"I might be transferring to work at the lab." She gestured vaguely toward Dimitri's table. "Doctor Petrov is trying to arrange it. I should have the answer by the end of my shift tonight, but I wanted to give you a heads up."
She expected him to be disappointed, or at least surprised. Instead, he let out a breath, and his shoulders visibly relaxed. He looked like someone who'd had a heavy weight lifted from his chest.
"That would be good," he said, and there was obvious relief in his voice. "I'm glad."
Mattie blinked. "You're not upset?"
"Upset?" Anil set the glass that he'd been polishing down. "Mattie, I have been stressed out of my mind every single day since the incident with Tarik. Every time the door opens, I think it might be him and his vile friends." He shook his head. "I do not want anything bad to happen to you. If you can transfer somewhere safer, you should."
His honesty was both touching and painful. On some level, she'd known that her presence was a burden to him, but hearing it said out loud made it real.
"I'm sorry for making things stressful for you," she said.
"You have nothing to feel sorry about." Anil picked up another glass and resumed his polishing. "It's not your fault that Tarik is a pig. I hope you get the transfer, and I hope you'll be happy with your scientist."
Mattie smiled. "Thank you, but what will you do without me? Who's going to help you serve drinks when I'm gone?"
"I will ask for another girl."
"You should ask for Nadia," Mattie said without thinking.
Anil's eyebrows rose. "Who's Nadia?"
"One of my roommates. She works as a room maid in the hotel. She's friendly, good with people, and she could use some positive reinforcement."
"Why does she need positive reinforcement?"
Mattie hesitated. It felt like gossip to share Nadia's struggles, but if Anil was to ask for her, he should know what Nadia was dealing with.
"Nuri has been making her life difficult," she said. "Demanding that she lose weight because she doesn't fit the sophisticated image of the hotel. Nadia is a little plump, but she's beautiful and sexy the way she is. She doesn't need to change anything to fit some image that exists only in Nuri's head."
"What does she look like?" he asked.
"Like Snow White," Mattie blurted out and then chuckled. "That's who she reminds me of, especially when she puts the maid's uniform on. She has dark, nearly black hair that is shoulder length and curls at the bottom, blue eyes, and naturally red lips that smile most of the time. Unless Nuri is tormenting her, that is."
Anil nodded, and there was a sparkle in his eyes. "I know who you mean. I've seen her around the hotel. She's exquisite."
"She is, right? A real beauty."
"She does not need to become any slimmer." Anil's voice carried a hint of indignation on Nadia's behalf. "Men like women with a little meat on their bones." He looked sheepish as he regarded Mattie's slim figure. "Not that you are not beautiful the way you are. You're just a different kind of lovely. More..."
"More like a twig?" Mattie supplied.
"No! I would never—" Anil's cheeks had gone red. "You are perfectly proportioned. Small-boned. Delicate."
Mattie laughed. "It's fine, Anil. I know what you mean. I'm not as small as you think I am. I have hips." She patted theaforementioned body part. "I'm just not as generously endowed on top." Her breasts were much too small for the size of her hips, but she'd stopped obsessing over that a long time ago. "Will you ask for Nadia for the position?"
"I definitely will. And—" Anil cut off, and his gaze shifted to something over her shoulder. "Your scientist friend is here."
Mattie turned to see Petrov entering the bar, his familiar rumpled figure weaving between the tables toward Dimitri.
Her heartbeat kicked up. This was it. The moment of truth.
She grabbed a bottle of quality vodka from the top shelf and poured a generous measure into a glass.
"Can you mix me a whiskey sour?" she asked. "I have a feeling I will need some liquid courage."
Anil raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, simply reaching for the ingredients. Within a minute, he slid the cocktail across the bar to her, the amber liquid glistening with a perfect foam cap.
