Lovestruck, Page 2

  Jenny gritted her teeth. Perhaps another in her position would be reduced to tears, but she'd lost all respect for Jeffery a long time ago and didn't care what he thought.

  "Can you explain how you misplaced some of the receipts? How the hell could you overbook two rooms?" Jeffery's face had turned an interesting shade of red as some of his projectile spit almost hit her on the cheek.

  "I'm sorry, Jeffery. I wish I had an answer. Of course I'll take full—"

  "Damn right you will. Sometimes you can be such an airhead." He puffed out his chest and snarled.

  She held back the urge to snarl right back. Just because he was a distant cousin far out on some minor twig in the Jennings' family tree, didn't mean he had the right to act so superior. She'd like to knock that chip off his shoulder.

  She longed to tell him to go screw himself, but then she'd be fired and have bigger problems to deal with. Jeffery knew most of the employees, Jenny included, needed their jobs. The pay and benefits were the best in the hotel industry, and now that she attended school, she had barely enough to get by. She couldn't afford to just walk away. If she became unemployed, she'd have to drop out of school and move back home with her parents. She shuddered at the thought. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she had no real solution.

  "How can I make this right?" Jenny shook off the feeling of dread and held out her hands. Please don't make me clean the bathrooms.

  "First, you'll go over this paperwork. If I find one wrong number or spelling error, you're out on your ass. Afterward, you'll help housekeeping clean the rooms.

  They're short-staffed today." Jeffery took a gulp of his coffee and let out a loud burp without covering his mouth or excusing himself.

  Jenny held back a look of disgust and shook her head. She swallowed a moan.

  Helping housekeeping was a huge step down for her. Not that she didn't respect the housekeeping staff, but after five years of working at the hotel, she had seniority and should be in charge of the front desk, not reduced to making beds.

  "Will do, Jeffery," she said in a cheerful tone.

  He dropped the pile of papers into her hands and left the room, but as he hit the door she heard him mumble, "Dumb bitch," under his breath. She tightened her grip on the papers to stop herself from tossing them at his head. She'd never been the violent type. Taking a few deep breaths, she sank into the chair at his desk and went to work.

  Four hours later, Jenny found herself making up one of the beds on the second floor with her best friend from high school. Tonya, the assistant to the head of housekeeping, stood barely 5-foot, 3-inches tall, but she had bright red hair and a firecracker personality. She whistled as she fixed the sheet, her long, dangling earrings sparkling in the sunlight pouring through the room's only window. Jenny studied her profile, and not for the first time wished she could pull off Tonya's style.

  "I can't believe it's not even the afternoon yet and this day has sucked big time.

  What else can go wrong?" Jenny picked up a pillow and fluffed it.

  Tonya lifted her fingers in front of her chest and made the sign of the cross. "You know you just jinxed yourself."

  Jenny dropped her head into the pillow. "Please don't tell me that."

  "Well hon, at least you can count on Mike coming in soon. He'll soothe Bane's temper."

  Jenny giggled. Jeffery had it bad for Mike. On the other hand, Mike had no interest in their boss. Jeffery never stood a chance because Mike was head over heels in love with Tonya's brother, James, who owned and operated The Watering Hole, a Hell's Kitchen hot spot, which the St. Jennings staff often frequented after work.

  "I'm going to need a drink after today. Are you thinking about going to The Hole for happy hour?" Jenny asked.

  Tonya rubbed her hands together. "You know I'm always up for a drink after a long day of work. But don't you have a killer economics paper to finish?" She walked to the cart and rummaged through the supplies.

  "How could I forget?" Jenny mumbled under her breath. "Knowing my luck, I'll flunk out of college and have to work with Bane for the next forty years."

  Tonya shook her head and rolled her eyes. "At least you're getting an education. I should have a tattoo printed on my head saying, abandon all hope—"

  "Stop it. You know full well you can—"

  "Yeah, I've heard it all before. Let's not talk about it, okay?" Tonya grabbed a pillow and threw it at Jenny.

  Jenny caught it and finished helping Tonya make the bed. She didn't want to start an argument with her. "Whatever. Hey, maybe if Jeffery liked women he'd treat me with more respect. Some days he can be okay, especially if he knows I can put in a good word for him with Mike."

  Tonya finished making a hospital corner and looked up. "Um, dear, even if Jeffery liked pussy, you still wouldn't give him any."

  Jenny blushed. "Tonya Marie! Watch your language!" She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone happened to be walking by the open door at that moment.

  "You're surprised by the way I talk after almost thirteen years of friendship between us? You'd think someone like you wouldn't be so easily shocked." Tonya teased.

  As Jenny finished with her side of the bed, she spread out the blanket on top.

  "Ha! Sometimes you make it sound like my sexual preference is what defines me. I can be gay and not like foul language, you know? Besides, it's not like I'm getting a lot of action, so you talking about it only makes it worse."

  "Being gay in NYC isn't a big deal at all. Hello, practically all of the people we work with play for the other team. Well, except me. You'd think with so many options around you could finally get some good loving."

  Jenny looked down at her hands. "Tonya, you know it's not easy for me. Gay men have it so easy. Being a lesbian is much harder, even in a city that's so open. The bars and clubs scare me. Some of the women are so vicious. I'm not comfortable having a one night stand. I want . . . damn it, I want a relationship, someone to go to the movies with, to walk in Central Park with, go out to dinner with. I want what you had with Tom."

  Tonya snorted and started dusting the tables and chairs. "Yeah. We had a good three years together. If only he wasn't a walking STD."

  "You don't know that for certain. Tom seems like a good guy. We've known him since we were fourteen. You even married him. Do you honestly think he's cheating on you?"

  She shrugged. "He's a fireman. It's the norm for a man in uniform to cheat. They all do. I should have known the moment he became the quarterback in high school.

  Even back then he liked the tall, big-boobed, skinny, blonde bitches."

  Jenny placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Stop it. You're beautiful, smart and brassy."

  Tonya raised an eyebrow "Brassy? You mean loud, obnoxious and chubby." She spread out her arms to show her petite, curvy body.

  Jenny rolled her eyes. "You still don't know the whole story about what happened that night. Maybe you should ask—"

  "There are my two favorite gal pals."

  Both women turned. Mike stood in the doorway looking very handsome in his St. Jennings uniform. At six-two, with bright blue eyes and great muscle tone, he was a woman's dream man come to life. Jenny held back a sigh. Mike always looked good in whatever he wore, even in his work uniform.

  Tonya went over and Mike gave her big bear hug. He lifted her up and she giggled.

  "Hey there, handsome." She kissed him on the cheek. In return, he gave her a loud smack on the lips.

  "What are you two hemming and hawing about?"

  "Jeffery's on the war path. He let me have it as soon as I came in today. And Tonya is lamenting about Tom."

  "I'm not." Tonya insisted.

  Mike dropped his arm on her shoulder. "Hey, Red, if you ever need to talk, all joking aside, you know where to find me. You don't have to hide your feelings from us.

  We know the separation is hard."

  Tonya looked down at the rug. "I'm going to start divorce proceedings."

  Mike and Jenny fell
silent.

  "Oh, Tonya," Jenny finally said as she walked over and gave her a hug.

  Tonya hugged her back and then moved away to finish her dusting. Jenny noticed the tears in her friend's eyes, but didn't make a comment. She looked at Mike and he shrugged.

  "Don't worry; I'll take her to The Watering Hole tonight and we'll drown our sorrows in some beer."

  "I heard that, MacGillicuty, and I'm on to you. You just want an excuse to flirt with my brother and try to go home with him."

  Mike put his hand on his hip. "I'm offended. I'm thinking of you, and just being a good friend. If something happens between your brother and me, like, say, I give him a blow job in his office, it's meant to be."

  " Eeewww." Tonya came at him with her dust cloth, and Mike began to back out of the room. He looked at the clock on the bedside table and frowned. "Oops, ten minutes until my shift starts. Gotta run!"

  Jenny held her stomach, laughing as Tonya smacked Mike in the ass with the dust cloth. As Mike stumbled out of the room clutching his butt, Tony, one of the hotel's part-time bell hops, appeared in the doorway.

  "Yo, you guys, some shit is going down."

  All three turned and looked at the teenager.

  Mike skidded to a halt. "What's up, dude?"

  Tony rubbed a hand over his short, spiky hair. "I heard Bane talking on his cell.

  The Barracuda's coming here this afternoon to check out us drones and see how things are running."

  Jenny walked over to Tony. "She never comes here to check things out. It's always one of her assistants or her VP." She turned to look back at her friends. "I wonder what's up?"

  Mike shrugged and fixed his tie. "Maybe because she hasn't been here in such a long time she wanted to see what the deal is? Maybe it's nothing."

  Jenny nodded. "I hope you're right. In all the time I've worked here, I've never seen her. Want to hear something funny? Her older brother is Dean of the Business department at my school. He teaches the Ethics in Business class."

  "Oh, spooky." Mike held up his hands in mock fear.

  Jenny whacked him on the shoulder.

  "I dunno, but Bane sent me to find you." Tony reached into his side pocket for a piece of gum.

  Jenny rolled her eyes and pretended to cock a gun with her fingers, pressing it against the side of her head.

  Tonya laughed. "Well, dearies, I have to finish my rounds. Back into the fire you go." She gave Jenny a light push. Jenny followed Mike and Tony back down to the lobby where they would see The Barracuda in person.

  Barbara wanted the day to be over. She glanced at her watch. It was just going on one o'clock and this afternoon had to be one of her shittiest in a decade. The morning went down the toilet the moment she arrived at the office. The third assistant she'd hired this year quit over the phone, her inbox had exploded with emails, which took hours to read and answer, and she'd had to reschedule a meeting with her accountant.

  Now, scarfing down a granola bar as she rushed to her car to head out for an appointment at the St. Jennings, she wondered what else could go wrong.

  The drive took less than ten minutes in midday traffic. Before her driver, Ted, could assist her, Barbara grabbed her briefcase, opened her door, and jumped out. Her bladder cramped from the pot of coffee she'd downed earlier, and the tear in her stocking had expanded and lengthened.

  "Ted, I might be a while. Don't wait around. I'll call you when I'm finished."

  Ted tipped his hat and Barbara waved at him as she jogged into the hotel. One of the bellhops nodded and opened the door for her. Under normal circumstances, she'd make her presence known right away, but nature called and her ruined stockings were unacceptable. She decided to forego the usual formalities.

  Barbara found the women's bathroom near the lobby, made her way into a stall, and hummed along to the Muzak playing from a speaker in the corner. She wondered, briefly, if the woman standing in front of the mirror sniffling had a cold or allergies.

  After emptying her bladder, Barbara pulled her cover-up, lipstick and deodorant from her bag and began to make some much-needed repairs.

  While washing her hands at the sink, her gaze fell upon the woman who'd been sniffing. Sitting in a chair to her right, the girl sobbed into a tissue with her head down.

  Barbara grabbed a paper towel, dried her hands and told herself not to get involved.

  Yeah, right.

  "Are you alright?" she asked.

  The woman looked up. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm having a bad day." She wiped her eyes with a tissue.

  The young woman looked familiar, but Barbara couldn't place her. Jogging her memory bank, she wondered where she'd seen her before. When the girl smiled, Barbara felt a rush of warmth in the pit of her stomach.

  The smile also gave Barbara an electric jolt between her legs. The sensation left her dumbfounded. The woman―her employee, Barbara surmised, based on the fact she wore a St. Jennings uniform—might have swollen eyes and a red face from crying, but her smile exemplified her beauty. Barbara had seen many beautiful women, some she lusted after, others she respected, but something about this stranger with the giant teardrops and engaging smile sent a warm rush of lust and hunger coursing through her. A long time had passed since Barbara had such a delicious reaction.

  Uncomfortable with her response to this stranger, she applied her makeup with a shaky hand. The woman—at least ten years her junior—stood with a sigh.

  From the corner of her eye, Barbara watched her wash her hands and pat her cheeks with cold water. The girl looked down at her feet then back up at the mirror and made a face.

  Aha! Starbucks. About a month ago. The moment her bathroom buddy lowered her head, Barbara knew where she'd seen her. The droopy-eyed girl had spilled coffee on her briefcase, the same briefcase lying at her feet right now.

  Barbara couldn't contain her laugh. The girl was no teeny bopper as she'd first thought.

  The other woman looked a bit sheepish, and Barbara couldn't help but notice a blush forming on her cheeks. How adorable, she thought, unable to remember the last time she'd blushed over anything.

  When the woman straightened her uniform, Barbara zoned in on her chest—a perfect size, in her opinion. The coat showed off those attributes very well, and Barbara wondered what the girl's nipples looked like. As she stared, she realized the woman was speaking to her, and she didn't catch the first part of her sentence because of the fantasy running through her head. "Excuse me?"

  Barbara cleared her throat and tried to ignore her damp thong, and hoped her hard nipples weren't showing through her blouse.

  "Oh, don't mind me. I tend to talk to myself. My boss just reamed me out again.

  I'm on a roll. This is twice in one day . . . oh, but listen to me. You're a guest and here I'm acting so unprofessional." She moved to leave the bathroom but Barbara grabbed her by her coat sleeve.

  The girl lifted her eyebrow and gave her a wary smile.

  Barbara reluctantly released her. "Forgive me. I'm not the type to accost strangers, but I thought you might want to use some of my cover-up. I mean, you have a nice face, but with your crying, you look flushed . . . ." Barbara snapped her mouth shut. Stop rambling, Barbara. You're The Barracuda, for God's sake!

  The woman looked in the mirror again and frowned at her reflection. "I guess it's a good thing I rushed this morning. I'm so not a morning person. If I had time to put on makeup, my mascara would have made me look like a raccoon." She chuckled at her own joke and Barbara joined in.

  "Here, use some of mine. I can assure you I don't have a skin disease or acne."

  "Thanks." She took the foundation from Barbara.

  An inexplicable electric jolt ran through Barbara's hand as their fingers met. She watched as her new friend rubbed some concealer over her face and wondered if she experienced the same attraction.

  "I guess I look better." Again, the girl smoothed down the front of her uniform and Barbara couldn't help but zone back in on her chest. This time she noticed h
er name tag . . . Jennifer.

  Jennifer placed the foundation on the counter, checked her hair clip and licked her lips. "I guess my saliva will have to do for now instead of lip gloss." She turned to Barbara. "Thanks again."

  A frown flitted across Jennifer's face, so brief Barbara wondered if she'd imagined it. The girl gave a quick shake of her head, a parting smile and walked from the room.

  Barbara studied Jennifer's ass as she left the bathroom. Her back looked as nice as her front. She sat in the chair Jennifer had vacated and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to catch her breath. If she had a few more minutes, she'd get herself off. Why did Jennifer affect her like this? Hell, for a minute, she'd actually considered pushing the girl against one of the stalls and kissing her. Barbara couldn't stop staring when Jennifer licked her lips, and she felt a strange compulsion to lick them too.

  Poor kid. She'd said she was having a bad day. Little did she know, it was probably about to get a whole lot worse. If Barbara decided to cut jobs at the St.

  Jennings in order to keep the place afloat, chances were good Jennifer would receive a pink slip. But in business and in Barbara's world, power and money mattered most. Not some luscious young thing with a great pair of tits and an ass she wanted to rub her face against.

  Barbara stood and finished her toilette. She took one last glimpse in the mirror, pulled off her ruined stockings and flipped back her hair. The day had begun to look up. In a few more minutes she'd see her sleepy-eyed morning girl again.

  Chapter Three

  As Jenny walked back over to the front desk, she mulled over the last few minutes. She knew she should have used the employee bathroom instead of the women's room in the lobby, but hadn't wanted to embarrass herself when she broke down in tears. Not many guests used the one in the lobby because they preferred to use the one in their room or the bigger one near the conference rooms. Not thinking about the backlash she'd suffer if anyone found out she'd broken one of the 'rules', Jenny had simply sat down in a lounge chair and cried her eyes out.