The Pretend Fiancé

Chapter 1

This room was trashed. Soda was all over the walls and pizza was on the ceiling. An empty bottle of wine lay on the bed. Cleaning up a room is such a state of disarray was going to take forever, making it difficult to keep me on schedule. Not to mention the gross factor!

So was the life of a housekeeper…

This wasn’t the most glamorous profession, that was for sure. Bella James was talking to herself again. More like muttering and letting out a few choice words. Sometimes, things needed to be said even if no one else was around. For instance, “How does a condom even get on top of a ceiling fan? Were they excitedly jumping on the bed afterward and it just flew off or did she throw it in disgust or what?” She groaned as she used her disposable glove to pick up the offending article that had been flung off a fan blade when she turned on the light switch.

She had been working as a housekeeper at the Golden Oaks Motel by the interstate for the last year and a half. The money wasn’t bad, considering the fact that she was paid for forty hours a week regardless of how many hours she worked. Now, initially, that might have been a bad deal when she started out and logged fifty or more hours cleaning the rooms and was still paid for forty and nothing more. But business had slowed down, and it gave her time to work on her night classes and to pick up a couple of cashier shifts at the convenience store to pay for extra luxuries like toothpaste and deodorant.

Bella had already been able to complete two semesters of a bachelor’s degree in business just doing night classes. She had no intention of cleaning motel rooms forever. It was just a good stepping stone until her real life started. She finished wiping off the room, sprayed some air freshener and loaded a fresh roll of toilet paper on the empty spool.

She finished cleaning the bathtub.

There.

There’s nothing like a sparkling clean tub. This job encouraged her to be a perfectionist.

It took roughly six minutes for her to peel off dirty sheets, stuff them in her cart, and fully remake the bed with clean sheets.

I mean, quality was not what this place was for. It was for tired OTR truckers and illicit hookups. Not a demographic deeply motivated by four-star accommodations. Bella kept notes on all of her methods and improvements to efficiency. Someday, she could incorporate similar strategies into a profession that didn’t require her to dispose of people’s used condoms. That was a legit career goal if there ever was one.

When she was done with the room, she smiled. She had turned the filthy room into a beautiful haven. It sparkled in shining glory.

She did her last three rooms for the day and went to the main office to clock out. Maybe she’d see if they put out any more Dum-Dum suckers in the bowl by check-in. Bella could totally go for a watermelon Dum-Dum after she washed her hands like Lady Macbeth about thirty times after the whole ceiling fan incident.

The manager was there. Bryan was usually at the video casino across the parking lot, but today he was there. She nodded to him and hoped that he’d get a phone call so he’d leave her alone. He was smarmy in the way that frustrated low-level manager guys tended to be, in her experience. Like, oh you are a subordinate, let me dazzle you with my majestic dollar store cologne and lick my lips in a way that suggests you’d be better off throwing yourself in a wood chipper than hanging out in my office.

“Bella, wait,” he said.

The creep had brushed up against her and groped her ass a few times too often to be trustworthy. She stood by the check in desk, her hand casually beside the ring-bell-for-service that would summon Mavis’ weekend replacement from the break room if needed.

“Yes, Mr. Donner,” she said.

He frowned. “I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

“What is it?”

“My dad sold The Golden Oaks. After next week, we’re shutting down.”

Her jaw dropped. “What?”

“This joint is about to be converted to a truck stop with showers, a diner and adult entertainment on two stages,” he said far more blissfully than she would like.

“Doesn’t this mean we’re all out of a job?”

“Most of you, yeah. Me? I’ve got an application in to manage the all girls revue at the new joint.”

“Ah. Best of luck to you, then. What kind of severance is there, since we’re not even getting two weeks’ notice?”

“You’ll get your wages up until the day we close. Then you get our best wishes for your future success,” he said, seeming rather pleased with his turn of phrase as he stuffed his hands in his pocket. “Unless you can dance. We’ll be booking headliners from out of town, but you can show me what you got, and I bet you could star in the opening act with a body like that.”

“Thank you anyway, but no,” she said evenly, knowing that she needed the next week’s paycheck more than she needed to slap the douchebag into next month.

“If you change your mind, give me a call, babe.”

“Right,” she said, heading out the door quickly.

Shit!

This wasn’t good at all! What was she going to do on such short notice? She knew panicking wouldn’t help. She’d pound the pavement until she got another job.

So that meant her main source of income would expire in about five working days. There were no openings at the convenience store beside part-time, and she needed full-time money for survival and college classes. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t give up on school just because money got tight.

Bella couldn’t ever give up on her degree. It was her dream to become a college graduate. No matter what happened, she wasn’t going to let go of her aspirations. No way was she going to throw in the towel. If anything, it made her want to fight even harder. Because one way or another, she was determined to get a college degree.

She’d take extra part-time jobs. She’d donate plasma for the fifty bucks. This wasn’t how she planned to live the rest of her life, and she’d have to fight her way out. A high school diploma didn’t go far. Her dad, the drunk with the gambling problem, hadn’t exactly socked away five figures for his daughters to have college educ

ations and a better life.

So it was up to her, and up to her sister Madison, to work hard and make it on their own. She told herself it was noble. It made her tenacious. She still wished that something could be easy for a change. That life could just freaking work out without having to think about nobility and tenacity to make up for the ramen noodles and off-brand hot dogs. She was pretty sure those hot dogs were made out pig toenails. Except pigs had hooves, so probably hooves and snouts. She grimaced. She could do this. She just had to look online for some jobs to apply for. Central Arkansas wasn’t exactly the land of milk and honey, so if she had to move for work, it wouldn’t suck.

She called her sister, Madison.

“I got canned,” Bella said.

“What? You finally did it, didn’t you? You slapped that pervert boss of yours? Girl, I am so proud of you!”

“I wish. No, the hotel is being sold. Now I have to find another job.”

“Don’t sweat it. We always land on our feet. And all this adversary in our lives, well, it teaches us character. Following our dreams may take unexpected turns, but we can’t give up. Great things take time.”

“I know. I’m far too stubborn to let this stop me.”

“And that’s why I love you. Taking every step forward takes courage. You got balls.”

“Yeah, but it’s going to take me forever to get my degree.”

“Dreams don’t have an expiration date on them.”

“I know, sis. Thanks for the pep talk. I’ll call you later when I get home, and we’ll talk more. Okay?”

“Okay. And remember, nothing worth having comes easy. So don’t give up.”