Chapter 1

(Ava's POV)

"There's no way..." Lily gawks as we exit the car and make our way to the building. I'm in a similar shocked state as well. Maybe if I wasn't the one to negotiate payment with the taxi driver, it would've been my mouth open, not hers.

"I don't believe it either, Lily." I place my hand on her neck in an attempt to bring it back to its normal flex. She bent it almost ninety degrees to the rest of her body just to get the full height of the magnificent in one take.

"All I see is luxury..." she whistles.

"All I see is the chore of getting between floors. This place is huge." I mutter, trying to rid myself of the excitement, fast, so that I won't appear so in meeting with someone. If not, all I really did see was what she said.

Luxury.

We pass the security check easier than I expect and I don't have the opportunity to ask for directions. We've been here before and the office we're going to is the only place we've been to as well, but the grandness of this place meant we only got there with a lucky charm the last time. I don't think we'd be so lucky today.

"There are sixteen floors in this place excluding the underground." Lily huffs as we walk blindly through the entrance floor, not really knowing where we are headed. "We don't even know which floor the RDM's office is." She whines.

"Don't worry, we'll ask around," I reply to her. Even though the receptionist gave us a description, we were only able to get that it was on the same floor we were in. The second we round the corner...or two, both the receptionist and the office disappears.

"Ohh, let's ask that handsome guy over there. He's holding a clipboard, so he must be important." Lily suggests and sure enough, when I look in the direction she's pointing, there's a handsome young man just about to enter the stairwell.

"Hey? Good morning!" I call just before he disappears through the door. His full body vanishes, but he pokes his beautiful head out. I can swear that is purposeful. "Sorry," I hurry towards him. "We're looking for the Rooms Divisions Manager's office. It's kind of a big place so directions aren't too clear."

He maintains eye contact with me and I stare back he then slowly takes his eyes away from me and comes out of the stairwell fully. "Interviews?" He grunts.

"No, actually we've been accepted."

He takes another look at me again, then at Lily.

"Huh."

"Just for the summer." I feel the need to add, to which he responds with another grunt. Friendliness doesn't seem to be his strong suit. Too bad for a guy this cute.

"Follow me." He says after taking a quick look at his clipboard and begins walking in the opposite direction we came from. He is walking, but we have to jog to keep up. Tall people hardly ever walk this fast!

One thing I realized from the onset is that I'm going to have a lot of memorization to do. As soon as we begin the pace to the office, all it takes is a stairway and I get completely lost.

"I thought the receptionist said it was on this floor," I say, mostly to the guy but he chooses to ignore me. Lily gives me a cringy shrug and moves on.

...so that's how it's going to be...

I don't say anything more and just follow behind him until we reach where we are going. If I am to be honest, it's not supposed to be that difficult a route to remember. I'm just too lost in the fact that I already think it is to admit to myself that I didn't task my brain hard enough.

He knocks once. I don't know if he heard permission to come in - most people don't wait - but he enters nonetheless. We are greeted by the sight of one of the most comfortable offices I have seen.

"Universities don't do their professors fair," I mumble to myself. Lily must've heard me because she nods in agreement as she steps beside me. In front of us is what I deduce to be Manager's desk because of the sheer magnificence of the thing. Behind it, sat a woman that looks like she has a few mansions of her own. Flawless makeup...

Or was that her natural skin?

... beautiful blue eyes, not much more I could make out because she was seated, but from the shape of her torso that disappeared behind the rest of the large, probably oak furniture, she seems to fill out space well.

"The new summer entries, aren't you?" She speaks with clear confidence, but also the ease that comes with being in charge.

"Y...yes ma'am." Lily stutters.

We agreed I'd do the talking!

"I see. Human Resources forwarded your test scores, practical and all. Figured it would be nice to have fresh hands and willing minds. Especially as it's the summer. Busy time of the year. Why didn't you intern?" She asks.

"We've already interned," I speak fast before Lily messes everything up with her nervous chatter.

"Where was that?"

"Holiday Inn."

"Hmm. Impressive. That's why you function so well. Well done girls." She talks with the voice, not of someone trying to accept dominance but is truly in charge. We never had to deal with superiors this important during our internship in our second year in school so this feels like an entirely different tier.

"You could apply for an internship here and just double your benefits and spice up your resumé, you know. But, either way, since you're here already, it's already looking good." She smiles at us and I smile back in response, not really knowing what to say. A little part of me is slightly annoyed by how little control I have over the conversation, but I don't dwell on it much. This lady could probably have me out of the building by clicking her fingers. What's not to respect?

She kept glancing over at her computer, making me wonder if she was checking out our files. Her next question answered my curiosity.

"Oh. You both are still in school?"

I open my mouth to answer but she throws in a "not bad...not bad." - a split second after.

...

It was a rhetorical question.

'No need for smart talk, Ava.' I scold myself. I always pride myself in being able to talk my way into favors, out of horrible situations...into horrible situations, and practically anything. It was my ultimate weapon. One I felt very easily compelled to use at the slightest provocation. Because...why not. But I have to know when to nerf it. That's probably going to be a big battle for me.

"Oh well, I've seen enough. You girls are good to go. This is Dylan." She points at the guy that led us in here in the first place who surprisingly hasn't left till now. His focusing back into my vision almost startles me.

"He is the Executive Housekeeper. Practically the boss of the department I just put you in. Since he's here, I guess you'd just go along with him then. It's just for the summer, so...maybe if you intern, we can rotate departments." She smiles and Dylan immediately started walking out.

"Dylan?" She calls and he pauses and turns around, almost mechanically like he's controlled by someone or some algorithm of some sort. "Take it easy, please. Show them their rooms and get them prepared for tomorrow. Light tasks today. Just observation, if the rest can bear weight."

He nods and leaves the room. Leaving us to stare on after him.

"Well, you're going to lose him in the hallway if you keep staring at him like that. Go, go!" She prods us and we move instantly, almost controlled by the same force that had Dylan. "He's a handsome one, I know. That doesn't mean you should be hypnotized." I hear her laugh, just as we thank her and close the door.

"I like her." Lily squeaks as we hurry after Dylan.

"Yeah, me too."

"Surprisingly." She laughs. Her voice is accompanied by my small pants because she's jogging lightly to keep up with my strides. But for ethics, I think for a moment of picking her up and hauling her over my shoulders so she wouldn't have to labor so much.

"You're being harsh on me, Lily." I huff.

"It's true. You don't like people easily."

"I do. It just takes a while for them to notice." I smile to one side.

"Whatever. I just want..."

"Ladies?" Dylan's voice from behind startles us.

How did he?

"There's a stairway here. We'll take it." He said and continues down without further conversation. Determined not to let him out of our sight again, we keep up this time. Soon, after, about three downward flights of stairs later, we exit the staircase and come out at what I assume is the staff living quarters due to how much less luxurious this place is than it is above.

Now, don't get me wrong, if we're to compare this to my average college experience, it'd be a straight win for this place. Everything was clean and in proper order, as well as a few utilities that you'd never see in San Fran State. It was like living in an actual house, but with shared rooms and stuff. Like we were all just some big family or something.

"Make your preps as fast as you can and meet me at the ground floor in thirty minutes. This is your room" Dylan says, again managing to startle us once more. He opened a door to his right and revealed a generously spaced room.

It seems to be two people in a room because that's what it is for Lily and me. The beds are more sizeable than the ones I'm normally used to and I can imagine myself missing the bed when I want to leave.

"Clipboard cutie said we have thirty minutes so we had better get to sorting. I imagine it's going to be a torturous set of days, so I need my personal life organized in the least."

She is right.

"Clipboard cutie?" I give an amused face.

"What? You don't think he's cute?" She shrugs and starts sorting through her suitcase like her life depends on it. We came in with the suitcases, but we had to leave them at the security post. I am surprised to see them here so fast. I thought we'd have to go pick it up ourselves. A luxury hotel indeed.

...or just organized.

Anyways in thirty minutes...or around that time, we meet Dylan on the ground floor. I feel like a genius for getting to the reception area where he was in just one try.

"Hey, so uhh. Mrs. Greane said no tasks, so basically you're on observation. What you're going to do is simple. Watch." He has this dull look on his face like he's tired of the job and it just makes his face look slightly silly. "Who to watch? You see anyone wearing these grays?" He points to a guy with a cleaning trolley.

"Yeah. That kind of guy. Anyone wearing that attire, you're allowed to stalk them as long as satisfies their curiosity. I want you to be well aquatinted with the building also. It'd be a shame if you just kept getting lost when I ask you to get something done somewhere fast."

That doesn't seem like such a hard task, but I think the biggest mistake we made was judging the building's size by the exterior, forgetting that all we saw was the front. We walk so much, by the end of the day, we conclude that merely moving around is a job in itself. Several staff give us petty, 'You'd get used to it.' condolences, but to be honest, I think that felt even scarier.

The best part of the day for me comes with collapsing headlong into the soft bed and falling into a deep slumber.