Part 18 (1/2)
”Hi, Tamara. Are you busy?”
Her GM pushed aside a salad she was mixing at her desk. ”Of course not. What's up?”
Scout stepped into the plain office and fidgeted with the slip of paper her schedule had been printed on. ”I wanted to talk to you about my workload.”
Her eyebrows shot up. ”Is ten hours too much?”
”Oh, no. I . . . the hours are fine. If you needed me more I could do more. I was actually wondering why my roster's been so light.”
She had the grace to blush. ”Um, Mr. Patras said that you . . . I mean . . .” She sighed. ”I'm kind of in a weird position here, Scout. Mr. Patras is my boss's boss's boss. What he says goes.”
”And he told you I wasn't supposed to have more than a certain amount of a.s.signments in a day?”
Her expression validated her a.s.sumption. ”I'm sorry.”
Scout pinched the bridge of her nose. ”It's not your fault. I'll talk to him.”
When she returned to the penthouse, she was exhausted. Her stomach felt like it was slowly imploding it was so empty. Starvation was something she'd always tolerated, but since she'd been eating better, when it did hit, it hit with a vengeance. She was so hungry the thought of food made her frustrated and ill. She just wanted to sleep.
Lucian was at his desk when she came in. He tucked away what he was working on and stood.
”Hey, I need to talk to you,” he said with a smile.
Scout put her bag on the floor and met him at the seating area. He kissed her cheek with restrained affection and she sat. ”I need to talk to you too.”
Her body sunk into the plush sofa, and her spine seemed to melt. She eased her head back and shut her eyes. Wearily she said, ”Lucian, you can't tell my boss I can only clean so many rooms. Do you realize that maids make tips? The less rooms I clean the less tip money I earn.”
”I hadn't thought about that. It doesn't matter anyway.” She peeked through one eye at him. He wore a satisfied grin.
Dryly, she asked, ”Why doesn't it matter, Lucian?”
”Because you've been promoted.” He seemed quite pleased with himself.
She sat up. It took a lot of effort.
She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer, but she had to ask anyway. ”What do you mean 'promoted'?”
”Next Wednesday you start your new job at the front desk. You won't have to clean, the pay is better, and I'll know where you are in case I need to find you for some reason.”
”Oh, Lucian, no . . .” All she saw in her mind were the computers that lined the counter and the pages printing from the machines and the receipts sliding back and forth. All things she didn't know how to use, all things that required a person to be literate. ”I can't do that job.”
”Why not? It's easy.”
”For you maybe. Lucian, I don't know how to use computers. I'd have to answer phones and . . . I'm sorry. I know you meant well, but I can't accept the offer.”
”Evelyn, they'll train you. You'll learn-”
”Lucian, no. I'm not taking it.”
”You're being stubborn. You're exhausted from cleaning all day-”
”I'm exhausted from thinking up things to do all day. I only had four rooms to do. Do you know how slow my day moves when I have nothing on my schedule? You need to tell Tamara to give me my old a.s.signments back.”
Rather than argue, he softly ran the pad of his thumb under her eye. ”You look wiped. Did you sleep well last night?”
Scout wasn't used to him being so attentive to her comforts. ”I'm just hungry.”
”What did you eat for breakfast?”
”Nothing.”
He scowled. ”Did you have lunch?”
”I haven't eaten since I was at the shelter.”
”That was twenty hours ago, Evelyn! You need to eat.”
”That'd be great, Lucian, but there isn't always food.”
He stood and picked up the phone. His finger punched down on a number. ”That's bulls.h.i.+t and you know it. I told you I've arranged for you to have a credit here at the hotel. If you're hungry there's no excuse for you to starve. Yes, this is Lucian Patras. Send up some toast, eggs, and fresh honeydew wrapped in prosciutto. I'd also like a basket of nonperishables brought to my room every few days as well. Thank you.”
He hung up the phone. ”Why didn't you say something?”
Her shoulders shrugged. Scout was used to taking care of herself. She was responsible for herself. It didn't feel right going to someone else about her needs despite all her soul-searching thoughts and acceptances of her relations.h.i.+p with Lucian.
Scout changed the subject. ”How was your business brunch?”
”Good.” His gaze was unfocused for a moment. He seemed distracted as he smiled. ”It was really good.”
Lucian had all of her belongings brought up to his suite and moved to the guest room closet while they had both been gone. When she went to change and didn't come right back, he found her frowning at the closet.
”What's wrong?”
”All I have to wear are gowns and fancy clothes. It's weird dressing up just to sit around.”
He left and returned a minute later with a b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt. ”Here, wear this.”
She changed into his s.h.i.+rt and dug out a pair of thick wool socks from her bag. The s.h.i.+rt swallowed her, coming to her knees. Rolling the sleeves back several times, she sighed. When she came back into the common area the food had arrived.
”Aren't you eating?”
”I'm still full from brunch.”
Scout picked at the toast and the fluffy eggs. Her stomach was hollow so everything she put in it landed in a way that made her painfully aware of its emptiness. When she couldn't stomach any more, she put her fork down. Lucian was sitting on the edge of the sofa, reading over some papers.
He looked at her plate. ”You didn't eat enough.”