The Blood Drive

Every early morning, Dale, as general manager of The Residence, gathers up the staff in a quick briefing. All the employees stand in a few rows in the lobby, listening at attention to Dale's talk. While this seems unnecessary—they are serving only one person, for crying out loud—Dale knows that the entire building has so many moving parts, and he wants to be always on top of every possible situation. After all, if any small part of the single-serving boutique hotel deteriorates, it would be his ass on the line, answerable to Gabriel Tan.

He had just arrived from the hospital. The staff, consisting of housekeeping, to security, to chefs, already know about the crisis with their boss. "Sir Miguel is, so far, in a stable condition," Dale says, not really fully confident that Miguel's stable. But he has to keep up appearances. "And we have to be extra attentive to what we do, just in case our services are needed beyond the walls of this building."