Chapter 7

Lulu had just finished a test in her last course before the break for summer at PCU. Nikolas had called earlier that morning to see if she wanted to come to dinner on Friday after Carly's wedding. She said sure and made him promise to let her monopolize Spencer for herself. I hardly ever get to see Cameron or Spencer and I am their aunt after all. Plus the new baby that Liz is having, even if it is Jason's he would still let me be an aunt.

She knew that she needed to give Lucky a call to see how things were going. Even though her older brother did not know about Liz, it was like a weird ESP thing was happening and him and Elizabeth were having problems anyway. Personally, Lulu thought that her brother and Cameron deserved better then Liz. Far better, especially after watching her sister-in-law jerk around Jason, Nikolas, Lucky, and Lulu herself.

Liz was a little too self-righteous and thought that everything she did could be justified no matter how much she would object to someone else doing it. She advised Lulu on getting the abortion, but then made no qualms about telling her that abortion was wrong or that Catholics didn't believe in abortion.

I've been Catholic my whole life and I didn't do it because I was lazy and didn't want the baby. I did it because I couldn't protect or take care of the baby. The irony is that Carly was one of the only people who understood and made absolutely no judgments on me for any of my choices. And people say she is the one who is bitchy. Granted she can be, but she is also really solid when you're in trouble. (Lulu's thoughts)

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Carly glanced at her clock as Maxie walked in to find her five minutes late. Who does this little girl think she is? She must not want this job too badly.

"Maxie, you're late."

"Only a few minutes." Whined Maxie. If I wanted to be whined at I would have brought Morgan…

"It doesn't matter how late. It matters that you are late. The only reason you got this job was because my mother told me you needed a second chance and you seemed initially to have an eye for color. But lately you're lax in your job duties, routinely late, and now you are lying to me about who let you onto the desk to schedule even though you are in no ways qualified to do so. I'll ask you one more time. Who let you on the desk and why did you agree to it knowing you're not trained?"

"Sam asked me to cover the desk for half an hour at the end of her shift so she could leave early. She showed me how to log on and place people into rooms. The night manager had called in and was running an hour late, due to a family emergency. I was already off and I wanted to help Sam, because she was the only person who was nice to me after the whole drug thing. That's it, I swear. I didn't mean to double book and no one was supposed to find out about me covering the shift for a short time." Maxie said. She figured it was better to play her cards in the open, because she had heard the stories from Mac and other PCPD about what happened when "The Mouth" was lied to.

"Why was Sam leaving early?"

"She said something about her and Jason not getting enough time together to work out their problems. I don't know all of the details. I just wanted to repay her for her being nice to me."

"Next time buy her coffee so that she doesn't get you fired."

"Your firing me!! But I'll…" "I'm not firing you, yet. Your going to be on probation for three weeks were you'll be observed by other staff to make sure that all aspects of your job are getting done. You'll need to be on time for three months everyday or give advance notice that something has come up. No more slip-ups Maxie. And if I so much as find you've breathed near the front desk you'll be out on your ass faster than you can blink. Got me?"

"Yes. Thank you for giving me another chance. I can do this."

"Go back to work; hopefully I won't see you for another three months because you'll have stayed out of trouble. On your way out send Sam in. Don't bother talking to me about Sam, she isn't your problem." Carly said sternly to make sure that Maxie got her drift that this wasn't a game and Sam was in deep doo without her input.

Sam was annoyed with Maxie being vague about what Carly wanted. She thought I don't even know what the big deal about Carly is. Everyone just loves her, but she's trailer trash. Reese even confirmed it after I blackmailed her. Everyone should think she's disgusting, but Jason seems to actually like her more and Sonny thinks that she just needs people to not leave her. And they blame "Charlottes" Dad because Carly slept with him and are all mad at me when Ric took advantage of me. She is always telling Jason to break up with me and Reese even felt bad about lying over Carly's past. Who cares that it was supposedly rape or that the real Charlottes dad was a pedophile. Carly still is a slut.

"Sam, Maxie told me all about you asking her to cover the desk for you."

"It was just for thirty minutes and you knew the guy that was double booked so it wasn't a big deal."

"Maybe you should tell that to Gary Patterson the business man who suddenly won't have a room because of the double booking. You've been blasé about everything related to my business and the running thereof. Your late at times, rude to customers, show little courtesy to people who are wandering through, and show little respect for any of your management staff."

"Those people who are wandering through aren't customers and aren't important. Most of your management is condescending and they think that they can just boss me around."

"Funny, how all of those managers are supposed to be bossing you around. That is why their management. Those people who are "just looking" can bring business to us, but they don't if they're treated as unwanted. They are the ones who are local and need spaces for things like weddings, christenings, receptions, etc. and they have whole networks of friends and families who end up needing space for those things to even if their not needing a hotel room. So basically every time you snub one of those people who are just looking, you're snubbing twenty of their family and friends. You're a liability. One I don't need to be worried about any longer. I already talked to Jason early this week and he told me it wasn't his business about the hotel or how I ran it so don't even try it little girl. Your shift is over effective immediately and you'll have a check in five minutes at payroll. You can choose to pick it up or we'll mail it. You're fired and banned from the hotel." Carly had started quietly and even though she was close to yelling she was deadly calm.

It was terrifying and the reason that she was nicknamed "The Mouth". She could intimidate seasoned police officers who specialized in Narcotics busts for goodness sakes. Business men literally shook in their thousand dollar shoes from one glare. Carly was in her element and when Sam complained about Carly's treatment Jason wished he was there to witness Carly being herself rather than the easily pushed around version she was to ease Jax's or Sonny's expectations of what a woman should be…