Indeed. A huge, stinking pile of it.
“Well,” Melinda said to me. “Now you get to see each other every night, because it’s Daniel’s job to make supply runs thatyouget to log at the desk.”
“What?” I said, trying to make my brain work. I wished he’d stop staring at me.
“Time out, time in,” Melinda said. “You log Daniel’s comings and goings in the hotel’s system. But we aren’t an airport shuttle service, so everyone who begs for a ‘quick ride’ to the bank at two in the morning, inform them you can call a car.”
“Unless they’re on the fifth floor,” Daniel corrected while I looked anywhere but at his face. “Those are the VIPs.”
“Floor-fivers are all, ‘I forgot to get my niece a Christmas present, boo-hoo,’?” Chuck mocked, imitating wiping tears. “?‘I need a specific wine from a special year from some fruity gourmet merchant across town or my anniversary will be ruined.’ You wouldn’t believe what they ask for....”
This certainly wasn’t the same speech Roxanne had given me in training about going “above and beyond to create unforgettable moments” for guests, treating them like family.
“Please stop by my office before your break,” Melinda told Chuck. And before he could protest, she excused us and herded me back into the hotel. I was in such a state of shock about Daniel, I could barely keep up with her high heels.
Despite the dangerous panic levels filling my brain, I immediately had to switch gears and concentrate on the actualworkpart of work, because Melinda was passing me off to the midshift desk clerk who was done with her “mental health break” and staying late to help me transition. She got me up to speed with all the outstanding guest issues of the day, reminded me to feed the goldfish, made sure I’d been trained on how to use the reservation system, and then—boom! She was clocking out, and I was left all by my lonesome.
In a luxury hotel lobby.
At night.
On the first shift of my first real job.
With my greatest humiliation standing outside the front door.
Once the shock of it all wore off a little, I realized that a secret part of me was happy to see him. Practically ecstatic. If I were an actual daring dame and not a wobbly wallflower, I might even have done what Aunt Mona suggested and attempt to talk with him. Apologize for running out on him. Explain that what we did was an anomaly for me. But as my shift ticked by, the longer I went without seeing him, the more I convinced myself that maybe he didn’t want an explanation.
If I were to write up a profile on Daniel now, it would look something like this:
Suspect:Daniel Aoki
Age:19
Occupation:Hotel van driver, graveyard shift
Medical conditions:(1) Hearing-impaired. (2) Distractingly good-looking. (3) Excellent smile. (4) Good kisser. (5) Good hands. (6) Re-e-e-eally good hands.
Personality traits:Knows a million card tricks and enjoys performing for people. Cheerful. Gregarious. Maybe too gregarious, as he seems to have blabbed to a coworker about what we did.
Background:Need to investigate further.
Trying to banish thoughts of Daniel, I put on a cheerful face and embraced the work that began trickling in like the soothing sounds of the river-rock waterfall that covered the wall behind the registration desk. I helped a guest find the downstairs restrooms. Helped another with the Wi-Fi password. Rerouted a call for room service to the kitchen.
See. I reallycoulddo this.I am working! Like a real person!Daniel who? That was a month ago. Who cared that he worked here? Not me. Not even worth starting a case file.
It was all good. Until I checked out a businessman who had a red-eye flight and needed his car out of the hotel garage. That’s when I had to radio the Bats out front. Joseph answered, thank goodness, and the businessman lounged on a sofa in the lobby until his car was brought to the entrance. Then Daniel suddenly appeared, jogging past the gold elevators to inform the guest that his car was ready. The businessman wheeled out his carry-on, and the lobby was empty again.
Mostly. Daniel was heading toward the front desk.
I panicked, wishing I could duck down. But he’d already seen me.
“Of all the gin joints in all the world, she walks into mine,” he said, flashing me that stupid-sexy smile that got me in trouble the first time around. The shock of seeing him had worn off, but my body was still overreacting. Pulse erratic. Thoughts fuzzy. Fingers tingling. I couldn’t tell if it was panic or attraction, but I sure as heck didn’t want him to see how much he affected me, so I bent behind the counter to straighten a stack of paper sleeves for room key cards and tried to sound casual.
“Guess the small-world cliché is an actual thing.”
“What’s that?” he said.
I stood up. “What’s what?”
