Once Upon a Summertime (19 page)

Anna glanced at her watch, hoping that the last of the maids hadn't left yet. She'd told several of them that they could go home early since they were nicely ahead of schedule, and she was certain they'd spread the word. She'd have to
catch a couple of them before they were all clocked out. “Yes, I'll see if I can round up someone,” she promised.

“Thank you.”

The elevator stopped at the lobby floor, and Mrs. Newman went toward the main exit as Anna hurried toward housekeeping. When she reached the maids' lunchroom and checked the time cards, she was dismayed to see that most of them had already clocked out. The only time card remaining belonged to Velma, but she had been a little negligent about her time card this week. That in itself was troubling, but Velma was such a consistently diligent worker that it was hard to hold her forgetfulness against her. Plus, she was the oldest of the maids and her presence always seemed to have a steady effect on the others. As a result, Anna had been punching out her time card for her occasionally and reminding her later.

Anna was just about to slide Velma's card into the time clock when Velma appeared. “What're you doing?” she demanded.

“I'm sorry.” Anna handed Velma her card. “I just assumed you'd left with the others.”

“Nah. I was just giving the lobby restrooms a wipe down. They weren't on my schedule, but Mr. O'Neil mentioned that the men's room needed a little TLC. So I just finished up.” She started to put her card in.

“Wait, Velma,” Anna put up a hand to stop her. “Can you stick around a couple more hours? I'll give you overtime.”

“Sure.” Velma removed her card. “What do you need done?”

“We're going to clean the Newmans' penthouse suite,” she told Velma.

“We?”
Velma frowned skeptically.

“You and me.” Anna made a sheepish smile, then explained about the unexpected dinner party. “Hopefully it won't be too messy up there. I know they had maid service early in the week, but we've been so busy that, at Mrs. Newman's suggestion, I took them off the roster. As it turns out, they're having a dinner party at 7:30. But I'd like to get us out of there before six. Is that okay?”

“Okay by me.” Velma nodded. “Overtime, you say?”

“That's right. You grab a cart and I'll go find the key card for the Newmans' suite.” Anna knew that it was unfair for Mrs. Newman to throw this assignment at her last-minute like this, but she also knew that she was determined to bend over backwards if necessary, just to prove that the Newmans had not made a mistake in hiring her. Even if she had to clean their penthouse all by herself, she would do it—cheerfully.

Before long
,
Anna and Velma
were inside the Newmans' penthouse, which unfortunately was more than just a little messy. “I'll tackle the kitchen,” Anna told Velma. “You start in the powder room and the living room and work your way to the master bedroom.”

“You sure?” Velma asked. “That kitchen looks like a pigpen.”

“I know.” Anna nodded grimly. “But I'm pretty good at kitchens. If you get done with your cleaning, you can always come back here and give me a hand.”

Anna tried not to feel resentful as she cleaned up after the messy Newmans. For a seemingly organized couple, they sure weren't much use in the housekeeping department.
Note to self
, she thought as she touched something stubborn and sticky on the granite countertop.
Schedule the Newmans' suite for
daily
maid service starting
on Monday
.

With the dishwasher fully loaded and running—and more dishes left to hand wash—she went to work scrubbing the granite countertops. When was the last time someone had cleaned these?

“Hello?” a man's voice called from the living room.

“Hello?” she answered, hoping it wasn't Vincent. She wasn't eager to be discovered playing the role of a maid. With a dish towel in hand, she went out to investigate and was surprised to see it was Sean coming into the penthouse. His arms were filled with flowers: a big, clear, elegant vase of purple irises, as well as a huge container filled with peonies and other pastel-colored blooms.

“Anna?” He looked as surprised as she was. “What're you doing up here?”

She helplessly held out her hands. “Cleaning.”

He set the vase of irises on the large dining table that Velma had already cleaned. “Why didn't you send some maids up to do this?” He peered curiously at her.

“I have a maid with me. The others were already gone by the time Mrs. Newman told me she needed help up here.”

“Oh yeah, she said it was last-minute.” He held out the other flowers to her. “These need to be arranged. A large one for the island in the kitchen and a smaller one for the powder room, but she wants them put into special vases. I'll get them.”

As she carried the blooms into the kitchen, Sean went over to a wall of cabinets and began to search. Setting the pretty flowers in the sink, she tried not to think of the irony of this—Sean handing her a bouquet. What if it was really for her?

“I think these will work.” Sean set an attractive round vessel made of thick, watery-blue glass on the counter she was cleaning and then a smaller cut crystal vase next to it.

“Need any help with that?” she offered meekly.

“I think I got it.” He filled the aquamarine vase with water. “How about you? You need any help when I'm done here?”

“No,” she said quickly. “I just need to get back to what I was doing.” Yet she just stood there, watching as he carefully selected flowers to go in the vase, cut their stem bottoms with scissors, and dropped them in.

“My offer is genuine,” Sean assured her as he reached for a pale pink peony. “I don't mind helping.” He looked up with an open expression.

She returned his gaze and immediately regretted it. The last thing she needed was to get pulled into those deep blue eyes and be captivated by that smile. “Really,” she told him. “I'm fine.” She returned to the countertop, scrubbing the granite like her life depended on it.

“I've been wanting to talk to you, Anna.” He spoke quietly as he placed the flowers in the large vase.

She just kept scrubbing, wishing there was a way to do this differently but knowing there wasn't.

“I feel really badly for how things went with us that Sunday,” he continued. “I never meant for it to go—”

“It's okay,” she said quickly. Without looking at him, she rinsed out her cleaning rag. “There's nothing you need to say.
Really.
”

“But I wanted to tell you that I'm—”

“Please, Sean.” She whirled around, locking eyes with him. “I mean,
Mr. O'Neil
.” She tipped her head toward where she could hear Velma running the vacuum cleaner in the master bedroom. “One of my maids is here with me. I can't risk her hearing this conversation.”

“She can't hear us—”

“I fully understand the hotel's policy,” she continued urgently. “Mrs. Newman has made it crystal clear to me. I'm to keep my staff from engaging in any workplace romances . . .
uh, relationships. Any employee who doesn't comply with the rules will be immediately terminated. Period.” She paused to watch him arranging a few of the flowers in the smaller crystal vase. He was actually pretty good at this. Not that she planned to mention it. Mostly she just wanted to get him out of here.

“Yes, I know all about the policy, Anna, but I—”

“There are no buts.” She turned back to her feverish cleaning, bending down to scrub some drips from the face of a lower cabinet.

“Couldn't you just meet me somewhere away from the hotel, Anna—just to talk?”

She rinsed the cleaning rag again, determined not to get pulled in by him, although everything inside of her wanted to declare, “
Yes, Sean, I
will gladly meet you anywhere. Name the time and the
place and I'll be there.
”

“Please, Anna, just hear me out—”

“Miss Gordon?”

Anna whirled around to see Velma standing behind Sean with a furrowed brow. “Yes, Velma?” Anna said nervously. “Do you need something?”

“I finished up everything you said to do. Living room, powder room, master bedroom. What now?”

“How about the second floor?” Anna said eagerly. “Make sure it's presentable in case some guests go up there. Please check the other bedroom suite too.”

Velma studied Sean and Anna with what seemed a knowing or perhaps even suspicious expression.

“Thank you, Velma,” Anna said evenly. “You have no idea how much I value your help with this.”

“Yes, Miss Gordon.” Velma nodded in a subservient way. “Pleased to be of assistance.”

“If you'll excuse me, Mr. O'Neil, Velma and I have work to do,” Anna said crisply.

“Sorry to intrude,” he said as he backed away. “Good evening, Miss Gordon.”

Anna took in a deep breath, then muttered “Good evening” back at him. Without giving him another glance, she returned to her cleaning. As she scrubbed, she felt seriously aggravated at him. Why had he been so stubborn? Despite her warning him—practically begging him—to be quiet and just leave, he had persisted. She'd told him that Velma was here, that she might be listening, and yet he'd ignored her. It was as if he didn't even care. Maybe he wanted her to lose her job. But how could they fire her and not fire him? That wouldn't be fair.

However, Anna knew from experience that life was not always fair. It had often been her experience that life was completely unfair. And she knew it could happen again. She also knew that Velma was not stupid. She could put two and two together—and maybe already had. Then what? Anna could not afford to lose this job. Especially after having given Rodney that deposit check this morning. No, somehow she must do damage control with Velma. She must make her understand that there was nothing between Sean and Anna.

They finished up just a little before 6:00. “I'm so grateful for your help,” Anna told Velma as she gave the sleek dining table one last swipe of her dusting cloth. It looked absolutely gorgeous with the tall vase of irises.

“Well, I appreciate the overtime,” Velma said as she wheeled the housekeeping cart out the entrance, waiting as Anna securely closed the door. “My old man's been out of work for the last six years. I'm starting to think Marvin will never get back to work.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Anna pressed the button for the service elevator. “I know what it's like to be dependent on yourself . . . your income.”

“I expect you make more than a maid,” Velma said a bit wryly.

“Well, yes. But I went to college for five years to train. And my job comes with a lot of responsibility.”

Velma nodded as she pushed the cart into the elevator. “Yeah, I guess I wouldn't trade you for that. I'm not big on stress.”

“I'm starving,” Anna said as they went down. “I skipped lunch.”

“Yeah, I just had some leftover soup. I'm hungry too.”

“Want to join me for dinner?” Anna asked suddenly. “My treat since you helped me out. Or maybe your husband expects you home?”

“It's Marvin's poker night.” She rolled her eyes. “Thank goodness, it's penny poker.”

“I saw a cheeseburger place a couple blocks down. I've been dying to try it out.”

“A cheeseburger sounds real good.”

“Then come with me,” Anna said as the elevator doors opened. “I'll even call ahead to see if we can get a table.”

Velma nodded. “All right then. It's a date.” She giggled as she wheeled the cart toward the storage room.

Anna told herself this wasn't exactly a bribe. It wasn't. It was simply her attempt to get to know one of her most dependable maids—and to thank her for her help this evening. Even so, she felt a tinge of guilt as she called the cheeseburger joint.

By the time Velma had changed and they'd walked to the
restaurant, it was 6:45. Since Anna had made a reservation for 7:00, they hardly had to wait.

“This is fun,” Velma said happily as they were seated at a colorful table. “Can't remember the last time I went out to eat at night.”

“Well, I'm glad you could come.” Anna picked up the menu. “I really don't enjoy eating alone.” She told Velma about her four flight attendant roommates and how they came and went so much that meal planning was impossible.

“I think I'd like that.” Velma sighed. “Every time I get home, Marvin looks at me like meals on wheels just arrived.”

After they placed their order, Anna worked the conversation back to the incident between her and Sean. “It's interesting,” she said. “Mr. O'Neil and I grew up in the same town. We've known each other since we were kids.”

“Really?” Velma nodded. “I had no idea.”

“Well, it's not something I'd go around advertising. I realize that we need to keep everything professional, but I'll admit it was a little awkward getting used to calling him Mr. O'Neil when I'd always known him as Sean.” She laughed.

“I can see how that would be tough.” Velma peered curiously at her. “For a moment there, I thought that maybe you two were involved. You know, like maybe you'd been dating?”

“No, no,” Anna assured her. “I mean, we'd spent some time together before we started work at the hotel. But it was never anything serious. As a matter of fact, I think Mr. O'Neil is interested in my roommate Marley. She grew up in our hometown too. Her brother and Sean—I mean Mr. O'Neil—are old friends.”

“Well, it certainly is a small world.”

“I'm guessing that's what Mr. O'Neil wanted to talk with
me about. He probably wanted my opinion on whether Marley would like to go out with him or not.”

“Would she?”

Anna nodded. “Most definitely. She's been trying to get me to work on him for her. But I've been so focused on work, I suppose I forgot. Anyway, she came by yesterday, and she and Mr. O'Neil really seemed to hit it off.” To change the subject, Anna told Velma about how she and Marley had managed to secure an apartment. “It was truly miraculous—right there in our same building. We get to move in the first of next month.”

By the time they finished dinner, Anna felt certain of two things. One, Velma was convinced that there was absolutely nothing besides old friendship between Anna and Sean, and two, Anna could trust this older woman. As they parted ways and Anna walked home, she decided that she would choose Velma to be head of her shift. Besides her having more experience than the other maids, Anna knew she could count on her. And Velma probably wouldn't mind getting a small raise.

Anna had intended to work a full day on Sunday, mostly because she knew she'd accomplish more with no maids around to distract her. But as she walked to work she realized it was a beautiful day and her last free Sunday before the hotel opened. By the time she reached the hotel, she had decided to quit early. She was only accountable to herself on this, and she knew that housekeeping was already ahead of the game and in great shape. So why not?

As usual, she let herself in the side entrance, careful to punch in the security code lest she trigger the alarm system. She knew that some workers might be around today, but for
the most part, the hotel would be quiet and empty. She turned on a hallway light and went to her office, going straight to work on the projects that seemed most pressing.

It was close to 1:00 by the time Anna was turning off the lights and locking the door to her office. She wasn't even sure what she'd do with this slightly unexpected time off, but she intended to do something. As she turned around, she ran smack into someone.

“Sean!” she exclaimed. “I mean, Mr. O'Neil—you scared the life out of me!”

He made an apologetic smile. “Sorry, didn't mean to startle you.”

She steadied herself, putting her purse strap over a shoulder. “I was just finishing up,” she said. “Just leaving.”

“So was I,” he said brightly. “Why don't we leave together?”

“Um . . .” She looked around, worried that someone might be watching. “What about the security cams?” she whispered.

“It's okay, Anna. We're simply co-workers, exiting through the side door. Don't act suspicious and no one will suspect.” He nodded in the direction of the exit. “Let's go.”

“Okay.” She tried to act natural as they walked together. “Sorry, you just caught me off guard. I sort of forgot anyone else was in the building.”