Page 3 of Housekeeping

2

Laura

“You’re a little late today.”

Janice, one of my coworkers, couldn’t help but point this out. I hated her attitude; she was the kind of person who had the word negativity on her head. I felt it whenever we came into contact. She found a problem with everyone and everything, especially the staff.

We were in the staff area of the hotel, at our lockers where we were changing into our uniforms. There were only a few of us in there, which either meant most of them were already in, or most of them would be later than us.

“It’s not like I’m late for the shift, anyway. I usually just get here a little earlier to eat something before I start work.”

I didn’t offer her any more information than that. At the end of the day, it was none of her business. Even if she felt that she was our boss, she was far from it. She wasn’t simply asking what happened today, it was as if she was interrogating my movement and out of politeness, I was answering her. A trait that Jessi said I needed to get rid of because Janice wasn’t into being nice. She was into trying to get us to lose our jobs. Why? No one knew and no one cared because they were starting to know what she was truly like.

“Well, if you didn’t have anything to eat, you might want to do it quickly. Or not do it at all.”

Her tone made me narrow my eyes. “Why?”

“So far, it’s just rumor, but another maid swore she heard that Mason was preparing for another of his parties today. His friends will be arriving early, and they’ll be staying well into the evening.”

It was expected the moment he came here. He’d held himself back, and I wondered if Trent being around had something to do with it, what with him being the oldest of the Thompson boys and being as strict and serious about work as their father is—the total opposite of Mason the partier.

“Well, that sucks,” I muttered. “But it’s not like we weren’t prepared for this. Let's just hope he and his friends have a little self-control after the last time. I didn’t get details, but I heard his dad threw a fit because they bothered some of the guests.”

“He’s not around to stop him this time,” Janice pointed out.

There was that. Mr. Thompson had stopped coming to work at some point, and the rumors floating around were pretty outrageous. That he had a terminal illness, that he was hitting full retirement and wanted one of his sons to take over working at the main hotel, or that he’d had a heart attack and was dying. They all explained why he’d brought all his sons home, when Trent had never even been back to Charlotte after he left over a decade ago, from what I’d heard.

I’d only just heard the truth from Jessi this morning, but there wasn’t any proof so I just shrugged.

“Maybe his older brother will stop him,” I suggested.

She looked doubtful, and I wasn’t sure I even wanted his help after how he’d treated my friend like shit. But if it meant not having to deal with Mason’s mess, I was willing to be forgiving. Just a bit.

We both went into work mode as we picked up our supplies, then moved to the staff elevators to go to our respective floors. We were supposed to go through the rooms every day, even when they were unused. We did that so the unused rooms were ready to be occupied at any time. It was extra work, but the pay was pretty good. After a year of saving, I could even move into a bigger apartment if I wanted.

The day nosedived hours later when we got the call we were all dreading. We’d only just made it back to our station on the first floor for a short rest.

“Mason is at it again,” someone groaned.

“Oh, I don’t think it’s that bad,” someone else giggled. “I wouldn’t mind a show like last time.”

“If that’s all you’re interested in, then you can do it all yourself,” a third person groused.

A fourth person sighed. “They need at least a dozen of us this time. We’re about that number here, so we might as well all go.”

There was some more grumbling, but we all made our way back up.

Jessi was right, I thought to myself sullenly. I’d jinxed myself.

I had second thoughts about going, but this was part of the job. To be honest, I kind of agreed with the second girl. The parties Mason threw weren’t usually too bad. Besides, I needed some distraction before my anxiety at my best friend’s situation pulled me too far into it. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t make Jessi’s choices for her, and she was a pretty reserved person to begin with, so I knew trying to butt in would backfire on me spectacularly.

“At least it was in his room, this time,” an optimistic voice said. “The last time it was in one of the hotel’s lounges. He’s got a big suite room, but how bad could it be, right?”

With that, a few of the people in the crowd were suddenly a little brighter, and I rolled my eyes.

It was his suite, but if they were still calling a dozen of us it had to be bad. Either that or they were hoping a lot of us would get the job done quicker, so the spoiled brat could still use his room for the night instead of moving to a new one, which he’d done before.

When we finally arrived at his room, we got to see the damage. I’d dealt with him before, but even my jaw dropped.