Page 55 of Slumming It
"And stop smiling!"
Never one to follow commands, I kept the smile in place as I told her, "So get moving."
She glowered up at me. "Forget it. I'm not going anywhere. And before you start talking about that stupid agreement, I'll just tell you flat-out, I don't care what it says. You can't force me to do anything."
"Sure I could." I dropped the smile. "But I won't."
"Well, goodie for you." And with that, she turned and began stomping toward the bed. Over her shoulder, she said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do."
No kidding."Yeah. For me."
She stopped and turned once again to face me. "I didn't mean for you. I meant for the hotel,obviously."
"Nope."
She glared across the room. "You're joking, right?"
"No joke," I said. "You hired a replacement. I saw her this morning." When Emily just looked at me, I helpfully added, "Room twelve. Vacuuming."
"So?"
"So unless you're getting ripped off, you've got the time."
"I wouldn't care if I had a million years," she said. "I'm done."
I cocked an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"
She crossed her arms. "Positive."
It was time to throw out the bait. "Not even if I apologized?"
She practically snorted. "Why? Are you planning to?"
"No."
"See?"
"But let me ask you something." I leaned sideways against the door-frame. "What's an apology worth?"
This made her pause. "To me? Or in general?"
"To you."
"Well…it's worth my dignity for one thing."
Dignity. Now that was funny. I straightened and moved into the room, disengaging the doorstop as I passed. As the door swung shut behind me, I clarified, "I'm talking cash, not feelings."
Her eyes flashed with new irritation. "What are you saying?"
"Not saying," I corrected. "Asking. If you had to choose between an apology or…" I pretended to give it some thought. "…five hundred bucks. What would you choose?"
She stared at me for a long moment before asking, "Is that a trick question?"
Now that I had her full attention, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a decent wad of cash. "What doyouthink?"
She gave the money a disgusted glance. "Are you seriously offering to give me money instead of an apology?"
"Yup."
