The bathroom light flickered when I turned it on. I stood there for a moment and listened. The apartment was quiet. Shane was still asleep on the couch, the television off, the only sound the hum of the old refrigerator.
I locked the door and sat on the edge of the tub. The tile was cold through my clothes. I pulled out my phone and opened the drawer under the sink and took out the small box.
Inside was my professional certificate. The one I earned before I got married. The one Shane told me to throw away. I touched the paper and felt it smooth and real, like a part of me waiting to be set free.
I remembered the day I got it. I was twenty-two, standing in the kitchen of our old apartment, holding it up and smiling so wide my cheeks hurt. Shane smiled too and kissed my forehead and said he was proud of me. That was before. Before the money disappeared and the bruises started. Before I learned to keep my head down and my mouth shut. Before I became someone who hid things in bathroom drawers.
I put the box back and flushed the toilet so he wouldn't ask why I was in there so long. Then I went back to bed and stared at the ceiling and waited for morning.
The next day I woke before Shane did. I dressed in my uniform and fixed my hair and adjusted my scarf. I made coffee and drank it standing at the counter and watched the sun come up through the window. The walk to the hotel was cold and the streets were quiet. A man walking his dog. A woman jogging with earbuds in. A group of teenagers waiting for the bus, laughing about something I couldn't hear. I kept my head down and walked faster.
The Grand Crescent was already busy when I arrived. The lobby was full of guests and staff and the usual morning chaos. I slipped through the back corridors and took the service elevator to the VIP floor. The penthouse was quiet today, no advance teams or VIP arrivals, just the regular rotation of suites that needed attention.
I started my rounds. Checked the minibars. Fluffed the pillows. Made sure the flowers were fresh and the towels were folded just right. The routine was soothing because it was predictable and because I was good at it and because no one was watching me. Up here, I wasn't anyone's wife. I was just the girl who made things perfect.
My phone buzzed while I was restocking a minibar. I pulled it out and looked at the screen.
Shane.
My stomach dropped the way it always did.
'Where did you put my brown belt? I've been looking for it all morning. You moved it, didn't you.' – Shane
I stared at the message and felt my jaw tighten. His brown belt. The one he wore twice a year. The one that was probably buried under the pile of his clothes that he never folded.
'I'm at work. I can't help you find it right now.' – Adeline
The reply came almost instantly.
'Don't give me that. You moved it. You're always moving my stuff. Where is it.' – Shane
I pressed my palm against the minibar and breathed. He knew I was at work. He knew I couldn't answer. That was the point. The belt wasn't lost. He just needed something to jab me with, something to remind me that even when I wasn't home, he was still in control.
'I didn't move anything. Check the back of the closet.' – Adeline
'Already checked. Not there. You probably threw it out. You're always throwing out my things.' – Shane
I hadn't thrown out anything. I never threw out anything without asking. But the accusation was already there, planted like a seed, and by the time I got home it would have grown into something bigger. Something I'd have to apologize for even though I didn't do it.
'I'll help you look when I get home.' – Adeline
'Whatever. Don't bother. I'll find it myself like I do everything else around here.' – Shane
I set the phone down and pressed my palms against the minibar and closed my eyes. The familiar heat crawled up my spine. He wasn't looking for a belt. He was looking for a fight. And he'd already decided I was going to lose before I even walked through the door.
I opened my eyes and finished restocking the minibar and moved on to the next suite. The phone stayed in my pocket, silent now, but the damage was already done.
I was halfway through the linen count when Mrs. Hargrove cornered me near the elevator. She was a permanent fixture on the VIP floor, a widow with too much money and not enough patience, and she had a clipboard in her hand and a look on her face that meant trouble.
"Adeline," she said, tapping her pen against the clipboard. "The flowers in my suite are wrong. I specifically requested white orchids, and housekeeping sent up white lilies. I'm allergic to lilies."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hargrove. Let me call down to the florist and get that fixed for you."
"I already called the florist. They said they didn't have orchids. I told them that was unacceptable, and they hung up on me." She thrust the clipboard toward me. "I want a full refund for the inconvenience, and I want the correct flowers by this afternoon."
I took the clipboard and scanned her notes. "I'll handle it personally. Give me an hour."
She narrowed her eyes. "One hour. I'm timing you."
I called the florist from the service phone in the hallway. The assistant picked up, and I explained the situation in ten seconds flat. She owed me a favor from the last time a VIP suite needed a last minute fix, and within twenty minutes she'd tracked down a batch of white orchids from a supplier across town. I had them delivered to Mrs. Hargrove's suite with a complimentary fruit plate and a handwritten apology note from the hotel manager.
She called down ten minutes later to complain that the strawberries were too cold. I apologized and promised to send up a fresh plate with room temperature fruit. She hung up before I could finish.
Samuel passed me in the hall while I was directing the new fruit plate into place. "Hargrove?"
"Hargrove."
"She's been here three months and hasn't stopped complaining once. I think it's a hobby."
"Expensive hobby."
He shook his head and kept walking. "Remind me to never get on your bad side."
I was restocking the minibar in the suite next to the penthouse when I heard voices in the hall. Deep. Male. The kind of voices that carried weight without trying. I stepped out and saw two men in suits walking toward the elevators. One of them was tall and sharp and moved like he owned the place, his presence so commanding that the air seemed to shift around him. The other one was shorter, carrying a tablet and looking like he was trying to keep up.
I stepped back into the suite to let them pass. Probably part of the advance team for the VIP arriving Thursday, or someone here on business. The tall one had that look about him. Expensive suit, confident stride, the kind of face that said he was used to people moving out of his way. I'd seen plenty of men like him in this hotel.
Still. He moved differently. There was something about the way he carried himself that made me glance twice before I closed the door and went back to the minibar.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. More minibars. More calls. A guest on the fifteenth floor cornered me about a flickering light, and I had to radio maintenance twice before they showed up. The new housekeeping girl got lost trying to find the linen closet on the wrong floor, and I walked her back myself because she looked like she was about to cry. By the time I clocked out, I was so tired I could barely think.
Marcus was at his post, and he stood when he saw me. "Look who survived another day."
"Barely."
"Here." He handed me a bag, his smile soft at the edges. "Leftover cookies. Don't tell anyone."
I took it and felt the warmth through the paper. "You're going to spoil me."
"That's the plan." He paused, and his eyes searched my face. "You okay?"
I nodded. "I'm fine."
He didn't look like he believed me, but he didn't push. He never did. "Get home safe."
"I will."
The walk home was cold, and my feet hurt, and the bag of cookies was warm in my hands like a secret I was keeping. I reached my building and climbed the stairs and unlocked the door and stepped inside. The apartment was empty. Shane wasn't home yet.
I exhaled and set the bag down. The apartment was quiet. The television was off. The brown belt was draped over the arm of the couch, right where he'd probably found it hours ago and left it just so I'd see. A reminder. A warning. He'd made me panic over nothing, and now the evidence was sitting there like a trophy.
I stared at the belt for a long moment, and then I walked past it and went to the bedroom and closed the door and lay down on the bed.
- End of Chapter -
