Page 40 of Room Service

14

Jessi

When I walked into the kitchen, everyone had already heard the news and I could cut the atmosphere with a knife. I felt a bit self-conscious with all the looks I got as I made my way to my station.

“Um,” I started nervously. “Hello?”

I waved at the others in the room, and they sent back half-hearted greetings as they turned back to their jobs, less lively than before.

“Sorry about that,” the woman closest to me, Mary, leaned over to me to whisper. “Everyone just took the news hard.”

I frowned. “What news?”

“That you’re leaving,” she clarified.

“Ah,” I murmured, even though that didn’t make any sense.

I’d been working with these people for a while, but besides Laura, I didn’t talk to anyone much outside of work. And it wasn’t like I was the only person who had come in and left, I’d just lasted longer. At least half the staff in the kitchen we either there when I arrived or had arrived at the same time I had. The remaining half came months after I was settled.

I didn’t think they would even be attached to me.

My transfer had been approved already, even though it had only been a week. Usually, when someone was transferring, not just quitting, it took anytime between two weeks to a month. But I hadn't been bragging to Trent when I told him just how good I was. In my meeting with the manager, he’d told me that my talents would be appreciated wherever I ended up, and he was sad to see me go. I’d known he’d meant the words genuinely, not just as a polite send-off.

Days later, I got the news that one of the hotels out on the coast needed a pastry chef, and I was preparing to move.

Today was my last day at work, and the manager must have spread the word around. I would have preferred a quiet exit, but it did warm my heart just a little bit to realize I would at least be missed by my coworkers.

But really, a little beach time might be just what I needed to get my spirits up.

In the whole week, I’d managed to avoid Trent. I’d heard someone spread a rumor that he was looking for me, and I worked even harder to stay out of his way. I hadn't been back to my place for more than a few minutes for the past several days.

“Let’s see,” I muttered to myself. “What do I need to do for today…”

I was going to bake up a storm today, so the guys who occasionally helped me wouldn’t have much to do in addition to their duties, but I could only make enough for today and tomorrow. More and I’d have to worry about some of the pastries and desserts going stale.

There was some lingering guilt for leaving on such short notice. The reason transfers had such a long timeline was so a replacement could be found in the meantime. If you were getting fired, chances were your replacement was already in waiting. And if you quit, then there was a scramble to find someone else. For such a big hotel chain, you’d think it would be easy, but with their high standards, even though plenty of people applied for jobs, actually getting one was rare.

As for me, I’d applied alongside more than fifty people, and I was the lucky girl to walk away with the job. Me and maybe three other guys.

But I was leaving them in a tough spot because I wanted to run away.

I was taking the coward’s way out, and I did hate myself a little for it. It hadn't been easy to get through the hiring process to begin with, then I’d had to work hard to prove myself as a chef, to my colleagues in the kitchen and the management. In my time working at the hotel, I’d built up a rather nice nest egg in my bank account. In fact, the biggest hit it took since I got hired, was my parents’ last anniversary gift and the two bottles of wine I’d recently replaced.

For the first time, I even had my own car. It was a second-hand car, unlike the ones lined up at the garage in the Thompson mansion, but I’d bought it with my own money and I’d been so proud. I had my own place, though it was at the hotel, and I paid my own bills.

I was a grown up. Somehow, Trent—in that talented way he had—easily turned me right back into that insecure teenage girl I used to be, even though I would be thirty in a few more years.

Damn you, Trent, I growled in my mind. Just… damn you!

Not that I could lay all the blame on him. I should have been avoiding him in the first place. And even though I was tipsy at the time, I never should have thrown myself at him like some desperate groupie.

That was a mistake.

I worked through the morning tirelessly, getting more done than I thought I would. There was still plenty to do, but I wanted to clock out early so I could go back to my room and finish packing.

Fuck, I thought to myself, as I dragged myself over to the staff room. I need to give a proper goodbye to my parents.

I’d stopped by the mansion and slept over a few times. Lucky for me, Trent wasn’t there anymore, so there was no risk of me running into him. I hadn't explained to my parents how not only was I transferring, but I would be going far away. Mom just thought it was a trip, but she had no idea yet that the move could be more permanent. I’d run into Emily a couple of times as well, but we hadn't talked, so she also didn’t know.