Page 4 of Bossy Grump's Secret

In comparison to my mundane college experience, this place is a definitive winner. Everything is clean, and in proper order, as well as a few utilities you'd never see at San Fran State. It was like living in a house with shared rooms and stuff. Like we were all just a big family or something.

"Make your preps as fast as possible, and meet me at the ground floor in thirty minutes. This is your room," Dylan orders, startling us again. He opens the door to his right and reveals a generously spaced room.

The beds are more sizeable than the ones I'm used to. I can imagine myself missing the bed when I am ready to leave.

"iPad cutie said we have thirty minutes, so we had better get to sorting. I imagine it will be a torturous set of days, so I need my personal life organized, to say the least."

She is right.

"iPad, cutie?" I cast an amused face.

"What? You don't think he's cute?" She shrugs and starts sorting through her suitcase like her life depended on it. We came in with suitcases but had to leave them at the hotel reception. I am surprised to see them arrive so fast. A luxury hotel indeed.

...or just organized.

Anyway, we meet Dylan on the ground floor in thirty minutes. I feel like a genius for getting to the reception area in just one try.

"Hey, so uh. Mrs Greane said no tasks today. You're on observation. What you're going to do is simple. Watch." He looks dull and tired of the job, making his face look slightly silly. "Who to watch? You see anyone wearing these greys?" He points to a guy with a cleaning trolley.

"Yeah. That kind of guy. Anyone wearing that attire you're allowed to shadow as long as it satisfies your curiosity. I want you to be well aquatinted with the building too. It'd be a shame if you kept getting lost when I asked you to finish something fast."

That doesn't seem like such a hard task, but our biggest mistake was judging the building's size by the exterior, forgetting that all we saw was the front. We walk so much by the end of the day; we conclude that merely moving around is a job.

The best part of the day for me comes with collapsing headlong into the soft bed and falling into a deep slumber.

Ava

I could kill whatever made that sound.

I fiddle around my bed and check my phone. It's not vibrating. The sound is coming from somewhere else. I realize where I am. I open my eyes and stir the rest of my body in line with my waking movements. I bring my phone to my face to check the time.

5:00!? Such an ungodly hour! I snuggle under the sheets, hoping to catch a five-minute snooze. So far, I haven't heard a stir from Lily. Unsurprisingly. She sleeps like the dead. The door to our room springs open, and I groan. Yup. Our doors can't be locked from the inside. Company policy.

"Hey! If you don't get out now, you won't be ready for the assignment early enough. They assigned the roughest tasks last cause they're discovered last." The person who opened the door whisper-yells but bails out instantly. I don't care. Maybe I'll sacrifice the dirty work today and get some extra sleep.

I don't know how long I slept in, but I am sure it wasn't long because waking up by whatever in God's name that sound was, I still felt my eyes seal shut.

"If you're not out of that bed in the next five minutes, an hour's pay will take out of your salary." His voice was croaky from the morning, but it was unmistakable. Dylan.

That did it for me. The extra ten minutes of sleep weren't worth sixteen whole dollars. I stood and shuffled over to Lily's bed to wake her up. Five minutes later, we were both groggily preparing for the day. I make a pathetic notion of brushing my teeth without my toothbrush. How I eventually arrive at a clean mouth, don't ask.

I don't feel ready after a bath and full body preparations. Neither did the day. It is still dark! But the fact everyone is buzzing around like it is midday genuinely amuses me. The idea of adapting to this in the near future elicits feelings of accountability and self-respect within me.

"Are you ready, Lil?" I ask before we step out of the room.

She shakes her head vehemently. "Definitely not."

"Good. Me neither. That's a good start; let's go." I pull her by the arm, tugging her out of the room, and follow the path of the workers who look ready. Can't believe some folks still weren't ready even if we slept in.

""Where the heck did my apron go? " A guy yells into the air at no one in particular. It feels like I am in a house of many siblings, and we're all rushing off to school.

Like school kids, we file up the stairs in an organized fashion. Our only clue is to follow. We arrived in what seems to be a general room where Dylan is waiting for us. He looked sharp with his neatly combed dark hair, standing tall, cleanly shaved, and ready to take on the day!

He addresses us once everyone's accounted for.

"Good morning, everyone." His voice is less croaky now. "Some of you already met out summer interns. Their names are..." He gestures to me and Lily.

"Ava Pearson." I raise my hand in greeting and manage a smile.

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