Chapter 4

(Ava's POV)

We both lay in bed that night unable to sleep.

...I was unable to sleep. Lily would probably pass out now if I gave her the chance, but I felt like I could keep her awake for a few more minutes.

"There was definitely something fishy about that Dylan of a guy. I knew it. I knew it! He's extremely lucky that I'm no snitch, we'd have seen what RDM had to say about that." I haul.

"Woah, woah! I don't think we need to involve any more people in this, Ava. You did the number one good thing by telling me first." She drawls.

"I know but what do I do next?" I ask her.

"I'm glad you asked. Tell no other person." She says straight up.

"What?"

"Let it die with you...with us. So him a favor and keep his little secrets." She tries to convince me.

"Lil. He might be defrauding the hotel or worse... stealing from clients! We definitely have to at least see that it stops, somehow." I assert.

"So, what happens if it turns out legit to be his.?"

I melt into the bed to think of an answer. I hadn't really even fathomed that scenario. No. Those things definitely aren't his by right. Either they're not or he has to do some serious explaination.

"I'm sure he has to make it one hundred percent clear to the higher ups." I huffed, not directly answering the question.

"No, not him, this time, you weeb. I'm talking about you. What happens to you? Is your embarrassment and social sanity for the rest of your work stay here worth the humiliation?" She asks.

Now, that question rested in me and I have to take deep breaths to answer. Still, I can't answer the question and it leaves me hanging. Lily knew what she was saying.

"Leave him alone, Ava. Trust me, nothing good will come out of meddling in his business."

For the first time, without hesitation, I agree. I also let her sleep, considering she was about to pass out anyway and I'm left with my own thoughts.

I do at least three more censuses in my mind and everyone says the same thing. The only part of my mind that agrees with going back to investigate is the one that is actually just hanging around to see what he looks like under a shirt.. and I'm not going to give points to sections of my mind that didn't reason credibly.

In fact, when I do fall asleep, after a long while of deliberation, the next morning is the first time Lily ever has to wake me up.

"How.long.were.you.a.sleep?" Each of her words are peppered with a massive push to my chest like I'm a patient needing CPR.

"Three minutes? What are you doing?" I ask her.

"It's tomorrow...if that makes any sense." She smiles sarcastically.

"Here we go again..." I huff and sit up.

Here we go again.

My perception of time and depth is messed up making me see everything warped until I'm fully conscious, so I wait for this to even out. Morning routines, this time, I make an effort to actually clean my teexh with a brush and take a proper shower.

...and it feels worth it.

I look at myself in the mirror wearing my uniformed dress. The sharpness is unmatched. I think about switching back into the shirt and jeans combo to look more casual, but for some reason, I want Dylan to see me like this.

The dress is a perfect fit. It isn't elastic, so it doesn't round up on any emphasized curve like my hips and the cleaves between my chest, but it's not a sticky one either and the material is free enough for my body to jiggle even if just slightly.

I was never too conscious of my body until middle of college when I started getting complements from even the girls. High school was torment for me, because I was the thin, tall girl, but on the bright side, that was were I developed my think skin and audacious personna. That was where I learned how to 'not care' what others thought of me so that when I began to add some flesh into my body, my confidence rose up to an almost toxic level. Only Lily helped me keep balance.

"Well, when he sees you, he'll definitely drop the clipboard from his hands." She complements me as she goes on doing what she's doing to her face.

"You think? If he even notices that'll be a plus. He looks like the eunuch kind of guy." That makes her laugh, but it's true. Dylan doesn't look like the type of person you'd have your physical way with and that only led to his being infinitely more annoying.

Nobody knows his weakness.

"Maybe he's not into women." I laugh but Lily shakes her head.

"In his grump, we have it easy. You should see him chew other guys. The only thing he doesn't do is hit them." She cackled.

"Really."

That just makes him more terrifying, but I'm not going to get bullied by him. I make up my mind that very instant.

When we are all set and heading out, I look towards the direction of where I would have to go if I were to get to his room again. The lush…even in that general area and place. Something is completely off and there’s definitely no way he got all that from just being the Executive housekeeper. It would be nice to go back and maybe gather more about that place, but the thought of getting lost and then found again…whether by Dylan or not is enough deterrence.

(DYLAN'S POV)

Waking up early is something that was ingrained in me from birth. Something not many people knew a spoiled brat like me would be capable of doing.

Lucky me, no one here knows I am a rich spoiled brat... except Mrs. Greane. That existential identity, however seems to be threatened by the one girl that just wouldn't leave my mind from the first day she came. I wait pretty anxiously to have them all out. Normally, I hate to do this. Commanding people sometimes maybe twice my age and giving them their daily quota of work was something I had to get used to.

Ava made me like it. She's just so...so... stubborn...but in the kind of way that makes me want to see her everyday and find out what new way she has decided to oppose my authority.

With my age, imposing authority - which is very necessary for my position - is incredibly difficult, which is why I hardly try. Nice guy or tough guy, either way is a dead end when I sense resistance, I literally just ignore it. They'll do the work anyway, which is the main aim.

...and Ava has no idea how excruciating work can get here.

They get two floors of complete room keeping duty. Lucky them.

Matilde is in charge of the laundry and you should see how crazy it gets on weekends when the hotel is most crowded...then on summer weekends.

I literally have to send her help most of the time and even with that I still see her a bit overworked.

A bit is okay, considering I'm completely overwhelmed most of the time. To be honest, if not for Ava and Lily's recruitment, I'd probably be growing an extra tendon in my legs, arms and brain from exertion and even then, I gave them two floors! Two floors for just over half the day. I must be entering into simp mode.

They are currently about four floors beneath me, which is where the normal suites end. They're supposed to do into the executive suites which are the last three floors to the top before a final extravagantly furnished room for events.

I take that from them...and do it myself.

If Mrs. Greane finds this out, she is definitely going to go ballistic on me. She did tell me to take it easy on them, bit that was only for the first day. I still can use that excuse, but it's only going to be tenable for so long. She'll probably just call my mom, anyways and cry over the phone how I'm overworking myself again, just like she did the last time I fell ill.

Yup. She's not just my superior in the office, she has a long standing relationship with my family. She was originally our nanny and housekeeper before she translated to working in the hotel when we got old enough to look after ourselves. It took me a while to adjust to calling her the official'Mrs. Greane' from 'Auntie Sylvia'even though I revert to the more fondly name in less formal moments.

It would be such a catastrophe if she happened to do one of her blue moon patrols and see me with my sleeves rolled up, lathered sponge in hand, running over and over the bathroom tiles. Unlikely, since no big event was currently happening today, but still... there have been occurrences.

The executive suites are beautiful, even I with my years of exposure to luxury would say that much. It was nothing like I grew up with. For someone who's dad is a billionaire, I would say my sister and I were raised in somewhat moderate settings and channelled only for excellence. This would mean we got very little luxuries, save for the big house. In fact, every expensive thing I own is either a gift for my birthday or a very big accomplishment, like my Lamborghini Huracan that was gifted to me by my dad after my graduation.

...the rest, I have to work for. Which is what I believe I'm doing now as I scrub the bathroom tiles. This isn't my first time doing this...or second...or tenth. I actually started the company from the grassroots and worked it up to this level. Promotions haven't even been sped up in my case being the son of the owner. I have literally been here for eight years and have only gone up two ranks.

After about four hours of non - stop work, having cleared all nine rooms in the executive suite, with a really toned back from the exercise of bending, I go over to check on the first people that come to my mind. Ava and Lily.

Ava.

I place a metal bet that they wouldn't be done with the first floor I gave them, so that's where I go first. I was right. I hear a customer yelling as soon as the door to the elevator opens and immediately rush to see the damage. Happens with every new comer.

"I said get out! Bimbo! You'll do the rest when I check out of this lousy place." I hear a man bellow. It's muffled, so the sound is a little soft in the hallway. Besides, rooms are quite sound proof so I doubt any in guests would be disturbed.

I'm actually really worried for Ava and her straight up sass. That could get her in trouble that even I couldn't save her from. In this kind of place, you were only rude to customers on your last day of work, when you had collected your paycheck. Asides from that, you had to stomach everything. Even I wasn't excluded, although I have broken that law a few times when some customers were being borderline.

"Girls what the hell is going on? Four hours, five rooms?" I ask them, putting in all the boss personna I can muster. With Lily, it's pretty easy. She cowers under little pressure. Ava, who is significantly harder to intimidate just flicks her gaze to me and back fast like she wasn't scared. Well, she wasn't.

"Two girls." She adds at the end of my sentence.

"And?" What's wrong? That I gave two girls such little work?

"How do you expect us to work so tediously!?" She whisper-yells.

You have to be kidding me…

"Because you're being paid frivolously!" I try as much as I can to keep my voice to the same tone as hers.

She makes a face. "Is that even a thing? Payed frivo..."

"Get to work!" I grind my teeth deep but she shakes her head.

"Listen. If this is about yesterday, then I'm sorry. Okay?"

I don't have anger issues...never did, but Ava made me develop one and teach myself control at the same time. I would usually implode at this point and back off, giving one final command, which was a dare to disobey me and walk away, but I just asked. "What do you mean, yesterday? What happened yesterday?"

"Yeah." Lily spoke. "What happened yesterday?"

I turn back to see her hands akimbo on her tiny waist. Cute? I could have chuckled if I didn't feel like strangling her best friend.

"I shouted at you when I was in the obvious wrong and I slammed the door in your face. It was out of the character that is expected of me and I'm sorry." I said in one breath.

Oh. I completely forgot I was angry at that.

"Okay. Apology accepted, but I still have no idea why you think this is hard. Do you know what I'm doing now? Me alone. Executive suites on the top floor." I shrug.

Her eyes widen "What!?"

"Yeah. I'd have called for help, but I don't want you guys to break anything. They'll take it out of my pay." I lie, not wanting them to think I'm doing it chivalrously

"This is oppression." Lily's voice broke.

I badly want to pat her on the head.

"No, little one. This is real life. And more importantly, this is summer in Belfrost!" I say and take that as my cue to leave. "Oh, and...you have to be done by three, you know that right?" That's my final command and walk off. They usually don't stray far from it.

I scoff on the way back up. "Oppression?"