15. Mila
Ishould be focused on my new job.
I should be giving Jessica all my attention as she shows me and Brooklyn how to sign into the hotel check-in system and search for guests.
But I haven’t missed how Sebastian looks at me. Surely everyone else can see it, too.
“We’re going to get a small rush after lunch of the people who paid for late check-out,” Jessica says, and I force my attention back to her. “We won’t have you try the system then, but when it slows down. Our job comes in waves.”
Aisha slides over. “Yeah, there are the early birds around eight, the wild rush in the hour before the eleven o’clock deadline, then another group at one.”
“When do you all eat lunch?” Brooklyn asks right as her stomach lets out a loud growl. She presses her hand to her belly. “Asking for a friend.”
We all laugh.
“Normally we take turns around now,” Aisha says. “If you’re alone on the desk, you wear a headset so you can call for backup if there’s a rush.” She opens a drawer and pulls it out. “You can easily summon a floater, or Raya or Sebastian.”
Jessica takes the headset. “How about you take Brooklyn around to see her lunch options, and I’ll stay here with Mila?”
“Cool beanio,” Aisha says. “I recommend bringing your lunch, but there’s a sandwich cart as well as the deli. I wouldn’t go for any of the restaurants. They take too long.”
“How many restaurants are there?” Brooklyn asks.
“Three. The bistro is that way.” Jessica points across the lobby. “It’s a sit-down place mainly for burgers and pizza, family friendly, you know. Then there’s the primary restaurant that has the breakfast buffet in the morning.” She points to the back of the lobby. “Right there.”
“The deli is the third, right?” I ask. I studied the options before coming.
“No, I wasn’t counting that. There is a private restaurant in the main tower,” Aisha says. “It’s super fancy. Regular employees aren’t even allowed in there unless that’s your area. It has its own security.”
“I hear eating there is over a thousand,” Jessica says.
“Dang,” Brooklyn says. “And of course I want to see it right now.”
Aisha shrugs. “You all will probably be allowed.”
“You’re not?” Brooklyn asks.
“I told my man he better take me there for my birthday this year.” Aisha examines her nails.
“Is he going to?” Brooklyn asks.
“He says he’ll have to eat Mickey D’s for a month to save up.” Aisha laughs. “He better.”
“I hope we get to see the secret restaurant,” Brooklyn says. “Don’t you, Mila?”
“Definitely,” I say. “There are lots of secret things at this hotel.”
“You know about the secret suite, right?” Aisha asks. “We can’t talk about it with anyone who hasn’t signed a nondisclosure, but the front desk does get asked about it, so we’re told what to say. There was a blogger who tried to write about it, but Havannah got it taken down. She likes it to be a rumor.”
“Have you seen it?” Jessica asks Aisha.
“No way. I don’t even know what wing it’s in. Everyone is so hush-hush about it. I hear only two people from housekeeping and a couple from maintenance even know where it is.”
The words pop out of my mouth before I can think of the wisdom of saying them. “I bet Sebastian knows.”
Everyone turns to me. “You got an in with the big boss to find out?” Aisha asks. “You knew him before.”
Oh, no. I should have kept my mouth shut. And I should have gotten my story straight with Sebastian before anyone could ask me. “Not really.” The less said, the better.
“I bet you’ve got a lot to say about our Mr. Sebastian.” Aisha has caught a whiff of secrets. Her eyes have gotten bright. “Do tell.”
The three of them look at me. Why is this happening? I don’t want to be the subject of rumors!
“How long have you known him?” Brooklyn asks.
Aisha leans her elbows on the counter. “Yeah, how long?”
“I only just got here,” I say, my mouth dry. “I drove in Saturday. I didn’t know a soul in Boulder before that.”
“So, did you meet him on Saturday?” Brooklyn asks.
Everything flashes hot. “Do we have to talk about this?”
Now everyone is super interested. I should have played it so much cooler, but I’m no good at that.
“I saw him looking at her,” Aisha says. “He said y’all met before you got here. He didn’t know you were an intern.”
He told Aisha that?
I want to be sick. This is not happening. I press my hand to my belly.
But then, I’m saved.
Bertie walks up. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to show the interns the holding area for suitcases. It already came up this morning when they were working the lines.”
Aisha frowns. “Bertie, we were just getting somewhere! Besides, I’m taking Brooklyn around for lunch. Her stomach sounds like it’s about to go on attack.”
“Then I’ll take this one,” he says, pointing to me. “We’ll be back shortly.”
Aisha sighs. “Come on then,” she says to Brooklyn. “Let’s go.”
I follow Bertie to a room off to the side of the entrance.
“Thank you,” I tell him.
“The rumors are flying,” he says. “Keep your chin up.”
I don’t want rumors flying!
Bertie opens the door to a large room filled with racks, a few suitcases neatly stacked on them. “Aisha asks a lot of questions.”
“You don’t miss much, do you?”
“Not really.” He heads to a desk near the back wall. “Sebastian didn’t tell her much of anything, so don’t let her fool you into saying more than you want her to know.”
“What did he say?”
“I wasn’t specifically listening in,” Bertie starts, but I wave him off.
“I’m not judging you. Tell me what you know.”
He grins and his eyes flash bright. “He said he met you in town, and that when he saw you here, he thought you were vacationing. That’s all Aisha knows. She thought that information was boring and moved on.”
I let out a long breath. “So I nearly said too much.”
He pats my shoulder. “She’s a tricky one. Lovely girl, but very tricky.”
“I’m warned.”
He raises his arm to gesture to the room. “This is my domain. You can always duck in here if you need a moment. Mostly, it’s just me and the luggage.”
“Do a lot of guests leave their suitcases here?”
“Certainly. Check-in isn’t until three, so if they want to go on a hike or head into Boulder, they’ll leave their luggage with us.”
“That makes sense.”
“Looking up a bag is as easy as logging in for check-in. The bin number for which luggage is theirs is right here.” He taps the numbers beneath each cubby on the wall. “If we get overloaded, we revert to the tags.” He points to a clear box attached to the wall, filled to the brim with luggage tags.
“I’ll know for when the next guest asks.”
“You can always ask old Bertie if you need.”
“Thank you. Especially for watching out for me.”
He leads me back out to the lobby, where Jessica is waiting on a family. “We all need a little looking after here and there.”
“You think these rumors about Sebastian will go away?”
His lips tighten. “That’ll be up to the two of you. If you keep looking at each other the way you are now, then there’s going to be no end to the talk.”
I know exactly what he means.
The trouble is, I don’t know how to stop.