Until I Wake

by Kylie Rae

  Robin continued her flow, not really hearing Julie. “He jumped about a foot off his chair when I walked in. Then he tried to pretend he didn’t see me. I’d barely even ordered our drinks before he bailed.”

  “Do you think he was-”

  “Looking for you? Definitely. He was way too fidgety after I showed up.”

  Julie listened with rapt attention. Whitney noticed and thought it necessary, or at least polite, to fill her in.

  “I, uh, I ran into a guy at a coffee shop yesterday.”

  “Literally.” Robin sipped her coffee.

  “And we had a moment.” The blush crept higher up her cheeks.

  “Gross.” She rolled her eyes.

  “He’s gorgeous.” Her eyes glazed over.

  “He’s okay.” Robin shrugged.

  “What’s his name?” Julie asked before Whitney could continue gushing.

  “No clue,” Robin and Whitney said together.

  Julie laughed. “That’s so cute. Let me be the first to wish you a happy life together.” She put out her cigarette. “Okay, back to training. It was nice talking to you,” she told Robin.

  Whitney waved to Robin, grateful for the caffeine. Once they were back in the small slots room, Julie became all business again.

  “Okay, so another responsibility we have is to monitor the guests. We signal for servers and bus boys, but if they’re busy, we collect empty glasses to keep areas clean. Also, be aware of anyone becoming too intoxicated. Usually a helpful tip about the buffet upstairs can sort out the problem. But if the guest gets out of control, you call security to deal with it. Don’t confront anyone that’s belligerent.”

  “Does that happen often?” Whitney asked. Her mind raced with scenarios of drunk men getting handsy.

  “Not really. But like I mentioned, the buffet helps a ton.”

  Julie then set Whitney up with a walkie talkie and showed her how to use the headset. That someone was just a click away eased her nerves a bit. She wouldn’t enjoy wandering from room to room trying to find help if she needed it.

  “I’ll be in the room next door if you need me. We break for lunch in an hour.” Julie gave Whitney a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t be nervous. It seems like a lot, but it’s going to be fine once you get the hang of it. I have total faith in you.”

  Whitney tried to smile at Julie as she left. Her vote of confidence helped a little. Then she took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was going to be great at this job within a week. First days were always crap, but in no time she’d be just as good as the rest of them.

  “Excuse me.” A short elderly lady tapped Whitney on the arm, and she started. “Which way is the restroom?”

  Simple enough request, Whitney told herself to get her nerves back under control. “Through this door and it will be on your left.”

  The woman thanked her and went on her way. Nothing else happened for the next hour. Whitney observed the few patrons in the room as they gambled. No one asked her for anything. No one needed a server. None of them even glanced her direction. After twenty minutes ticked by with nothing happening, she wondered if she wasn’t doing what she was supposed to, and worked on the housekeeping checklist. Time to lean, time to clean, or something like that.

  A voice came through the walkie talkie awhile later and startled her again. “Time for lunch.”

  She didn’t know who it was, a man’s voice, but she walked over to the next room to find Julie.

  “How’d it go?” Josh stood in the hall with his phone in hand. He hadn’t even looked up at her.

  “Good, I guess.” Whitney rocked back on her heels and shoved her hands in her pockets.

  Josh laughed. “Don’t be so scared. This job is cake.”

  Julie joined them. “Quiet, Josh. You only consider it cake because you do bare minimum and skate under the radar.”

  “And yet I still get paid the same as you.”

  Julie rolled her eyes and turned to Whitney while Josh laughed his way out of the room. “I’ll show you where the break room is. We have a small cafeteria and lots of nifty vending machines. Not to mention the buffet where we get a discount.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, the new spokesperson for recruitment.” Steve leaned on a door they were approaching and chimed in. Julie blushed. “How’s your first day going?”

  “Oh, really well.” Whitney tried to help Julie out, sensing the chemistry between her and the boss. “Julie is really great and helpful.”

  Julie beamed.

  “Glad to hear it. We should meet at the bar upstairs for a drink to toast your welcome to the team.”

  “Um.” The idea of social interaction with new people made her heart race and Whitney couldn’t figure out how to answer.

  “It’s tradition,” Steve said.

  “That’s true.”

  “Well, maybe,” Whitney said.

  “I’ll let Julie convince you. See you two later.” Steve smiled the same knee-weakening smile at Julie and went down the hall.

  “Please say yes!” Julie said at once. Her cheeks were bright pink, but her eyes shown with desperation.

  Whitney let out a nervous laugh. “I’ll think about it.”

  “I guess I’ll take that for an answer.” She nudged her arm with an elbow and raised her eyebrows with a smile. “For now.”

  Whitney followed her into the buffet and the smell of food made her stomach growl. She hadn’t even realized how hungry she was. The room was crowded, but no one even looked up when they entered. She felt a moment of calm.

  “Anyway, we take our lunch in shifts with two other teams. While the others break, we divide up their sections to maintain coverage. We get to break first because we came in earlier.”

  They moved through the line and loaded their plates, and Julie insisted on paying for Whitney. Then she led her back down the hall to their cafeteria. Josh lounged at a table with three girls who seemed to think he was hilarious. Chris sat alone in a corner and had a book open next to his tray. A few other people Whitney didn’t know were spread out among the other tables.

  “So, what do you think so far? Be honest.” Julie took a large bite of her baked potato the second they sat down.

  “Oh, uh, it’s not as bad as I built it up to be. That sounds bad. Uh. I have this thing where I make new experiences seem like this big dark cloud or something... It seems like it will be easy to get the hang of is all I mean.” Whitney blushed as she babbled and decided staring at her plate and shutting up was the best plan of action.

  Before Julie had a chance to answer, a familiar laugh made Whitney look up. “Nervous Nelly over here.” Robin sat down with them; her tray crowded with food. “I should have warned you that simple conversation can clam her up. Especially if it’s more than a yes or no question.”

  Julie giggled. “I’ve noticed that. Any time someone’s asked her how the day is going, you’d assume we were asking her if she was planning a killing spree.”

  “Hey, hey, quit laughing at me.” Whitney relaxed in Robin’s presence. Getting a job where her best friend worked was really the only thing keeping her calm. The unfamiliar faces had put her on edge all morning.

  “Aw, we’re not laughing at you,” Julie said.

  “Speak for yourself, I’m totally laughing at her.” But she winked at Whitney.

  “How’s training the newbie going, Jules?” Chris asked as he passed their table with his half-empty plate.

  Julie pursed her lips. “I’ve asked you to stop calling me that. And it’s going very well, thank you for asking.”

  “She must be pretty smart if Steve thought you wouldn’t have a problem teaching her.” He turned to Whitney. “Generally, I show people the ropes, since I’m his assistant and all.” Chris ignored what Julie had said as he rocked back on his heels and straightened his tie.

  “Chris.” All amusement had gone out of Julie’s face and her voice was icy. “You know I used to have Steve’s job, right? And I’ve led multiple other departmen
ts for the casino? That I’m working on this team right now by choice?”

  Chris stopped mid-bounce. You could see his brain working hard to come up with something to say. His eyes shifted from face to face before he admitted defeat. “Sure, whatever,” he muttered and walked away.

  “What’s his problem?” Whitney asked.

  “Oh, he’s just a brown-nosing little snot.” Julie shook her head and turned her attention back to her food. “He’s worked here for about a year and all he wants is to be someone’s boss. He’s power hungry and has started in on getting Steve’s job after Steve gets his promotion.”

  “Oh, Steve’s getting promoted?” Robin asked with growing interest.

  “Most likely. But everyone in upper management knows all about Chris. He’s going to be an assistant forever if he doesn’t fix his attitude.”

  “Who will take Steve’s place then?” Whitney felt concerned at once. More new people?

  “I,” Julie paused, her eyes glazed over as she stared at a wall for a moment. “I think I’m going to step back up.”

  Crisis averted. If Julie was the new boss, Whitney could deal with that. Julie was nice, she could tell.

  “Why’d you stop being a slot manager before?” Robin asked.

  Julie shrugged. “They’ve shuffled me around all the departments. I get a little bored and the big bosses know I have a lot to offer so they like to bounce me around.” Julie shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the spotlight being on her now. “So, anyway. Whitney is trying to weasel out of the ‘I survived my first day of work drink’ that Steve offered.”

  “What?” Robin was easily distracted. She whipped around to nail Whitney to her chair with her eyes. “You have to. It’s tradition here.”

  Whitney blushed. “I said maybe...”

  “See, I told you it was a thing.” Julie was relieved the obvious subject change had been accepted.

  Robin then gushed to Julie about how shy and awkward Whitney was when they’d first met in an attempt to explain Whitney’s constant avoidance of new things. Whitney was grateful when she’d finished eating and it was time to get back to work. Robin wasn’t one to realize when she should stop talking. She just liked to share stories. It just so happened that most of her stories included Whitney being... well, Whitney.

  The rest of the afternoon passed quickly as Whitney got into the swing of things. The rooms filled up with people by mid-afternoon and she ended up helping the servers with the amount of drink orders pouring in. She didn’t realize what time it was until there were only twenty minutes left in her shift; barely enough time to get her checklist done.

  She looked around for Julie to turn in her walkie talkie after a short girl with blonde pigtails told her she was her relief. Whitney pondered the drink invitation as she stood off to the side and scanned the room. She felt embarrassed about how awkward she was with new people. She wished there was a fast-forward button to next week when she’ll have relaxed and gotten into a groove. Next week she’d be able to say yes to a drink with her coworkers. But today the idea made her nauseous.

  Distracted by her thoughts, Whitney was unprepared for the man stumbling across the lobby to fall into her legs. She tripped and fell against the wall, and her hands scrabbled around for anything to catch herself on. A small scream may have escaped and the people milling about stopped to look in her direction. Three security guards rushed over. Two pulled the man off the ground and the other put a comforting hand on her arm.

  “Are you okay?” he asked with a kind smile.

  Julie was there before Whitney could answer. “Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?”

  “Um. Yeah. I think so. Just got startled.”

  The security guards drug the man away. He struggled against them and shouted unintelligible words.

  “That’s George,” Julie said. “He’s homeless, we think. He comes in here and drinks from time to time if he can get some money. He’s harmless.”

  Whitney was very aware of all the eyes still on her. George was out in the hall now, making considerably more noise as he fought the security guards. Gradually the crowd’s attention shifted and Whitney relaxed.

  “So,” Whitney put the walkie talkie into Julie’s hand and told herself to be bold. “How about that drink?”

  Julie grinned. “I knew you’d come around. I’ll get Steve and we’ll head to the bar.”

  Whitney waited as Julie dashed off down a hall. Her heart rate was still returning to normal, but a drink sounded great at this point. She needed to take the edge off before going home. Walking alone and being in her apartment alone wouldn’t do her any good in this mood.

  Julie returned quickly as though she was worried Whitney would change her mind; Steve was close behind her. He motioned for Julie to take the lead and they made their way up the red-carpeted stairs to the bar.

  The atmosphere calmed her pulse, and she took a deep breath of the woody scent in the air. The dim lights put her at ease and each step put her into a better mood. She could do this.

  “Heard you had a brief run in with George,” Steve said as the bartender made their drinks.

  “Um, yeah. Scared me a little.”

  “I told her he’s harmless and not to worry,” Julie chimed in.

  “He is harmless.” They took their drinks to a table. “But he can also get out of hand. I’m sorry that happened. Especially on your first day.”

  “Not your fault.” Whitney shrugged, sipping her margarita.

  “So, how long have you been friends with Robin?” Julie was looking to lighten the mood. “How did you two meet?” She’d positioned her chair close to Steve’s and kept glancing up at his face. She’d been thrilled at the idea of drinks with Steve, even under the premise of celebrating Whitney’s first day.

  “Oh, since the seventh grade. She moved to town and decided we were going to be friends on her first day.” Whitney smiled, talking about Robin was easy.

  Steve laughed. “She decided?”

  “Well, yeah. That’s how Robin is. Plus, I was a painfully shy kid and it wouldn’t have ended up with us as friends any other way.”

  “Are you sure you’re not still painfully shy?” Julie asked.

  Steve laughed along with Julie, and Whitney managed a genuine smile. A few more gulps of tequila and this might even be simple.

  “Why’d you two move here?” Steve continued the get-to-know-you question.

  “Uh, well, Robin moved here because she likes change. She likes to see what she’s capable of; like moving far away from everyone she knows. I came up to visit and kind of fell in love with the place. Biggest appeal is having my best friend every day again.”

  “I moved here from Colorado. I didn’t know anyone here. I wish my best friend had come with me,” Julie said after Whitney fell silent.

  “Colorado, huh? I didn’t know that.” Steve turned to Julie. “I’ve never been there but have always wanted to. Do you visit often?”

  Julie’s cheeks turned pink as she answered. “At holidays, I try to. But there aren’t many people there I like to see anymore. They’ve all moved away and don’t visit much. But it’s beautiful there. You should go one day.”

  Whitney sat back in her chair; her drink pressed to her lips as she watched the conversation develop between them. Steve’s eyes never left Julie’s face. Whitney blushed at the heat she could feel coming off them in waves. She emptied her glass in one last gulp and decided it was time to make her exit. The next break in words, she spoke up.

  “So, I’m going to head home,” she said as she stood up. “Thanks for the drink.”

  Julie smiled at Whitney. “Not a problem, be safe getting home.” Julie watched her go through the door before looking back at Steve. She was desperately hoping this didn’t mean the evening was over.

  As soon as their eyes met, Steve pulled her face closer and kissed her. It was deep and soft, tender and urgent, and made Julie tingle all the way down to her toes. After several long seconds, they pulled away from
each other to breathe.

  “Oh, fuck me.” Julie gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth, shocked at herself.

  Steve laughed. “Well, funnily enough, we are in a hotel.”

  Julie’s cheeks burned red as she tried to hide behind her drink. Was this really happening?

  “But... but you’re my boss,” she stuttered out the only thing holding her back.

  “Not really. You’re better at this job than I am. I’m just temporarily playing a role.” Steve stroked the side of Julie’s face and she melted. “Come on.”

  ROBIN SKIPPED INTO the diner, spotted Marnie near the kitchens, and slid into the booth seat across from her with a grin.

  “Hey, babe,” she said and wiggled her eyebrows.

  “About time,” Marnie said with a smile. She half-stood so she could lean across the table and kiss Robin. “Felt like I’d be waiting all night. I was about to eat the menu.”

  Robin laughed. A server approached the table and took their orders. They chit-chatted about their days and waited for their food, and there was a happy silence as they ate their fill. Then Marnie pushed her plate away and took Robin’s hands in hers.

  “Are you coming over tonight?” She tried to wiggle her eyebrows, but it came off more awkward than suggestive, and Robin burst out laughing.

  “Sure, as long as you promise to never do that again.”

  Marnie swatted at her arm.

  Robin’s phone pinged a reminder, and she glanced down. “Oh, hang on. I need to remind Whitney to call her mom.”

  Marnie raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

  Robin typed up the message and sent it while she responded. “Because she promised she would, and I know she’s going to forget, and if she doesn’t call, then Rose is going to get all worked up and think the worst has happened and might call in the troops to make sure Whitney survived her first day of work in scary Oklahoma.” She put her phone back down and grinned.

  “Uh... okay?” Marnie looked confused.

  “Whitney’s mom is overprotective. She needs daily updates on her baby or she’ll freak.”