Bona Fide Baby

Chapter 8 - The Accused

Xiomara narrowed her eyes at Willem and folded her hands in her lap. Tears prickled the back of her eyes at the thought of getting fired, but she refused to let Willem see her cry. No matter what happened, she was not going down without a fight. Her family needed her now more than ever. If that meant she had to get down on her knees and beg, she would do just that. But not before she heard what Willem had to say.

"You heard something concerning about me?" She asked.

Willem took a deep breath and leaned forward. "Yes."

"Okay, go on."

"It's regarding your behavior-"

Xiomara cut him off. "I can't believe this. Omar is absolutely despicable – and a whiny little bitch. We had a good fuck, so what? And now he wants to get me fired for it? No balls, he has no balls that one."

The look on Willem's face registered shock and at least a thousand other expressions. "Miss Castillo, I'm going to have to ask you to take a deep breath. This meeting isn't about Omar, but what did you say about you two fucking?"

Holy dynamite. She just messed this one up big time. Like mammoth size big. "Nothing, absolutely nothing. We had a disagreement, that's all. Please forget everything I just said. I tend to foam at the mouth sometimes. I'm sorry. Proceed, please."

A frown with the similar characteristics of a thunderstorm planted itself on Willem's forehead. "As I was saying. It's regarding your behavior as a past employee of one of my hotels."

Oh, the bullshit never ended. "The Alcove Hotel? You really need to get rid of your manager there. Mr. Mozambique fired me without even listening to my half of the story."

Grey eyes traveled over her face in doubt. "Tell me your side of the story."

"What did they tell you?"

"I was told that you stole a rather expensive diamond bracelet from one of the suites when the occupants were out and about in the city. And when it was reported missing, you said that the gentleman had given it to you."

"He did! And I wouldn't call him a gentleman, far from it. He has a wife and he wanted me to go to bed with him."

Willem tapped his fingers on the desk with impatience. "Tell me what happened."

She fidgeted in her seat and took up the hem of her skirt between her thumb and index finger. "So, I was assigned to clean this particular suite. It wasn't the first time I had met Mr. Baker and his wife. They came in at least twice a year and they always booked the same suite. They had timeshare there or something. When the incident happened, I was going on three years working at the Alcove. The Bakers knew me by name. One afternoon Mr. Baker handed me a small box while his wife was downstairs in the spa. He told me it was a gift from him and his wife ... and bla bla bla about how great the service was and how they wanted to thank me. I politely declined, but he insisted."

"What happened then?"

"I took the bracelet home. He was always very flirty, but I never took him on. Married men don't interest me. On their last day there, he called up for a maid. So of course, I went. When I got there, he started groping me, touching me inappropriately. He said that I had to give him something in return for the bracelet. I fought him and ended up scratching his neck. If your manager had taken the time to listen to my story, he would have had proof of what happened in that room. All he wanted to know was whether I had the bracelet or not."

Willem sighed. "You do know accepting gifts directly from the guests is not allowed. All gifts left behind must go through the front desk where the guests have to sign a disclaimer agreement."