SEE THAT? A DOUBLE STORY LAUNCH THINGY.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. The title for this story comes from Sigh No More, by Mumford & Sons. I do not own that. And it has no real relation whatsoever to the story, actually. I just like the song.
-x-
one foot in the sea, one on the shore
I woke up at exactly six am.
On the first day of summer.
Oh, my god, why couldn't I do this for the past nine months?
I just lay there for five more minutes before getting up and taking a bath. I slipped on a pair of shorts, a white shirt, and a pair of flip-flops and decided to go down. When I got to the lobby of the hotel, I immediately went to the Front Desk where Inez, the Front Office Manager, was giving out three room cards to a stylish lady with dirty blonde hair.
"Oh, my, Massie! Why are you awake so early?" she asked, shock flashing across her face. It is actually quite shocking to see me awake so early, since she usually has to give me three wake-up calls, and occasionally has to send Miriam, my favorite housekeeper, to shake me awake.
I shrugged. "I don't know. Is Isaac there?" I said, turning my face to the door behind the Front Desk.
"Yes," she said.
"Thanks," I replied, walking to the far side of the long desk to the entrance, and then inside the door of Isaac's office. Isaac was the General Manager of the whole hotel.
"Massie? It's seven am! Why are you awake?" he asked when I walked in.
"I have no idea," I answered, sitting down on the comfortable chair in front of his mahogany desk.
"Well, then, what brings you here?"
"I'm going out with Dylan tomorrow," I said. I never have to ask permission from Isaac. He always lets me go. Except if it sounds dangerous, or if it's illegal.
"And where will you be going?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I'm not exactly sure. But it's summer, so maybe we'll go tourist watching or something," I said. "We're going to the beach, too," I added. Dylan, my redheaded best friend, and I love to go tourist watching.
"Okay," he said, picking up his pencil. "I assume she'll be coming by later? Sleeping over?" I nodded. "I'll get things ready."
"Thanks, Isaac," I said, standing up and hurrying out into the spacious and brightly lit hotel lobby.
I headed over to the gift shop, where my friend, Alicia Rivera, works. I usually hang around her on days where I stay inside the hotel the whole day. She's really nice. And really sweet.
"Hey, Alicia," I said, walking behind the counter. I open a small cupboard under the counter and pull out a bean-bag chair that I stashed there a long time ago.
"So, first day of summer, huh? Awake at seven am? Very much unlike you," she said as I sat down.
"Hahaha," I said sarcastically. "Does your last shift still end at three?"
"Yep," she said, organizing a few chocolate bars on the counter (the gift shop also sells candy). Alicia usually works from three pm to six pm on weekdays, and then from seven am to twelve noon and from one pm to three pm on weekends and summer days. Alicia actually likes working. She says it gives her a sense of pride and she doesn't like lying around all day, doing nothing.
"Hang out with me and Dylan," I said, wiggling my eyebrows at her. "And you can go out with us tomorrow, after your last shift. Or, if you want, I can talk to Isaac to let you out early."
"Tempting. Maybe," she said, flitting around, fixing up the things behind her while nobody was still inside the gift shop. "I'll go later, but I'm not sure about tomorrow."
"Come on! It's summer!"
"Good morning, ma'am!" she suddenly said, straightening up and ignoring me. "What can I help you with?"
"I would like one of those magazines, please. Vogue. June," said a clear female voice. Sighing, I picked out the correct issue from a stack under the counter and handed it to Alicia. "Here you go. That would be four dollars and ninety-nine cents, please."
"Keep the change," I heard the lady say.
"Thank you!" Alicia said as I heard the lady's heels click-clacking away.
"How much?" I asked. I always like hearing how much Alicia gets from her tips. Alicia has really thick and shiny raven hair, chocolate brown eyes, and olive skin. She's really pretty; she's half-Spanish, and looks very exotic. And I think, sometimes, people get so attracted to her that they leave her nice, fat tips. Though, that does seem kind of superficial.
"Two dollars," Alicia smiled. And then straightened up again as another customer walked in. I grabbed one of the magazines under the counter, and groped around the countertop for a chocolate bar.
"Massie!" Alicia said as my fingers wrapped around a chocolate bar. "You're going to freak out the customers!"
"Alicia, that's my lifelong goal," I said. See, people don't see me from where I station myself behind the counter. So, they get freaked out when a random hand just shoots up and grabs something off the counter. Sometimes, I genuinely don't know that there are people there. Sometimes, I do it for fun. This time was the former, though. "I thought he left! I thought there was nobody there!"
"There isn't. But what if someone just walks in?" she asked.
"Then you'll look crazy for talking to yourself," I said, biting the Snickers bar I just opened. She ignored me as another customer walked in.
Five customers later, I finish skimming through the magazine.
"I need to pee," Alicia said, looking down at me. "Will you watch the counter?"
"Sure," I said, not bothering to stand up.
"Massie."
"I will!"
She left. I didn't stand up. I'm pretty sure I could hear it if anyone walked in. And since I was pretty sure there was no one, I reached up to try and grab another chocolate bar.
"The Thing?" an unfamiliar male voice said, and I shot up in shock. I thought there was no one inside!
"Sorry!" I said. "What can I help you with?" I asked the boy on the other side of the counter. He had a mess of dirty blond hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a white polo with really nice turquoise boat shoes. Rich tourist, probably, since he looks like he actually uses those shoes on an actual boat. He looked about my age.
"I would like a pack of M&M's," he said. "Regular ones."
"Right, okay," I said, grabbing a pack from the shelf behind me. "That'll be…eighty cents, I think," I said, handing him the brown pack.
"Are you sure you work here?" he asked me, eyeing me warily.
"Actually, I don't," I admitted. "The cashier went to the bathroom and asked me to watch. I'm just the person who hangs out behind the counter. Occasionally, the hand makes an appearance and grabs a candy bar from the counter."
He chuckled. "Isn't that bad for business or something?"
"Maybe."
"Hello," Alicia said, sliding in behind the counter. I didn't even notice her walking back in.
"Oh, my god, finally," I said, sighing in relief. "Now I can go back behind the counter, and he can get his M&M's." I turned back to the guy. "Nice talking to you, but I have to go hide again," I said, slinking back down to my bean bag.
"Here's a dollar," I heard him say. "Keep the change."
And suddenly, he was leaning over the counter, looking down at me. "Are you going to hide your name? Because I'm really good at hide-and-seek."
I smiled, my heart kind of pounding harder. "Massie. My name's Massie."
"Derrick Harrington. See you around, Massie." He winked, jumping down from the counter while I tried to slow down my heart.
"My, my, Miss Massie. Looks like you'll be breaking hearts this summer!" Alicia exclaimed.
"Shut up!"
It's quite short. I do believe I could call this a prologue.