Only Christmas

“You really have no concept of any kind of relationship.”

“I enjoy the relationships I have.”

“You have no relationships beyond work and family,” he says dryly as the plane finally touches down.

“That’s how I like things. Simple.”

I’m ready to get to the hotel and into bed. I’ve been working nonstop for the past two weeks trying to get everything done in order for me to be away from the office for this amount of time. I hate change, and not going into the office every day is a big change for me.

At least I’ll be able to check in at one of my hotels. I do enjoy popping into different locations to make sure things are running as they should be. It’s always a good test for them. More so for my managers who oversee different districts. I don’t do it as often as I used to, but this one is different. Charlotte is the one who is over this branch.

My mom begged me to give Charlotte, her new stepdaughter, this job. She is overseeing three hotels here in Seattle. So far things have been going well from my understanding.

A cold gust of air hits me when I step off the plane. The smell of snow is strong in the air. Why can’t my mother be like other older people and move somewhere tropical?

“Going to be a white Christmas,” Marco says, exiting the plane before me. There is a smile in his voice.

“Great.” Sarcasm drips from that one word.

A black SUV waits yards from the plane. I pull out my phone, seeing a handful of texts from my mother ranging from wanting to set me up on a date to trying to get me to stay at her estate because a storm is rolling in.

I respond, letting her know I landed and we’ll talk tomorrow.

“She’s going to try to set me up,” I say when Marco gets into the SUV with me.

“I told you.”

I rub my hand down my face. This is going to be one long, miserable holiday.

Merry fucking Christmas to me.

2

Aspen

I’ve never seen something so tempting before in my life. The giant fluffy bed is calling me to climb onto it and sleep forever. I’d love to even sleep through the holiday and into the next year. Too bad I know with the new year not much will actually change. If life were only so easy.

My feet are killing me. They are begging me to at least sit for a moment. I have no clue why I thought I’d be able to pull off working Megan’s shifts as well as my own. This is only the fifth time I’ve done it, and my whole body is worn out. All I want to do is sleep at this point. My body is already dreading tomorrow. My first shift starts at seven.

It was a stupid idea that could actually end up getting me fired. I agreed to work her shifts and she would give me half her pay. I know it’s not the best deal, but money is money and I’ll take what I can get at this point. I clock in under her name when it’s her shift, and clean her assigned rooms. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I don’t have the luxury of turning down anything that will help my situation. No matter how hard I try, I’m always making more debt for myself.

A debt that I keep track of in my little notebook. I know no one knows about the rooms I’m staying in, but guilt still gnaws at me that I slip into them and don’t pay. The same goes for some of the food and supplies I’ve taken for myself that are often complimentary for guests. I’ve been trying to keep a tally of it all so I can pay for everything when I get back on my feet.

Being a maid was never my dream job, but it’s work, and it’s allowed me to survive so far. I only got the job because I showed up and begged them not to fire my mother. It was a pointless thing to ask them to do when my mother wasn’t even there for her next shift.

They actually took pity on me and said I could have the job for myself. I’d snatched it up without much of a thought. It was like pulling teeth to get my mother to work back then, so me doing the job myself felt like the perfect solution. It was a stupid plan. Kind of like this new one with Megan.

I had no idea how hard it was going to be to make ends meet all on my own after my mom ditched out on me three months ago. She up and left without a word. Normally she might drop off for a few days, but it’s been months now. Even without working a normal job, she still could pull in some money for the bills. Now with her gone and the landlord having upped the rent, I’m totally screwed.