Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Michelle wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and then made a face as she felt her bangs come into contact with the raw eggs that were on her fingers. She inhaled, trying not to become too frustrated.
I can take a shower, she told herself, thinking the words in a slow tempo in an attempt to calm herself down. Later today, once things are settled, I can take a shower.
But the truth was, she didn’t know if things ever would get settled.
She’d risen an hour earlier than she usually did that morning, and she still felt groggy and exhausted even though she’d been awake for hours.
She’d made a few quiches for the hotel’s breakfast, but the early risers had already eaten everything she’d made.
Four of the guests were still sleeping, and she was rushing to make another quiche before they came downstairs.
She felt that not having a hot breakfast ready for them would be an absolute disaster.
Delicious breakfasts were something that they advertised for the hotel, and she hated the idea of letting people down.
She also felt worried that if she failed to provide breakfast, the guests would leave a bad review online.
I won’t let things fall apart on my watch, she thought, opening the oven and sliding the quiche inside. I’m going to make sure everything works out.
Sighing with fatigue, she made her way to the kitchen sink and began to wash the egg off her hands.
Puddle, who was in the kitchen with her, gnawed happily on a plastic squeak toy.
Michelle had removed the squeaker from it the night before, since the non-stop shrill noise coming from the toy had been too much for her frazzled nerves.
“You’re having fun, Puddle?” she asked the dog.
Puddle looked up and wagged her tail.
“Well, at least one of us is.” Michelle smiled at the puppy and then turned back to the kitchen sink, which was full of dirty dishes.
She groaned and set to work, rinsing plates off carefully before setting them in the dishwasher.
She finished the dishes and made her way to the stove, which needed cleaning badly.
She began to wipe off the stovetop and then realized with a moan that she’d forgotten to turn off one of the electric burners that morning.
“Great,” Michelle muttered, carefully wiping around the hot burner. “I’ve been wasting all that electricity for hours.”
“Hey!”
Michelle squealed and jumped, nearly burning her hand on the hot stove. She whirled and saw that one of the hotel’s guests had stuck her head inside the kitchen.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” The woman placed her hand on her heart and stepped fully inside the room. “I came to find you because I can’t get the Wi-Fi to work. I’m going to need it within another hour—I have to send an email that’s very important for my job.”
Michelle felt a pang of stress. The internet had been acting up lately, and she could no longer just blame it on the weather, since it was a perfectly sunny day outside.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” she said, wiping her dirty hands off on a paper towel. “Let me, um—I’ll come fix that for you.”
If I can, she thought darkly. I’ve never been able to fix it myself before.
She followed the guest out of the kitchen, smiling cheerfully as though nothing was wrong. A second later she realized she still had egg in her bangs and she quickly smoothed her hair down, wondering if it was noticeable. She couldn’t feel the egg, so that was probably a good sign.
“Why don’t you go ahead and go back to your room?” Michelle suggested, keeping the cheerful smile on her face. “I’ll have it fixed ASAP.”
“Okay, sounds good.” The woman smiled at her. “Thank you so much, Michelle.”
“Of course.” Michelle maintained a pleasant expression on her face until she was fully inside the parlor, and then her expression dropped into one of dismay.
She hurried over to a mirror that was hanging in the corner and checked her reflection.
She grunted when she saw that there was in fact visible egg in her hair, although it wasn’t extremely obvious so she could hope that the guest hadn’t noticed.
She grabbed a tissue and wiped her hair with it. The egg left a greasy streak, but at least it was gone. She didn’t have time to fuss over her appearance—she needed to get the internet back on as quickly as possible.
She made her way over to the modem and sighed when she saw that the light, which usually was blue, had turned to red.
She bit her lip, wishing that Audrey was there.
Her mother always seemed to have the magic touch when it came to getting the internet back on.
Every time Michelle had tried to do it herself, it hadn’t worked.
She’d always ended up calling for her mother, who had always been able to fix the internet almost right away.
She pressed the button to reset the internet and waited, pacing back and forth as the lights on the modem pulsed slowly in and out. A few moments later, it was clear the internet still wasn’t back on.
Groaning, she pressed the button again and waited. She considered calling Audrey, but she stopped herself. She didn’t want to bother her mother, and she also didn’t want Audrey to know that she was struggling to run the hotel on her own.
She pushed the reset button for the third time, starting to feel frantic.
What if the internet didn’t come back on?
That would be bad for all their guests, but especially for the woman who needed to send her email within an hour.
Michelle clasped and then unclasped her hands, staring at the modem and hoping with all her might that the internet would turn back on.
If it doesn’t, I’m going to have to go and tell that guest that she’ll have to go to a coffee shop or something, Michelle thought, biting her lip. And what if she comes back down here because she’s wondering why it’s taking so long?
She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, and then the modem’s light turned back to blue. Michelle clapped her hands together, tears of relief springing into her eyes.
For a moment, she stood there, wondering what to do next. Was anyone checking out that morning? Were there rooms she needed to clean? Did she need to do any laundry—
“Oh no!” Michelle clapped her hand to her mouth.
She’d forgotten all about the quiche! She raced back into the kitchen, where Puddle was still chomping down on the chew toy. The second she entered the room, she knew the quiche was burnt. There was a haze of smoke in the air and an acrid smell everywhere.
Maybe I can still salvage it, she thought, her heart pounding. She grabbed the oven mitts and tore open the oven door. A billow of black smoke poured out and Michelle coughed. She grabbed the quiche and set it down on top of the stove. It was as black as pitch. Or maybe not.
She wanted to start crying, but she didn’t get the chance. In the next instant, the smoke alarm went off. Its high-pitched beeping made Michelle want to cover her ears, but instead she raced for a kitchen chair so that she could stand on it and reach the alarm to turn it off.
Puddle, seeming to sense that there was some kind of emergency, started to race around the room barking hysterically. Michelle climbed onto the chair and reached for the alarm, only to realize that the ceiling was too high and the alarm was still a good three feet out of her reach.
“Puddle, buddy, quiet please,” Michelle said, jumping off the chair and racing for a broom.
Not only did she hate hearing the alarm blaring, but she didn’t want the guests to be disturbed by it.
She snatched a mop out of the broom cupboard and returned to the chair.
She was able to use the handle of the mop to turn off the alarm, and as soon as the beeping stopped, she burst into tears.
She climbed down from the chair and collapsed into it, unable to hold back the tears of frustration and overwhelm.
Could this day get any worse? she thought. I’m going to have to feed those guests cold cereal for breakfast.
She squeaked as Puddle jumped into her lap and began to lick her face with a sweet enthusiasm. Michelle couldn’t help smiling through her tears, touched by the love of the animal.
“What a day, huh, Puddle?” she said, scratching Puddle behind the ears and laughing. “But we’ll survive. I guess I could whip up some of that pancake mix really fast. Hopefully the guests don’t even know the difference, and it tastes as good as homemade.”
She sighed and stood up again, setting Puddle down on the floor.
“I guess I’d better hurry up and get to it.
” She made her way over to the pantry, where the pancake mixes were.
“We only have to make it a couple of days without Audrey and Elaine, and then everything will be back to normal. We can do it, right Puddle?”
Puddle barked and wagged her tail, and Michelle laughed. The little dog might have been adding several items to her to-do list, but she was more than worth it. Michelle loved experiencing her companionship and the puppy made her laugh over and over again.
She sighed again as she began to mix the pancakes together. She told herself that she would hold it together and continue to do her best to run the hotel until Audrey and Elaine came home.