Chapter 8 - The Tray Left Downstairs
My tray was still downstairs by the staircase where I'd left it, and my phone wouldn't stop buzzing against my apron pocket.
We were crowded into that little dressing suite off the upstairs hall. The bulbs around the mirror made everything too bright. Lily sat on the edge of the vanity bench with her legs swinging, her blue bows a little crooked now. The blonde woman stood by the door with her hand back on her belly, her magenta sleeve catching the light. Marcello was between them, his jacket still unbuttoned from walking up all those stairs.
My phone buzzed again. I could feel it through the black fabric of my dress.
The woman heard it too. She glanced down at my pocket, then at my pearl earring, like she was finally placing me.
"Your staff phone?" she asked. "You should get that."
I didn't move right away. Lily reached for my hand. Her fingers were warm and a little sticky from the ginger ale I'd let her have earlier.
"It'll be my captain," I said. "I left service without telling anyone."
Marcello looked at me. "Then answer it."
I pulled the phone out. The screen was lit up with two texts from Denise.
WHERE ARE YOU? TABLE 12 NEEDS TRAY SERVICE.
MAYA. ANSWER ME.
A third one came in while I was looking. My hand shook a little.
"I told you to stay on the floor," Denise had typed before, but I didn't need to reread it. I knew the rule. You don't abandon a station during a gala. Especially not catering temps who need the shifts.
Lily tugged my dress. "Mommy, stay."
I looked at her face, the way she was watching the blonde woman's belly and then looking back at me to check if I believed her. Back in the ballroom she had been so insistent pointing at those stairs. I didn't misunderstand. She was three and she knew what she'd seen upstairs, even if she didn't have the words for all of it.
I pressed the side button until the buzzing stopped. I silenced it and slid it back into my pocket.
"I'll stay with her," I said.
Denise would write me up. She might pull me off the rest of the night and I needed the hours for rent. I felt that cost settle in my stomach the second I did it, but I kept my hand around Lily's.
Marcello saw it. He gave a short nod, like he was keeping track.
"I saw that," he said quietly. "If your manager has an issue, I'll vouch for you. Tell her I asked you to stay. It's true."
"Thank you," I said. My voice came out thinner than I wanted.
The blonde woman let out a breath and stepped a half-step closer to the door. She smoothed the front of her gown over that round shape.
"Good," she said. "Then we're settled for a minute. Maya, is it? You need to get back to work. And I really should get back downstairs before people talk. Marcello, walk me out? We can talk about this later, privately."
She smiled at him, but her eyes kept flicking to the hallway.
"Please," she said. "This isn't good for —" She rested both hands low on the belly now. "For me to be standing up here like this."
Lily stiffened beside me. "No," she whispered. "She wants to go fix it."
I squeezed her hand to keep her calm. I could hear the ice shifting in a bucket somewhere down the hall, a door closing. The suite suddenly felt very small with that vanity and the garment bag hanging behind us.
Marcello didn't move toward the door. He moved in front of it instead. Not dramatic, just a shift of his shoulders in that tuxedo that blocked the handle.
"Not yet," he said. "You asked to leave twice now."
"I have a reason to leave," she said. Her smile thinned. "I'm tired. Anyone can see that."
"You can sit," he said, nodding toward the bench. "But we're not going back down until this is clear."
She stared at him. I could see her jaw working. For a second I thought she might cry, and part of me felt sorry for her despite everything Lily had said.
My phone lit up again through my pocket, a muted glow. I ignored it and kept my eyes on Lily.
May you like
"I'm staying," I told Marcello. "Whatever you need her to show you, we'll stay."
He held my gaze for a moment, then nodded once. The door stayed blocked.
