A lie so dangerous and fragile

CHAPTER ONE

Independent

THREE YEARS LATER

Being a newly independent adult was hard.

I struggled with the apron around my waist, trying not to be late for the meeting had announced a few minutes ago. I was the only one left in the hotel locker room. I sighed in relief when I finally untied the white cotton material stained at the midline with chili sauce I'd had at my lunch break. I'd tried to get rid of it with bleach while cleaning one of the rooms, but it left a light-pink tinge behind. Too late to change into my clothes, I grabbed my black tote bag and sprinted out of the room. I ran down the large hallways, almost bumping into Mr. Frederick, the facility manager. He smiled warmly at me and told me to be careful.

At , I still wasn't punctual at anything, no matter how much I tried. I didn't want to give Mrs. Carter more reasons to fire me. I had bad records already, the nonstop complaints about me from my coworkers and the owners of the rooms I cleaned. I had once broken a guy's nose for groping my ass while I was cleaning his room. There was also this one time I'd decided to take a five-minute nap in one of the rooms I'd cleaned, but I got caught. I had to lie to the manager that I'd fainted, which I was pretty sure she hadn't bought. I didn't get along with my coworkers, not all of them. I had three friends here, and they covered up for me anytime I was running late.

I pushed the double doors to the makeshift meeting room, making a loud noise that got everyone's attention. Every head turned back to look at me, and some appeared annoyed at my interruption. I flashed them a sheepish grin and stepped in quietly. Mrs. Carter didn't look surprised at my late arrival. She eyed me first before looking away and continuing with her speech.

I joined Malva and Donia in the middle. They laughed at me as they created some room for me. I wiped my sweaty palm against my cleaning uniform, trying to ease the thumping in my chest. I gave them a small smile and tried to listen to what Mrs. Carter was saying.

"We can't have our guests complaining about our staff ..."

Like they didn't enjoy doing it; no matter how you tried to make them feel at home, they still had something to bitch about.

"The lady whose room I cleaned today told me my cheap perfume was choking her," Donia whispered and scoffed.

I could tell how offended she was from the way she shook her head and rolled her almond-shaped eyes.

"Mine complained that my uniform was too short. She went to the extent of telling me I wanted to seduce her husband. You should see the husband she was talking about," Malva whispered and gagged.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Wanna share the joke, Chloe? Or did anything I just said sound amusing to you?" Mrs. Carter snapped.

I looked up and found her staring at me. Was my laughter that loud? Her eyes narrowed to slits, and her forehead creased in anger as she waited for my response. I noticed she wasn't the only one staring at me.

"Sorry," I mumbled with a strained smile.

She looked away after giving me a grim look. I eyed her blue pantsuit that didn't go with the makeup on her face but perfectly matched her dark skin. Mrs. Carter was a strict person. No one messed with her. There had been moments I was close to losing my job just from defending myself against one of her insults. She'd started in this hotel as a waitress from what I'd heard. She'd been here for twelve years. The pay must be good for her to have stayed that long.