Chapter 01: Beyond her
The sunlight was approaching her bed every minute. The sounds of the birds chanting were the main reason why she was awake. Ever since she was a child, Skyler had always been a light sleeper, something she hated. Skyler loved sleeping but she also loved waking up. Because every day that she woke up was another chance for her to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, like eating her breakfast, talking to her family, going to work, helping people around her.
Every day, before she got out of bed, Skyler took 5 minute to meditate and be thankful for everything she has. After taking a long shower, she decided to make French toast while having another morning discussion with her parents.
Skyler was born into a big family. She had 2 elder brothers, two little sisters and one little brother. She was very close with her family and talked to them almost every morning. Even her two brothers that were married and had a life on their own participated in these morning meetings. Skyler grew up in a loving family, her siblings and her were always very close and always took care of each other.
Leaving her family to start college was one of the hardest moments of her life. Skyler could not imagine waking up and not smelling the majestic cook of her mother, the beautiful voice of her father singing every morning, the jokes, laughs and the stories she shared with her brothers and sisters.
That is why, every morning, they call each other. Even if it’s just 10 minutes. They called each other, just to make sure they were all alright.
“Someone is in the good mood” said Skyler when she was her little sister Sharleen pass by without saying good morning
Sharleen was 17, she was one her last years of high school. Since her early age she as gifted with an amazing gift for art.
“She is mad because refused to let her get a tattoo” explained Skyler’s mother
“Come one now Sharleen, is that really a reason to get mad?”
“Yeah! how come you get to have a tattoo and not me?” she complained taking the phone from the table stand
“Because I am older, responded Skyler with pride” She took a bite of her toast with a Victorian smile on her face. “And also I was smart enough to wait until I got off to college before having a tattoo” she added winking at her sister
A few minutes later, the whole family arrived. Some were taking their breakfast at the family home and others were present through their phones. After half an hour they all hung up.
“Hey! you are up early” notice Skyler speaking to her roommate
“Was that your family one the phone? again?” Amani asked while taking a bowl of cereal
Amani and Skyler meet each other when Skyler first moved to California; since then, they are inseparable. Amani finds Skyler’s relationship with her family weird. “There is not a family on this earth that is so closed”. Amani grew up in a family nothing like her best friend. Her father died in a car accident and after that her mother got very sick. She had to take care of her little brother and sister at a very young age. She dropped out of school to work odd jobs and take care of all of them. Amani had to give up her life, her dreams for the sake of her family.
When her mother died, they were all forced to live with their aunt. Her brother and her sister were fine and had a good relationship with their aunt. But Amani on the other hand, would argue with her aunt for the smallest reason. Because of their fiery relationship, Amani left her home as soon as she was old enough. She hasn’t heard from her siblings or aunt for years.
Sometimes, when she sees Skyler's relationship with her family, she can help but think about the family she left behind. Unfortunately not everybody can have a “normal family”.
“Yes and save your comments” quickly demanded Sky
Amani rolled her eyes and said “Well you already know I think you people are wonderfully weird”, she then winked at her best friend who was getting up
“I have to get going, can you go through the grocery store and buy these?” Skyler asked putting a piece of paper next to Amani’s hand
“Yeah of course, say hi to Kresson” joked Amani
Skyler works in a hotel from the Wade Worldwide Hotel. The biggest hotel chain in the US. Skyler is the event manager; she has been for a few years now. She handles the business dinners, in the restaurant of the hotel, the parties, weddings and the weekly theme of the hotel. She takes care of matters regarding the events taking place in the hotel.
When she graduated, she started her own company with Ethan who was his partner. Mister Shawn, the late director of the hotel, found their work impressive and signed a 5 years’ exclusive contract with them.
Kresson, is the chief of staff and kind of her boss. She has been crushing on him since the first day she arrived at the hotel. She has been hoping for something to happen between the two of them, but she is too proud to go and ask him out.
Although Ethan, her colleague and best friend and work tried to get her to ask him out, she always refused. Skyler is one hotheaded woman who only sees and does what she wants to do. Once she arrived at the hotel, she was welcomed or rather almost jumped by Ethan who was waiting to spill the latest tea.
“Darling, I have been waiting for you for a century” exaggerated Ethan
Oh boy, though Skyler
“Come one, spill the tea”
“You know that dude who always rents room 640?”
“Mister muscle?”
“Yeah, turns out his hair are not really his hair he is b-a-l-d” Ethan spelled moving his finger around
“No?” Skyler gasp with her and on her chest
“That is not even the worst” he explained “He is married, that woman who usually visits turns out she is her mistress. You should have seen the drama yesterday at night”
“Damn, I wish I was here” complained Skyler
“I have even more juicy info” announced Ethan crossing his hand on his chest “Guess who is the new director of the Hotel?”
Skyler shrugs as she had no idea who was going to be the new director. She couldn't care less. As long as he was not going to bring hellfire to the hotel, she was fine with it.
“Mister Wade junior” announced Ethan with his biggest smile
“Oh great, daddy’s boy got the hotel. I bet he does not know the first thing about hotel management. He is probably here because his father wanted him to make something out of his life or something like that” she argued rolling her eyes
The Wade Worldwide Hotels was the biggest hotel chain with over 7000 properties all around the world, Africa, America, Europe, Asia…
And it all belongs to the Wade family, making them one of the wealthiest families in the world. They always show a united front because family is at the heart of their hotels and resorts. They are also a very secretive family and we barely ever heard of any scandal or drama about their family. Because you are not seeing it, does not mean it isn’t happening.
“Skyler” said a voice, the young woman recognized the voice right away. She could have recognized that voice in a thousand one. It was Kresson walking towards them. A large smile appeared in Skyler's face as she turned around to face him.
“Kresson…” she whispered “euh…How are you?” she politely asked
“I…I’m good actually. And you're lovely as always” he complimented. Skyler felt her legs shaking right at that moment. Kresson was the best man she could ever ask for. If only he would ask her out. Unfortunately Kresson is an honorable man, who does not like to mix business and pleasure.
“You haven’t responded to my mail about the meeting” he added
“The mail?” Skyler repeated confused
“Yes, I’ve sent a mail to the hole staff…we have a meeting in half an hour” he explained
Skyler nodded.
“See you later” he smiled at Skyler then turned his head to face Ethan “Ethan”. He made a sigh with his head as a sign of goodbye and walked away.
“But that ass though” Ethan yelled clapping his hands
Skyler rushed to hit him with her hand so he could stop. They went to their office and started chit-chatting while waiting for the meeting.
“I was thinking we make a tapas night for next Saturday” proposed Ethan
“That is a great idea, I hear the new sous-chef is the tapas specialist. A little bit of food a lot of wine and another successful event for you and I”
They both entered an uncontrollable laugh and were stopped by Skyler's alarm.
“Well, it's 9:50, the meeting starts in ten minutes lets go”
Skyler and Ethan sat in the meeting room, and the staff began filling up the room. Soon after that the charming Kresson who made all the ladies drawl arrived.
“Man is he fine” Ethan announced
Skyler tilted her head and said to Ethan “Something I wonder if you are not the one crushing on him”
“Honey, If I was crushing on him. I would not be sitting here an drawl, I would just do him” ended Ethan
“Hum” Kresson did to gain the staff’s attention
“Now it is not a secret to all of you that we are going under some changes. Mister Shawn's early retirement surprised us all. Our new boss is coming today and from what I have heard, the hotel is going to go through a lot of changes.” He announced “Starting today, Mister Erza Wade will take over the control of the hotel. It is our job to make sure he is satisfied with everything we do. I know all of you are doing an amazing job so keep doing the best you can…thank you all, you can go now”
Everybody got up to head to their post. “Skyler, Ethan. I need to talk to you”
Right at that moment, Ethan's phone started ringing. “ I have to take this, it's one of our supplier, Skyler can update me when you are done”
“Well, its fine” said Kresson
Ethan walked away and winked at Skyler. She rolled her eyes realizing this was another poor attempt of Ethan.
“I’m starting to think that Ethan does not like me” joke Kresson
“Believe me, he does…anyways what did you want to talk about?”
“Next Friday we have to organized a small party for Mister Wade Junior…A welcoming party” he announced “There are going to be some shareholders, a few partner and friend of the family who are the area” he explained “You two are in charge of it…I’ll send you through email all the info”
“Okay, is that all?” Skyler asked
“Yes”
Skyler headed to the door when Kresson called her.
“Oh! and Skyler”
Skyler turns around and looks at Kresson. Kresson walked toward Skyler and put one of his hands on her shoulder. The young woman began to wonder if this was the moment she had been waiting for, for two whole years. Kresson approached Skyler’s face as her heart was pounding.
“Try not to call him daddy’s boy” whispered Kresson before giving her a friendly tap of the shoulder and leaving the room.
Skyler stood in the same position for around 5 minutes asking herself “What just happened?
For the rest of the day, it was all hands on deck. People were cleaning every inch of the hotel making sure it was spotless. As for Skyler and Ethan they were going all around the hotel trying to help around. At one point, Skyler got stuck trying to stop an argument between two clients. One of them swore that the other one stole their gift pack from last night's party.
“Ma’am it’s okay, I can get you another one. There are a few left” proposed Skyler
Neither one of them wanted to hear it. They kept shouting at each other. Skyler was in the middle of Karen's fight. She wished she had a horn so she could shut them both.
At the top of that, someone was behind her “Excuse me”
“Please, stop shouting…I can give you another gift bag, hell I can give two!....each”
“excuse me!” said the man behind
The man grabbed Skyler by the shoulder forcing her to respond.
“What?” burst Skyler turning to face the man
When she saw the man in front of her. The first words that came to her mind were “This bastard”
