Ruffled ~ H.S

Eight

"I'm very impressed, Miss Winter," Mr Antonelli said to me as I packed up my maid's cart before storing it away, "you've worked an excellent first week. I'm more than proud of my decision to take you on."

"Thank you, sir," I chuckled, "just doing my job."

"And you do it extremely well. You have a great weekend now – you definitely deserve to after working so hard," he smiled at me, "I'd better go. I have someone waiting for me upstairs. I'll see you on Monday."

"You most certainly will," I smiled back at him, "enjoy your evening, Mr Antonelli."

"You too," he gave me a quick thumbs-up before turning and walking towards the elevator to go back up to his office.

Feeling motivated by my new boss' compliments – I packed up my maid's cart as tidily as I could before storing it away with the other maids' carts in one of the linen rooms. I then went to the maids' locker room to change out of my grotty black & white uniform – putting on my white butterfly sleeved shirt and dark blue skinnies from this morning. I then packed my dirty uniform in a spare bag so that I could wash it tonight – leaving my clean spare hanging in the locker before shutting it.

"Oh hey, Deidre!" A friendly voice came from behind me – making me jump, "Do you mind sticking around for a chat? I won't be two seconds."

I turned around to see that it was my new friend Pia Flores who had spoken. Only just a few years older than me – she was assigned as my shift partner for most days, so we often did our jobs together. She was also like my mentor – the one who showed me around on my first day and the one who warned me about which guests to normally watch out for. She was cheerful & friendly – and she honestly cracked the best dirty jokes when she was in the mood.

"Hey, Pia," I smiled at her, "sure – I can stick around."

"Thanks, babe," she beamed at me and opened up her locker to start changing, "so hey – how're you holding up? Have you managed to get through a day without getting lost yet?"

I laughed. "I would've said yes if I didn't end up taking a wrong turn to the laundry room on the third floor today."

Pia laughed too. "Oh well. Fingers crossed for next week," she turned to look at me over her shoulder as she wriggled into her red day dress, "you got any plans for tonight? I love letting my hair down at the end of the week."

"Do you, now?" I cocked an eyebrow at her, "And what is that, exactly?"

"Getting wasted at a nightclub and then having wild sex with a total stranger," she said casually. However, she then burst out laughing when she saw the look on my face, "I'm joking! I just usually have a girls' night to catch up with my friends."

"Oh," I couldn't help but feeling a little relieved, "yeah – I'm going out with a couple of friends tonight too – to celebrate my new job."

"So, getting a job as a hotel maid is something worth celebrating for you & your friends?" Pia sounded amused.

I chuckled. "I've always wanted to work in a top hotel. I guess they're just happy for me."

"Aw, well you have fun," Pia smiled at me as she buttoned up her cardigan, "you definitely deserve it – you've been great this week."

"Thanks, Pia," I smiled back at her.

"No problem," she slung her bag over her shoulder and shut her locker, "well, I guess I'd better be going. Thanks for the chat."

"Anytime," I chuckled and gave her a quick wave, "bye, Pia."

"Bye, Deids. I'll see you next week!"