Diana Rodrigues*
Looking at the tall, thick-legged man in front of me, I blurted out the dumbest comment I could have made to the hotel owner where I work.
"Beautiful," I said.
"What are you talking about? Do you think it's nice to have broken my collection watch?" he snapped at me.
"I'm sorry, sir. Please don't fire me. I need this job."
"I don't usually give second chances to employees like you."
"Please reconsider. My family depends on me, and I need this job. If necessary, I'll apologize and kneel in front of you." He huffed and said:
"Take some of my suits to be ironed, they are wrinkled, and then bring them back. I have some appointments and I'm running late. In the meantime, I'll think about what to do with you." He walked away from me, grabbed three suits, and handed them to me.
"Yes, sir." I took the suits, the broom, and the rag. "Thank you, sir."
The rag fell to the floor. It had to be like that. It wouldn't be me if I didn't drop something. I bent down, but not in the correct way, and in an embarrassing way. I ended up facing the hotel owner. This time, he would fire me. I just do everything wrong. I didn't even look back. I left the suite and ran to the service elevator.
I've never been very lucky in life; that's a fact. When I was little and got a beautiful gift, another child would come and break it. My friends always attracted the attention of the most handsome guy, got the best job - and it's not envy, because I rooted for them. It's just a matter of my bad luck. I guess my appearance didn't please anyone, with my glasses, simple clothes, and my body not helping much. I've always been the ugly one in the group. Today I'm here, I couldn't fulfill my dream of going to college, I had to work to help at home, while my brother went to college, bought his motorcycle, and went to parties. But for my mother, I'd do it all over again. I felt sorry for that poor woman who worked day after day to support us alone and give us a decent life, but Mom, besides doing everything my brother wanted, she also liked to spend what we didn't have, and I was always the one who paid for what they both spent. There wasn't much left for me.
I took the service elevator down and ran to the laundry room. There, I was going to ask someone to iron my boss's suits, the hotel owner. All the girls were busy, and remember my luck? No one wanted to iron the suits for me. But I had done it before; ironing clothes was easy, so off I went to iron his suit. I ironed the first and second suit, and when I was finishing the third, my manager called me.
"Diana, what are you doing here in the laundry room? You know you should be cleaning the suites up in the penthouse, don't you? How can you be so incompetent?" She put her hands on her waist.
"I've already finished my work," Sirlene came out of nowhere, that cow, "while Diana is playing around and not doing her job," she gave a little smile because she knew the manager would scold me.
"I'm ironing a guest's suit, he asked me..."
"You know that's not your job," she pointed her finger at me, "your job here is to clean, not iron clothes. Today I'm going to make that clear to you."
"He is the..." I try to say.
"I don't want to know who he is, you take the suits to the guest and come to my office," and she left grumbling.
"I think someone is going to be fired today," Sirlene provokes me, "and I'm going to laugh so much at you. I can't wait to say goodbye and never see your dumb face again."
"Listen here, you..." - but as I'm about to curse that cow, the smell of burning reaches my nose.
"Diana, do you see how you only make mistakes? I want to see you stay here after burning the hotel owner's suit. He'll end you. Maybe I feel sorry for you. You'll be the next unemployed person in town," she left laughing, leaving me there with that problem.
I knew those suits cost a lot of money, just like the watch. And the suit was burnt. The iron mark was stamped on the back of the jacket, and if he hadn't fired me yet, he would definitely fire me now, and the money I have to receive from my service settlement won't be enough to pay for that suit, let alone the watch. What am I going to do? First, I'm going to go up there and face the beast, then I'm going to try to make a deal with him.
With the burnt suit in my hands, I went up there. I took the service elevator and went to the top floor. My head was thinking of a thousand ways I would talk to him. One thing was for sure: the street would be my future, my destiny, and my ruin. I needed that job so much, but I couldn't just leave the suit there. I would be fired anyway. I got off the elevator and headed for his suite door. I knocked, and it was soon opened.
"Come in and put it on the bed," he was on the phone. "And you can leave," he wasn't going to fire me. I almost shouted with joy, but I had to talk about the suit. I was always in trouble. "I don't want to get married," the person on the other end of the line must have said more things and he replied: "I'm not getting married, I'm not giving in to my father's wishes. I'm not a little boy he can boss around."
His conversation lasted for a while and I stood there listening. From what I understood, he should have been married for some years now. It seems his father was doing everything in his power to get him married or else he would be punished. I overheard that their hierarchy works as a clan that passes from father to eldest son. And as I stood there like a statue with functioning ears, he was angry because apparently he raised the family's fortune that his father couldn't manage and lost everything in failed businesses.
"What are you doing here?" - he was furious. "Were you listening to my conversation?"
"I need to talk to you, sir."
"Brother, there's a persistent employee here listening to my conversation. I'm going to hang up the phone and fire her." He said some words in another language. "What do you want? I don't have time to pay attention to the employees' conversations. Isn't it enough what you did to my watch?"
"I," I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and said, "There was an accident with your suit."
"What did you do?" - he glanced at me quickly.
"It burned with the iron, but..."
"You burned my suit? You can't do anything right? I want you away from me," I had to agree with him, I needed to stay away from this man. I'm scared of what I might do. "I'm going to deduct the value from your salary, and until you pay it all, you're stuck in this job."
"And how much does this suit cost?" - I asked, afraid of the answer.
"I don't know, twenty or thirty thousand, depending on the brand, I'm not sure. Now get out of my way, I have other things to do and problems to solve."
"Just one more question. Twenty or thirty thousand reais?"
"Dollars. I don't buy clothes in Brazil."
"Oh my God," I sat on the couch and started crying. "I'm lost."
"You're a girl who doesn't pay attention to anything." - he approaches me and observes me, his eyes running between my face and body.
"It wasn't my fault, it was my manager who distracted me by fighting with me."
"That's a sign that you're not a good employee. Now leave. I have other things to do. I'll ask to deduct the cost of the damages you caused today from your salary. What's your name?"
"Diana," I was crying in anger. "Diana Rodrigues. Please deduct it from my salary. Excuse me." - He was already sitting at the table looking at the computer and apparently not paying attention to what I was saying.
And so I left the suite and closed the door. I couldn't believe I would be stuck here for years, paying all of this and still having to deal with my mean manager. My eyes were full of tears and I didn't know what to do. But then I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Aslan Murabak*The trip to Brazil was something that left me irritated. My father made me visit all the hotels I bought, and that wasn't in my plans. I wanted to go to New York; that was my plan. I am Arabic and do not follow all the "rules." Since I was young, I had to learn how to deal with our business since my father is not a good manager. They say we are a people who know how to negotiate, but my father is terrible with business. In fact, he lost all our money when I was only fifteen years old, and our country was going through a crisis. And I had to help; otherwise, we would lose everything.I went to college and left my country. I needed to fly and expand my business, import my products, and many opportunities arose, such as my uncle's hotel chain that was having financial problems after his son started taking over everything, and I bought it. I came to Brazil to see how things are going here, and my father forced me to see all the hotels in the chain, and to avoid conflicts b
Diana Rodrigues*I was leaning against the wall and my tears were falling down my face in anger. And now I owe my whole life to him, and how am I going to pay? Work for free for so long? How am I going to support my family? And even more with my brainless brother, who only thinks about parties and buying things for his motorcycle, forgetting about basic needs, and my mother, who is a good woman but likes excessive luxuries that don't match our financial situation. A hand is on my shoulder and I startle."What's going on? Why are you crying?" The man's accent was the same as my boss's; he must have been one of his employees. "Can I help you?""It's nothing, just some things happened to me. They always happen.""Can I help you?""No, unfortunately, you can't," I took a deep breath. "Thank you.""I'll be in town until the end of the week. Take my card, contact me by message if you need to, say that you're the crying girl from the hotel, and I'll know who you are.""Thank you. The world n
Diana Rodrigues"I want to talk to you," the hotel owner tells me, but Sonia shouts at me."Diana! Are you already causing trouble with the boss again?" - already comes the cow manager - "I'm sorry sir, I'll take this incompetent girl away before she causes more trouble.""Look Sonia, I'm not causing any trouble," he watches me being taken away by her."Don't make any more fuss," was all he said, so I went on my way with my manager."Since your debt to the hotel is so large, you are scheduled to work overtime. When I call, you should be ready.""Okay Sonia, I'll do the overtime," I agreed."And today, in addition to the suites, you will be cleaning the staff bathroom after your shift.""But it will be at the staff's check-in and check-out time, it will be full of people, it will be wasted service, I can finish cleaning.""Diana, do as I say, dear."Cleaning the bathroom at staff in and out was a punishment when one of us did something wrong. If you had an enemy and she knew about your
Diana Rodrigues"Mom, I'm still at my job, I'm working overtime."There, my child, don't you know what your brother did?" - she was crying."What did this irresponsible man do?"Don't talk about your brother like that, my child, you know he has little sense, but he is responsible.""Where from that Alex is responsible, mother? He is a madman who only does shit and only thinks about himself.""Daughter, your brother is in the hospital. And our neighbour is taking us.""Hospital?" - she cries and answers."Yes, at the hospital. I'm on my way there, they just called me. He had an accident and I don't know anything else, they just told me he was in the hospital and I'm so nervous, daughter.""What hospital is he in, Mum?"He's at São Vicente, it looks like it was near there."Mum, São Vicente is a private hospital, why did they take him there? Mercy of God, how are we going to pay?"I don't know either. Daughter, think about your brother's health now."Okay, mum. I'll ask to be excused fr
Diana Rodrigues"Diana, what are you talking about?" asked Juninho Bad Boy."Juninho." He kissed my hand.Juninho, who had always been as poor as us, suddenly started living a luxurious life. He used to be a scrawny boy with blond hair and eyes of an indecipherable colour, maybe green or maybe blue. But now, he has become a strong and muscular boy, and women adore him. Recently, he showed up with a very expensive car, though I don't know how he got the money. My brother and he became close friends, although I warned Alex to be careful.People in the neighbourhood said Juninho was dealing drugs, but I never knew for sure where his money comes from. I hope he's here at the hospital to visit my brother and that this payment story is just a joke."Hello, Juninho," I greeted him."You got married?" He pointed at Zyan."He works at the same hotel as me and when he heard about my brother's accident, he came to bring me here.""So you're single?" My body froze. "I want to talk to you, Diana."
Diana Rodrigues "Zyan, you must be tired. If you want to go, you can go," I said after meeting him through the corridors."I am not tired. And you, you are not tired?" he asked."I am exhausted. I think I'm going home. My brother is no longer life-threatening and I need to take a shower, get out of these dirty clothes and sleep. Today has been a very tiring day for me," I replied."My driver is waiting for us outside. I'll take you home," he offered."Imagine, you don't have to. I'll take a taxi later," I thanked him."Don't be silly. I'll take you home. It's late now and I'll be reassured to know you're safe," he insisted."Zyan, I will accept your ride as I am very tired. My mother probably won't leave and will stay with my brother. After a day when everything went wrong, I deserve at least some sleep," I agreed.When I entered the hospital room, I found my mother watching her son sleep. I opened the door slowly and watched the scene of how a mother can love her child so much. At t
Aslan MurabakLemi just disappeared, he was with me and Aisha, visiting the hotel premises and he just disappeared, Lemi Zyan Murabak, the prince of Kudsi. As far as my brother is concerned, you could say it's a normal thing. Dad has already wanted to disown him for the crazy things he has done. He is the family lawyer and Aisha is the bookkeeper."Aisha, do you know where your brother is?""No, he was here and disappeared like dust in the wind.""As usual running away."My brother by the way was already gone and wouldn't be back, if I know him, so I continued my visit to the hotel and the first thing I would change would be the management. I hate people who pull my leg. I didn't like the man and I don't even want to remember his name, because he will be fired, we will be here in Brazil for a few days and I have to leave everything organized for when I leave. I looked around the hotel and it is really in good condition, but it needs some renovation and modernization of equipment. My
Diana RodriguesThis is my only option, I repeat to myself. After Zyan brought me home, I sat on the couch, waiting for an idea to pop into my mind, but nothing came. So I took out my mobile phone and made the call.I met Renata when I started working as a maid at the hotel. Our schedules often coincided, and we worked together, trying to finish everything quickly so she could leave early. On one of these occasions, Renata told me that she worked in a club, not just any club, but a stripper club.Renata is a pretty girl who did not have the opportunity to finish her studies because she got pregnant too early and now takes care of her son alone. She accepted the job at the strip club because the job at the hotel did not earn her enough money. Working at the club, she would earn three times as much and she could still be with her little boy all day. According to her, the beginning was difficult, but then she got used to it and it was like a normal job. Renata is young, slim, tall and be