Chapter 3

 

Jamie

 

“Are you seriously staring at that dilapidated building again?”

I frowned and turned around to look at my supposed best friend, who was tapping her foot impatiently.

“What crawled up your ass and died?” I asked, and she scoffed at me.

“I called you up so we could have a normal, friendly get-together at The Coffee Bean, not hang around here for fifteen minutes straight, waiting while you try to peer into that stupid place!” Diana said, scowling.

“You’re exaggerating. We’ve only been here for about twelve minutes. I checked,” I said, rolling my eyes. I turned back to the dusty glass, and cupped my eyes with my hands so I could peek inside. “And isn’t this normal for us whenever we do get together? As far as I recall, I always stop to look at this place with you.”

“Exactly. Haven’t you gotten tired of doing that?” she asked, and I could hear the exasperation in her voice. I shook my head in reply.

“I could never get tired of looking at this place, Di,” I told her. “This place right here will be the culmination of my dreams come true. This is where I’ll be opening my own bakery one day. I mean, aren’t you excited for me?”

“Of course, I am, but have you paid the deposit for this place yet?” she asked. I dropped my hands and turned toward her, shaking my head once more. She looked at me with that sad, pitiable look on her face, but I refused to let it get me down, folding my arms and balling my fists in determination.

“I’m almost done saving up for it. I just need to work a couple more jobs besides my regular one and I’ll be able to secure the lease,” I told her.

The corner of her mouth lifted, and she patted me on the back in encouragement.

“Speaking of jobs, I actually called you up to ask if you’d be interested in one,” Diane said, and I whirled my head towards her eagerly.

“Really? Does it pay a lot? Is it a one-time thing? Will it—,” she raised her hand aloft before interrupting my line of questioning.

“Hold your horses, bestie. Can we talk about this somewhere else, please? I am in dire need of some caffeine right now, and these heels are killing me,” she said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me towards the coffee shop. I rolled my eyes and let her drag me inside.

When we finally got our drinks—a chocolate chip Frappuccino for me, and a double-shot java and hazelnut praline for her—we chose a seat by the window overlooking the park, the sun’s rays were peeking out from behind the clouds lighting us just right. I stared at the latest abomination Diane had ordered up weirdly, and watched as she took a small sip from the straw before coming up and savoring the taste of it in her tongue.

I raised my eyebrows at her.

“So? What’s the verdict, oh coffee connoisseur?” I asked.

“It’s got potential,” Diane answered primly, and I chuckled.

“That horrible, eh?”

“Absolutely not! It tastes very well, thank you,” Diana countered. She glared at me and, as if to prove her point, took a large sip of the blend with her straw, and gulped it down, hard. Her lower lip started to tremble. I stared at her for a few seconds before opening my mouth.

“The ladies’ room is to the left,” I told her.

“Please excuse me,” she said, scrambling out of her seat and clutching her purse like a lifeline. I watched her barrel her way to the restrooms, snickering under my breath. You’d think that by now, she’d learn not to mix flavors in her drink, but I guess it wouldn’t be Diane if she weren’t a little bit risky.

I drank my frappe while I waited for her to get back from yacking her drink out of her system. I hoped the job she lined up for me is a good one. I wasn’t kidding when I told her I was so close to leasing out that building, but I still needed a bit more so I could buy the oven and some other stuff I’d need to get everything up and running.

That reminded me; I needed to call my grandmother sometime this week. After my parents died, she was the only family I had left. She could’ve refused, and left me at an orphanage, but she took me in and did her best to raise me. It would take me a lifetime and a half to pay her back.

Diane came back and sat down in her seat, still looking a little green in the face. I took pity on her, and went to get her a glass of water.

“I am never going to try that again,” she said, sticking her tongue out in disgust. I rolled my eyes at her.

“You say that now, but you’re going to mix up another freaky drink the next time we’re in here,” I told her.

“Hey! Not all of those were bad!” she protested. “Do you remember the banana and coffee combination I made you try once? That tasted awesome!”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll give you that one,” I said, conceding. That drink actually inspired me to make a new bread roll recipe, but like hell was I going to tell her that. “So, about the job you said you had for me?”

“Oh, right! You see, the party organizer I’m working for will be hosting an event, and they’ll need a couple more people to serve entrees. It’s tomorrow at eight pm. What do you say?” she asked me eagerly, and I winced. “What’s the matter?”

“That would’ve been a great gig for me, but the schedule’s not lining up. The place I’m working at is participating in a huge auction at the same time tomorrow, so I wouldn’t be able to do your job,” I said sadly.

“Oh, that’s a bummer. I really thought you’d be a shoe-in,” Diane said sadly. “Well, where is this auction? Anywhere I know?” I shrugged.

“It’s just some hotel a few miles from here. I bet it’s where all those pompous business jerks go to hide their affairs from their wives,” I grumbled, making Diane laugh at me.

“You and your imagination,” she said, shaking her head at me. “Well, do you need a ride going there? My boss won’t mind if I come a few minutes late. I mean, there’s not much for us to do anymore,” she offered.

“Nah, I’ll just take the bus. I’ll be fine, I promise,” I assured her.

“Well, if you say so. Just make sure you don’t break anything, alright? You are the world’s most uncoordinated klutz, you know.”

Ugh. If I managed not to set anything on fire, then that would be a miracle.

 

***

 

“Um, excuse me. Is this—,” I tried to ask.

“Watch out!”

I whirled around and ducked just in time as a guy carrying a large box came barreling towards me as another person retrieved the pack. I straightened up and backed out of the way and into the sidelines, watching the anarchy going on in the hall.

My boss, old man Mueller, told me to come at least three hours early so I could help unload the items, but he didn’t tell me where to go once I arrived. So, I wandered around the hotel trying to ask the staff about it, but all of them just kept pointing me to this place.

But I wasn’t sure this is the right place, either. The more I watched, the more I could tell they were just running around carrying blankets, pillows, toiletries—things only the cleaning staff would be lugging around.

“Thank God! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

I turned my head to see a thin, gangly man with a twisty-looking moustache walking towards me with a frazzled look on his face. I tilted my head and stared.

“Um, who are you—,” I tried to ask him what he was talking about, but he interrupted me.

“We’ve been short-handed for the past week! You are one of the new hires, are you not?” he said.

“Oh, I’m—,”

“But of course, you are! What else would you be doing here?” he said, interrupting me again.

“And you’re already wearing the uniform! Such dedication!” He thrilled. My jaw went slack, and I furrowed my eyebrows while I looked down at what I’m wearing: a black cardigan and a woolen gray skirt over nude stockings and black pumps. I really did not see what he was—

Until I just saw one of the female staff walk by, and she’s wearing the same getup. Okay, I totally understood why he’s mistaken me, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t correct him.

“Look, sir, you got the wrong—,” I grunted as he pushed a bunch of pillows into my arms, piling them one on top of the other so I could barely see anything in front of me. Will no one let me finish my sentence?!

“Now, take these to Room 407. That’s the room to the left of the elevator,” he instructed, placing his hands on top of my shoulders, guiding me towards the elevators. He turned me back around, and I felt him press a small card into my palm before closing my fingers around it tightly.

“Since I’m sure you haven’t been given a master card yet, I will let you use mine for the time being. Use this card to get inside the room, and then deposit these extra pillows into the linen closet. Do not leave these on the bed, do you understand?” he said.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened, making the mustached man turn me around and pushed me inside the elevator. I tried to call him back, but the doors had closed, and it was already too late.

I stared at the pillows in my hands with annoyance, half-tempted to just leave the pile on the floor and get out of here.

But that guy might be in trouble if I just leave this stuff lying around, I thought.

Sometimes, I hated being too nice.

“Well, I guess I could just do this one thing,” I muttered to myself. I mean, I’m sure I’ll still have plenty of time to do my actual job, so putting a bunch of pillows inside a closet wouldn’t hurt…

I took a deep breath and accepted my fate, pulling the pillows closer to me. Then I realized the elevator wasn’t even moving, so I blindly reached for the buttons and estimated where the number ‘4’ would be, and pushed the button. Thankfully, no one else got in between the floors.

“What direction did he say the room was again?” I asked myself, jogging my memory. Oh, right! He said, ‘directly to the left’.

The elevator doors opened, and I turned left and walked until I hit something that felt like a door. I felt around for a card reader, and brushed along the sides for a slot. Fingering a small seam at the top, I switched the card to my other hand, and inserted it, eliciting a small jingle, and the sound of a lock click. I nudged it open with my foot, and used the pile of pillows to push the door open wider.

“Okay. Now to just find the closet, dump these in, and I’ll be duty free!” I said, encouraging myself. I used my peripheral vision to see the sides of the room, turning a bit when I couldn’t find it in my general field of vision, until I spotted tall oak cabinets at the far west wall. Jackpot!

I placed the pillows on the bed so they wouldn’t get dirty before walking over to the closet and opening the doors.

Huh, that’s funny. This one has suits in them. Wrong closet! I closed the doors and opened the other pair, grinning widely as I saw the layer of blankets folded. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

I picked up the pillows, and shoved them haphazardly inside the bottom shelf before slamming the door, which wouldn’t close, even as I tried to force it shut.

“Damn it! Why won’t this thing close?!”