1 /FOREVER
My alarm wentoff at 5:30 a.m., just like it did every damn day, and I wanted to throw something at it. I stared at the ceiling for a few extra seconds before moving. I was tired as hell, and these days it took me a little longer to get up and start moving. No matter how tired I was, I still had to get up and push myself. I didn’t have the luxury of staying in bed and lounging around. I had a daughter to take care of. So, after willing myself up, I crawled out of bed and walked down the hall to my baby girl’s room.
“Tahanii, get up, baby,” I called out softly, opening her door and walking off.
A groan came from her, followed by silence, and I knew I was going to have to pull her little butt out of that damn bed. My daughter wasn’t a morning person and could be very groggy. I had to smile because she was the only positive thing in my life that made me feel like I did something right. So, it was a must that I pushed through to make sure that she had everything that she needed in life.
I walked into the bathroom, turning on the light and pausing for a second when I caught my reflection. My skin looked dull, and my eyes looked as if they needed more rest. Not to mention,I had dark circles around them. It was less noticeable when I used foundation and concealer. Over the last few months, I’d lost a good twenty pounds, so I was damn near frail compared to what I used to be. Even though I've lost weight, these hips and thighs don’t seem like it’s going nowhere.
“You’re good, Forever. You’re just exhausted,” I whispered to myself, grabbing my toothbrush.
I gave myself this pep talk daily, and every day I tried my hardest to believe it. After finishing up with my hygiene, I walked down the hall to Tahanii’s room, and surprisingly, she was already up and dressed. She’d become very independent when it came to showering, brushing her teeth, and pulling her bonnet off. I kept her hair braided for the most part, and her clothes were stored in a cute little linen dresser that I had bought. In each pull-out drawer was her outfit for that particular day. I normally did this for the entire week, including the weekends. Because when I worked some weekends, it made it much easier for my best friend, Jaz, to watch her for me.
“Hanii, you did good!” I smiled as I looked her over. “Come on, baby girl. Let’s get you some breakfast.”
“Okay, Mommy.” She proudly grinned.
By 6:30, we were out the door. Tahanii skipped ahead of me, her little backpack bouncing against her shoulders like she didn’t have a single worry in the world. And I guess it was true that she didn’t. I carried that weight for the both of us. The only thing she asked about, that I couldn’t really provide, was her dad; and to be honest, she’d only seen him twice, and that was when she was eight months and then when she was four years old. He claimed that she wasn’t his daughter, and after many text messages of me trying to get him to acknowledge her, I finally gave up. I still run into him from time to time and every time I see him, I want to beat his ass. We were never in a relationship and had just slept together a few times before shewas conceived. He didn’t want me and became mean as hell, especially when I got pregnant with her. I decided that I wasn’t begging his ass to do the right thing when it came toourchild and hadn’t heard from him since.
“Mommy, can we have pizza for dinner?” she asked, turning around mid-step.
“Girl, you ask me for pizza every day.” I laughed. “We will see.”
“That means yes.” She grinned.
“No, it means, we will see.” I shook my head, unlocking the car.
Life wasn’t perfect. Hell, it wasn’t even close, but seeing my babygirl smile made it all worth it. By the time I got to Hanii’s school then dealt with the morning traffic, I was running late for work.
The Luxe Hotel was already busy when I walked in. As head of housekeeping, my days were always busy with assigning my staff their room boards, making sure there were enough supervisors to inspect them, and meetings. I started out in housekeeping seven years ago. I had a baby and no help, so I had to do what I had to do. The hiring manager, Mrs. Vaughn, took a liking to me and decided to take me under her wing; and I listened to everything she had to say and worked my ass off to climb the ladder. She retired two years ago, and I was promoted to her position, and it had everything to do with her. I was forever grateful for all that she’d done for me.
Walking into my office, I looked over the schedule, and I saw that I had a VIP guest, Mr. Legacy Porter, coming in today. I wasn’t sure who I’d assigned to clean his suite during his stay because when the VIP guests came in, they expected a great deal of privacy and were normally handled by our top staff. I got comfortable at my desk and worked on the schedule for the next few hours then before I knew it, it was already noon. I stood upfrom my seat and decided to go out to grab a sandwich from the hotel restaurant.
When I walked out front, some of the girls from housekeeping were standing in a huddle, whispering and giggling, as they kept looking over at the check-in desk. I glanced over to see what they were staring at, and there stood this work of art. He had to be a little bit over six feet, medium brown complexion, a muscular build, and the prettiest brown eyes I’d ever seen on a man. He rocked a low-cut fade, and tattoos covered both arms and his neck, so I assumed his chest was inked as well. I shouldn’t have been staring so damn hard, but it was too hard to look away.
“Who is he?” I questioned as I tried to gather my composure.
“That’s the VIP guest; they’re escorting him to the VIP registration now. Forever, please assign me to his room, ’cause that man fine as hell, and just off his demeanor, I know he’s holding,” one of them said, dramatically fanning herself.
I rolled my eyes. “Y’all say that about everybody that comes in here looking like money.”
“No, Forever. This one is different. Like,lookat his ass— that man is stupid fine. God bless his mama, daddy, and all of God’s Angels in the creative department for making that masterpiece. I tell you this much, the fine nigga genetics was working in supreme order the day they created his ass,” Kasia said, still fanning herself.
Kasia and I had been friends since the day we both started working here. I promoted her to supervisor a year ago, and she’d been doing an amazing job. The girl was a damn mess though, and she kept me laughing.
I smirked but didn’t feed into it. Normally, a fine man walking in here wouldn’t move me. However, this one definitely stirred something inside of me because I couldn’t stop staring at him. I learned quickly that some men came with baggage, lies,or intentions that didn’t have nothing to do with love. All they wanted was a fat ass and somebody that was going to fuck them.
“I haven’t decided who will handle his room yet. But y’all get back to work and make sure those rooms are spotless. I don’t want any complaints coming back to me,” I told them.
“We got you,” Tish said smiling, and her ass was the ringleader of foolishness around here.
“Kasia, stop by my office when you’re done with the ladies,” I said to her, then turned to walk away, because my mind had already shifted back to the many things I had to do today.
“Ms. More, can I see you for a moment?” Eric, the head of VIP services, called out to me. I turned and looked in his direction, and there he was again.
Everything slowed down, and I do meaneverything. My heart skipped so many damn beats, I felt like it had stopped for a minute.
“Hey, Eric. What can I do for you?” I asked, as I walked over to him and who I presumed to be Mr. Porter.
