Maid A Mistake
"Ma, I'm fine." A man groaned with his phone pressed to his ear whilst he grabbed his suitcase from the belt in the airport, kicking his suitcase onto its wheels as he began walking out of the crowded area, "I've been on a plane before." He shook his head, "Many times. Dozens of times." He concluded as he listened to the worry of his mother's voice through his phone, "I gotta get my cab. I'll call you when I get to my hotel room, ok?" He said, eventually hanging up and placing his phone back inside his back pocket.
Every time he travelled away from home, he got the ritual phone calls from his mother. One when he stepped off the plane, another an hour later when she'd assume he'd arrived in his hotel, and multiple throughout the time he was spending away. He loved her of course.
He got in his cab, driving to the hotel he was staying at, handing through some money to the driver before getting out and entering the hotel, strolling up to reception where a pretty blonde woman sat behind. He immediately smiled.
"Hi. I'm here to check into my room." He smiled to her pleasantly.
"Uh huh? And what's the name under?" She asked him.
"Brooks." He said, "Phil Brooks." He said as the woman scrolled through the reservations and nodded once spotting his name.
"You're staying with us for… six weeks?" She raised a brow, a sudden smile appearing at the thought of seeing such a handsome man walk in and out of the hotel for the next six weeks.
"I am indeed." Phil, or Punk to most people nodded.
"Ok. I just need for you to sign a few things with identification, and I'll get you your key." She smiled as Punk nodded, signing whatever documents that needed signed, showing his driver's license, eventually getting his room key along with directions before leaving the reception area and heading for the lift.
He got to his floor, stepping out and following the numbers on the door as he eventually got to his room, sliding the pass key into the door until it glowed green for him to walk in.
After a busy flight, so much on his mind, he couldn't wait to just crash on the bed.
He dumped his suitcase over at the side, tossing the room key on the TV stand, yawning loudly and stretching as he sat down on the bottom of the double bed. He wasn't foreign to hotel rooms. He was probably in hotel rooms more often than he was in his own bed back in Chicago. It was just something he'd gotten used to.
He was about to reach for the remote control when he suddenly heard the toilet flushing from the bathroom, standing up from the bed with confusion as he tilted his head, walking around the corner as he watched what appeared to be a maid walk out of the bathroom.
"Oh my God!" The young girl screamed once noticing him, causing Punk to jump, "When did you…" She looked at his suitcase in the corner, "Uh… I was…" She pointed to the bathroom as he shook his head with confusion.
"You were what? Using my bathroom?" Punk asked her.
"No. I was finishing cleaning it." The young girl assured him, "You see, the couple who stayed in this room last night were late checking out so… I had to leave this room until last." She said as he nodded, "I am so sorry." She shook her head nervously, backing away to the door which seemed much more inviting right now than staying any longer in the embarrassment.
"It's alright." Punk waved his hand, not getting a chance to say much else as the woman had dashed out of the room quickly after apologising. He just shook his head, sitting back down on the edge of the bed and grabbing the TV remote.
"April, are you working tomorrow?" Asked a maid in one of the cupboards alongside the woman whom had just encountered a guest without even realising he was in the room. She was still thinking about it. How embarrassing it was. And as she scrambled through her purse, she didn't even notice her best friend was talking to her.
"April." The woman nudged her.
"What is it, Cass?" April, or AJ to those close to her asked.
"I was asking if you were working tomorrow." Cass said whilst grabbing her coat from the back of the cupboard door.
"Obviously I'm working." AJ shook her head, finally finding her phone, "I'm always working." She shook her head whilst looking at the nineteen missed calls she had from her mother, shaking her head as she tossed her phone back in her purse.
"Hey, what's going on with you?" Cass asked sadly.
"Nothing." AJ shook her head, "I just have a lot of mind." She said.
"I'll say." Cass nodded. She was pale, with burgundy hair which AJ had dyed for her one Friday night in her small apartment. But very beautiful. AJ always said it was impossible to go out with her and feel pretty.
"Are you ready to go?" AJ asked, taking her coat from the back of the cupboard. They were always the last two maids to leave the hotel. Normally because they showed up late, but that was neither here nor there.
"Yeah." Cass smiled, switching the cupboard light off, shutting it over as they left and headed for the elevator, walking by the rooms until one door opened up.
"Excuse me?"
AJ watched as the same man she hadn't heard come into his room popped his head out of the door, "Yeah?" AJ shook her head.
"You… left something behind." He said, sliding out the mop bucket with his foot that he'd found in the bathroom, "You were too busy running away from me." He tried to tease as AJ gulped.
"I am… I am sorry about that, sir." AJ shook her head whilst Cass just smiled a little, "Sorry." She repeated, grabbing the mop bucket as Punk just smiled and shut the door back over.
"Why are you so nice to people?" Cass laughed, following AJ back to the cupboard so she could put away the mop and bucket.
"Because if I'm nice to them, maybe they'll be nice to me." AJ said.
"Honey, c'mon. No one is nice to us in here." Cass reminded her, "I would have kicked that mop bucket back into his room." She said, "But since he was pretty, maybe not."
"I didn't even notice him, I was too busy choking on my own embarrassment." She shook her head, nudging the bucket and mop into the cupboard with her foot and closing the door back over again.
"You're too delicate. I often wonder how you've survived this long in life." Cass teased as AJ just nodded in agreement.
"I often wonder that too." AJ said as they walked back down the corridor towards the elevator, "I can't wait to get home and put my feet up." She sighed tiredly as Cass nodded.
"Yeah, me too." Cass yawned, going down in the elevator as they stepped out and headed by reception.
"Uh, girls." They both heard from their least favourite blonde reception, Nadine.
"Yes?" Cass said precisely, both of them walking over to the desk as Nadine, although looking up at them from her chair, very much looked down on them.
"You were supposed to clean the lady's restroom in the lounge." Nadine told them, "Did you?" She asked, knowing fine well they hadn't.
"No one said." Cass defended.
"I told April this morning." Nadine looked at AJ who gulped, "Forgot? Obviously." She scoffed as AJ sighed.
"I'll… I'll go do them just now." AJ nodded as Cass stopped her.
"No, our shift is finished." Cass said, "They can wait until the morning." She said as AJ gulped.
"Well make sure you actually do them." Nadine shook her head, standing up and walking away into the back office as Cass grunted.
"I hate her." Cass spat, turning around as AJ followed and sighed.
"I completely forgot about it." AJ shook her head.
"We have enough work to do." Cass defended, "Don't let her put you down like that." She said, walking out of the hotel and drawing out a cigarette from her purse.
"Oh, Cass. I thought you had quit." AJ sighed, walking along the sidewalk as she saw her friend light up her cigarette.
"Yeah, well that lasted all of five days." Cass said, "It's the only joy I get out of life. Leave me be." She said as AJ just shook her head.
April Jeanette Mendez was a young woman who resided in New Jersey. She wasn't a maid because she wanted to be. It wasn't her dream. It was just convenient. Every day, she threatened to leave, but every day she'd convince herself it wasn't that bad, and that she had to think of the money, even though the money wasn't great either. But she had Cass. Her best friend whom she met in the hotel when they first started together five years ago.
"What's on the schedule for tonight then?" AJ asked, pausing at the cross road where she normally parted ways with Cass. She would get the train home whilst Cass would get the bus.
"Oh, you know… a bottle of wine, a boxset, pizza if I'm loving myself that extra bit harder." Cass smiled, puffing on her cigarette as AJ coughed in disgust, "Don't be a baby." She teased, "What about you?"
"Probably the same. Minus the wine, and a lot more self-loathing." AJ nodded, "I guess I should probably check on my mom and dad but… it's a tough thought." She shook her head.
"I don't know why you still give them your time." Cass shook her head.
"Because they're my parents." AJ said, "And they need my help." She defended, "I might just wait until tomorrow, I don't know." AJ shrugged.
"If it helps you sleep at night." Cass hummed.
"Nothing helps me sleep at night." AJ shook her head as they stood facing one another, "I better go before I miss my train." AJ nodded.
"Ok." Cass nodded, throwing her cigarette down and stomping on it, placing her hands on AJ's shoulders, "Pills, a bath, pasta, TV in bed. In that order when you go home." She nodded as AJ smiled, "I love you. I'll see you tomorrow." She said.
"I'll see you tomorrow." AJ smiled, watching as Cass ran across the road to the bus stop, almost getting knocked over in the process. She was more like a sister than a best friend, and she was the only sturdy thing in her life.
When AJ got home to her one-bedroom apartment, she dumped her purse down and immediately greeted her black Labrador, Milo, crouching down and giving the dog a cuddle, "Hi, buddy." AJ smiled, "I missed you today." She said, scratching under his chin as he wagged his tail and circled around her lovingly.
She felt like all her life was spent in the hotel or in her apartment. She'd never been very good on a social level, ever since she was a little girl, and was probably a contributing factor in why she never succeeded when trying to get through university. Not to mention… she had no money and neither did her family. She didn't like to use the word poor. But ultimately, she'd been poor for most, if not all of her life.
"Ok, I'm gonna take my pills and we'll get you dinner." AJ smiled, walking through to the kitchen area, taking out her box of pills and popping two out, swallowing them over and then shaking some dried kibble in Milo's bowl for his dinner as he immediately munched his way through it.
She left the kitchen, walking over to the small sitting area where she had dumped her purse, taking out her cell phone again as she saw that the nineteen missed calls she'd had from her mother, had turned into twenty-four.
Maybe some people would assume that was sweet. How needy and thoughtful her mother was. But the calls weren't to have a friendly chat about the weather. The calls were a result of psychological abuse that she continued to bypass for the sake of being a 'good' daughter. They happened every day. Even when her mother knew she was working. She would say it was just her mother being her mother. Others would say it was harassment.
She just shook her head and turned her phone off for the night, throwing it back in her purse and taking a seat on the couch, massaging her temples. Another day was over. And she'd have to do it all over again the next day.
A/N: So I thought this idea up and pieced together a plot which I think could be quite interesting. It's not just gonna be maid falls for hotel guest type story or whatever. I've not even got into much about Punk yet, so I can only assume you're wondering lots about him. Stay tuned for the plot to thicken! REVIEW and let me know what you think!