Amelia's POV

I unlock my door before shutting it behind me. My head bangs against the door before I hear Mrs. Wilson hush me.

"Amelia dear, don't wake her!" She scolds whispering. I sigh, holding out my arms. Mrs. Wilson walks into my arms, holding me tightly. "What's wrong my dear?"

I sniffle, "I'm tired. I'm just really tired."

She moves away to brush her hand against my cheek, slightly patting them. "My dear you are too young to be so worried about things in life."

I chuckle, moving away "And yet I am here."

"And so am I." She tells me. "The world has ways of challenging us; changing us. Those who sit around will find themselves lost or washed away. Those who fight the changing winds will learn that there is more to this life than what is in front of us- there will always be more. And you Amelia are not the type to sit around."

Mrs. Wilson kisses my cheek, telling me that Nova had been out for a while now. She's the only one who can get her to sleep besides me. I thank her for the millionth time before she leaves to her apartment room next door.

I take off my shoes, placing them by the door before walking further into the complex. I stop at the door with Disney princesses and a name labeling it "Nova Jane". I go inside, kneeling down by her bed. I watch my little girl softly sleep, her lips open as she sleeps peacefully. She's got her father's lips, his curls- she looked just like him except for her eyes. Her eyes looked like mine.

I brush her wild curls back, "Baby girl, what am I going to do?" I whisper to her as she sleeps. Her lips twitch a bit before sighing, rolling closer to me.

I needed this job. If I lost it, I am sure Mrs. Wilson and her husband would take me in if it ever got to that point but, that's not what I wanted. None of this was my plan. Not this apartment, not Nova or Jordan. This wasn't how my life was supposed to go.

Leaving Nova's room, I leave the door cracked open. If it was shut all the way, she'd get scared without the light. I walk to the bathroom, stripping before running myself a bath. Once the water was full enough, I threw my hair into a messy bun and slid in.

Long nights at work always led to a bath. I soaked in the suds,lighting a candle or two sometimes. Maybe I'd even have a glass of wine. I loved the smell of fruits like lemon or anything citrus- it relaxed me. With money tight, I hadn't bought a candle in a month after the last one burned out. Plus, Christmas was only a few months away and Nova was understanding who Santa was now that she was three. I had a small jar filled with tips for our Christmas and there was about two hundred dollars in it. But, that would most likely only cover a small tree here in the city. Wine was easy to get because any opened bottles at the end of each event is handed out to employees. Otherwise it goes in the trash.

I let my muscles relax for a while, sipping on leftover Chardonnay until my phone goes off. Karen texts that my shift starts tomorrow at 7:00am which really wasn't that bad considering I usually started at 6am in the kitchen. I guess some good can come out of it. I give Mrs. Wilson a quick text, telling her since she was Nova's babysitter. The women used to teach 1st grade before retiring a few years before I moved in.

One night, Nova wouldn't stop crying. She had been only three weeks old and I couldn't understand what was wrong. She had no fever, she didn't want to eat or to be held- nothing. I rocked her as she screamed, trying not to scream back at her. I was exhausted, depressed and I wasn't sure if I could be a mother.

Then, there was a knock at my door and there Mrs. and Mr. Wilson were. They asked to help me and even though they were strangers, I was desperate. Mrs. Wilson took Nova and rocked her to sleep as Mr. Wilson made me a tea. Once Nova was in her crib, I thanked them over and over. They told me they had five children of their own but, the youngest was now finishing college. They had understood. I told them everything, my plan, Jordan and everything else that had fallen apart. Mrs. Wilson offered to watch Nova for me as I worked and although I was nervous at first, they became family to me and Nova over the years.

Coming out of my thoughts, I washed my body off- wiping away my makeup with baby soap which I learned works better than any makeup wipe. With the water now dirty with makeup and sweat from the night, I drain it. I stand up, wrap a towel around me before heading to my own bedroom.

I dry my body off, lathering myself in lotion. Winter weather made my skin crack and I wanted to get ahead of the weather. After the lotion soaks in, I put on warm pajamas. I look to my bed, feeling lonely as the other side goes untouched. I go back into Nova's room, picking her up from her bed. Her little arms wrap around me, still sleepy. I carry her to my room, laying her down. I climb into my bed, spooning her small body.

"Mommy loves you." I whisper to her, kissing the top of her head. Her hands hold onto my arm as I drift into sleep.

"Mommyyyyyyyyyy"

My eyes flutter open to see my daughter jumping on the bed. When she sees my eyes open, her body flings onto mine.

"Hi mommy."

"Morning baby girl." I kiss her cheeks. "Did you have fun with Mrs. Wilson last night?"

"Yes! I helped her make dinner for Mr. Wilson."

"What did you make?" I question her. I had no problem with Mrs. Wilson taking Nova to her apartment- she only lived a room away.

"Ham and um, corn." Her little finger goes up to her chin, thinking. "I eat all of it."

"All of it!?" I chuckle. "You didn't leave any for Mr. Wilson?"

"Nope." She giggles and I begin to tickle her. Her laugh fills the room to the point where some days, I don't notice that her father isn't here. But, then I look at her and he's there except, he's not.

I let her breath, my hands stop tickling. Turning to the clock, I see it's 6:00am. She's an early riser. I get out of bed, going to the bathroom. Her little body follows behind. We brush our teeth together, get dressed before Mrs. Wilson comes in. I tell her I haven't gotten my full schedule yet but I should be home before dinner. I haven't had a shift over ten hours since Nova was born. She nods, telling me to call when I find out when.

I kiss my baby goodbye before leaving. The subway entrance was about a block from my house and I was always the first stop since I lived in Manhattan and I needed to get to 42 Street- Times Square.

The city is always alive. By the time I get on the subway train, I've seen two women wearing bras and thongs alone, a man with a sling and another sitting on the other side of the train with a hat made of feathers. But, it's what I loved about living here- everyone was different and there was never a day where I saw the same person doing the same thing.

By the time I get to Marriott, it's 6:45am. I go to my locker, grabbing my uniform for housekeeping. We all got one when we started in case the hotel was running low on staff. I was already wearing black dress pants so the only thing I needed was the large button up shirt. It was nude/gold with black trim and buttons. I button up over my white tank before grabbing small personal supplies from my closet like hair ties and gum. Afterwards, I go into Karen's office.

"Come in." She says after I knock. "Oh, Amelia, come in."

"Thank you." I say before sitting. "I was just wondering if I can get my schedule?"

"Oh of course." She says. "I'll email it to you now but, as for today I gave you a 7:00am-5:30pm shift with a lunch at 1:00pm. That sound okay?"

"Perfect." I tell her. "And again, I'm sorry for my inconvenience over these past months."

She lays a hand on mine, "Amelia, you've been working here almost five years. You're one of the hardest workers but, after everything happened, it just slowed. You just need to catch up. You know I would keep you in the kitchen if I could."

I nod my head, "Thank you. Can you clock me in? I think I'm technically late now after this."

She looks at her computer. "Yeah, it's 7:03. I got it for you. Oh and by the way, I put you with most room service calls but, you will be in charge of floor 13 for cleaning. Clare got the rooms last night that needed to be done at 8 for guests so I'd start with those checking in at 9. There's only 40 rooms per floor so you shouldn't have a problem."

She gave me my IPad that we use to keep track of the rooms that are filled, guests that haven't arrived and what time they will be and any other information we would need. There are ten guests leaving today and nine coming in. Clare got four of them done so that left me with five rooms needing to be redone. After that was just rooms that needed to be cleaned up. A few requested certain maid times so I'd go by those too. There was a lot to being a maid than most would think. Karen also told me that I would be doing rooms first to get move-in ready before going onto food delivery. At lunch I'd go back to cleaning up rooms.

Each room takes about 20 minutes to clean. I strip the beds, vacuum, wipe down counters and the bathroom before moving on. Another maid would bring by clean sheets to make the beds. One room I came into had a woman inside watching TV. I asked if she wanted me to come back and she replied, "I asked you to come here so I'm not gonna ask you to leave". I cleaned up as she told me how to do my job like vacuuming. When it came to getting her dirty sheets off, she told me to just leave them and to get them tomorrow when she'd be watching Chicago. I nodded, leaving her to her soap opera.

It was just past 11:00 that I finished my thirteenth room meaning that all the rooms that needed to be guest ready or a requested clean up were now finished. I sent the kitchen a message that I was coming down.

I was given a link back that had a list of meals processed, being processed or haven't begun yet. Basically, one would grab a tray, find the number labeled before checking it off the list. No one had a direct position- it was a grab and go.

I dropped off the dirty sheets and put away the maid cart before going over to the kitchen. The next cart up goes to the 17th floor, room 23. On side of the paper is a note

"Hungover, bang door loud in case he falls back asleep. Charge already added to room. Leave food outside the door if there's no answer."