AllFreeNovel
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“Christmas? It’ll be fine in the morning, but by the evening it’ll all go to hell.” He shook his head. “People start off wanting to behave and give up by dinner. And the more money they have, the earlier they give up on civility. We once had a fancy midnight Christmas wedding reception in the ballroom and it was a total clusterfuck. Combining bougie people with the holiday, a wedding, and booze was a recipe for the cops being called at least four times. Rich people are the worst.” He started to roll his eyes and then froze. “No offense…”
“None taken. I’m not rich, my family is. And rich people are usually the worst.” She leaned back for a moment. “Though I’m curious what a bougie-ass Christmas wedding reception is like.”
“Eye searing. That’s the best description. They’ve never met subtlety. Everything is red and green and there’s so much of it. Why have one fancy tree when you can have ten? Why have a single poinsettia on the table when you can have an entire garden, coated in glitter? It’s like the Grinch took that bag full of stolen decorations and chucked the whole thing into the ballroom.”
Talia’s laugh curled around him like a silky ribbon. “It’s the glitter that pisses you off isn’t it?”
He nodded. “It gets everywhere. Even if you never step foot in the ballroom, you’re scrubbing it off your ass for a week.”
Talia was still laughing at that image when the waitress came and dropped off their sandwiches. They spent the rest of the meal telling stories and chatting about nothing.
Afterward, she wandered off to film a video and he finished the rest of his shift. Luckily, he had a few employees who lived nearby and who offered to come in and relieve him. Free of responsibility for the rest of the day and excited to spend more time with Talia, he whistled a happy tune and went looking for her.
The break room was empty. Huh. He turned to search elsewhere and walked into Imani, who was padded from the collision by arms full of bedding and towels
“Oh, sorry!” He glanced at his watch. “You’re here awfully early.”
“Yeah, Viv couldn’t make it in so here I am, working a double.” She pointed the linens at him. “I have a present for you.”
“Let me get those.” He took everything out of her arms. “A present for me? What is it?”
“Come on.” She gestured for him to follow as she led him to the employees-only elevator.
“What are we—”
“Just hush.” She took them down to the garden level, where the hotel was in the midst of renovations that had been halted by the storm. It was empty and the quiet was strange. The hall was only half wallpapered and most of the rooms didn’t even have doors yet.
She led him to a room at the far end of the hall that did have a door, and knocked on it before entering.
Inside, Talia sat on a bare mattress on the floor, a laptop in front of her. She looked up and smiled and his heart flipped over and sideways.
“Most of the rooms down here are basically ready to go, except for the furniture and paint.” Imani said. “Oh, and doors. But those are on backorder or something.” She grinned. “So this is currently the garden level luxury suite.” She grinned. “It’s not much, but it’s better than sleeping on the floor or on the break room couch.” She patted the linens he’d taken from her. “These are for you. I already brought down the toiletries.”
Warmth bloomed in his chest. “Thank you for this.”
“I told you I’d pay you back for your help.” She flipped her locs over her shoulder. “Merry Christmas.”
“Thank you so much Imani,” Talia said.
“You know I got you, girl. I can’t even believe you’re here. Your videos helped me through some rough times.”
Talia’s beautiful smile widened. “That makes me so happy.”
Imani tossed some key cards on the mattress. “Just think of it as taking candy canes from a stranger.” She turned toward Gabriel and winked, much to his confusion. “Anyway,” she continued. “I’m out of here. Don’t get into trouble.”
Gabriel didn’t know what to say. He tried to clear his head. “Um, I’ll be here if you need any help tonight.”
“Osvaldo should be able to handle things, but I’ll text you if I need you.” She gave them a wave. “Ho-ho-yes!” she shouted as she departed.
He swallowed and stood there, unsure what to do. His heart was pounding at the thought of actually being alone with Talia. Thoughts rushed at him. The impure kind. What would it be like to slide his hands under that horrible sweater and touch her soft skin. Would she want that?
Her mouth twitched as if she could read his mind, then she patted the mattress and wriggled her eyebrows.
One laugh and his tension melted away. He sat the linens down and joined her. “So you really are famous, huh?”
“Fame is so relative anymore. I really don’t know what I am. But the people who have seen my videos tend to be very fervent in their appreciation for them.”
“I guess so.” He leaned back a little. “She’s the second person to say ‘Ho-ho-yes.’ What’s that about?”
