echoing in my head. The night before, I’d tried to come up with some ridiculous task for Miss Crossley to send me on, and I’d invented a story.
Then she came up with something more heinous and involved than I ever could have imagined. I was stuck in her office, catching up on months of filing.
Filing. On one of the nicest days of the entire summer.
I’d started the night before and so far, had been working all morning on it. I couldn’t imagine Miss Crossley, as organized as she was, getting this far behind on anything in her life. She tried to tell me it wasn’t her fault, that the filesactually belonged to the Talbots, but I wasn’t sure I believed her. She could be one of those people who seems really put together…and then you ride in their car, and there’s junk everywhere, like change on the floor, and old fast-food bags, and random notebook pages, and dried-up shriveled French fries.
Anyway, let’s just say that someone hadn’t kept up with the files over the winter. Or the summer before that. Or the entire decade before that.
I’d been crouched on the floor for a long time, so I stood up to stretch my arms over my head. Then I went to the window behind Miss Crossley’s desk and looked out at the ocean.
There must have been a storm out at sea the night before—it had rained buckets here onshore—because the waves rolling in looked bigger than usual. I wondered if the swimming was dangerous—or just fun. I loved bodysurfing on days with big surf. Maybe Hayden had his hands full today. But I didn’t want to think about him, necessarily. If I started to think of him that way, as someone I was interested in,I would end up ruining my summer. He obviously had some kind of issue, or at least he did yesterday at the beach. Maybe he was only moody, I thought. Of all the times he’d talked with me, he’d only been rude that one time. So maybe he deserved the chance to explain himself before I wrote him off completely.
“Excuse me, but what are you doing here?”
I turned from the window and saw Mr. “Uptight” Knight, my one-day housekeeping supervisor, standing in the doorway.
“I’m organizing and cleaning the office,” I said.
Mr. Knight raised his eyebrows. “You are? You? ”
“I’m very organized,” I said.
“Yes, well, as long as there aren’t any belts to be filed, I suppose you’ll do a fine job.”
Boy. You ruin someone’s belt and some people never forgive you. It wasn’t even that nice of a belt, even if it was designer, and even if it cost two hundred dollars, like the guest claimed. Personally I think he was just looking to make some easy money.
“Miss Crossley does know you’re doing this, doesn’t she?” he asked.
Was he joking? “Do you think I’m doing this on my own? For fun?” I replied.
“No, I’m just surprised.” He straightened his tie. “She could have asked someone on my team.”
I decided I should try to get on Mr. Knight’s good side. Maybe he was on the outs, the least-favorite cousin, but he was still in the Talbot family. “Yes, but your, ah, clean team members are all busy doing something more important,” I said. “Keeping the guests happy. This is a lower priority.”
“And that’s where you come in,” Mr. Knight said.
“Uh…yes.” Did he have to make me sound so awful? “I’m the Inn gofer. Like a temp. Wherever they need me, that’s where I am. So this type of thing is the perfect project for me. Besides, I’ve been an office manager before.”
“You have?”
I nodded as I slid some red hanging filesinto the cabinet. I didn’t tell him that the office I supposedly managed was my mother’s home office. And that I’d done it under duress, because I owed her some money, and that was the solution she came up with for me to pay it back. “Sure, I’ve been an office manager. I’ve done lots of this kind of stuff before—typing, filing, answering the phone—”
“Everything but vacuuming,” Mr. Knight
Then she came up with something more heinous and involved than I ever could have imagined. I was stuck in her office, catching up on months of filing.
Filing. On one of the nicest days of the entire summer.
I’d started the night before and so far, had been working all morning on it. I couldn’t imagine Miss Crossley, as organized as she was, getting this far behind on anything in her life. She tried to tell me it wasn’t her fault, that the filesactually belonged to the Talbots, but I wasn’t sure I believed her. She could be one of those people who seems really put together…and then you ride in their car, and there’s junk everywhere, like change on the floor, and old fast-food bags, and random notebook pages, and dried-up shriveled French fries.
Anyway, let’s just say that someone hadn’t kept up with the files over the winter. Or the summer before that. Or the entire decade before that.
I’d been crouched on the floor for a long time, so I stood up to stretch my arms over my head. Then I went to the window behind Miss Crossley’s desk and looked out at the ocean.
There must have been a storm out at sea the night before—it had rained buckets here onshore—because the waves rolling in looked bigger than usual. I wondered if the swimming was dangerous—or just fun. I loved bodysurfing on days with big surf. Maybe Hayden had his hands full today. But I didn’t want to think about him, necessarily. If I started to think of him that way, as someone I was interested in,I would end up ruining my summer. He obviously had some kind of issue, or at least he did yesterday at the beach. Maybe he was only moody, I thought. Of all the times he’d talked with me, he’d only been rude that one time. So maybe he deserved the chance to explain himself before I wrote him off completely.
“Excuse me, but what are you doing here?”
I turned from the window and saw Mr. “Uptight” Knight, my one-day housekeeping supervisor, standing in the doorway.
“I’m organizing and cleaning the office,” I said.
Mr. Knight raised his eyebrows. “You are? You? ”
“I’m very organized,” I said.
“Yes, well, as long as there aren’t any belts to be filed, I suppose you’ll do a fine job.”
Boy. You ruin someone’s belt and some people never forgive you. It wasn’t even that nice of a belt, even if it was designer, and even if it cost two hundred dollars, like the guest claimed. Personally I think he was just looking to make some easy money.
“Miss Crossley does know you’re doing this, doesn’t she?” he asked.
Was he joking? “Do you think I’m doing this on my own? For fun?” I replied.
“No, I’m just surprised.” He straightened his tie. “She could have asked someone on my team.”
I decided I should try to get on Mr. Knight’s good side. Maybe he was on the outs, the least-favorite cousin, but he was still in the Talbot family. “Yes, but your, ah, clean team members are all busy doing something more important,” I said. “Keeping the guests happy. This is a lower priority.”
“And that’s where you come in,” Mr. Knight said.
“Uh…yes.” Did he have to make me sound so awful? “I’m the Inn gofer. Like a temp. Wherever they need me, that’s where I am. So this type of thing is the perfect project for me. Besides, I’ve been an office manager before.”
“You have?”
I nodded as I slid some red hanging filesinto the cabinet. I didn’t tell him that the office I supposedly managed was my mother’s home office. And that I’d done it under duress, because I owed her some money, and that was the solution she came up with for me to pay it back. “Sure, I’ve been an office manager. I’ve done lots of this kind of stuff before—typing, filing, answering the phone—”
“Everything but vacuuming,” Mr. Knight
Similar Books
