Page 9 of Hotel Mallois

"I spend a lot of time here; this is my home and my office," Katherine continues saying, unable to stop her traitorous tongue. "And I want someone to keep everything clean. You seem the most suitable."

"I appreciate it, Mrs. Taylor, but I work at the bar you visited yesterday in the afternoons."

Katherine seems willing to do anything.

"You know the pay at the Mallois is good, plus you'll receive a bonus for working here with me," Katherine explains, having never paid anything additional to the girls who've worked in her penthouse. "Think about it, and when you have your next shift at the hotel, give me an answer."

Jodie has nothing to think about. She's tired of working in that bar full of perverts who throw all kinds of disgusting words at her. The hotel treats her well, and although being near Katherine challenges her, she knows she can control it. She only thinks that with another guaranteed salary, she'll have no more problems paying for her mother's care. They reach an agreement, and Katherine tells her she'll have everything ready with Olivia to sign her new contract.Both women say goodbye, and an exultant Jodie leaves Katherine Taylor's penthouse with a smile.

"Need me?" Mike appears on the terrace once Jodie has left and the secretary has asked the bodyguard to come up because his boss wants to see him.

"Have your team pay attention to Lamir Kumar and Marjorie García," Katherine demands and takes a sip of her latte. "I sense my staff isn't being treated as they should be."

"You're saying this because of the cleaner?" Mike guesses, having been by Katherine's side for so many years that he knows very well that Jodie has started to shake her foundations.

"Yes, she hasn't said much, but I've connected the pieces with their attitude yesterday, and I didn't like it - him being overbearing and Kumar, who's his superior, unable to stop him. I don't want people like that in my hotel," Katherine says with a frown, "I know they're good at their jobs, but I don't care if they don't treat their colleagues with respect."

"I'll get right on it," Mike says and winks at her before leaving the terrace.

Katherine Taylor needs to sit down for a moment. Everything she's feeling in just two days has her completely off balance. She doesn't have time for nonsense; she needs to focus on managing her hotels and the new branch that will soon open its doors. She has to get Jodie Sinclair out of her head by any means necessary.

Chapter 6

"Are you going to eat those?" Sarah asks, pointing at the french fries on Jodie's plate.

Both cleaners, as they sometimes do when they finish their late shift, have gone to eat at the employee cafeteria in the Mallois Hotel, where, despite the ridiculously low food prices, Jodie usually brings a lunch box because she can't afford extra expenses. Today is her first day working in Katherine Taylor's penthouse, and her nerves have tied her stomach in such knots that she's barely touched the meat and salad on her plate, let alone the fries.

"No, have them," she responds, pushing the plate toward Sarah, who's been stealing fries for a while now.

"I don't know why you're so nervous, it's just another job," her friend comments while chewing.

Jodie furrows her brow and leans forward while scanning the cafeteria before speaking.

"Just another job? I'll be in her penthouse, Sarah, in Katherine Taylor's penthouse. Do you know what that means for me? I can barely breathe when she's around, andI'm going to spend three hours in her home, breathing in her scent," she says, flustered.

Sarah stops mid-motion, her hand frozen on its way to grab another fry, and gives her a calculating look.

"Right, I had forgotten the tiny detail that you're head over heels in love with that woman," she says and bursts out laughing.

"It's not funny to me. I don't know if I'll survive this. I hope she's not there while I'm working in her place," she says, appealing to the heavens.

"That woman is such a workaholic she lives in one of her hotels, Jodie, of course she'll be there," Sarah assures her while demolishing the fries, "but you should see this as an opportunity to get closer to her. You'll never be closer to that woman than now, and hell, you'll have access to her underwear - how many women can say that?" she jokes playfully.

"Oh God, don't mention her underwear," Jodie flushes again, her heart suddenly racing.

"Okay, enough jokes," Sarah turns so serious she even pushes away the plate of fries. "Let's look at this for what it really is."

"And what's that?" Jodie inquires.

"Your chance to get ahead. You were able to leave that awful bar job where they paid you terribly and late, not to mention what you had to put up with in there. The hotel pays well, and you're going to work double shifts. From now on, you won't have to struggle to pay your mother's nursing home fees on time, and you can keeppaying your brother's debts without drowning in interest. Someday you'll get rid of all that and finally breathe, but for now, Katherine Taylor has given you some oxygen without knowing it, so take advantage of it, and if your heart beats too fast when she's near, think about all your bills and you'll see how it passes."

The laughter of both friends turns several heads in the cafeteria, but neither cares as they finish their meal talking about Marjorie García's horrible temperament.

"Good luck, friend," Sarah tells her when they finish eating.

Jodie knows she's going to need it because, although she managed to relax while with Sarah, now that she has to go up to the hotel's top floor, she feels like her heart might jump out of her mouth at any moment.

When she reaches the penthouse door, Jodie pulls out the card that gives her access without needing to knock. At first, she hesitates whether to use it, but Lamir Kumar's instructions were very clear: if Mrs. Taylor is inside, she shouldn't disturb her. Her hand trembles when she swipes it through the reader, and she curses herself for not being able to control all this anxiety that overwhelms her just from being so close to the woman she's been swooning over like a teenager for what feels like too long now.

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