The Green-Eyed Maid Inn

I didn’t mean to let the floodgates open the way I did, but before I could stop myself, the whole story had just kind of tumbled out - at least so far as Megyn and Avery were concerned. I wasn’t ready yet to admit that I hadn’t meant to apply to be, for lack of a better word, a maid.

Work the next couple of days definitely felt a lot more, well, like work, than that first one. I stayed quiet, went where I was needed, and tried to be polite if I saw a guest, but all things considered, I was still livid. Maybe I shouldn’t have let it get to me as much as I did, but Megyn really was like another sister. Even if Avery and I didn’t always see eye to eye, Megyn was always upbeat and open. The thought of her own parents reacting the way they did was unforgivable.

“Excuse me, Miss?” I heard a young woman say, jarring me from my thoughts. I was midway through carrying a load of sheets from a bed that I had just stripped clean for inspection, halfway down the hall. I stopped and spun around to see if she was talking to me.

“I am so sorry. I was completely in another world,” I said sheepishly. “How can I be of service?”

“Hey, sorry to be a bother,” she said in a distinctly British accent, though to my brain, English, Australian, it all jumbled together. I only knew the difference between a Galway and Belfast accent due to some of Dad’s family being first gen Irish American, and quite a few who still lived in the old country.

“No ma’am, not at all. How can I help?”” I asked again, and then looked down at the linens. I gave her a sheepish smile. “Oh, these! No I can drop these off at the linen closet shortly.” I tried, even though we weren’t professional reenactors, to avoid too much modern slang at least. Expressions like ‘real fast’ just didn’t fit the whole GEM experience.

“Thank you,” she said with a small giggle. “Actually it’s nothing big, just... I was wondering if I could get a selfie when you’ve got a minute?”

“Oh sure!” I said, and admittedly I brightened a little. This was probably the one highlight of the last couple of days. Ever since Jessica’s instagram post, it was becoming a regular request, and I was too happy to oblige honestly. And, again being honest, she was adorable: so very polite, and so sweet, and I was smitten.

“Let me just drop these off, and I can be right with you,” I said. She practically bounced with excitement, walking with me as I hurried to the nearest supply closet. She waited outside, phone in hand.

“Thanks. I didn’t even know that was allowed until I saw Jessica Townsend’s instagram post and when I found out we had been booked in the same hotel I was. Completely. Buzzing. I promise not to take too much of your time,” she quickly added as I stepped back into the hallway.

“You’re fine,” I said as I shook my head. “I was actually about to take my break anyway. Anywhere in particular you wanted to take the photo?” I asked, catching myself from nearly saying ‘snap the pic’ instead.

“Oh! Well I really, really don’t want to be a bother,” she insisted. I shook my head again.

“I promise, it’s no trouble.” I thought about it for a moment and then grinned. “Actually I know the perfect spot. Have you visited the downstairs tea room yet?”

She shook her head. “Not yet. We just checked in about ten minutes ago. I saw you go into the other room and didn’t want to interrupt, so I waited out here,” she said, a little embarrassed. “I’m sorry. That sounds awful now I say it out loud.”

“Not at all,” I tried not to giggle. “I have to warn you that the tea room is very, very green. Ms. Van Laderman, that is the original Ms. Van Laderman, had a real passion for the color. There’s an urban legend that the arsenic in the wallpaper is actually what did her in,” I explained as we walked to the elevator together. “Oh, but it’s not the same wallpaper anymore,” I quickly added. She laughed.

“Gosh I hope not! I’ve seen that stuff in documentaries about old houses sometimes being toxic because of it. I always wondered if it was a real thing, or, like you said, just a weird urban legend. I’m Shannon by the way.”

“It’s nice to meet you Ms. Shannon,” I said, causing her to crack a small giggle. “I’m Riley.”

“You are so incredibly sweet,” Shannon said. “I guess I didn’t know what to expect. Interactions with Americans have been hit or miss for me in the past - no offense of course.”

“None taken,” I said. “I’m second gen Irish myself, which if you met some of my cousins you’d think isn’t much better,” I teased, getting a genuine laugh out of her as the elevator doors opened onto the lobby. This was, I soon learned, because her best friend was Irish too. “The tea room’s right this way. I think you’ll love the spot I have in mind. I hope so, anyway.”

“I’m sure I will,” Shannon bubbled, walking beside me into the tea room, which, as mentioned, was papered with a distinct, vibrant green wallpaper. Thankfully it was just a replica printed using modern ink. I thought it looked a bit tacky myself, but with the green lace doylies on each round table, it kind of worked.

On the far side of the room stood a massive brick fireplace, with a roaring fire already going. It was mostly for show with glass doors kept closed except in the bitter dead of winter when the room really did need a bit of extra heat. Shannon squeaked a little. “Oh that’s perfect! Thank you so, so much for taking the time to pose with me, Riley,” she said excitedly, giving me a hug before raising her phone for the picture.

I was then rather shocked when she pressed a $20 bill into my hand. I wasn’t doing this for the gratuity, and even tried to give it back to her, but she insisted. After we parted ways, I left the tea room and headed into the back office area where I could take my break and look at my phone.

“Hey,” Erika called in a warm tone as I walked past the wide open door to her office. I stopped and backed up, poking my head inside. “You’re looking better,” she said and motioned for me to come sit, so I cautiously approached and took a seat in front of her desk.

“Thanks,” I said. “I didn’t mean to look so...”

“Angry?” Erika supplied. I blushed. “It’s okay. I was just worried about you. Claire told me you had a family emergency the other night. Is everything okay?”

I didn’t mean to let the floodgates open the way I did, but before I could stop myself, the whole story had just kind of tumbled out - at least so far as Megyn and Avery were concerned. I wasn’t ready yet to admit that I hadn’t meant to apply to be, for lack of a better word, a maid.

“So,” she said, almost cautiously, “Is she okay? I mean, does she, your sister’s girlfriend, need a place to stay? My partner and I have an extra guest room. It’s not much, but it’s hers if she needs it.”

“I’ll tell her you said that,” I said, brightening considerably. “Thank you. And... thanks for listening.”

Erika smiled back at me. “We have to look out for each other in the LGBTQIA+ community. It definitely wouldn’t be the first time Natalie and I opened our door for someone in trouble. How are you liking the Inn so far?” she asked, before I could dwell too much on her comment.

It hadn’t occurred to me in the moment, but on later reflection I realized she wasn’t talking strictly about Megyn when she said that we had to look out for each other.

“It feels good not just sitting at home surfing Reddit all day. I think I even lost a couple of pounds,” I laughed, causing her to giggle too. “I just stripped the linens off the bed in 304 when a guest stopped me to ask for a selfie. I hope it’s alright that I took part of my break to show her the tea room.”

“Oh yes, by all means,” Erika said cheerfully. “Please don’t ever, ever feel guilty about engaging with our guests. That’s exactly the kind of attitude I want to see. Just one thing, though,” she said, grinning at me.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Your break doesn’t start until you’re able to actually catch your breath, so don’t count it against yourself. But before I let you go, do you care if I ask which guest it was? I’m just super curious.”

“She said her name was Shannon. I didn’t catch her last name. She sounded very British, at least to my American ears. About my height, brown eyes, the most gorgeous sandy blonde hair I’ve ever seen,” I added, trying not to sound too infatuated, but, I couldn’t help it. She was a doll, and I was crushing hard. But I knew I had to put those feelings aside.

“Ahh yeah, I know exactly who you mean,” Erika said. “Thank you, Riley,” she added, not so much an afterthought, but after a long enough pause that it was clear she wasn’t talking about me just answering her question either.

“For what?” I asked as I moved to stand.

“For being such a sweetheart. I wish I had a dozen more of you. At least I have another prospective cast member to interview this afternoon, so hopefully you won’t have to work quite as hard soon. I won’t lie,” she said as she stood to follow me out, “Part of me is very tempted to make you the face of the Inn. But we’ll see how it goes first. I don’t want to pressure you into burning out or anything.”

I gave her a nervous glance as we stood in the hallway, “What would I... I mean what would the face of the Inn have to do, exactly?”

“Oh nothing much more than what you’re already doing - interacting with guests, making them feel welcome and at home,” Erika said. “Just more like a hostess, if that makes sense.”

“Oh,” I shrugged. “I can already do that.”

Erika grinned, but before she could say anything, the loud clop of heels on hardwood approaching told us that her new prospect had arrived, and a bit early it seemed.

And for the second time in two days, my heart dropped right out of my chest as I realized I knew the owner of those footsteps.

“Riley?” Christie gasped, nearly dropping her phone as she stared at us in shock.

“Hey Christie,” I said, cheeks absolutely on fire. I knew if I didn’t take the initiative and salvage this situation fast, I was going to regret it. “I don’t know if you recognize her without the cheer outfit, but this is actually my BFF from high school, Christie Chambers. Christie, Erika Van Laderman.”

“Oh my Gosh. I had no idea you were working here Rye!” she said excitedly, and to my great relief, quickly closed the distance to give me the biggest hug she had ever given me.

“I was certainly surprised when I saw the name on Christie’s application,” Erika laughed. “I thought it had to be a coincidence, so I didn’t say anything to you,” she said to me, turning back to Christie. “Riley’s already told me a little bit about you , and now that I know you’re the same Christie, I think we can honestly dispense with most of the informal interview. I do have just a few questions about your degree at BCB if I may? Just curiosities,” she added cheerfully. “My partner and I are huge theater geeks.”

“Yes ma’am,” Christie said, almost as shocked to hear that as she was to find me of all people, here, and dressed like this.

Part of me wanted to bolt straight for the employee lounge and leap out the window since we were on the bottom floor, but I convinced myself otherwise and waited in case Erika needed me to show Christie around, since the back offices could be a little bit of a maze at first.

As they talked I did pick up bits of information about Christie’s life since we graduated. I really expected her to be on a full ride scholarship to Harvard or some other fancy school, but from the sound of it, she was looking to pick up a part time job to cover expenses that scholarships just couldn’t.

Amusingly I also learned that she was attending Boston Conservatory at Berklee as a theater major. She sang in the school choir, and competed in dance competitions as part of the cheer squad, but she had never seemed interested in acting or theater.

Before long I was joined by Emily, wearing her long red hair pinned under her cap. She leaned over to me and whispered, “Why are we eavesdropping?”

I honestly just could not resist answering with one of my favorite lines from the Lord of the Rings movie adaptation, “I haven’t been dropping no eaves,” I whispered back. We both giggled quietly trying not to interrupt Erika and Christie. “That’s my best friend from high school. I’m just waiting to see if I can help whoever gets put in charge of her training.”

“Ooh gotcha,” Emily said quietly. “Well, mind if I wait with you? Kendra’s on the war path and I kind of want to stay out of her way if you know what I mean.” Kendra was one of the senior staff and the closest thing to a manager we had, although I wasn’t actually certain yet at that point, if that was an official title or not.

I frowned, and nodded toward the nearby hallway for her to follow me. We stepped away and around the corner. “What’s up with Kendra?” I asked. “Why is she upset?”

Emily shrugged her shoulders a little. “She didn’t say. She just yelled at me to make sure the third floor suite was ready and stormed off.”

“Crap,” I said under my breath. “That’s 304 isn’t it?” I asked. She nodded. “Okay, do me a big, big favor and stay here, take care of Christie?”

“Wait, where are you going?” Emily asked.

“To save you from getting chewed out because I screwed up,” I answered, sprinting down the hallway and for the back stairs. Hardly anyone ever used them according to Claire, so I knew I could reliably get back to the third floor without running into Kendra.

Thankfully the third floor was completely clear, no guests, and no Kendra, so I hurried as fast as I comfortably could without making too much noise, for the supply closet for the fresh linens, picking up a UV flashlight from beside the door as I did so.

It wasn’t part of my training yet, but I had seen Emily do it, and I was trying to save her getting yelled at again. Plus, keeping busy meant I didn’t have to think about just what in the holy hell I was going to say when I saw Christie again.

As I was sweeping the room with the UV light, I heard the door open behind me. “Emily,” I heard Kendra say softly. “Sweetie, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to take my frustrations out on you. Can you forgive me?” she asked. I turned around, and she blinked at me. “Oh. You’re not Emily. Sorry hon. It’s that red hair,” she said and laughed sheepishly.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “It was my fault the suite was a mess. I was tending to a guest and got distracted.”

Kendra, an older woman in her 30s I’d guess, with tired eyes and barely pinned back black hair, gave me another shake of her head. “It’s not your fault or hers. “My sister-in-law’s being a proper bitch and I’m just,” she stopped and sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t air my dirty laundry at work.”

“I know it’s none of my business,” I said, “But if you want to talk about it, I still need to take my break so I’ve got the time to listen. I kind of legged it up the back stairs to get up here,” I added with a wry smile. She gave me a wide eyed stare for a moment and then laughed.

“Jesus Christ girl. You actually ran up those stairs? Don’t you ever do that again!” she said, shaking her head. “I’d never forgive myself if you fell down that death trap trying to please me. Goodness. Okay, you’ve earned the rest of the afternoon off just for that.”

I opened my mouth to argue, and she raised a finger. “No buts, young lady. I mean it. You’re taking the afternoon off with full pay. Say, ‘Yes Miss Kendra’,” she added playfully, almost sing-song.

“Yes Miss Kendra,” I laughed. “Oh before I forget, I think Erika just hired my friend Christie on part time. I asked Emily to stay with her and get her up to speed.”

“If she works half as hard as you dear,” Kendra said, “I’ll dance at her wedding,” she teased. “Now, go on! I’ll finish up here. You go and enjoy your afternoon.”

I was a little surprised when I came off the elevator into the lobby and found Shannon there, waiting to step on.

“Oh! Hi again Miss Riley!” she said brightly, and her face seemed to light up.

“Afternoon Ms. Shannon,” I said a little more cheerfully than I had intended, but I was feeling a lot better now after talking to Erika, getting everything off my chest, and the power jog up three flights of stairs left me a little buzzed with adrenaline too. “How are you liking the city so far?”

“My Gosh, it’s gorgeous in autumn,” she gushed. “I just,” she stopped and shook her head. “Sorry, nevermind.”

“What?” I asked.

“It’s nothing,” she said. “I just wish I could have booked a walking tour or something, you know? Just, not looking forward to spending the next five hours in my hotel room watching Netflix. Again. First world problems,” she added sheepishly.

My better judgement took a back seat entirely to my heart in that instant. I’m not even sure it was the whole ‘crushing on a cute girl’ thing either, so much as how much I completely resonated so hard with what she had said.

“Please forgive me if this sounds presumptuous, but,” I hesitated, wondering if I was about to break every rule I’d been given about interacting with guests. Her face seemed to shift from depressed to hopeful before I could even ask, so I pressed ahead. “I was just given the entire afternoon off, and I could show you a few local points of interest if you wanted?”

“Seriously?!” she squeaked. “You’d really do that?”

I nodded, slipping my phone out from its hiding spot in the underside of my apron. I flipped open the messaging app to show Shannon the group chat, where Kendra had announced that I was to take the day off, and that anyone who caught me working was to immediately march me down to costuming and make me change into my street clothes.

“I literally have nothing else to do but go home and stare at my phone until my family get home either,” I answered honestly. She gasped, covered her mouth, and laughed as she read the text.

“Oh my Gosh that’s adorable. You are adorable,” she said excitedly. “Okay, I’ll wait here while you go and get changed. Thank you, so so much. You really are just too much,” she giggled again and gave me another hug. I couldn’t help the blush that filled my cheeks as I crossed the lobby into the back office employees only area to change. That was happening a lot more lately.

In the back of my mind, I still wondered if I was making a huge mistake. She was a guest and a celebrity. This felt like I was crossing a line that I shouldn’t, but the way her face lit up when I asked if she wanted some company around the Cambridge area, I couldn’t back out now.

I just wished I could put a name and a face to the celebrity status. As it was, I was drawing complete blanks, although, that wouldn’t last for too much longer.