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CHAPTER1
Mia
Iflip all the lights on and squint at the large expanse of the glass-enclosed double shower to make sure the entire surface is as sparkling clean as the rest of the gigantic marble master bathroom seems to be, now that I'm done with it.
The new resident of this suite had his luggage delivered this morning but hasn't been by yet, so I can't blame the bathroom conditions on him, but damn, the thin haughty guy with diplomatic immunity that was here up until yesterday sure trashed this place.
You'd think people willing to pay a couple of grands or more to rent a suite here would be refined and neat enough not to behave like monkeys on coke. You'd be wrong.
I shake my head.
There are still a couple of drops of water sliding over the side of the colossal soaking bath, and I wipe them down, nodding to myself.
Perfect.
Less than perfect would be unacceptable here, and I've learned to take pride in keeping the suites in pristine conditions, even for undeserving guests.
This might not be a forever kind of job to me, but what I make from it allows me to pay for grad school on my own in a safe environment, and I can't help but feel gratitude. Not every girl with only a couple of years of experience in a cleaning service ends up working at a luxury hotel like the Mandarin Oriental. I count myself lucky I made such a good impression on the housekeeping manager. I had to go to my fair share of interviews, and others weren't too keen on giving me a job. Mycondition,as they call it, can, unfortunately, be off-putting to a lot of people.
Sometimes, I wish I could tell them that it'stheircondition, not mine, that is creating all theoff-puttingvibe they seem to feel around me, but I know that wouldn't be kind. My parents, and then my brother, raised me better than that, so whenever I'm sharing air with someone who'soff-putby me, I just brave their discomfort as best as I can and pretend not to notice their staring.
It's annoying how I can go from feeling completely normal around friends and family at Gallaudet or at my brother's place, to being an utter oddity everybody stares at when I'm out and aboutin the real world, and they suddenly realize that I'm notlike them.
It was like this in Maine, and things didn’t change in Cali either. It's still like this here in Washington D.C. as well. Even after being here for seven years and falling in love with this city, I still feel the same way.
I wish I could say I'm used to it, but I guess you can never really become used to being considered different, especially when you feel like you're exactly like everybody else, and you know you're right.
That's another reason why I feel so lucky I got this job six months ago. The cleaning crew and the rest of the staff only took a few weeks to get used to working with me, thanks to my supervisor playing mediator with everyone and making them realize they didn't need to walk on eggshells around me. Plus, my job description minimizes the need to speak to strangers almost down to zero since room attendants are supposed to be invisible in such a high-class hotel so that the guests can feelat home and yet be pampered by unseen hands at the same timeas my supervisor says.
It doesn't get much more silent and invisible than I am, so I'm golden around here.
I turn the lights off and go check on the guest powder room.
Floor: okay. Towels: okay. Appliances: okay.
I slowly walk around the rest of the suite, making sure everything in the massive 112 square meters space is spotless, warm, and inviting.
I inspect the living room and bedroom carefully. This morning we had to replace the freaking curtains all around the suite, aside from one of the panes of the large circular window overlooking the tidal basin, and I need to make sure there's no trace left of the work that had to be done. The golden spread of taffeta and silk of the drapes and the comforter placed on the humongous king-sized bed look brand-new and undisturbed, and the smell of the burnt two-thousand-thread-count fine Egyptian cotton sheets has finally left the suite even if it took almost twenty-four hours to air it out.
We also had to replace the chaise longue in the master bedroom. There was no way the damage to the upholstery could have been repaired.
I stop to look beyond the wall of windows, and I feel a small smile tug at my lips. The view sure is breathtaking from up here. We're on the top floor, and the gaze is unimpeded wherever you look. Everything from the Washington Monument to the Jefferson Memorial is in view of the suite. My eyes linger on the large expanse of crystalline water; the mirror image of the Memorial ripples in the gentle blue waves as the sun sparkles over the basin.
It still baffles me that someone could trash such a lovely place. Penny, my supervisor, says it's going to take me at least another six months to get used to how very much off their rocker rich people can be.
I sigh and move over to the breakfast area. Everything's good over here.
I open the glass doors leading to the balcony and walk outside to make sure there's no trash or any other nasty surprise there, my mind focused on the work that's waiting for me in the presidential suite once I'm done with this floor.
They had a party that lasted long into the night there, and they must have made a total mess of things, If I had to go by the expression of pure relief I saw on the face of one of the other girls assigned to the top floors when I started my shift just as she was explaining to Penny how she had done everything but this suite and the Presidential one before she had to clock-out. Yeah, right.
Sometimes, the early afternoon shifts just plain suck, but as a full-time student, my mornings are generally full of lectures, exams, and papers discussions, so I can't really work any other hours.
As I inspect the small sitting area on the balcony, I feel my phone vibrating in the pocket of my uniform.
It's a text from my brother.
Jared:
