Chapter 18

Perkyn has been waiting for me at the entrance as he promised me with a brown bag in his hands.

"Good morning," he smiled as I walked up the stairs.

"Hey," I mirrored his smile.

He lifted his hand and shook the bag in front of me.

"I bought bagels."

I looked at him an innocent look and nodded.

"Bon appetit, then," I said and he scoffed.

"I bought one for you."

"Really?" I asked, acting surprised. He rolled his eyes at me and gave the bag to me.

"I hope you didn't get in trouble," he gave me an empathic look as I opened the bag and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "I meant with that Seeley guy."

"Oh, he…" I cut myself off before I would say something too private about him, after all, I've only known Perkyn for a few days. "He isn't usually like this."

Perkyn gave me a suspicious and smug smile.

"I really didn't want to look like the bad guy to your boyfriend or brother or roommate or whatever he is."

"We used to be classmates," I corrected him and started eating my breakfast. I didn't know why but the fact that he was the one to buy it for me made it more delicious than it already was.

"Oh, so every one of the gang is here?" He asked.

"Yes, the three of us, Seeley, and two of his close friends." I explained. "We kind of always got into troubles together which made us connect really fast."

"The six troublemakers or should I say the teachers' worst nightmares?" he asked with a careful smile.

I laughed and wiped my mouth when I felt the bagel crumble all over me.

"The teachers never really liked us for some reason," I bit into my lower lip. "Maybe it was because Seeley once accidentally set the curtainon fire and other things like that."

Perkyn's eyes widened as his bow-shaped lips turned into a surprised and also amused grin.

"What?" He asked. "You're joking."

"I wish I was." I shook my head while laughing.

Perkyn laughed and shrugged.

"Well, he is a boy, what did you expect?" He asked. "Getting into trouble and burning things down is apparently coded inside of us."

"The thing is that I never expect anything because of that and the boys keep surprising me."

Perkyn slowly tilted his head to us.

"Like last night?"

I chewed on the next bite of the bagel as I felt Perkyn's eyes roaming over my face.

"He just had a bad day and we were loud anyway, so we kind of had it coming," I tried to explain it.

How do you explain that ever since has entered a toxic relationship with his girlfriend, he kind of has become sensitive to everyone and everything? He lost his patience and coolness in less than fifteen seconds and he has been gaslighted doing certain things that he didn't want to.

Seeley Drewitt was like the rough sea. In one second it was all sunshine and beautiful but in the next second, you were on the edge of drowning while the sight has turned into something terrifying and haunting.

"You're right, we didn't pay attention to our surroundings."

After I finished my bagel and gave the bag back to him, he took a big bite from his as I rubbed my hands together.

"So, what do I need to know about this job?"

He swallowed the food and glanced up to the huge building louring on us.

"Oh, just the basic things," he shrugged. "Everyone hates everyone, the food is shit, we have to work in over hours which won't ever be paid. What is also there? Oh, yes, the customers are the worst and I advise you it would be best if you just hid in a closet once you see some of them because they are like sharks. They peg you and play with you until you finally…"

"Give up and bleed out?" I finished it for him and he pointed his finger at me.

"Exactly."

I looked up to the bright building, noticing birds circling around the top as if they have been waiting for their chance to finally pounce on us.

"Perfect." I said with dramatic excitement in my voice. "Just what I've been dreaming of."

"Awesome!" He smiled and threw the bag in the trash can.

When he walked me inside the hotel, a familiar buzz of excitement ran through me like poison. I didn't want to mess it up, I needed this job and the money.

But I also needed a little time away from the others, specifically Seeley.

"So, we as housekeepers, are in the back, next to the kitchen if you want to steal food," he led me down the hallway, saying hi to the other employees.

I waved at them in an awkward way and turned back to keep fidgeting with my fingers.

While we were walking, he noticed my lack of response and glanced over his shoulder.

"Are you good?"

"Yes, just a little nervous." I admitted, clenching my fingers around the strap of my bag.

"There is nothing to be nervous about," he gave me a warm smile that somewhat calmed my nerves but I still had my inner voice warning bell ringing in my ears like a siren.

"Easy to say that."

"You're right," he nodded. "On my first day needless to say that I chased a guest away."

I almost stopped walking at his honest but raw confession. Perkyn who had the personality of a golden retriever – in a good way – was really capable of pissing a guest off on his first day?

"I find that hard to believe."

He gave me a shrug and rubbed the corner of his mouth with his thumb.

"You don't have to believe," he answered. "I and the others, especially Caleb, know that it happened."

I started to become more and more curious about the untold story of his first day here at the hotel. I didn't even notice that he distracted me from my nervous state.

"What happened?"

He swallowed and grazed his fingers over the white and gray wall beside us.

"She must have been a businesswoman… A really important one probably. They came here on a weekend with her husband who was basically a living rock. He was stoic and emotionless like a robot. They spent two nights here, and on the first night, he was out of the hotel, leaving his wife alone here. She kept calling room service and then us, the housekeepers her room. May I add, she was a really absent-minded woman. The irony was that she actually was a beautiful woman but she was acting like a spoiled bratty teenager. It tells you what kind of person you're dealing with once you see their room and the mess they leave after themselves. The bathroom was covered in hair and it took me ages to clean it."

"Something tells me that it wasn't just hair." I flinched and he nodded.

"She definitely missed a few weeks of shaves." he rubbed his forehead as he closed his eyes. "Anyway, back to the story. She kept ordering me around like a slave, so when I manned up and told her that even though I'm doing the cleaning for her doesn't mean that I'm a slave. And she just lost her mind after I stood up for myself. She'd threatened me to call Caleb and promised me that she wouldn't leave this place until she'd got me fired from my position. She even started to throw things at me like her brush, laptop charger, or pen."

"Promising first day." I mumbled in response.

"It was," he said and laughed dryly. "Hell, I even considered quitting after only working here for two hours, that woman really did a number on me both mentally and physically."

"Did she hit you?"

"No, but she threw her pen at me while I was turning away and it almost blinded me."

I gasped lightly and covered my mouth in shock. I knew that usually cleaning staff were treated badly but I had no idea that people could be this cruel to someone who was just tidying up their mess which they weren't capable of.

I remembered my boyfriend treating a waiter like trash at a restaurant post one week after he asked me out but I was too blind to see his cruelty and possessiveness.

He'd told me that the waiter was being disrespectful and checking me out – mostly my chest area –, so he deserved it. And I was so in love that I didn't pick up on that red flag.

"That's horrible," I said, still in shock that someone was capable of doing that to someone as kind and delightful as Perkyn.

"Then she told me to get out, so I left her room. I cleaned myself up and was just in the hallway in the evening when I saw her taking a man up to her room that his husband was paying for. She was awfully flirty, khm, I want to say friendly with him. Touching him and whispering in his ear while kissing his neck. It was a sight to see."

"Busted." I said, getting too exciting about his story.

"I was with friends with the receptionist who was working here during that winter. I didn't need to convince her much to give me her husband's phone number. Not after how irritated she'd got after she'd heard my story with the wife. I called her husband and told her that there was an emergency and his wife needed him right now. He was mad at first then probably got worried a little because he came back to the hotel in less than ten minutes. When he asked us about his wife, I told him that she was fine but he had to go up to her. I must have exploded a bomb because neither of the three of them came down in the next hour. Then we saw the husband practically running out of the hotel, he had been so mad that he almost kicked the glass in the entrance."

I laughed, contagious and cloudless as he finished his story. I didn't expect it to take such a turn but I was glad that it happened this way. Karma didn't know or show mercy to anyone.

"And the wife?" I asked.

He spread his arms and let them fall against his legs.

"All I know was that she only checked out after a few hours while it looked like she had been crying for hours before packing her things and leaving."

"So, you not only chased a guest away but also set up possibly a divorce?" I asked, my eyes widening in amusement.

He bit into his lower lip and gave me a shameful nod.

"Most likely, yes," he admitted and we burst out laughing.

"And he didn't invite you to court to sworn witness?" I teased him and he shrugged.

"I was waiting for a call or something but I never heard of him ever since then." he answered with fake sadness. "Out of all the things that I'd done for him, he didn't even call me in evidence. I still feel betrayed about that."

I rubbed my eyes to wipe my tears away while he let out a big exhale.

"So, after my first introduction, you can only do better, trust me," he gave me a smile and I didn't even hesitate to return it.

"I think you're right."

He gave me a slight push on the shoulder playfully.

"Did I succeed at making you feel a little better?" he asked quietly.

Only if he knew how much he has helped me to get rid of my nerves. I was still somewhat anxious about today being my very first day but it wasn't even half as bad as it had started as.

"Yes."

"You're only saying that to make me feel good about myself, aren't you?" he asked, pointing at himself and I chuckled.

"I swear I'm not," I pressed my palm against my chest and he raised his eyebrow.

"I'll hold you to that," he pointed his finger at me. "If I ever find out that you lied to me, you'll never get a bagel from me ever again."

"Please don't say that," I said, faking a horrified expression.

"Don't believe that I'm not capable of taking that step."

As we continued walking toward the other ward of the hotel, I kept glancing at the ceiling that's bright coloring kept me somewhat distracted.

I watched him in silence as he opened the 'Staff' door and let me in. When I saw two other girls packing their stuff away and turning their heads in my direction, I got glued to my place.

"New victim?" Asked the short, dark-skinned girl with a serious look on her face. She adjusted her watch as she stared at me.

"Something like that." I answered, my voice small and quiet.

The two girls exchanged a knowing look.

"She doesn't know what's waiting for her," commented the short girl. "What have you told her to convince her to come here?"

Perkyn put his hands up in defense and took a step back.

"It wasn't me, I didn't know she'd be working here until Caleb told me."

"She has been hired right away?" The short girl asked in surprise then she made a face. "Caleb must have been really serious about the lack of human resources in the cleaning staff."

The black-haired, girl whose wrist was full of bracelets and had a lip piercing still didn't say a word. She must have been tired of her job already if she hasn't even started the day but had a bored look on her face.

"Why? What happened?" I asked getting confused. Maybe I should have thought more before coming to the job interview. Caleb mentioned that a few employees have been discharged from the hotel but it seemed normal to me. Employees came and went in and out of any job.

"Nothing serious, don't worry." Perkyn was fast to calm me when he noticed my anxiety crawling the surface. "Marina just likes to hear herself talk."

Marina, the short girl, put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side.

"It just happened what I'd expected when Caleb hired those barbie girls right after the beginning of the summer break." Marina pointed her finger at Perkyn who looked flatly at her.

He must have gotten used to Marina's honest words. And by the look on her face, the quiet girl has too.

"This place would be great for our summer job, yeah right," she mimicked the mentioned girls. "It's nothing serious or hard, we just have to clean the rooms and make the bed."

"They really said that." Perkyn gave me a side glance.

"But when a celebrity comes here, every one of them forgot what they were here for," Marina said, getting carried away.

"Oh, I see it now." I nodded and she gave me a knowing look.

"Yes, they just invade someone's privacy like that!" She said in a frustrated way. "And have the nerve to brag about and act like they didn't chase him out of his room. Poor guy, I'm still sorry that he came here to take a break from singing."

I didn't even dare ask Marina who the mentioned celebrity was, she must have been still fed up with those young girls' freak out because I could see the fire in her eyes.

"That's what happens when barbies get employed!" she continued. "And I'm not talking about all of them because some of them look pretty great and their hair is beautiful, not going to lie, but you can recognize a snake when you see one, right?"

"Yes-" I nodded, becoming confused about how did we get here from my hiring.

"Anyway, end of rant, I'm Marina by the way," she smiled and stepped over to me. "It's not as horrible as you think it is at first."

I mumbled before nodding toward Perkyn who just proved her otherwise a few minutes ago.

"Well, uhm… Perkyn just told me what his first day here was like years ago," I said and Marina narrowed her eyes at Perkyn.

"You just want to scare her away at all costs, huh?" she asked. "You piece of shit."

"No, no, it's nothing like that, I swear," Perkyn reached his hand out in defense.

"Nothing like that my ass." Marina answered without hesitation. "You scared Trish away last year, too! So, don't play the innocent card with me because I'm too old for this shit!"

Truth be told, Marina didn't look older than twenty-five or maybe seven. Kind of explained her outburst about teenagers. Not that she wasn't right because there were stories I could tell her too about my classmates or co-workers in my previous job.

"But Trish didn't even want to work here!" Perkyn argued.

"Still," Marina crossed her arms over her chest. "She could have fallen out like a fly. That would have been a real sight to see."

"Well, I'm sorry, next time I'll keep my mouth shut," Perkyn rolled his eyes.

He then turned to me and gave me an encouraging smile.

"Marina and Zera will help you," he said then gave a careful glance to Marina. "Hopefully."

"We won't eat her for breakfast, I promise," Marina put her hand on her heart.

Perkyn was about to walk out of the changing room when he stopped in the middle of his movement, giving Zera, the quiet girl, a suspicious glare.

"You too, sis," he said and Zera rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll behave," she spoke her first words ever since I had stepped a foot in this room.

Perkyn gave her a proud smile before walking out of the room, closing the door behind himself.

I sighed and put my bag down, taking my dark gray uniform out,

"I hope I didn't scare you," said Marina with a half smile, showing her white teeth. "I'm not this moody, I can just really get lost in memories. Especially when they involve embarrassing moments like that."

"Oh, it's okay, I feel you." I said with a small smile. "Embarrassing memories of yourself or from work just keep haunting you even after years later."

"And they just never seem to stop," she laughed and adjusted her braids. "We'll have a great day, what was your name?"

That was the moment when it hit me that I didn't even introduce myself. I could slap myself for being this rude on my first day.

"I'm so sorry, it's Heddy," I said with flustered cheeks. "Heddy Lopez."

"Well, Heddy Lopez," Marina put her arm around my shoulders. "We are already five minutes late, so I can guarantee you that we'll most likely be shouted at."

Even though she was probably telling me the truth, her honest laugh gave me the power to push my struggling feeling back away.

"Sounds like something my mother would do,"half-joked and she lifted her eyebrows.

"Really?" She asked and I nodded. "I guess it won't bother you."

"Not at all."

Oh, the perks of living with an unnecessarily strict and controlling parent finally would be helpful in my life.