Her desk was covered in stacks of paperwork and open files. The shelved walls behind her were filled with more of such files. They were labeled with titles like ‘orders’, ‘staff’, ‘room checks’ and ‘maintenance’.
Mrs. Harridge cleared her throat. She sighed. “We have to let you go,” she said, without batting an eye.
Julie narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?” She tripped over the words. “I do a good job, I’m conscientious. Callie was planning on putting me forward for a permanent position, when one became available, that is.” She huffed out a breath when she realized that what she was saying was having no effect on her department head. None whatsoever.
Mrs. Harridge looked at her, deadpan. Her glasses still in one hand. It was like she couldn’t wait for Julie to leave so that she could carry on with her work. It didn’t matter to her how this news would affect Julie.
“Why?” Julie finally asked. She swallowed hard, pushing down the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. If she lost this job, she wouldn’t make rent, again. If she didn’t square up with James, her landlord, by next Tuesday, she was out. So far she’d been on track to do just that. It had meant living on beans and toast, but hey, she was doing it. Now this. If she didn’t find a way to change Mrs. Harridge’s mind, she was going to end up homeless. In just a few days, she’d be out on the streets.
Panic churned her gut and turned her hands clammy. She fought not to squirm in her seat.
“Did you, or did you not, swear at a hotel guest?” She cocked her head to the side.
No.
God no.
It was the pervert from room 211. He’d actually gone and filed a complaint about her. “Um … what? No …” She shook her head. “That can’t be right. He didn’t …” Anger welled up in her. “I can’t believe he actually filed a complaint about me. The bastard.”
Mrs. Harridge looked taken aback. She leaned forward on her elbows and finally let her glasses go. “You just called a hotel guest a bastard. Well, at least this proves that you did swear at him. Don’t even try and deny it now.”
“He’s a pervert. He was naked when I opened the door,” she blurted. Oh great. Now she had made it sound like she’d walked in on him.
Her boss cocked her head and raised her brows. “All that tells me is that you didn’t follow correct procedure. It certainly doesn’t make him a pervert.”
Shit! “I knocked and announced myself, three times. He called moments earlier requesting a room clean. I entered. I most certainly followed procedure, to the letter.” She wasn’t going to just accept this. Forget it.
“You saw him naked and swore at him.” Her superior gave a small shake of the head, looking taken aback.
It sucked to high heavens that Mrs. Harridge immediately took the side of the guest. The customer might be king but that didn’t mean that he was always right. “He told me to clean his room. Said to ignore him. It was almost the end of my shift and he seemed like an okay guy so I got to work.” She pulled in a deep breath. “I should have left. It turns out he was a major pervert. He started …” She wasn’t a prude but the way her boss glared at her made her feel like she was the pervert, not him. “He started to touch himself … inappropriately. I asked him to stop. He didn’t. Instead, he offered me money to clean his room while he touched himself. I’m sorry, but I’m not desperate or depraved. There was no way I was staying in that room for a second longer. No damned way. It was sick. He swore at me. I was just defending myself.”
Mrs. Harridge picked up the phone on her desk. “Please, can” she put her glasses on and peered at the screen, “Susan Jones come to my office?” Then she replaced the receiver in the cradle.
“I swear to you that—”
Mrs. Harridge held up her hand. “I’ve heard enough. I need to speak with Susan and then we can conclude.” She turned back to her computer and continued typing.
It was the longest seven minutes of her life. She felt like a naughty school girl. She could tell that Gretchen Harridge was not interested in what she had to say. Hell, the woman had fired her before hearing her side of the story. What the hell was she going to do?
Even if she found another job today, there was still no way she was making rent on Tuesday. James had been clear about any more non or part payments. He wanted the total outstanding by Tuesday, no excuses.
That bastard from room 211 had totally lied and strung her out. He’d said that she’d be sorry. She wasn’t though. Julie would rather be out on the streets than taking handouts from a lowlife pervert.
There was a light knock on the door before it opened. “You called?” Susan ignored her completely. “How can I help?” Susan was one of the permanents.
“You cleaned room 211 yesterday afternoon?”
Susan nodded. “The gentlemen complained that he had asked for a room clean. The room attendant that showed up originally, swore at him and left without doing the room. I went and sorted it out. He was quite upset. I had him direct his complaint to the shift supervisor, as per company policy. He was happy when I left and accepted the apologies put forward. He was given a free night at the hotel for his troubles when he checked out that same day.”
The bastard! Julie had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying her piece.
“Excellent, Susan. Thank you for your time and thanks for coming in this morning to clear this up.”
“Anytime. I’m glad I could help.” Susan finally looked her way. Her smile tightened and her eyes narrowed just that little bit.
“You can go now.” Mrs. Harridge nodded and gave the barest ghost of a smile to Susan.
Once the door closed, she turned back to Julie. “Please be sure to return both sets of uniforms by the end of business tomorrow. They should be laundered to hotel standard. Should there be any damage, the cost will come out of your last paycheck. Should you not return your uniform on time, the charges for them will be deducted from your wages. I’m disappointed.”
“He was wanking off in front of me. I didn’t do anything wrong. He’s the one that you should be disappointed in, not me.” She rose to her feet. “I don’t want to work for an establishment that doesn’t look after its employees anyways.” She didn’t wait for a reply. Julie turned and walked from the room. She didn’t slam the door behind her even though she was sorely tempted. She wouldn’t give that beady-eyed troll the satisfaction.
She was a temporary employee, there was nothing she could do. It would be her word against his. She already knew how normal he looked. How clean-cut and good-looking. Asshole!
Maybe James would give her one last chance. She could only hope.
Five days later …
To think that everything she owned in the world fit inside this suitcase and the backpack on her back. Everything.
Julie puffed out a breath as she walked. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do. There weren’t many options. Shelter, bus stop or alleyway. At least the weather forecast was mild with no rain predicted for the next couple of days. The only person she knew well enough to help her out for a couple of nights was Cloe but she wasn’t welcome at her house anymore.
Julie wasn’t any good at keeping her mouth shut and when she’d spotted telltale bruises on her friend’s arms, she’d said something about it. Especially since this wasn’t the first time she’d seen bruises on her friend’s body. The first sign was a split lip. The second time there were bruises around her neck, which she’d tried to cover with a scarf in the middle of summer. Enough was enough. She wasn’t about to stand by while Cloe got beaten to a pulp.
The two of them had shared one of her many foster homes together. They hit it off immediately and had stayed in touch since but apparently calling her out on her abusive husband was a no-no. A hard line. Hopefully her friend would see the light and hopefully it wouldn’t be too late.
The one other person she had cherished was Lucinda. One of her foster moms. One of the few really good ones. Only Lucinda was more like a granny than a mother. Sh
e could still recall how standoffish she had been to her foster mom for the first couple of months. Lucinda had given her, her space. The only thing she had insisted on was that they ate dinner together every night. She’d thrived under the woman’s care. One day Lucinda became ill and three months later she was dead. It had been a particularly aggressive cancer.
Julie swallowed down a lump that formed in her throat. She still missed that woman.
Suddenly her suitcase was ripped from her hand. A young guy sprinted away with her belongings. Almost everything she owned.
“Hey!” Julie cried. “Stop!” she shrieked, sprinting after the punk in the hoodie. After an hour of lugging the thing, her arm felt dead and her legs didn’t feel much better. Thing was, there wasn’t anything of real value in there.
Still, that was it. All of it. Her clothes. Her shoes. Her life. Most of it was in that bag. The last few bits and pieces were in the backpack on her back. Everything else was in there.
The guy was much faster than her, but she was determined. Julie picked up speed. A low moan of anger and frustration was torn from her. Her arms pumped at her sides and her lungs burned. She wanted to shout at him again but she didn’t have the strength to both run and call out.
Bastard.
Little asshole.
At first he pulled away from her. Now she was keeping up with him. Pretty soon, the tables were going to turn and then he’d be sorry; he’d be worse than sorry. Julie ignored the voice inside her that begged her to stop. She ignored her fatigued muscles. She ignored everything and … tripped.
No!
Julie tried to right herself. She staggered. For a moment there it felt like she might just be able to stay upright, then she plummeted down, down. The pavement raced to meet her. Make that the solid edge of the pavement sprinted towards her. She tried to twist away. There was blinding pain as her head hit hard. Almost immediately, darkness descended.
Chapter 3
Julie awoke to the sound of something vibrating. A clattering noise. It was loud. Her body hurt. Oh god, her head hurt even more. She opened her eyes and moaned, putting a hand to her forehead.
The noise. The knocking. It was her teeth chattering. She was cold. Freezing, bloody cold. It wasn’t the worst of her worries. She couldn’t see. Not a thing. Panic welled up but she pushed it down. The pain in her head was making it hard to think.
Julie quickly realized that her eyes were fine. If she really tried ‒ which hurt her head even more ‒ she could make out dark shapes. The freezing room she was in was dark. She moaned again. It echoed within the space. Her suitcase was gone. Bloody punk kid had run off with her clothes. What the hell was she going to do now? Where was she? She rubbed a hand on the floor. It was smooth and cold. It was also clean and had a buffed feel. She wasn’t outside. The last thing she remembered was hitting her head against the side of the pavement.
“You’re awake,” a woman said. There was a high-pitched edge to her voice. “She’s awake,” the same person added.
“Oh good,” someone close by, another woman, sighed out the words.
“Where am I? What happened?” Her voice was a croak. Her lips were dry, her throat and mouth felt the same. “How long have I been here?”
“Not long,” the nervous sounding woman said. “Maybe half an hour or so.”
“Where am I?” Julie hugged herself. She rubbed her arms to try and generate some warmth. She felt the heavy weight of her backpack as she moved to a sitting position. Thank god she still had that. It was truly all she had left. Her toiletry bag, a few bucks and some snacks. The thought of the bottle of water and cereal bar within it had her mouth watering. A wave of nausea rolled through her almost in the same instant. Damn, she must have a concussion. It had been a hard fall and it felt like she’d been out for some time, so it made sense.
“I have no idea where we are.” The woman definitely was afraid. Her voice quivered and she sniffed. It seemed like she might be crying. “Oh god. Oh god,” she chanted. There was more sniffing. She was definitely crying.
“Calm down,” the woman closest to her said. “It’s going to be okay.” Thing was, she didn’t sound like she believed that herself. “I’m sure it was all a dream. They must’ve given us something. There must be some logical—”
The other woman made a sigh of frustration. “Logical explanation.” She’d gone from upset to hysterical. “You were picked up by a dragon. A freaking dragon. I experienced the same thing as you. How could we both have dreamed up the same thing? I had his clawed feet around my body. I could feel the scales.”
Say what?
These women were nutters. Julie heard the woman closest to her swallow hard. The tempo of her breathing increased. She sounded like she was trying to calm herself down. “It can’t be though. It doesn’t make sense.” Her voice had lost its calm tone. “There has to be an explanation.” Yup, any calm was long gone. Her own included!
“A dragon?” Her teeth still chattered. Julie wished she’d put a sweater into her backpack. She wished she still had her suitcase. Nausea continued to afflict her. She sucked in deep breaths to try and calm her rolling stomach. She wasn’t sure whether it was the latest revelation or the concussion that caused her upset stomach.
“Yes,” the panicking woman said. “An honest to god dragon. He swooped down and picked me up. Ellis is going to be mad. He’s going to—”
“Your pimp is the least of your worries,” the woman closest to her spat.
“I shouldn’t have confided in you,” the panicking woman threw back.
“We were abducted by …” The other woman let the sentence die.
“Dragons!” the panicking woman sobbed. “That thing that carried me was a dragon. There is no other explanation.”
“Maybe,” the closest woman said. “It can’t be though.”
The back and forth was making her headache worse. “Wait. Stop.” She held up a hand, which was silly in the dark room. “Please stop talking for a second,” she groaned. “I hit my head and your arguing is making it worse.”
A noise came from the other room. Someone was screaming. It was muffled but slowly drew closer.
“They’re bringing in another one!” The panicking woman whispered, her voice still high-pitched. The screaming grew nearer and nearer and then there was the creak of a door opening.
“What’s going on?” a woman wailed. She was crying and sounded shocked and beyond upset.
“Sit down,” someone said in an authoritative hiss. It was definitely a woman who spoke and she wasn’t friendly.
“No. You can’t do this!” the new arrival shrieked.
“Sit down and shut up.” Their abductor was a woman. Not a very kind one. “There’s a good human,” she laughed spitefully, instantly reminding Julie of the bullies she’d had to contend with at the orphanage. Bigger, older girls who loved to push around the smaller, weaker ones. Girls who got a kick out of beating and humiliating others for no reason other than that they could.
Julie ignored the human comment. The whole dragon thing couldn’t be true, could it? Right now was not the time to think on it. “Hey!” Julie shouted. “We’re freezing and hungry.”
“Tell someone who cares,” the bully spat. “Pretty soon you’ll wish you were dead anyway, so enjoy the peace and quiet while you can.”
It didn’t make sense. It was starting to look like they had been abducted. There must be a reason why. Julie didn’t want to dwell on what that reason might be. It would cause her to panic and panicking was not going to help them out of this situation. Point being, whoever had taken them must want them alive. At least for the time being.
“I could use some headache pills.” It was worth a shot. “We’re thirsty—”
The door slammed shut. The bully clearly didn’t give a shit.
“And we can’t see!” she shouted even though she realized it was useless, since their abductor had disappeared.
Aside from the odd sniff and whimper, the new girl was qui
et.
“Hello,” the closest woman to her said.
“My name is Julie,” she said, to no one in particular. “Can we please introduce ourselves and try and get to the bottom of this?”
“I want to go home.” The new girl broke into a fit of sobs which lasted for about a half a minute before she calmed down enough so that they could talk. She sniffed and hiccuped.
“I’m Lisa,” the calmer one closest to her said.
“I’m Candy,” The panicky one said.
The new girl kept on crying and whimpering.
“Candy? Seriously?” There was a sneer to Lisa’s voice. “Is that your real name? You’re not on the street trying to pick up a trick you know.”
“You don’t have to be so mean,” Julie chimed in. Why did people feel the need to be so nasty to each other? Throw people in a bad situation and watch their true colors come out.
Lisa snorted. “You are a hooker, aren’t you Candy?”
“I’m a high-paid call girl. I have a few select, exclusive clients so you can stop being such a bitch now.” Candy was much less panicked. In fact, she sounded angry. Julie couldn’t blame her.
“I am ‒ was ‒ a room attendant. I had a temporary position at Lofty Heights Hotel in Walton Springs.”
This elicited another snort from Lisa. “Oh my god. A call girl,” she pronounced the words carefully, “and a cleaning lady. I’m stuck in a room with a bunch of misfits.”
Julie felt irritation rise up in her. “Can we try not to be nasty to one another? Like it or not, we’re in this together. We need to help each other and band together.”
“Who made you the boss?” Lisa asked.
“No one. I’m not the boss of anyone. I’m stating simple facts. If I were you, I’d be working at becoming part of the group instead of alienating yourself. If we don’t work together …” she let the sentence die. Julie didn’t have a good feeling about this. Not at all. “I was fired last week and kicked out of my apartment this morning for not making rent. I’m essentially homeless. It’s been one hell of a day.” She felt her cheeks burn. It sucked that she couldn’t stand on her own two feet.
The Bride Hunt Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 3