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“Get a real one then. You shouldn’t need to rely on me for anything.”
“That’s bullshit! Our children live here,with me. They have needs, and it’s both our job to take care of them,” I snapped harshly, bringing my hand to my forehead in frustration. “You know what…never mind, I’ll save it for court. Here’s Cole.” I pulled the phone away from my ear. I could hear him yelling something, but I didn’t care. “Here, bud, here’s your dad.”
I handed Cole the phone and walked away, trying to calm down. In the background, I could hear Cole saying hello and talking about camp. I couldn’t be there when his little heart broke; no matter how Logan told Cole he wouldn’t be able to make it, his son’s heart would break into a thousand tiny pieces.
* * *
I’d beenat my job for a week. One week and I was ready to quit. It wasn’t even the non-stop cleaning that drove me crazy, or the fact that I wasn’t a customer service agent. It was the fact that all my superiors besides the woman who’d interviewed me were eighteen years old.
Eighteen and correcting me. Asking me if I knew how to do a change deposit, or if I knew how to Windex.How to Windex?I’d nearly choked the child.
They complained about their parents, about their boyfriend and girlfriends, about their college dorm life—and I was about to have a stroke. I was sure of it. I could not handle another day.
On one shift in particular, a hot-as-sin DILF stepped up to the counter while everyone else was on a break or cleaning for once, so I moved over to answer his question. It was a simple inquiry about pool times and a few reservation policies, but for some reason one of the children from the back—one who was supposed to be on a legally mandated break—stepped out and interrupted our conversation to insert her own opinion on the pool policy.
The guy smiled, kind of laughed a little, and then gave me a look and turned to walk away. It wasthelook, the one that saidIt would have been nice to continue this flirtatious banter, but this young teenager just ruined it.
I nearly throat-punched her.
Now, with things a bit easier for me as far as knowing policies and how things worked, I was working the front counter more frequently. And because I was much better at talking to the customers—because, you know, it’s what I was supposed to do in this job role—I was asked to stick closer to the phone and to help during the rush.
It was Friday evening. Streaks of pink and gold lit up the light blue sky, the air still sickly sweet and humid. My children were with their father for once, and because of that one tiny little fact, I was in a good mood. I didn’t care that I had driven to meet Logan halfway, or that he had been late, forcing me to be tardy in getting to work. I didn’t care that I hadn’t had time to curl or straighten my hair or put on makeup. I just simply didn’t care today. I was a mess, but at least my kids were happy and spending time with their dad, and I was earning a paycheck.
I was ringing up a bottle of wine for some guy wearing a fanny pack when three huge groups of people squeezed in through the double doors, all talking at once about picking up group passes and what they’d need to access the facilities on the resort.
The group was a mixture of men and women, but they all had on some kind of camera equipment, backpack, or visor. They seemed excited, talking a million miles a minute about someone arriving soon and the tip they’d received about it. I tried to ignore them and hoped they’d all leave soon, because they were already getting on my nerves.
“Excuse me.” A willowy man with light red hair walked up, lowering his head to ask his question.
“How can I help you?” I smiled, wishing Judy were around to see my fucking excellent customer service skills. All of it wasted on cleaning every square inch of this stupid place.
“Yeah, uh…if we were to ask about the arrival of a certain person, could you tell us anything about that?” His lips slung to the side, as if he was trying to flirt.
Lord help me.
“We tried the main lodge, but they told us our best chance of catching this person would be to buy guest passes and check out the sports centers, or the spa. We think he’s going to want to swim, and since there are three pools, we wondered if you’d be willing to help us out?”
He placed his hand on the counter, inching closer. The group behind him had quieted while watching our interaction.
“Sorry, but no. We can’t and won’t disclose that information. I’m not even aware of anyone coming to stay here that would warrant this—”
“They’re here!” someone yelled.
“Just saw a tweet about them checking into one of the massive villas, over on the edge of the golf course. But they were seen wearing swim gear, heading this way!” A girl wearing thick-rimmed glasses jumped up and down.
Who was here?
I didn’t have time to sit and watch the latest trending title on HitFlix as often as other people, and the idea of going to the movies was laughable. I just didn’t have the time, or the extra funds. So, I usually missed out on celebrity sightings. We’d get them somewhat often here, the mountains drawing in stars looking to hike or ski, and a few movies had been filmed here over the years. Then there was the fact that the headquarters for the HitFlix film studios happened to be just a few hours away in Portland, but, like I said, I usually missed out if a celebrity popped up.
“We’ll scare him off if we’re all standing here. We need to get the passes and scatter,” another girl muttered, pulling out her large camera and checking the settings.
Suddenly the horde of camera-wielding people was shoving their way to the counter, requesting guest passes. Each pass was seven dollars, for one day. Absolutely nuts.
I rang up each person, probably more slowly than they were hoping for based on the way they were looking over their shoulders every few seconds, but I was still new and figuring out all the functions on the computers.
The red-headed guy piped up, asking the few remaining photographers, “How do you even know they were headed toward this sports center? There are three…”
Thoughtlessly, I spoke up, answering him and addressing the group. “The villas are closer to this center. The hotel is closer to the north center, and the lodge is closest to the east pool. This one is bigger and has all the cool bike and paddle board rentals, not to mention we have the indoor tennis courts and sauna.”
