OH MY GOSH! HELP ME!" shrieked Bernard like a school girl. He threw the basket of Peachbread at the Meepits, and dashed off, only to find himself crashing onto the top of the staircase railing, and falling down onto the marble flooring.

     But all Bernard could see was him falling into a world of darkness…

     **************

     "Bernard? Bernaaaard? Bernard, are you all right?!"

     Bernard groaned, and fluttered his eyes open. Standing over him was Mr. Doitch, looking oddly worried.

     The red Blumaroo shook his head, and pushed himself up from the ground. He had an enormous headache, and his eyes were very bloodshot.

     "Uh…I'm all right…"

     Mr. Doitch sighed, quite relieved. Having a dirty lawsuit on his hands was the last thing that he needed right now.

     "Well, I'm glad to hear that. And I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that you're keeping your job. You did, in fact, receive a fantastic review by your VIP guest from last night. For this, I'll also be raising your salary by ten percent."

     Bernard's eyes suddenly widened, and his jaw fell. "N-no…no guest!"

     Suddenly, the Blumaroo ran away, screaming as loud as he possibly could, flinging his arms wildly in the air.

     Mr. Doitch stood there, surprised. "Wow, he must have had a rough night..."

The End

Author's Note: Thanks must go to Simsman24000 for giving me the idea for this story! Like always, neomails are very appreciated!