MARIA
Lidia is tapping her long, pink nails on the desk in front of me.
I’m on a call to an angry guest, who’s found bed bugs in his luggage and is demanding the hotel refunds the cost of his visit. Except there’s no record of him having stayed here and, even if he had, the hotel’s policy is that bed bugs could have been picked up at the airport.
My head aches. Lidia is tilting her head to the side, waiting for me to finish. The tip-tapping of her nails is distracting. Between the ranting of the guy on the phone and the sound of her nails, I want to scream. I swallow down my frustration as the guy rants and then runs out of steam. I seize the moment.
“I’ll double check for you and give you a call back, Mr Pepper. Yes, right away.” I take off my headset and smile at Lidia. She doesn’t smile back.
“I need to speak to you, Maria. In my office in five minutes. Taniz will cover when she gets back from lunch, so meet me once she’s back.” She spins on her heel and glides away, not waiting for a reply. Her suit is immaculate, her hair bouncy, and her figure petite and perfect. In contrast, I have a stain on my blouse, my hair is scraped back into a ponytail to disguise the frizz and I’m six feet tall with what my Mom used to say were statuesque curves.
It’s the seventh of July. Mom’s been missing now for one year and six days. Every morning I wake up and feel good for a split second, and then I remember she’s gone. Literally gone, disappeared into the ether. She took her purse and her coat, a small suitcase and that was it. I’m determined to keep all her plants alive so she can see how much they’ve grown when she comes back.
Ifshe comes back.
Taniz pushes through the door, her face sweaty. “Does Lidia know I’m late?”
I shake my head and her shoulders relax.
“I got you an iced coffee. Queue was insane. Hey - you okay?” Her brow furrows. Taniz is nearly as tall as I am, but she’s willowy where I’m curvy.
“Lidia is on the warpath. I have to go to her office and you know what that means.” I sigh.
Taniz looks at me sympathetically and nods her head. “Did you spell her name wrong again?”
“No way. Lidia with an ‘i’ is burned into my brain now. I can’t actually think what I’ve done wrong but I’m sure she’ll let me know. See you in a sec.” I duck under the counter and out into the hallway that leads to Lidia’s office.
I hate this job. It’s not exactly what I imagined I’d be doing after my stint at college. Of course, I wasn’t going to go straight into making movies, but it was a shock to discover that I couldn’t even get a job at the supermarket next to the movie theater. The Hooray Hotel is the closest our town has to a boutique destination with its shabby-chic furniture and ironic paintings. Except the furniture is falling apart and Lidia’s dad got the paintings in a yard sale.
I open the door of Lidia’s office as she puts the phone down. Her cheeks flush as I walk in, which is weird, since I don’t think I’ve ever seen her blush.
“Sit down, Maria.” Her voice is strangely calm. Almost sympathetic. Usually when I’m anywhere near her office, her tone is sharp.
I squeeze myself into the rickety chair in front of her desk. She has a brass clock on her desk with ‘time is money’ engraved on it. It makes a steady tick-tock sound. She steeples her fingers as we both look at each other. One of the maids is vacuuming and the repetitive swish of the vacuum cleaner back and forth over the carpet makes me sleepy.
Lidia takes a deep breath. “Look, I’m letting you go, Maria. It’s been a struggle and I think we both know you’re not really cut out for reception work. Maybe it will be a relief to you to hear this?”
I open my mouth to reply and she holds up a finger.
“I hadn’t finished. If you leave now, Taniz can cover the rest of the shift. You’ll get paid to the end of the week. I think that’s generous. What did you want to say?” She inclines her head, her fingers tapping on the desk.
I swallow over the lump in my throat. “Are you going to give me a reason, Lidia?”
“We can’t afford to have two receptionists. And Taniz is better than you. So she stays on, and you…” She makes a flying away gesture with her long, perfectly manicured nails.
“I really need this job. Is there anything available part-time?” I hate the begging tone in my voice.
“No. And if there was, I’d probably hire someone else. Come on, Maria. You know you’re not cut out for this work. Your organizational skills are terrible. You’re awkward with the guests. It’s like you’re wearing a mask that doesn’t quite fit you. People can sense you don’t want to be here. You’re so clumsy. And you don’t look right.” She sniffs.
The lump in my throat disappears and is replaced by a fire in the pit of my stomach. The ticking of that stupid clock on her desk seems louder.
“Excuse me? I don’t look right? Tell me more?” I meet her gaze. I have to angle my eyes down to meet hers, but I’m suddenly glad of my height.
Lidia blinks a couple of times. “Your hair is often disheveled. Your clothes seem to acquire creases in them more than normal. Your eyes are a strange color, I know it makes guests feel uncomfortable. It makes me feel uncomfortable. And you’re just too tall. It doesn’t give the right impression.”
I sit up in my chair. “Why don’t you tell me what you really think, Lidia? That you just don’t like me?”
She stares at me blankly. “I’d never be that rude.”