Single Ladies (3 page)

She lied there, still panting with passion.  She knew what was coming next.  He was about to leave.  He sat up slowly, as if he had to collect himself or calm down first.  "Uh--Angie, I hate to do this, but I need to go.  I've gotta meet with-"

"At almost nine o'clock at night, you gotta meet somebody about business?!  I mean, when does anybody wait for me?  You always make me wait.  Why can't you just stay and handle that in the morning, Brandon?"

He turned to look at her. "Because I can't that's why.  I keep telling you, if you think we're going to work out, or be together, you have to understand that I'm a very busy man, Angie."

She sulked. “I guess I’ll just have to understand, Brandon.” 

"I'm sorry.  I'll make it up to you, soon", he kissed her forehead, then stood up and straightened his clothes. 

Within minutes, she was watching his truck disappear into the night.

Chapter 4

Roni

"Your lab work came back today, Veronica.  I'm sorry to inform you that you suffer from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.  It's usually called P.C.O.S.  Now, it's not a fatal disease, but it  has many challenges -", the soft voice of her gynecologist, Dr. Fieldman, faded into a whisper, while the state of denial took over her emotions. 

Sitting in her silver, Dodge Charger, in front of Luxury Suites Hotel, Roni looked at pamphlets about P.C.O.S, three written prescriptions for Metformin and Spironolactone and a birth control pill to regulate her menstrual cycles, and a dietary plan.

"This is crazy, but at least now I know why I can hardly shed a pound." she whispered as she looked over the sheet.

There was a light tap on her window, but it sounded like rolling thunder as her attention was quickly diverted. 

"Hey, Roni! You working today?  I thought you had Marci on the schedule," her front desk manager, Ramona Tillman, was standing there about to light her cigarette.

"Oh, damn, Mona, you scared me, girl! ", she placed her hand upon her large breasts.   " Uh--- yeah.  I thought you knew that Marci quit on us last night.  Walked out in the middle of a shift, but anyway, I'm here because I need to do payroll, since corporate wants me to start doing it now. Other than that, I am going to stick around, because you know we got that new guy that you interviewed a few months ago, coming in to train on second shift and I told Mario that he didn't have to train tonight.  I'm doing it."

"Oh, yeah, Jonathan Parker.  He seemed like a good guy, but when you hired Marci,  I initially had to turn him down.   But yeah, Leslie doesn't work here anymore right?"

"Well, Leslie quit on us Monday, and that's why I had to fill the position so quickly. I think her and Marci had this planned.  I should've known better than to hire relatives.   Anyway, you know we can't be understaffed right now, and especially when we have the Hausmen Medical groups coming in."

"Wow, all that happened while I was on vacation." Mona shook her funny shaped head.

"Yep.  Well, I'll see you inside, I gotta get this stuff done. Now or never", she smirked, walking briskly to escape the stink of Mona's cigarette. 

The familiar smell of freshly brewed coffee and sugary donuts hit Roni's nostrils as soon as she walked into the lobby of the hotel. She looked around, at the windows to make sure they had been cleaned and didn't have as much as one fingerprint or spot.   As usual,  she was making sure everything was in order.  She greeted one of the housekeepers, as she walked by with her cleaning cart. 

Starting at her right, she screened the sitting area to make sure the chairs were aligned properly, there was no lint on the burgundy and grey carpet, the magazines and brochures were stocked and in the correct spot, and the fresh floral arrangements were alive and fresh.  Everything was in order in the sitting area.   She walked over to the breakfast area and made sure there were plenty of assorted fresh fruits, bagels, donuts, muffins,  cups of fresh waffle batter, plenty of napkins, cups, plates, and silverware stocked and in their proper places.   She checked the hot bar, where hot scrambled eggs and hot sausage links were, to make sure they were at the proper temperature and plentiful.   There was a used empty cup and coffee stir sitting on the evergreen marble countertop and she threw it away.  All the food was well stocked and the dining area looked clean and inviting.

She smiled at two families of guests.

"How are you this morning? Enjoying your breakfast okay?"

"Oh, wonderful, thank you", one man said, from behind his USA Today newspaper.

"Yes, fine.  Thanks.", a woman from the other family smiled.

"Great.  If you need any further assistance, please let guest services know and we will happily assist you."

"Thanks", the group said in unison.

"My pleasure", she smiled, walking toward her office, scanning the floors to make sure they'd been mopped and waxed.  They were.  She walked into her small, well organized office and sighed as she sat down on the soft, leather chair.  She typed three letters of her password into the payroll system, when the phone rang.

" Good morning and thank you for choosing Luxury Suites Hotel, my name is Veronica Carter. How may I assist you?"

It was the new guy, calling to inform her that he may be about ten minutes late, due to scheduling his appointments too close.

"Mr. Parker, I will expect you to be on time from this point on.  I hired you because I had faith that you could render Luxury Suites faithful service and dedication.  I can't have my guest service representatives being late.  I understand this will be your first day, but we need to have a good start to excel in this company.  I wont hold it against you this time, because I truly believe this was an honest mistake you made.  Ok. Ok. Fine. I will see you about ten after three.  Ok. Thanks for calling Mr. Parker."

She hung up the phone.  "I hate to be a bitch, but they walk all over you if you don’t", she whispered to Mona, who had came back in the office.

"Yeah, I know what you mean.  That must have been that new guy, Justin or whatever his name is?"

"Jonathan Parker." Roni signed into the payroll system finally.

"Oh, okay. What happened? Is he not coming?"

"Oh, no. He will be here, but he said he pre-scheduled another appointment too close to his start time here and that he would be about ten minutes late.  I am the most empathetic person in the world, but I can't start out being lenient on anybody else.  Marci and Leslie Deal burned that lesson through my skull," she chuckled.  "Hey. That breakfast area looks good.  You may just need a little tidying here and there as more guests come down.  Oh, and could you run an arrivals report for me and bring it back here when you're done with the breakfast area?"

"Oh, sure.  There are more guests coming down for breakfast now, so I'll print that now and get right on it.  Just so you know, we are at ninety four percent, so we almost sold out last night."

Roni could count on Mona.  She was her right hand woman and did her job no matter what.  That’s why she promoted her from a housekeeper to guest service representative to front desk manager in a little over a year.  She showed extreme potential and desire for the position.  As far as Roni was concerned, she was the second backbone to the company. 

"Oh, and Mona, please let me know how many housekeepers we have for the day. Thank you." she said closing the door to her office, so that she could concentrate on getting her employees paid on time, through the nifty Luxorio payroll system.

After getting payroll done, Roni was ready to eat lunch.  Her mouth watered as she thumbed through the pizza menus in her office, then the memory of her newly diagnosed condition, kicked in.  She decided to eat Subway instead.  Before leaving for lunch, she logged in to a singles website called Surelove.com. to check her instant messages.  She paid thirty dollars for a sixty day membership with Surelove, and she was not about to waste it.

She had three messages waiting when she logged in.  Two from a guy named MrLover32 and one from JP365, who had no photo, but had intrigued her for the last couple of months. 

"Hey SweetladyRC1, I just wanted to let you know I love your ad."  Second message read, "Hey love, it's me again. I forgot to tell you that I love BBWs and I can tell you are a sexy one from what I can see, even though your picture is so far back!"

She laughed at his message and shook her head. She didn't reply to it.  The message from JP365 read " You really have a dynamic way with words and I enjoyed your newly posted poem, The Joy of Love. I especially liked the last line the most.   “Only a true love is a joy that can be cherished forever."

  She responded, "I am delighted that you liked my poem.  Thank you.  So, I see we have a lot in common.  We’ve been emailing for a couple of months now, and the words you send me are really beautiful.  I look forward to your next message."  She signed out and went to lunch.

"Okay, I will make your wake up call for six fifteen, as you requested and, just to let you know, we have new complimentary breakfast times. We will begin breakfast at six in the morning, instead of seven and we have extended it until eleven thirty."  Roni smiled at the couple who frequented the hotel. 

"Thank you Roni.  I was just talking to my sister in law last week about coming out here to visit, and she and my brother like to stay in hotels, even though we have sufficient room for them at our place.  I recommended your hotel without a doubt.  Oh! and we have friends and colleagues coming from all over the country to a local church convention in a few months, and you guys should be getting calls already about it.  I told them all to book here.  It's a wonderful place and you give the best service," Mrs. Nicholson smiled sincerely.

"I really appreciate that.  It makes me feel really good when I hear that from any of my guests.", Roni handed Mr. Nicholson their room keys. 

She pulled out two coloring books and a couple boxes of crayons for the Nicholson’s twin daughters.  "Thank you Roni", the girls smiled in unison.

"You're welcome Abby and Allie.  Have a good evening Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson.

Just as the family walked away from the desk, a guy, who Roni assumed was the new guy, came walking briskly through the doors.  He was a tall, slim, biracial gentleman with coal black wavy hair pulled back into a neat ponytail.  He wore a beard that was thin and neatly trimmed around his face.  His eyes were very dark and piercing, underneath thick, wild eyebrows.   He wore khaki pants, a white Polo shirt, and chocolate brown Timberland shoes.   Even with the facial hair, he appeared to be no older than twenty one.  His application confirmed his age to be thirty two.  He was very attractive and young looking.  He had a notepad and pen in his left hand.  He looked at his watch, then at Roni and smiled apologetically.

"I'm Jonathan Parker."

"Hello Jonathan, come on back and we'll get your paperwork started if Sonia hasn't done that with you."

He extended his right hand. "Pleased to meet you, Veronica right?" His eyes were mesmerized by Roni's soft, smooth chocolate skin, doe eyes, and pouty lips.  Her black, naturally curly hair was just as beautiful. 

"Yes, but please call me Roni or Ms. Carter.  Everyone calls me Roni, so I prefer that, though." she smiled, sneaking a peak at his left hand, which had no ring or indication that one had been there.

"Will do", he smiled as she escorted him into her small office.

"Have you done any of your paperwork?"

"Uh- no, she got a folder with the tax forms and everything, but she ran out of time during my initial interview."

"Okay.  I have everything you need to fill out here in this folder.  Just fill in the highlighted areas.  I also need to copy your drivers license or state i.d and your social security card, please."

He retrieved the cards from his wallet, then began to fill out his forms.

Later in the evening, he had already caught on to the front desk basics.

"So, I saw from your resume that you worked for a hotel prior to this one.  The Maxwell Palace, right?"

"Yeah, it's how I worked my way through school."

"Oh ok.  Great.  I'm glad that you are catching on so swiftly.  Our system is very similar to theirs. You guys used the Proline system at Maxwell right?"

He nodded.  "Yeah, Proline is very similar to this one.  I think the reservations menu is a little different, but other than that, I should be fine.  I know I'm going to need help with adjustments if that differs from Proline."

"That will be the next part of your training.  I usually don't like to cram a lot into your head the first day, but since you have everything else down pat, we'll get into it."

The phone rang.  "You wanna try answering it. Remember the phone greeting is posted right here", she pointed to the memo card, taped to the desk.

"Thank you for calling Luxury suites hotel, my name is Jonathan Parker, how may I assist you?  Sure. It will be a pleasure.  What brings you to the area?  Mhm.. sounds like fun!  Sure.  Coming in on what date?"

Roni watched him take a reservation call perfectly.  He recited the information given to him by the caller and gave the confirmation number before hanging up.  She was sure when they got audited, that he would pass, with his excellent phone etiquette.

"It's slow tonight, Jonathan, but we will be busy later in the week when our Hausmen medical group comes in. They can be a very demanding group of people, too."

"I love that.  Makes the time fly", he smiled, showing a set of perfectly straight and white teeth. 

" I agree."  she smiled back.  "While we are slow, why dont I give you a tour of the hotel", she bent down to get a master key from the drawer.

"Sounds cool".

They placed the "Front desk will return soon", sign on the desk, and headed down the burgundy carpeted hallway to look at rooms.

Jonathan admired Roni's body as she pointed at rooms and talked about the hotel's amenities. Her words were barely audible as he got lost in her beauty. 

It was ten minutes before the end of their shift, and the night auditor, Raymond Zuiker, was walking through the door. His partner drove off, after their usual smooch in the car, and he stood at the door and waved, as the brown pick up truck rattled and groaned it's way to the exit.