I'm Ok

I always hated Friday mornings. I had three shifts to work, which meant I had to get up at four am in order to make it to the hotel by seven. So I had to shower, dress, make-up (which I usually never had time to do), and eat before having to get Livi up and have her day bag packed with things for her to entertain herself with. Fridays were the days that Lydia couldn't baby sit for me. So I had no choice but to bring Livi with me.

But the staff, luckily for me, didn't mind and loved having her around. Olivia loved coming to work with me. 'Livi and Momo day' is what she likes to call it.

This Friday, however, didn't go the way I had hoped. For starters, My alarm clock didn't go off, so I didn't wake up till close to five thirty. Lucky for me, Livi was already up, dressed, and her rain boots on... although on the wrong feet. I felt like a bad parent, but I didn't care about her boots, nor did I have time to scold her for eating Cheetos for breakfast. At least she ate, I told myself. I bustled around the apartment, throwing on the black knee-length skirt and grey blouse that made up my uniform and latched up the ugly black loafers. Then came the hard part: figuring out where my papers went. Every third Friday of the month, I had to turn in a report to the manager that basically let him know that everything was going fine. All the staff had to do this. Like, are there enough supplies for the maid, are the hours good, are there any upcoming changes that they needed to be notified about. It was a twenty-nine page short answer/multiple choice monthly survey and currently missing. The manager was intimidating as it was, adding the stress of not being prepared was not helping the situation.
I tried combing a surplus amount of hair product to make my curly mane of red go cork-screw-y instead of being a big mass of frizz- but I had to settle with braiding it.
Searching under the couch, turning out drawers, hunting through the endless stacks of papers on my little desk, I could hear Livi squealing from the kitchen table.
"M' all done, Momo!"
"Not now!" I snapped. Again, I was a shitty parent. However, Livi seemed unfazed as she stood up on the chair. "Momo! Momo! Look at my picture, Momo!" she chirped. Letting out an aggravated sigh, I turned around and almost dropped dead.
I. Wanted. To. Cry.
For two reasons, actually: I saw what her drawing was of, and what she drew them on.
I stormed over, ready to yell, scream, tell her this is the only job I have that is basically allowing us to live... but all the anger drained as quickly as it came. I picked up a few of the many sketches she did...
I knew she was advanced for her age. . .
But I've never seen her do anything remotely like this.
It just wasn't logically possible.
"Olivia, what is this.." I asked softly, not taking my eyes off the sketch.
"The boy on TV." Livi shrugged, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I like his hair, Momo. I want a lellow piece of hair!"
"No, I said flatly. "C'mon, get your stuff. Momo doesn't want to be late for work again."
Oliva slid off the wooden chair and toddle-skipped over to me where I helped her button up her yellow rain coat. Little Olivia hummed to herself as she counted off her pudgy fingers, naming off her 'friends' once again. I knelt down and set her on my knee so I could put her shoes on the correct feet before we left.
I took her tinny hand in mine and led her down the stairs. It always took a little longer for us to make it down because of how little she was, so we had to take it one step at a time- literally- then continued on to the subways. But my little girl was independent. She wanted to do things on her own. She was brave- something I never was. . .
"Momo?" Livi said, focusing hard on her feet, trying to avoid stepping on any cracks- she was convinced that my back really would break if she did. "Do I get to be your helper again?" Adjusting her bags on my shoulder, I looked down at our hands she trying to swing back and fourth.
"Of course, Love. How can I ever replace you? You're the best lil helper I've got."
"Do I get to slide on the clothes slide again?"
"You mean the laundry shoot?" I corrected. "I don't know, you gave Mr. Paul a fright last time."
"Pwease, Momo?!" She begged. "I'll tell Mr. Paul this time, Momo."
I rolled my eyes at me three year old daughter. "I'll think about it." As we made our way down the subway stairs.
. . . . . . . .
As soon as I walk into the back entrance, Hanna, a co-worker of mine rushes over to me.
"You need to go to the manager's office." she says, a wide grin etched on her freckled face.
"What?" I say, stuffing my purse into my little locker. "Why?"
"Because we've got a new one and apparently its super important."
"Shit..." I mutter. I turn to my daughter and help her pull off her coat and put on her little batman backpack on.
I head up, swallowing hard.
No way in hell this was a good thing.
When I made it to the door, I knocked softly. The door opened and instead of being met with an elderly gent, I was met by an young, bright-eyed lad that couldn't be any older than thirty- most likely way younger. He was someone I hadn't seen before.
"Please, come in." He greets happily. "I see that you have brought a little helper today, Ms Johannson." He says as he closes the door behind us.
"Little?" Olivia quips. "I'm not lil. I'm a big girl. I'm fwee!" she holds up all five of her fingers. I felt my cheeks blush a little bit as I knelt down and put two of her fingers down. 'Three' I say to her. Then I stood up.
"I'm sorry. She's no trouble, really. The guests love her and she's good with following directions. Mr. MacCarnagie had appr-"
"Don't worry, my father had informed me of your.. situation and I really don't mind. Since the guests love her, that just makes better business, If I'm going to be quite honest with you."
"Pardon?"
He smiles warmly at me.
"What I'm saying is that I want this hotel to be more family centered, and having your daughter with you makes the guests.. how do I put it.. more comfortable. And I'm glad she's with you because a daughter needs her mother just as much as a mother needs her daughter."
I lower my head before a thought popped into my mind. "Excuse me, Mr. MacCarnagie, but why was I called in here, again? It's not about Olivia or. . . "
"Oh, where are my manors. Please have a seat. And call me Caleb. I feel like 'MacCarnagie' applies to more my father than myself."
"Caleb.." I say to myself, trying out the new name. It was sort of odd, let me just say. The MacCarnagie family were very prestigious about their name and 'birth right' so to speak- even the elderly man that allowed me to bring my barely three year old daughter with me to work was very particular by his name. The staff would always speak to him by starting with "MacCarnagie, Sir". So to have such a laid back employer telling me to make myself comfortable and call him by his first name- that was a bit of a fast ball for me.
"I like Mr. Macaroni better." Olivia speaks up, crossing her arms over her chest. Caleb let out a snort as I covered her mouth with my hand. "Livi! I'm sorry, I promise she has manors... She's-"
He smiles at Olivia, "I think I do to, Miss Olivia." And then he turns to me with a dismissal of his hand and a fond chuckle. "Don't worry about it, Ms Johannson. She's fine. I've got a nephew up in boston and he speaks the first thing that pops into his head. Kids are kids.
"I didn't know that Mr. MacCarnagie had other children." I pointed out.
"Or any at all for that matter," He sighs. He shakes his head wearily, and for a brief second, the room became a bit tense. But one thing I have come to learn is that Caleb is quick to compose himself. He scratched at the back of his head as he reaches into a cabinet behind his desk and pulls out a file. "Ms Johannson, the reason why I called you in here is because, based on what I've heard from not only my father, but from other staff here as well, you are an extremely valuable employee. You work hard, you have only been late twice in your three years of working here, and you are down to earth.."
"Oh..." that was literally all that I could really manage to say.
"You've been with this hotel for four years, now?" he asked me; I nodded. "As you are aware, the 39th floor is the VIP floor reserved for guests that are, how do I put this without sounding completely shallow. . . guest who basically are more well known. Well, we have five guests that will we will be hosting starting today through the 29th of March. I have assigned that floor to you and only you since there will be only five guests that will be occupying it. Because these guests are universally known, I can not have multiple people having access to that floor. With that being said, I need you here for 24/7 service, so I will see to it that you have an acceptable raise, accessible transportation for you and your daughter as well as child care if you would like." Mr. MacCarnagie offered, rustling through a stack of papers.
I shook my head. "But sir, what about my other duties, an- I just don't understand.. I-"
He chuckled fondly at me. "Ms Johannson, this is a promotion. I already have your other floors covered. So, what do you say?"
I paused. I knew this hotel was well known. But I have never done this kind of thing before- the whole on call 24/7 and provided transportation was like a yellow flag for me. That and the other part about 'no one else was permitted to access the 39th floor'? I tucked a strand of my red hair behind my ears and smiled. I could really use this. Livi could use this. "Thank you, sir." I said softly, before adding, 'Would you mind, I'd prefer to keep Livi with me.. Sir." Caleb smiled, nodding in agreement before he did a little spiel about some sort of papers I needed to sign- the whole time, Olivia babbling about the laundry shoot. Mr. MacCarnagie supplied me with the access key as well as the VIP pin number for the elevator.
"... and so I think I've covered everything. I'll let you get to it, then. Thank you Ms. Johannson."
Livi clapped her hands and squealed with delight and squirmed off my lap and was now dragging me toward the door. I mouthed a 'thank you' as I felt my cheeks heat up when I narrowly missed running into a chair on my way out. I opened the heavy door of the office, with Livi bolting towards the elevator just as a group of men were entering. I stumbled into one of them, mumbling a quick apology as I chased after my daughter.

Notes

So... What do you all think? I kind of based Olivia on my little niece- who is the most outspoken and quick-witted child I have ever met. Anyway, don't forget to comment, vote, and Fan!