She dropped him off at home, and Chip was disappointed to find that Marty had disappeared without a trace. The poor kid was probably traumatized from being hunted. Hopefully he hadn’t gone far, and Steel’s determination to save money would prove his innocence.

When Chip got back to the hotel, he put in a call to Claire. It went to voicemail. He had the vague worry that she might’ve blocked his number. He was sitting at his desk, ruminating on this, when his phone rang.

“Hey Bossman.”

He let out a sigh. “Hi Gigi.”

“The photographers are here.”

Chip thought she sounded entirely too cheerful. “Is everything okay?”

“Oh yes. You know what? I’d be happy to show them around.”

That was suspicious. Chip got up from his desk and went to the lobby to investigate.

He introduced himself to Morgan, the photographer that Margie knew, and quickly realized the problem. Morgan’s business partner Luke, who was apparently also her boyfriend, had caught Gigi’s eye.

“You must be so artistic,” Gigi cooed, looking up at him, doe-eyed.

“I don’t know if I can claim that,” he said. “That credit belongs to my better half.”

Gigi shot Morgan a chilly look before returning her attention to Luke. “I love your accent. Where are you from?”

“Just outside of London. Where are you from?”

Chip suppressed a smile. He so badly wanted to tease Gigi, but didn’t want to upset his new photographer. He turned to look at Morgan, however, and saw that she was ignoring this exchange entirely.

“Margie told me so many things about you and the hotel. It’s just magnificent!” Morgan said.

“Thank you. That’s very kind.” Chip smiled. “Margie is very kind, actually.”

“She is. She’s the best,” Morgan said with a smile.

In the background, Gigi was still droning on. “I’m more than happy to show you around, and hey, maybe you could take my picture later?”

Without addressing Gigi, Morgan unceremoniously grabbed Luke by the arm and pulled him toward her. “Chip, would you mind giving us a tour and an idea of what you’d like to get from these pictures?”

“Of course.”

Much to Gigi’s disappointment, they left and made a round of the hotel. Spending a few hours with them was a pleasant way to pass the time, and from the samples that Morgan showed him, Chip was impressed already. How had he missed the fact that the hotel pictures were so terrible for so long?

After they left, Chip returned to his office and resumed his wait for Claire. He finally decided to leave a message, telling her that he was at the hotel, all was well, and that he was waiting on her call.

Following that, he was glued to his phone. There was only a single ten-minute block where he was unable to answer his cell phone, and naturally, she called during that time.