Her Fall From Queendom

Chapter 2: The Supervisor

❤ Jessica’s POV ❤

I got to the locker area and put on my uniform. We waited for the housekeeping supervisor to arrive. I looked around, and I could tell which ones were newly hired and which ones were the tenured maids. The tenured ones are quite noisy, while the newly hired ones are just quietly observing their environment, like me.

One of the tenured maids walked towards me and said, “Are you one of the new hires?”

Jessica: “Yes I am. I’m Jessica.”

Tenured Maid: “You’re too pretty to be a maid.”

Jessica: “Uhm, thanks?”

Tenured Maid: “I’m Nerissa. Been working here for three years now.”

Jessica: “Nice to meet you.”

Nerissa: “Elaine is going to hate you.”

Jessica: “Who’s Elaine?”

Nerissa: “Our supervisor.”

Jessica: “Why would she hate me? I haven’t done anything.”

Nerissa: “You’re pretty. That’s enough for you to hate her.”

Jessica: “What?”

Nerissa: “Just stay quiet and try not to get too much attention.”

Jessica: “O-okay.”

A woman who looked like she was in her 30’s came into the locker room at that moment. She had her chin up and looked like she had an air of authority. She must be Elaine.

Elaine: “I’m posting your assignments on the board. Each new hire will be assigned a partner. It’s posted on the board too. Any questions?”

I did have a lot of questions and wanted to raise my hand, but Nerissa stopped me. I noticed Elaine looking at me. I smiled, but she just raised an eyebrow at me before turning around and leaving.

I looked at Nerissa and said, “That was it?”

Nerissa: “Yeah. What did you expect?”

Jessica: “Uhm, where am I supposed to go? What am I supposed to do?”

Nerissa: “Check the boards. You’ll spend the week with whoever you’re partnered with and she’ll teach you what to do.”

Jessica: “Okay.”

Everyone looked at the board, and I heard a few of the women calling names. They’re probably looking for their assigned partners.

Before I got the chance to look at the board, Nerissa pulled me and said, “What do you know, you’re assigned to me.”

Jessica: “Really?”

Nerissa: “We’re assigned to work on the 30th floor. Keep up with me and watch everything I do.”

Jessica: “O-okay.”

I followed Nerissa to where the carts were. She showed me how to fill it up, and I made sure to take note of what she was doing.

Nerissa: “These carts are our lifeline. Each floor has ten rooms, so make sure to bring more than enough. I usually bring 15 of everything. We refill them halfway through our shift in case the clients check out or ask to have their rooms cleaned again. You should also be aware of your inventory since Elaine checks them. Sometimes, we encounter thieves, so protect your cart at all times.”

Jessica: “Okay.”

After I had filled up my cart, I followed Nerissa as she made her way to the service elevator.

Nerissa: “We are not allowed to ride the guest elevator, especially when we have these carts. You’ll get fired immediately when you get caught, so remember to ride the service elevator only.”

Jessica: “What if the service elevator is out of order?”

Nerissa stopped for a while and said, “You know what, I don’t know. It’s never happened before and I never asked. So, pray that it never happens when you’re on duty.”

Jessica: “Okay.”

When we got to the 30th floor, we exited the elevator and pulled our cart out.

Nerissa: “Unless guests have a ‘do not disturb’ sign on their doors, we clean every room on the floor. We have radios on the carts, and the operator will contact us if there are special requests for room cleaning. We don’t have any special requests today, so we’ll just a do a standard room cleaning, which I will teach you in a bit.”

We entered the first room and started cleaning. Nerissa turned down the bed first and changed the sheets. I helped her, and when we were done, she put some chocolates and lavender on the pillow.

Jessica: “That’s a nice touch.”

Nerissa: “Yeah. Guests usually just throw them away, but we still have to put them on anyway. It’s standard procedure.”

Nerissa then proceeded to clean the bathroom, then wipe down all surfaces. I followed her and helped out with whatever she was doing. When we were done, we got out of the room.

Nerissa: “You should be out of the room in less than 30 minutes, sooner if there’s a guest inside. The guests don’t usually like to be bothered but they like clean rooms, so they would usually just ignore us. Some are not as gracious, though. Be wary of single men in hotel rooms. Most of them like to get handsy.”

Jessica: “What?”

Nerissa: “That might be a bigger problem for you since you’re pretty.”

I got nervous just thinking about what Nerissa just said. I need this job, so I guess I will just have to be careful. I kept following Nerissa as we cleaned every room on the floor.

-------------------------------------------

We took a break at noon and made our way to the cafeteria after depositing our carts. I brought lunch, so I took a seat as I waited for Nerissa to buy her food. Nerissa arrived with the other maids and took a seat at our table.

Nerissa introduced me to the other women, and they all commented on how I’m too pretty to be a housekeeper.

Nerissa: “I said that too. I wonder how long it would take for Elaine to target her.”

Jessica: “I’m sorry. Why would Elaine target me, and why did you say earlier that she would hate me?”

Nerissa: “I told you. You’re too pretty.”

Jessica: “What’s wrong with how I look?”

One of the other women at the table named Melanie said, “She’s insecure. She’s always hated when pretty maids were hired, and once she targets them, they usually get fired within a month.”

Jessica: “What?”

Nerissa: “Sorry. Like I said earlier, try to stay quiet, keep to yourself, and don’t talk back, so Elaine won’t have any reason to fire you.”

Melanie: “Yeah. Good luck, girl.”

I lost my appetite as I thought about what Nerissa and Melanie had just said. I hope I don’t get fired just because I’m pretty. My son and I really need this job.