CHAPTER 2
1369 Words
SELENE POV
We stand there for a few seconds, neither of us saying anything, my head bowed as he stares at me.
“Well, do you have an explanation for this?” he demands, his voice surprisingly soft and quiet, a vast contrast from the aggravated tone he had just a minute ago.
“I am so sorry sir. I had no idea that you would be arriving soon,” I say with my head still bent low.
“And that is why you hid behind the curtains? Doesn’t seem smart now, does it?”
“No. But it was the only thing I could think of.”
He sighs as he uses a hand to ruffle his half while looking around the room.
“Well, are you done with it?” he asks.
“What?”
“The cleaning. Are you done cleaning?”
“Oh. Oh, no. Not yet,” I answer.
“Fine. Finish up,” he says as he turns around. “Fast.”
“Of course, sir. And I apologize once again for the inconvenience.”
“Sure whatever.”
He leaves the room and I go into overdrive, no space for thinking about anything except on getting my job done.
I am done within twenty minutes and I head out of the room.
“It is ready for you, sir,” I say as I catch him at the bar.
“Hmm, here you go,” he says as he holds out a bill.
Upon taking it, I notice it is a full hundred dollar bill.
As a tip.
Damn!
El, is going to freak out. A hundred dollar tip on my first day?
Get out!
“Thank you, sir,” I say before turning to leave.
“What is your name?” he calls just as I am leaving. “For reference purposes.”
“Selene. Selene Kane.”
The moment I step out of the elevator, I am tugged into a corridor by Lisa.
“Oh my god. Are you okay?” she asks in panic. “I had no idea he had already arrived!”
“Yeah, yeah I am okay. I was a little scared at first but I am good.”
“He wasn’t cruel or mean to you?” she asks as she stares deep into my eyes.
“Cruel? No. He was actually nice and understanding,” I reply.
“Nice?” she asks, producing the word like it was a foreign thing. “Understanding? Fred Sloan? Are you sure it was him?”
“Yeah, I am positive. He even gave me a hundred dollar tip,” I say as I show her the bill.
“Damn. Okay. Weird but okay. I guess miracles do happen.”
“Is he really as bad as you think?”
“You have no idea. He is cold and brutal to most women. He even has a rule that I am the only one allowed to welcome him into the hotel, no other person. Speaking off, I better go face the music. You can continue with your floors. Bye!” she says as he gets into an open elevator.
“Well, good luck!” I call to her and receive a thumbs up.
I shake my head at her antics and begin my normal routine of the floors.
It is therapeutic in a way, routinely cleaning the floors, with slow blues drowning in my ears, far away in an imaginary world I have created.
So far away, I nearly jump out of my skin when a tap lands on my shoulder.
“Haaa!” I scream as I whirl around, brandishing the mop as a defense at the people -people- behind me.
There is Lisa, one of the men who had interviewed me, and an unfamiliar man.
I quickly pull out the earbuds as I lower the mop.
“Hi, hello,’ I greet. “Is there a problem?”
“No problem at all, Selene,” Lisa replies. “This is Mr. Payne, our head recruiter and assistant manager,” she says as she gestures to the familiar man before moving to the other one. “And this is Mr. France, Mr. Sloan’s assistant. They have something to tell you.”
“Oh.”
What now?
“Mr. Sloan was impressed with your work and show of professionalism and has requested that you be the maid attending to his needs during all of his stay in the Tryst Hotel,” Mr. France says.
“Huh?” I ask in confusion.
“What he means,” Mr. Payne adds. “Is That when Mr. Sloan is on the premises, your only job requirement is to attend to his needs. You clean his rooms only. No other rooms.”
“Oh.”
“Of course, you will be adequately compensated by Mr. Sloan as well as the hotel,” Mr. France finishes.
Adequately?
The man gave me a hundred dollar tip, I have to say I am immensely curious to see what he means by adequate.
“Do you accept?” Mr. Payne asks.
“Of course!” I exclaim. “I mean yes. Yes, I do.”
“Good. Now you will be required to change out of your uniform and put on something more suitable as his… assistant and then head up to his room for further instructions,” Mr. France says as he walks out, Mr. Payne following him.
“Assistant?” I squeal quietly.
“It’s just a fancy title,” Lila says as she sends me a smile. “Congratulations! You have been promoted on your first day no less. You must have done something really good up there.”
“I didn’t. At least, I don’t think I did. Is this a dream? Am I dreaming?” I ask in a daze.
“Fortunately for you, no. Come on, now. Let us find you something suitable to wear,” she says with her fingers forming air quotes around the words, making me laugh.
Not too long after, Lisa and I are once again heading to the Empire suite via elevator.
“Are you sure this is okay?” I ask for the umpteenth time as I rub my plans down the leather knee-length skirt.
She had earlier led me to the hotel’s boutique where she had picked a deep blue, elbow-length t-shirt, a leather skirt, and some classy heels.
All of them far, far exceeding what I could earn in a year.
“Charge it to the Empire suit,” she had said to the receptionist before leading my gob smacked self away.
“Yes, I am sure,” Lisa assures me. “You look professional and classy.”
“It’s just that I am not used to clothes this expensive.”
“Well, get used to it. You are going to be working for Mr. Sloan. You are going to have to look the part and if you play your cards right, you might not have to spend long being a maid.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you can use his connection to get a better job.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.
I'm not sure what kind of Job a dropout like me can get in today’s world.”
“Never say never. Now, remember, you look him straight in the eye when talking. Answer factual shower answers, no dilly dallying or beating around the bush. Be efficient and fast. Be smart and proactive and you might just survive.”
“Thank you, Lisa. You have been tremendously helpful.”
“You are welcome, now straighten up, we are here.”
We head for the suite room and knock and within seconds the door opens to reveal Mr. France.
“They are here,” he calls to someone in the room as he gives way for us to appear.
As I walk into the room, my eyes immediately find the man of the hour and I feel a jolt of adrenaline as I notice his eyes are already on me.
He gives me a slow look, taking in every detail before he smiles.
“Good
- Writer
