by Claire Adams
Tom felt proud of what he'd accomplished at such a young age and so did I. We were excited about starting our new life together and the house was our investment in the future.
We'd made the down payment on this house using the money we'd received as wedding gifts and the small amount Tom had gotten as a signing bonus with Bakersfield. It wasn't a big house, it was definitely not located in the best part of town, and it needed quite a bit of work to make it truly livable, but it was ours and we had seen its potential the first time we'd walked through it.
I'd been working as a waitress at a hole-in-the-wall bar whose owner didn't care that I wasn't yet twenty-one and the weekend tips I made were substantial enough to make the mortgage payment every month. It wasn't easy and Tom and I didn't see a whole lot of each other the first few months of our marriage, but we were happy because we were building something together.
That all changed the afternoon Tom pitched a no-hitter against a team from Visalia. During his last pitch, he felt something in his shoulder give and although he struck the last batter out, he walked off the mound knowing that something was seriously wrong. We saw several specialists over the next few months and none of them had good news. Tom had a loose shoulder and while the surgeons could offer a wide variety of options for healing it enough to be able to function in a normal setting, none of them could promise him that he'd ever be able to pitch again.
The news sent Tom into a downward spiral for a few months and he started drinking and gambling as a way to stave off the feelings of disappointment and failure. I tried to pull him out of it by suggesting that we travel to other clinics and consult with sports experts, but by that time the medical bills had begun to overwhelm us and Tom showed signs of giving up.
I gave up taking classes at the local community college and began searching for a second job to try and bring in more money. One afternoon, Tom came home from his shift at the airline and announced that they were hiring flight attendants and that the pay was triple what I was making in tips. He suggested that I apply and while I doubted that they'd hire me because I was still so young, I did it.
Six weeks later, I packed my bags and flew to New York City for a month of training and learned that I was the perfect candidate for flying the friendly skies. It was the perfect combination of all the things I enjoyed doing most, and I was excited about the possibility of expanding my horizons while getting paid. I came back from training with a list of places that I wanted to visit, but Tom was less than thrilled about the prospect of his wife being gone more than half the month.
We fought about the job for a week after I returned. I was resentful that he'd set me up, and he was mad that I actually liked the job. We spent an icy few evenings trying to reach an agreement, but I got the feeling that he was angry at more than me, so I tried to make peace with meals and outings before I started my new schedule.
Once I started flying, we settled into a routine and things seemed to calm down. Tom worked the early shift at the airline, so it left him with lots of free afternoons and evenings. He started building a mechanic business out of our garage, but he wasn't very good at holding his customers to payment schedules, so I often came home to a stack of unpaid bills and invoices that needed to be sent out for payment. It had gotten to the point that every time I returned, I held my breath on the drive home wondering what I would encounter once I got there.
Needless to say, the flame of romance had been turned down to low in our marriage and it took some real effort on my part to respond to Tom's overtures. He drank regularly, and when he made his intentions clear, I often had to fight back a wave of disgust and remind myself of all the good, loving qualities he still possessed when he was sober.
The sober Tom was still charming, attractive, and loving, and when he was home, I fell in love with him all over again. The problem was that sober Tom was showing up less and less frequently and I didn't know how I could convince him to stay.
Chapter Seven
Austin
I woke up to my phone frantically vibrating at four in the morning. This was something that annoyed me beyond belief, but business never sleeps.
"You awake, boss?" Bax's voice filtered through my fuzzy brain.
"If I wasn't before, I am now," I mumbled as I reached across the nightstand and tapped the base of the lamp so that it cast a soft glow out into the room.
When I'd taken over the hotel business several years ago, I'd made it my mission to upgrade many of the old fixtures and these lamps were one of the things that customers often complemented us on. Instead of quickly shining a bright light in the guest's eyes, it warmed up over a period of twenty minutes. It allowed guests to seamlessly move between sleep and awake and resulted in a more pleasant wake-up experience. In addition, I'd replaced the morning wake-up call with a programmable tone on each phone keypad so that guests could wake up to everything from chimes to summer storms, rather than the voices of strangers at a switchboard, though we still offered that option for the old school folks who didn't like change.
"We've got a full day and I thought you might be tempted to sleep in this morning," he said.
"Don't you ever sleep?" I grumbled as I tapped the keypad on the room phone and ordered breakfast and the Times.
"Would it matter if I told you that I'm a thousand year old vampire and I don't need sleep, just the blood of ten virgins and a shot of whiskey?" he deadpanned.
"Don't be a smart ass," I replied as I slowly lifted the Egyptian cotton sheets up and rolled to the edge of the mattress. "I'm not in the mood for jokes this morning."
"Right," he replied. "Gotcha. So, this morning you need to get to the office and meet with Daniel before you head to the airport.
"Oh Christ," I groaned. "Not that jackass this early in the morning, Bax."
"Sorry, I tried to shift things around and keep him off the schedule, but you know how that goes," he replied sympathetically. "Just get there early, meet with him, nod your head and make mouth noises, and then skip out as quickly as possible. Tell him you have a flight to catch, it's the truth."
"For a change," I said as I rubbed my face with my hand and tried to remember where I'd hung my pants. "Can you have someone send over a suit and then get Lydia to pack my bags for Sydney?"
"Already done," Bax replied. "Your bags will meet you at the airport. Your suit is on its way up to your room right now."
As soon as he said this, there was a soft knock on the door. I went to answer it and found Andrew, the bellman, holding a suit bag and a dopp kit full of supplies.
"Mr. Marks," he said as he stepped into the room and headed for the dressing area. "How are you, sir?"
"I'm doing all right, Andrew," I replied. Then, speaking loudly into the phone said, "Except for the fact that it's four in the morning and my best friend has decided that he's in charge of my life."
"Well, that's what best friends are for, sir," Andrew smiled. "They do the things that no one else would dare do – except maybe one's mother."
"Good point, Andrew," I laughed. "But sometimes, they get a little full of themselves and think they own you."
"No, I think that's a wife, sir," Andrew grinned.
"Speaking which, how are Jeannie and the kids?" I asked.
"They're great. The little one just graduated from kindergarten and the older one is headed into third grade next year," he replied with a proud smile. "And, my wife got her RN license last month, so we're doing pretty darn well, if I do say so myself."
"Hey, that's fantastic! Are you planning a celebration?" I asked.
"Yeah, Jeannie's parents are taking the kids to Coney Island next weekend, so she and I can spend the day together and do something fun," he said with a wide grin. "We don't get much time alone these days."
"Man, that sounds like heaven," I said wistfully.
"Yo, Mr. Dreamer!" Bax called from the other end of the phone. "Hello? Can you get your head out of the clouds and come back to earth?"
"Oh crap," I muttered as
I watched Andrew set up the clothing on the stand in the dressing area and then lay out all of my shower supplies on the counter in the bathroom. "I need to get back to this call, but it's good to see you, Andrew."
"Is there anything else you need, sir?" he asked.
"No, I think I'll be fine for now," I said. "But can you check on breakfast for me?"
"Yes, sir," he nodded, He pulled a phone out of his pocket, tapped the screen, and waited for a few moments before looking up and saying, "It's on it's way up now, sir."
"Great, thank you," I replied.
"It's my pleasure, sir." He smiled as he crossed the room and quietly exited through the door.
"Damn, I love this hotel," I said into the phone.
"Why? What's going on?" Bax asked.
"I just love how everything makes it feel like home instead of like I'm in a hotel," I said.
"Well, you are home," he said. "I mean, it's your hotel."
"I know, but sometimes I don't feel like I'm at home anywhere," I replied. "When I come here, I feel like the staff makes the effort to turn this into someplace that I enjoy being, rather than just someplace I'm passing through."
"Okay, whatever," Bax sighed. "This sad sack bachelor routine is wearing thin, my friend. When are you going to accept that settling down isn't about finding the perfect girl, it's about finding someone who fits into your life and simply makes it better than it was before?"
"Easy for you to say," I muttered. "You found your dream girl at twenty-three." Bax was married to his college sweetheart and had an apartment over on East 79th near the Metropolitan Museum.
"Look, I'm not scolding you, I'm just saying that I think your standards are a little too unreasonable and that maybe if you'd relax them a bit, you'd have better luck," he said. "What about Anna?"
"What about her?" I asked.
"Forget it," he said.
"No, what about her?"
"She's a nice girl and she comes from a good family," he said. "Why not settle down with her?"
"She doesn't love me like that," I said flatly.
"How do you know?"
"She told me. Last night, in fact," I replied.
"Damn."
"Yeah, whatever," I said in a flip tone. "Let's get back to business. What does Mr. Bossy Pants want this morning?"
"He wants to know when you're going to solve the Sydney problem," Bax said.
"Didn't you tell him I'm headed there today?"
"I tried, but you know how he is," he said with an impatient sigh. "He wants to see the evidence for himself."
"Fine, I'll deal with him," I said. "Anything else?"
"Nope, Sydney is the main issue," he replied. "Everything else is secondary and I can deal with it for now."
"Okay, well then, let me get ready to meet his majesty," I sighed.
"I hope you ordered a big breakfast," Bax said.
"The biggest," I assured him. "Talk to you later."
When breakfast arrived a few minutes later, I was glad to find out that in my sleepy state, I had actually ordered the biggest breakfast on the menu.
I sighed, looked at the room server, and said, "You're going to need to bring another pot of coffee, though."
Chapter Eight
Emily
Three in the morning came entirely too early. I hit the snooze button on the alarm I'd set and slowly rolled over. Tom was sound asleep next to me, snoring so loud that I was surprised I hadn't woken up earlier. He'd be out for half the day, but since it was his day off, it didn't matter.
I, on the other hand, had a flight to catch. Trish and I were joining the crew in Los Angeles and heading to Sydney for the next five days. We'd fly today then spend four days in Australia and then fly the return trip together. I was surprised that they were putting me on an overseas flight for my first time in first class, but Linda had told me that they were short on crews and didn't want to sacrifice an experienced crew to a long trip like this one. Besides, she'd made a point of telling me that my customer service ratings were hovering at 92%, which was almost unheard of, so she had no problem adding me to the first class crew knowing that I'd be at the top of my game.
I didn't feel like I was at the top of my game as I stood in the kitchen and poured water into the coffee maker. As the coffee brewed, I scooped some yogurt out of the container and topped it with fresh blueberries and a handful of nuts and seeds. I needed to get myself up to speed quickly and make sure that I didn't lag today. I was worried that if I messed up, they'd immediately demote me and I'd be back serving soft drinks and peanuts in economy on long flights from Los Angeles to Minneapolis or worse, Cleveland.
The coffee finished brewing just as I finished my breakfast, so I poured myself a big mug and added some cream before heading to the second bedroom that I used as my storage closet and packing space. I carefully rolled and stored enough clothing for the hop as I sipped from the steamy hot cup. I remembered to toss in a bathing suit, even though I wasn't sure if we'd have a pool at the hotel or not. Can't hurt.
I moved into the bathroom and took a shower then dried my unruly hair and pinned it up in a neat bun at the nape of my neck before applying the requisite cosmetics. There were no hard fast rules about cosmetics other than they couldn't be distracting or unnatural, but we all knew that makeup was part of the costume and that customers expected glamorous, well-dressed, polished attendants on their trips. I didn't wear much make-up while I was off duty, but I was happy to have the chance to play with it while working. Trish had given me some pointers about my eyebrows and some tips on how to make my lipstick last longer, but I hadn't quite figured that one out yet.
I smiled at myself in the mirror and then headed back to my dressing room to don my uniform and zip up my travel case. I liked this morning ritual before a trip, there was something soothing about following the routine and knowing that in twenty-four hours, I'd be unpacking some of my things in a hotel room halfway around the world. The adventure was what I loved, and I never got tired of it. I pulled on my pantyhose and then slipped into the wrap dress all the female flight attendants wore before adding the final touch, a red scarf tied jauntily around my neck and a flight cap that many of the my fellow attendants hated, but I actually loved. It made me feel exotic, and as someone who'd grown up feeling completely average and decidedly unspecial, I liked the feeling. Besides, once we were in the air, we were free to take it off and relax. I never did.
I slipped my watch onto my wrist and looked at the time. I had to hurry or I would be late and miss the flight. I quickly put on the cubic zirconia studs that my mother had bought me for my last birthday, and then slid my feet into my navy pumps, zipped my bag and set it on the ground, and turned to survey the room. I had everything I needed for the trip.
I stuck my head in the bedroom to see if Tom was anywhere near awake, but when I heard him snoring, I knew he wasn't. I decided to leave him a note on the kitchen counter, but I couldn't come up with anything other than:
Tommy - Hopping flight #3751 to LA then #4315 to Sydney. Be back on Sunday. There are meals in the freezer. 350 degrees for 25 mins and you'll have piping hot food! Have a good week. Love, E. ps - Don't forget to pay the electric bill on Friday and water the plants in the front yard!
I tucked the electric bill under the note and hoped that he'd remember to do it on Friday when we both got paid. We were behind in paying the bill, but if he did it before Friday, we'd bounce a check and that would mean an additional $35.00 we didn't have.
I smiled weakly as I looked around. Our house suddenly looked drab and shabby, and I felt overwhelmed by how much work we still needed to do to get it into shape. I stopped myself from descending too far into the world of negative thinking by reminding myself that we'd faced challenges before and this house was the least of them. Having calmed the sinking feeling, I grabbed the handle of my bag and headed out to the car.
It would have to be good enough for now. All of it.
Chapter Nine
Austin
I scanned the Sydney news as I ate breakfast and was relieved to find that the labor skirmish hadn't yet made it into the papers there. It gave me hope that a compromise was still possible and that the construction of the new Marks Casino and Hotel would stay on schedule.
I dressed carefully in the suit that Andrew had brought up for me. I wanted to look professional, but not over the top formal for my meeting with Daniel, and I wanted to be comfortable on the flight to Sydney. It was asking a lot of suit, but Gucci had never let me down before and it wasn't about to start today. The suit was a steel blue color with narrow pants and a fitted jacket. Under it, I wore a shirt a few shades darker and left the top three buttons open. I hated ties, so I avoided them whenever possible. Besides, I knew that not wearing a tie would irritate Daniel and I took every opportunity to do it.
I took one last look in the mirror and smiled. I looked casual, but in charge, which was exactly the message I wanted to send. I called down to the front desk and asked them to have the driver bring my car around as I gulped the last bit of coffee in my cup and wondered what kind of mood Daniel would be in.
Daniel Wentworth had been my father's second in command, in much the same way that Bax was mine. Except where Bax was a Harvard educated economist, Daniel was an old school thug in an expensive suit and that meant he was far more dangerous. Daniel had done my father's dirty work as he built his empire, and he'd been handsomely rewarded with promotion after promotion until he was named the Vice President of Global Operations shortly before my father died. It was widely assumed that Daniel was next in line for CEO, but my father's will had upended all of that, leaving everyone in shock when I was named head of Marks Enterprises.