Chapter 2 - Toilet Girl

One Direction are very loud, they can’t stop talking among each other and they even try speaking to me. I try my best to be polite, I just don’t wanna get in more trouble here, it’s already hard enough when I do nothing to piss Rhonda off. I don’t want them to complain, or my sorry arse will pay the consequences.

“Is this place as nice as they say? Is it true that no one will know we’re here?” One of them asks, Liam I recognise.

“It’s true. All employees sign an agreement of confidentiality so if they say something to the media, we can charge them,” I answer and he nods. It’s true, no one can say a word unless he or she wants Rhonda’s lawyers to sue them and put them in prison. It happened once and Rhonda always reminds us of that.

“For how long have you worked here?” The curly-haired one asks, Harry.

“Since the beginning and I can assure you, you’ll be safe here and you’ll get the rest you seek,” I reply assuming he asked that to know whether he could trust me.

“How old are you then? I’ve heard this place has been working for a few years already but you don’t look over twenty,” he carries on and I close my eyes so they can’t see me rolling them.

“I’m only seventeen but it’s kind of a family business,” I answer but I just want the doors to open and lead them to their rooms so I won’t have to see them again. The farther from celebrities I get, the better.

“Oh so Rhonda is your mother,” Harry chirps and I tense, squeezing my hands around the bars of the cart. The air gets really tense and hard to breathe.

“Legal guardian,” I correct him and my voice is so cold and sharp that he doesn’t speak again. Good.

The doors of the lift finally open and I lead them to their rooms. First Zayn, then Louis and his girlfriend, then Liam, then Harry who gives me a little smile and finally Niall and his girlfriend. She walks in first and I’m about to leave when he speaks. “I’m sorry for Harry.” I look at him uninterested. “He can be a bit noisy sometimes, but he is a nice lad,” he adds and I notice his accent. I knew he was Irish but I thought his accent would be thicker. He’s been around British lads for too long, I guess.

“It’s okay, he wanted to make sure this was a good place for you all,” I reply as politely as I can and he smiles.

He has a cute smile.

“Yeah, the place,” he laughs and I arch and eyebrow but I don’t say anything. “Anyways, thanks.”

“It’s my job,” is my answer and he stares at me for a few seconds. I wait, maybe he needs to request something but he doesn’t say anything, he just stares at me and he’s making me uncomfortable. “Good day, enjoy your stay at Drennan’s Retreat Centre.”

And I leave, turning on my heels and carrying the empty cart. I don’t even wait for tip, I just want to leave. I really don’t like to be around celebrities, and I know some of them can be really nice and humble, but they just represent what ruined my Dad’s dream, so I just can’t tolerate them.

Now, I really have to hide from my stepsnakes or I may explode. The moment they find out One Direction are staying here, it’s gonna be the day I get deaf and I’m still too young for that, so I don’t want to be near when that happens.

Good luck, Rhonda!

+ + + + +

“I heard One Direction are staying here,” Charlie comments when the day is over and we’re having our dinner outside, away from all the other workers.

This time of the day is ours to share and relax, to laugh at the things that happened and we saw. It’s the part of the day I look forward to and I’m so grateful he is here with me, it makes everything so much more bearable.

“Yeah. Weird, I thought they were busy taking over the world but they are here, hiding,” I say offhandedly as I take another bite of my sandwich.

“Well, they are teenagers, after all. Just like you and I, they sure get tired,” Charlie adds but I shake my head.

“They are nothing like us, Charlie. They are billionaires that hide in this centre so paparazzi can’t find them. They may be teens, but they can have anything they want. That’s not normal,” I point out and now he shakes his head.

“You would never give a chance to celebrities, uh? I wish you would fall in love with one of them so I could laugh at you later,” my ‘best’ friend says and I smack him in the arm.

“That ain’t gonna happen ‘cos the closest I’ll be to them is to their bathrooms, Charlie, and I hardly doubt I’ll fall in love like that,” I say and he actually laughs.

Sad life, uh?

“Maybe Kimmy and Jenny will want to do that for you, just to be near them,” Charlie jokes and I laugh this time.

“I wish, but they will be at the pool trying to look sexy for them. I think they went shopping today just for that reason.” Lucky me they didn’t ask me to take them, though.

At the end, I do end up cleaning their rooms and bathrooms. Man, I don’t dislike as much older celebrities, they are way less messy than teenagers. And these boys of One Direction are like tornadoes. Seriously, how much damage can one person do in one night? This is beyond my understanding and I stand here, in the middle of the room, staring at the chaos surrounding me for five minutes. The clothes are all over the floor, towels and the pillows making them company, there’s even a vessel broken, all the pieces scattered and the flowers everywhere.

Did they have a party here?

I take a deep breath and prepare myself for what I have to do. If I keep staring in disbelief I’m not going to get anything done by today, and I have many other rooms to clean. If the other members of this boy band are as messy as this one, then I have loads of work to do, so I better start now.

I start by making the king size bed and I find girls clothes, so I remember this is the room of the blond one and his girlfriend. I guess they did have a party last night. I don’t appreciate the mental picture of that, I hate finding things that give me more information than I want. I really hope I won’t find used condoms. I always feel like puking when I do. The first time it happened I actually puked.

Being maid for celebrities is not a glamorous job, I’m telling you.

After the bed I gather all the clothing on the floor and fold them tidily, as I’ve learnt during all my years working over here. I remember celebrities used to laugh when they saw a fourteen-year-old girl cleaning the bathrooms. Lucky for Rhonda no one ever told the social service about her having a minor working, but I wish someone had. I would’ve ended in some foster home and I’m sure that would’ve been better than this, seeing how that monster destroys what my father created.

When I’m in the bathroom, I hear the door opening and I thank God that I wasn’t listening to music. It happened once that I was so into the music that I didn't notice when the guest walked in and found me having my own show in the bathroom.

I will never be able to see Jessie J without wanting to dig myself in a hole.

“I’ll be done in a minute,” I say to let the guest know I’m working here.

I try to hurry to finish so I can leave the room. I don't know if it’s the blond boy or the blonde girl, but I need to disappear as soon as possible.

I hear the footsteps getting closer until I know the person is at the door, so I look over my shoulder —I’m cleaning the toilet… how glamorous, isn’t it?— and I see the Irish boy standing there, staring at me again with a smile. “Oh it’s you. Hi,” he says, his smile growing wider.

“I’m almost done,” I tell him, not really greeting him. I go back to cleaning but I know he is still there, I can feel his eyes on me. Does he like seeing people cleaning toilets? From where I’m standing, it’s not a nice sight.

“I’m sorry that it was a mess,” he says and I close my eyes and breathe deep. It smells like cleaners.

“No need to apologise, it’s my job to clean and you’re here to rest,” I tell him not bothering to meet his eyes. I need to finish this.

“Still, it wasn’t nice to leave such a mess, but Zoe really wanted to go to the spa this morning,” he carries on, but I really don’t care. Why can’t he shut up and let me finish?

“It’s my job,” I repeat and I hope he doesn’t complain for my hostility, but I can’t control it. I just wanna finish here.

“I’m Niall, by the way.” Seriously, who told him it’s okay to make small talk when one of the parties is cleaning a toilet?

Lucky me, I finish, so I rise to my feet and turn around to look at him, the cleaner products still in my hands.

“Ella,” I say. “And I’m done. You can use the bathroom now but be careful,” I add and walk past him, who moves aside to let me pass.

I’m finally done with that room, now I can leave. I don’t know why he came back to his room but I hope this doesn’t happen every time I have to come here, I don’t wanna have conversations while I clean the toilet.

“Nice to meet you, Ella,” he shouts from the doorframe but I don’t reply, I just bow my head and push the cart out of the room. “See you around,” he adds at the last minute.

“I hope not,” I whisper to myself, closing the door. “I hope not.”

-:-:-:-

Dedication to @MrsTommoloves1D

Bel, xx