Ava Grendiol had been in the hotel cleaning business for over two decades

Disclaimer: I own nothing IaHb related.

Note: Okay guys, this fic is slowly drawing to an end. I think there will only be one or two (probably one, though) more chapters after this one. Hope you like it. Please review.

Ava Grendiol had been in the hotel cleaning business for over two decades. At the ripe age of nineteen, she had started out on her chosen career path, working hard to make people comfortable as they stayed in the Kingsport Hotel. At first, she had only been in the business for the money. She had always been able to pick up a bit of extra money cleaning a room here and there. But, then she had gotten pregnant and had moved in with her boyfriend, Joe. Joe worked in the garage downtown, fixing cars. And after the baby was born, it became evident fast that Ava was going to have to pick up more than just a few hours in order to make ends meet. Thus, her career began.

The work had been hard at first and she had hated it with every inch of her being. But, after a while, when she had finally gotten used to pushing the heavy cart of cleaning supplies down the seemingly endless corridors of the hotel, she grew to love her work. She prided herself on the fact that the rooms that she was responsible for had always shined after her hand had passed over them. And slowly, but surely, she had worked her way up to Head Cleaning Lady, a very good position to be in.

Over the years, Ava realized that she loved the people of her job the most. Sure, they were always just passing through, but it was fun to imagine what they were in town for. For example, the man in 3B had to be a businessman because he always was seen in the lobby in a suit, with a briefcase in one had and a cell phone in the other one. And the lady in 5E was in some sort of band as her room was always littered with sheet music of some sort or another. Ava loved trying to figure out who the guests of the hotel were and where they were going in life. And that was why she loved the six younger adults who had come to stay in the hotel for the reunion. Sure, other people had come to the hotel for the reunion, but Ava had not grown as fond of them as she had these six.

There were the two with blond hair, who seemed to always smile at each other shyly, as if they were little kids. And then there were the two dark haired ones, who were so much in love it was evident to anyone with eyes in their head. Ava thought the world of the four of them and she had been very happy to see that each boy had left with his girlfriend to destinies unknown to Ava. But, she liked to think that they would live happily ever after all the same.

The last two young people were her favorite. Ava had been watching them since they had arrived, knowing that they were pretty much made for each other. She had heard one of the other younger people refer to her favorite couple as Hank and Melanie. And she thought that the names suited them well.

They were both as stubborn as mules, but Ava had to guess that the girl, Melanie, was even more stubborn in the long run. And they loved each other dearly. That much was evident. She had seen then walking through the lobby of the hotel just the day before, holding hands and whispering to each other. There had been a look of sadness in both sets of eyes that had made Ava wonder what possibly could be the matter with her favorite couple. After all, they had their whole lives to spend together, didn't they?

Such thoughts had to be pushed from her mind, though, as she worked. The hotel didn't clean itself! And Ava had to concentrate on her cleaning in order to make the place shine as she was used to doing. At that precise moment in time, she was in the hall closet, packing extra towels into her little cart. The family in 4C was gong through them like there was no tomorrow. Although, Ava thought as she added another one to the pile, the kids probably go swimming in the hotel pool everyday…and then there are showers and baths to take at nighttime. All in all, Ava figured they were going through the normal amount of towels for the small army of seven that they were.

Ava was concentrating on counting the towels and getting them to stay on her cart so that they would not fall off. It was not such an easy task and she was so deep in thought that at first, she missed the deep rumbling sound coming from outside the closet.

"What in the world…..," she said under her breath and moved to the doorway to see what all the racket was. Her fingers closed over the side of the door and pushed it open a smidge more than it had been. She peered out from the closet and her eyes widened at what she saw.

The young girl, Ava knew her name was Melanie, was coming down the hallway. She was dragging a suitcase behind her that looked as if it were the same size if not bigger than her. The thumping sound that Ava had heard was the suitcase behind dragged across the floor.

Ava almost laughed at the sight of the girl's face. Her cheeks were red with exertion. After all, the suitcase looked like it probably weighed close to a ton! And the narrow set of the girl's eyes and the frown on her face allowed Ava to know that the girl was up to something. A small curse slipped through the girl's lips and Ava put a hand to her own mouth in order not to laugh out loud.

Melanie came to a stop in the hall and let go of the suitcase. She stood up straight and put her hands on her hips, trying to catch her breath. And she stared at the door in front of her. Ava, too, looked at the door, trying desperately to remember who was staying in that room. Whoever it was, Ava could tell that he was in a bit of trouble.

Ava listened intently as Melanie grumbled something under her breath and walked one step closer to the door. She raised one hand slowly and rapped ferociously on the door. Then Melanie whipped around and positioned herself on the top of the suitcase behind her, her hands coming to rest on her hips.

Ava raised an eyebrow as she watched the little drama unfold. She watched as the young man opened the door and his eyes went wide with surprise at the person he saw in the hall. And she listened as the girl, Melanie, tried to show her anger to him.

It would have been interesting to see exactly what would happen, but a voice in the back of her head reminded Ava of her jobs. After all, she was not there to spy on the guests! She had been enjoying the little show, but she supposed that perhaps the couple needed to have a smidge of time alone, without eyes watching their every move. So, with one quiet movement, Ava moved away from the partially opened door of the closet and started gathering other cleaning supplies to add to her cart.

A smile graced her lips as she heard the two outside talking. She tried hard to block out their words from her mind. After all, if it had been her and Joe having a moment, she would not have wanted anyone to listen in. The young couple needed their privacy, she thought. And then her smile grew as she remembered the determined look on the young girl's face as she pulled the large suitcase down the hallway. Aye, they needed a minute or two alone, indeed, so that Melanie could tell the young man what was what.

Ava picked up the bottle nearest bottle of cleaning fluid for the sinks and was just about to add it to her little cart when the young man outside the closet uttered two words that made her eyebrows fly up into her hairline.

"Marry me."

Ava gasped and dropped the bottle of cleaning fluid before she could stop herself. She watched in horror as it fell to the floor, making a thudding sound of it's own as it hit the carpet. She looked up at the door, waiting for the young couple to discover that someone had been listening to their conversation. A feeling of shame flushed through her as she thought of how embarrassing it would be when they opened up the door to the closet and found her standing there, a very guilty look on her face and the bottle on the floor at her feet. And how would she explain her being there without letting her presence known? They would surely be angry with her.

And yet……..

And yet, no one had come to the door yet. Ava's eyes darted around the little room, wondering if there was, by some small miracle, the chance that they had not heard her gasp and the bottle falling. She willed herself to take a deep breath and concentrate her thoughts into something manageable. She strained her ears, trying to hear anything from outside the closet that would give her any ideas as to what was happening. All she seemed to hear, though, was a small sound of male chuckling.

Her brow furrowed. Chuckling? It wasn't exactly the reaction she had expected to them finding her in the closet. Perhaps they had not heard her…….

Slowly, she moved, putting one foot in front of the other. Ava tiptoed around her cart full of supplies, as she had done when she had first heard Melanie come down the stairs. And she silently walked the last two steps to the door. Careful not to be heard or seen, she stood behind the large door and peered out the little crack between the door, itself and the doorframe.

Melanie was on the floor, staring up at the young man as if he had just told her that the sky was a lovely color of purple that day. She was sitting on her bum, her arms propping her up and her legs splayed out across the floor. Ava guessed that the young girl had finally fallen off the top of the suitcase that she had tried so desperately to stay perched atop of. Perhaps, Ava thought, that is why they did not hear me drop the cleaning solution. Maybe Melanie fell at the same time.

Ava watched Melanie's face, waiting as the young man was obviously doing. What would her answer be to such a question? Would she accept or decline the offer that the young man had given her? Ava felt herself lean forward a bit in anticipation. This was so much better than her afternoon soaps! She just couldn't wait to tell Joe about how she had been a witness to a marriage proposal right in front of her little supplies closet!

"Say yes," Ava whispered almost silently.

…………………………..

Melanie stared up at Hank like he had suddenly grown a second head. Had he actually uttered those words that she was sure she had heard just seconds ago? She could have sworn she heard those two words, but maybe…just maybe she was mistaken.

Ever since high school, Melanie had wanted Hank to notice her. She had wanted him to see her as more than just a pain in the butt. And at the reunion it had happened. He had looked at her and had seen the real person inside. And that, of course, was when Melanie had realized that she did not just have a flimsy little high school crush on Hank. No, she was full-blown in love with him.

And that was precisely why she had decided that she would not leave the reunion without at least giving him a piece of her mind. She had had a whole speech prepared in her head about how she felt about him and how she couldn't help it and how he would just have to deal with it. In fact, she had even begun her speech by saying that since she had cleared her schedule for the next few weeks because of him, he was now stuck with her. But, then he had said something-only two little words- that had changed everything.

When he had said those two little words, Melanie had forgotten everything. She had forgotten that she was trying to look poised and dignified on the top of her suitcase. Now her butt ached from the fact that she had fallen on the floor. Her entire speech of anger and determination had gone straight out the window. And, of course, the rather important one- Melanie forgot that she was supposed to breathe.

She looked at Hank, leaning against the doorframe to his room. He was chuckling at her, she knew, and she really couldn't blame him. Melanie figured she must be a pretty interesting sight. Her feet were thrust out in front of her and her arms were propping her up off of the floor. It was the position she had fallen in; Melanie hadn't bothered to move yet. Her mouth was hanging open from surprise and her eyes were as big as saucers. Yes, she supposed she probably was kind of funny looking at that moment. Melanie just wished that she could command herself to stop staring at Hank and untie her tongue to talk to him.

"What…..what did you say?" She asked, rather breathless.

Hank smiled and squatted down on the floor so that they were eye to eye. He tilted his head just a bit and smiled at her cockily as he had seen Jamie do before to Caitie. "I said," he started, reveling over the fact that Melanie's eyes were still huge. At least, he thought with another smile, she has closed her mouth. "I said 'marry me'."

Melanie's jaw dropped open again. And she looked as if she were about to pass out…or get sick. "Um…..," she started, realizing that for the first time since she had come to the reunion, she had no idea what to say to Hank. "I…um…..".

"Why?" The word popped out of her mouth before she could stop it. She hadn't been planning to say such a thing at that moment in time, but somewhere in the back of her mind her subconscious had taken over. And it had decided that Melanie needed the little niggling of doubt vanquished in her mind before she even started to truly contemplate Hank's proposal.

Hank smiled easily, a soft look coming into his eyes. Her question was the same question that he had been able to answer so easily in his mind just minutes before.

The whole night before he had spent wondering exactly what he wanted to do with his life. Was it going in the direction that he wanted it to go? Was he happy? And even as he tried to answer those questions, the answers seemed to get tangled together somehow. They seemed to make a web of sorts, connecting and interweaving with each other. And at the heart of that web? Well, there was only one thought on Hank's mind that had totally put all fears and doubts to rest. Melanie.

Melanie was the answer to all of his questions as far as Hank was concerned. It was strange how he had never seen it in high school. He had always regarded her as such a pain. And yet…..and yet as he thought back to all the times they had been even remotely sociable to each other in high school, he could feel a bit of warmth in his chest at the memories. Sure, he had perhaps not treated her as nicely as he should have, but he really could not picture high school if Melanie had not been there. She had always been a bit of a light on the fringes of Hank's social world. And he knew that she had stayed on the fringes on purpose, waiting.

"Because," he said with a small sigh, "somewhere along the way, I realized that I love you."

Well, if Melanie hadn't fallen off her perch on the suitcase before, she would have at that point. She stared at the guy before her, his words ringing in her ears. Her heart was beating way too fast. Things were moving way too fast. She loved every minute of it.

"Um…..that is, er………", she tried again to make words but somehow her tongue had gotten all tied up again.

"And I figured," Hank continued, pretending he had not noticed Melanie's sudden lack of verbal skills. "I figured that if I am going to date a model, I might as well marry her so that all her little male model friends will keep their hands off her." He winked at her. "I'd get very jealous, you know."

Hank watched Melanie with satisfaction. It was nice to see the person who had surprised him so much at the reunion now look totally dumbfounded. He could practically see the little wheels turning in her brain as she processed her thoughts. And he wondered exactly what she would say as an answer to his question. There was, of course, the possibility that she might say no. But, Hank didn't want to think about that at all. If she said no……… I don't know what I'll do if she says no, Hank thought, his eyes still on the girl before him. She had to say yes. She just had to.

Melanie's brow suddenly furrowed as if there was some sort of idea in her mind that she couldn't quite come to terms with. She looked up at Hank and met his eyes directly. Her eyes were still wide with surprise and, Hank noticed, also a little bit of awe. She looked so much like the silly kid he had known in high school that he grinned at her. Yes, Melanie might have grown up, but she had not lost all of her innocent charm. And, Hank realized, he loved her for that too.

"You…you love me?" She asked as if uncertain as to what Hank would say in return.

He waited minute as he considered his words. Hank had said just mere minutes before that he loved her. So, to him, her question had only one obvious answer. Yet, he understood why she had to ask for reassurance. After all, he had sometimes been mean to her in high school, even though she had had a crush on him. He imagined that the fact that sometimes he had been nice to her and sometimes he had been mean to her had really thrown her for a loop. In fact, in high school, Hank bet that Melanie never knew how he was going to act towards her. And, because of him, she had doubt in her mind. Because of him, she was wondering if perhaps it was all some sort of cruel joke.

Hank blinked once and then looked straight into Melanie's eyes, his gaze never wavering. "Yes," he replied, "I love you."

With his answer, a strange transformation took place in Melanie. Her eyes crinkled in the corners as she grinned as big as she could. And suddenly her tongue was no longer knotted up. She could talk freely if she had wanted to. Her limbs no longer seemed to be frozen in the exact position she had fallen into. A large ball of excitement welled up in her chest and she waited, feeling it grow within her.

Hank was now smiling too, even though he had no idea what was coming. See, Melanie had never been too great with words. No, she was more of an action person. If she was feeling something inside, she liked to show someone instead of describe it in words to them. And that was just what she did at that second with Hank.

The ball of excitement was so huge in her chest that Melanie thought she might burst if she did not move. A small squeak of excitement slipped through her lips and she lunged for Hank, wrapping her arms around his neck in a fierce hug. Hank, not seeing that coming at all, threw out his hands to keep his balance and hug Melanie back. But, he was a few seconds too late. Both Hank and Melanie went crashing to the floor, Melanie on top of Hank. The tops of their bodies lay together just inside the door to Hank's room and their feet stuck out into the hall. Hank vaguely thought of the fact that they would be a strange sight indeed to anyone who happened to be passing by his room at that moment. And then he grunted as he realized that he had bruised his right elbow when it had hit the floor.

Another squeak of excitement came flying out of the lips of the person on top of him and he laughed as she popped her head up off his chest to look at him. She propped her elbows on his chest and rested her chin on her open palms. Then she glanced down at Hank, who was suddenly painfully aware that Melanie had rather bony elbows.

"There's just one thing," she said, a look of pure contentment in her eyes.

"And what's that?" Hank asked as he looked up at her.

Melanie snickered, a devilish look about her. "Let's not invite Jasmine to the wedding."

………………………………………..

"Yes, yes, yes," Melanie sang happily under hear breath as Hank drove down the highway. She was sitting in the passenger seat next to him, staring happily at the big ring on her finger.

It wasn't an ordinary engagement ring by far. No, it had no shiny diamond or anything like that in it. In fact, it was simply Hank's college ring from when he had been at John Hopkins University, studying medicine. Usually Hank wore it only to very important dinner engagements and such. But, now Melanie was wearing it on her finger until Hank could buy her a suitable engagement ring. And even though it had no huge diamond that other women could be envious of, Melanie still thought it was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen.

She looked out the window of the car and smiled as the trees and buildings rolled past her in a blur. They were on their way to Chicago, where Hank lived. Melanie couldn't wait to see what his life was like there. She couldn't wait to see his apartment and the hospital that he worked at. She couldn't wait to be there, to be a part of the life that she had loved for so long.

But, she thought, looking back at Hank, it was enough to simply be sitting next to him in the car and knowing that they were going to be together forever.

"Yes, yes, yes," she sang again, a little louder this time.

Hank chuckled. He was so happy that that had been her answer to his proposal. A feeling of warmth and excitement that had seemed to pulsate through Melanie had surrounded him as well, making him feel as if nothing could possibly go wrong. And He could tell that Melanie was still as happy as she had been when she had lunged at him with a hug just a couple hours before at the hotel. Any fool could see her happiness just by looking at her. She was simply glowing.

"Mel," he said chuckling, "you have been saying 'yes' since I proposed to you back at the hotel. Is that all you can say?"

Melanie turned in her seat and smiled. "Yes," she replied.

…………………………………….

Ava's feet hurt something awful. She had been on them all day, cleaning this room and that. She had mopped, she had scrubbed, she had vacuumed and she had made more beds than she cared to count. All she wanted to do was go home and take a nice long shower. Then she would make dinner for the family and perhaps settle down with a good book afterwards. It was Sarah's (her oldest girl) night to do the dishes. So, that was not something she had to worry about after eating.

She put her cart and cleaning supplies away in her closet and shut the door. She turned around ready to head for the stairs, but something stopped her. She stared at the doorway in front of her, remembering what scene had played out there just that morning. A smile came to her lips as she thought of how utterly romantic the whole situation had been. And I, she thought mischievously, saw it all from my little closet.

"Ava!" A voice cried behind her and she turned to find Lisa, a younger cleaning lady, trudging up the stairs with something in her hands. Ava walked towards the girl, wondering what was going on. Didn't the younger girl know that it was time for Ava to be getting home? She was officially off duty in exactly two minutes.

"Well, what is it Lisa?" Ava asked, a smidge impatient. She was a rather patient person, but she really wanted to get home. Joe would be home soon, she knew. And she did not want to be late.

"These just came for you," Lisa said and pulled a fistful of flowers out from behind her back.

Ava accepted the flowers from the younger girl and held them up to her nose. The flowers were freshly cut and Ava could still see a few grains of dirt sticking to the bottoms of the stems. They smelled wonderful, just like her garden in the springtime.

"This guy dropped them off," Lisa continued, "He was real handsome, said he has had a crush on you for a long time. He was hoping that you'd let him take you out to dinner tonight."

The older woman smiled, knowing exactly what was going on. This is just like him, she thought. He doesn't look like a romantic at all, but deep down inside, he is as hopeless as they come. And, she added in her mind, all of the other cleaning ladies think he is the most handsome man they have ever seen. Of course, Ava had to agree with them.

Lisa handed her a small piece of paper, which was creased in the middle and folded over. "He told me to give this to you to."

Ava opened the piece of paper slowly, her heart beating a bit faster than before.

"I hope you like the flowers. I love you so much.

--Joe"

"Thank you Lisa," Ava said as she refolded the paper and carefully placed it in her pocket for safekeeping. "Please go down and tell that handsome man that I will be down in just a minute or two."

Lisa nodded and left, making her way down the stairs quickly to deliver the message to Ava's husband.

Ava glanced back at the door in front of her. Her heart was warm as she thought of Joe's gift to her. But, her thoughts changed course just a minute as she wondered where the sweethearts that she had seen earlier in the hall had gone. Were the together? Were they happy? She, of course, wished them all the love and happiness in the world. And she imagined that their lives would be wonderful and such, just as hers was with her Joe.

"And they lived happily ever after," she whispered. For, she too, was a sucker for romances.

Then Ava made her way down the stairs to the first floor, intent on being with her own sweetheart.

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