As I wake everything seems off, I have a huge headache. As I open my eyes I realize I am not in my bed. I throw the covers off and look for my shoes. I find them and grab my purse. Then I crack open the door and nobody is in here. I look at the time; shit its 9:04. I have to be in the lobby ready to work at 10.

I then rush out of the door and to the elevator; I take the employee elevator then go out the back door and head to my Manager dorm. As I get there I throw off all my clothes and start the shower, as I get out I grab my undergarments, then go look in my closet. I throw on a dark blue wrap dress and then I blow dry my hair and put it in a high pony. Then I put light make up on, I grab some medicine out and take it with a glass of orange juice. I then eat a piece of toast and a packet of apples quickly. By the time I look at my watch it says 9:48. Shit, I throw on a pair of heels to match my dress. With that I grab my keys and purse, lock my door and run out the door.

As I get in the Tres Spades, I walk straight to the back of my office. I throw my stuff down and clock in at 9:59. That was to close for my own good. As I come out of my office, I look and see Erika picking on Amie again. Does this girl ever stop and in the main lobby of all places. I fix my name tag and say to Erika "Go in the employee room, I will talk to you in a minute. This behavior has to stop, go now."

She looks at me wide eyed and says "Yes ma'am" with that Erika goes to the employee room.

I look at Amie and say as I put a hand on her shoulder softly "Listen, you can't let her get to you. You are a hard worker and do a very good job. Keep working as hard as you do and I am sure you will get noticed" I finish with a wink.

She smiles and I remove my hand as she bows "Thank you Ms. Baucom. You're right, I won't let her or the twins get to me."

With that she walks in to the employee room and I stand there with a smile on my face. I could make a good fighter out of her.

I must of stood there for a second then walked in where all the maids where sitting and waiting. Mr. K is letting me do it by myself this morning I see. I smile at the girls "Good morning girls!"

They all give me happy good mornings! Then I say "Alright I would like to tell you 2 things before we start our amazing day! First I will be picking a new maid by tonight to be the maid who cleans the VIP penthouses."

The girls mostly Erika whispering how it will be her, she will be upset when it isn't her. I then say "It will be my choice, I have seen how hard you work and today at the end of the day if you are chosen, then you will know if you are the VIP penthouse maid. Second, I want to thank you all for your hard work, so this afternoon when you all leave you will get a treat! Just because you didn't get VIP maid doesn't mean we don't appreciate your hard, so thank you for all that you do! Plus you have to come back for the party tonight at 9."

They all cheer and I say "I will see you all this afternoon at 6! Meeting over! Enjoy work lady, call me if you need me."

They all are cheering and walking out, I almost forgot about Erika. I follow her out into the lobby and I say "Erika, please come here."

I see Baba and the rest of the guys standing talking to Mr. K, I see them listening and looking at us as I talk to her.

I say as I look her in the face "Erika would you like to tell me anything?"

She stutters "Ms. Baucom-m ab-out what?"

I then say with a smile on my face "Listen this is a team all the maids are in our team. How can we be a proficient team if we work against others on our own team? The answer is you can't. I don't care if you don't want to be friends with certain people but you need to be respectful to them. Do you understand? I want this to work out for everyone, I won't be your manager for long, but understand if this bullying continues I will suspend you. Do you understand, Erika?"

She gives me a scared look but then shakes her head yes and says "Yes, Ms. Baucom I understand."

I give her a big smile "Great! Now have a good day and work hard!"

She looks uncertain of what to do, I then say "Erika, I gave your room assignments. Maybe you left them on the table? You can go look but get to work straight after, okay?"

She gives me a smile "Yes, Ms. Baucom."

She then walks away; I try to stop the dirty look that comes to my face. Then I hear someone yell across the lobby "Ms. Baucom!"

I then look the direction of my name so does everyone else in the lobby. She runs to me and says "My dear here you are! You look quite beautiful!"

I smile at her "Mrs. Peters, you are looking great as well. What brings you in today? Looking for another store?"

She smiles "No my dear! Tomorrow is me and my husband's 30th anniversary and I want to take him out and surprise him tonight!"

Wow. They have been together 30 years, that's amazing and sweet. I hope I find love like that. I smile "30 years? That is amazing, what is your great secret of staying together? You must have gotten married young then?"

She smiles at me "We were 18 when we married, and the great secret is know that everyone makes mistakes and are not perfect. Always do the best for both of you, there is no I in marriage."

I give her a smile about to say something "But don't worry dear! You will find someone great! Now where are some good places darlings?"

I smile and I ask her to follow me, I then tell her some fancy places. She smiles and I ask "Would you like me to call and make a reservation for you?"

She smiles "Yes please do, for eight tonight!"

I smile and say one second as I dial the number lady answers in Japanese and I say then "Hello, I would like to make a reservation for 8 o clock please?"

She says "Yes ma'am we have a time open at that time. How many for your reservation ma'am?"

I smile "Two please; by chance do you have an American speaking waiter?"

She says nicely "Yes ma'am and I will reserve a table and yes we do would you like one?"

I smile "Yes Please, for a Mrs. Peters at 8pm tonight, thank you!"

After the phone call, I tell her everything went well. They have reservations and she says "Thank you dear, will you do me a huge favor?"

I try to keep the suspicion out of my voice as I smile at her "Yes, Mrs. Peters what is it?"

She pats my hand and says "Will you help me pick out a dress? I want to look wonderful for my husband and I would love a young person's advice."

I smile because that is sweet "Of course, I will meet you in the boutique in 20 minutes? I will help you find something perfect, sound good?"

She smiles as she walks away "Great 20 minutes, Ms. Baucom."

As she walks away before anyone else can talk to me, I go into my office, shut the door and make a cup of coffee. I drink it fast and then walk out and go check on the girls upstairs well Erika mostly and she is doing work as far as I have time to tell. I can't believe it's almost 12:30.

I go down to the boutique next and help her pick out a beautiful red dress that looks amazing on her. She then makes me try on this beautiful dark blue dress that sparkles on the sleeves and the bottom, and that has a split the goes up to mid-thigh on one leg. I looked amazing, the blue looked great on my skin and made my eyes shin, my hair looked amazing. I smile at myself in the mirror. Wow did I look smoking.

Mrs. Peters says "My dear you look amazing! You will go with me to the casino two nights from now?"

I smile "Sure Mrs. Peters, I would enjoy that!"

I then change out of the dress and she snatches it out of my hand "Well my dear, you can wear to the casino! My treat!"

That dress is 40,000 dollars, I know I have billions but still I hardly know this woman. I say "Mrs. Peters, this dress is too expensive! Please-"

She says "Shush dear, I'm getting it for you regardless."

I smile then realize I'm not going to win "Yes ma'am thank you."

We walk out and she says "I will be back around 7, will you do my hair and makeup dear?"

I smile "It would be an honor, meet me in the lobby at 7."

She grabs her bags and then we walk through the lobby as she says "I will hold on to this dress till Saturday night okay?"

I smile "Yes Mrs. Peters see you tonight!"

As she walks out, I smile because I am tired but being around her makes me want to try and live a happy life. I look at my watch and see it's already 3pm. Shit, I didn't take a break and it's too late now. I run to my office and then I call Amie down; I sit there drinking a cup of coffee as she walks I say "Please shut the door and sit down."

She does and has a scared look on her face. I smile as I say "Congrats Amie, Mr. K and I both believe you will be perfect for being the maid who cleans the penthouses. After we are done talking, Mr. K will talk to you. I am happy you got this, don't disappoint us!"

She says happily "Me?! I got it!?"

I smile "Yes you did, all the hard work is worth it."

She smiles "Thank you so much, Ms. Baucom!"

I then say "You're welcome! Now go talk to Mr. K!"

She smiles and hops out the door going to look for Mr. K. I was about to use the restroom when my pager starts going off and I see it's Eisuke page and it says "Come up stairs, you have 10 minutes."

I grab my bag and lock my office then rush to the elevator. I get to the penthouse in minutes and walk in as I see all the guys sitting there, I bow.

Eisuke then says "Ms. Baucom, 5 minutes on the dot. Hmm. I'm surprised you're functioning so well today, after last night."

I smile "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger or so they say."

Baba then says "You were flirting with the bartender and were going to take him home? What's wrong with me Cora?"

I tense because I try not to roll my eyes "I wasn't going to take him home, I was perfectly fine."

Soryu then huffs "Yes because the way you were acting was perfectly fine."

I then say forgetting who I was talking to a bit angrily "What is your problem? I was just having fun night."

Then my phone goes off before he can answer and I pick it up and say in Japanese "Hello, this is Ms. Baucom how can I help you?"

The lady says "Ms. Baucom, Hello this is Lisa from the Downtown Bakery; I just wanted to make sure you were aware that your order is ready to be picked up!"

I smile as I look at my watch and see its 4:45, shit! Where is time going today? I then say "Of course thank you for reminding me, I shall be there in 20 minutes to pick up my order thank you."

As I hang up, I look at Eisuke "May I be excused? I have on order to pick up. Would you like anything from the downtown bakery?"

Eisuke then says "You bought the whole entire maid staff pastries from Downtown bakery?"

I smile "Yes, don't worry I used my own money for it. I just wanted to show them that they are appreciated for all their hard work."

He then gives a weird look to the guys and says "Your excused, Ms. Baucom."

I bow and then start walking out as I hear Eisuke say "You plan on following her Soryu? She is an asset to our deal."

I then take a deep breath as I go through the doors; I go down and grab my purse then hop in a cab! It takes 20 minutes to get there and I asked the cab to wait here so I could get a ride back.

I go in and get my order which is two huge big boxes and they have them in huge bags. I hurry to the cab and get in, put the bags on the other side. I hop in for another 20 minutes and arrive pay the cab driver and hop out with my two big bags.

As I walk in, I walk straight to the back because it's 5:49 now. I place the boxes down, use the restroom and wait for everyone to come down. By 6 Amie, is the last one to come in. I smile and say "Welcome back guys, I hope you all had a great day! The new VIP maid is Amie!"

Everyone cheers, except Erika and the twins who have shocked looks on their faces. I smile "Now, I have a treat for everyone from downtown bakery because of how hard you guys work!"

They got all happy because the downtown bakery is known for good cakes, treats and goodies! After they eat their treats and tea, as Mr. K was about to walk out the door, Erika comes up and throws a full cup tea at my face "It was supposed to be me!"

Then she runs out, I stand there for a second as I dab the tea of my face. I smile "Good job ladies! Remember if you ever need to talk, you may always come to me! Remember to be here tonight for the party, you have a 3 hour break. See you tomorrow." As I walk out I walk out with my K who says "Good way dealing with that Cora, you make a great manager. I will talk to her and she will get some sort of punishment."

I give a small smile "I don't wish her to get fired."

He smiles "She won't be fired this time, she better be glad Mr. Ichnomiya didn't see it or she would have been fired on spot."

With that he walks away to the front desk, I see the tea soaked where my breast are. Great and you can see it because it's dark blue fabric. Seriously, as I look to my left I see the bartender from last night and I try to hide my face and walk to my office. Then I hear "Excuse me, Ma'am?"

I stop and whisper shit. I turn around slowly; I see it's the handsome bartender. "Hey, I never got your number the other night. Here's my number, call me anytime. I see you're having a bad day, but you should know you still look beautiful."

He kisses my hand as I blush at his complement. Then he walks away. I stand there looking at him walk away, I then rush into my office and wipe my chest of the best I can. I see I still have a blazer and I put it on to cover the spilt tear that got on my outfit.

It's 7:00 clock now, I walk out to the front desk and see Soryu giving me a dirty look and standing there with the rest of the guys. I roll my eyes at him; I still want to know what his problem is.

I stand there at the desk checking people in and getting dirty looks from Soryu till 7:30. I realize that Mrs. Peters has still not come. This is strange, not only has that it started to pour outside but storm as well. I walk to Eisuke and bow "Do you need anything else done before I leave sir?"

He looks at me and says "No, Ms. Baucom. You're excused."

I then clock out and grab my stuff, then start walking to the door when I see a Mrs. Peters running from the elevator "Darling wait, I need you for a second."

I turn around with a smile on my face as I look down at my watch "Mrs. Peters, your reservation was at 8! It is 7:45 now."

She gives me a sad smile "I know, I just got news he got stuck in a meeting till late tonight."

I smile because that sounds like a lie to me "Well, I can cancel when I get back to my apartment!"

She smiles at me "No need dear, you are going with me to a party tonight."

I smile at her "What party are you talking about Mrs. Peters?"

She gives me a big smile "I.V.C of course, my dear."

Oh shit.

To be continued