Chapter 1 : The Orphan

It's the morning of a very new day, and I am about to start my new life. I need to go pack up the rest of my stuff. I don't think that it should take me long. I do not have much left to pack away; all that is left is what I would need for this morning, like my toothbrush, hairbrush, hair spray, and clothes. I took a shower last night, so I don't need to worry about that. I need to get to Uhaul in about 2 hours to pick up the Uhaul truck to load my stuff and then drive to New York. I walk to the bathroom and start brushing my teeth. While brushing my teeth, I look out my window for the last time. I will no longer be looking out this old, worn-down window. There is this yellow tint on the windows that when the sun comes in with a weird color, and then looking out, it is the next building that is next door. It is an old brick building blocking the beautiful park at the end of the block. I can still hear the cars going by and beeping at the cars that are going Birds are sitting on the side of the old building across the way. I was done brushing my teeth and then started braiding my hair into this braided crown. It didn't take me too long to braid it since my hair is about down to my shoulders, but sometimes it is hard to deal with it after a long day. I grab all of my stuff haul it all into the bedroom and pack it all into my book bag. After I put all of my bathroom stuff into my book bag, I sat on the edge of my bed and grabbed my book that was on my nightstand. I have been trying to write a book for a couple of weeks; it's a romance. I love writing books, but I also never have time to focus and write the entire book in a good amount of time. I always take more than two months just to write the first chapter whenever I start to write.

I checked the time and realized that time went by very quickly. I already have to go down, call a taxi, make my way to the Uhaul place, and then drive back to my apartment. I make my way down the three flights of stairs that I used to take every day for almost five years. But now it is time to say goodbye for the last couple of times that I will be walking up and down these stairs, bringing boxes down, so I can move out and start making my way to New York City. The Big Apple: I am actually kind of scared of moving on my own. I'm not sure if this will be a good thing or if it will be a bad thing. I want a fresh start. It's just hard to do it all alone, like completely alone. I get to the doors to leave the building, and traffic looks insane. As I get closer to the road, I wait there for my Uber to pull up. It took probably around ten minutes, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, especially with the way traffic is going right now. While the Uber driver was driving, I pulled up my phone and looked at the pictures my landlord sent me of the apartment that I would be moving into once I got to New York. I am mostly excited to try out my new bathtub. It is a deep jacuzzi tub with a mirror on the top of the ceiling. The driver pulls up to the UHaul storage unit, and I get out. I walk into the store and wait for the guy to get off the phone. It didn't take as long as I thought it was going to. I grab the keys to the Uhaul and make my way to the small truck. I get in the truck and get comfortable. I forgot how hard these seats are to move. But I finally budge the seat forward more to where I can finally reach the pedals. I am five fucking three, and these things do not accommodate very well for my height. I get the truck running and make my way out of the parking lot. The traffic isn't too bad now, which isn't bad; the five o'clock traffic has dissipated in a matter of minutes. I make my way out of the parking lot and start driving down the road, just watching traffic make its way in the opposite direction. No one was coming back in my direction; they were all leaving for the holidays. It's getting close to Thanksgiving. I will be moving to New York just a few days beforehand, so I will be alone for the holiday. I am not too upset about it because I don't have any family. My mother died when I was born; there were complications with my birth. My father didn't want anything to do with me after my mother passed away. He blamed her death on me, so he left me with my aunt Casey and my uncle Brayden. They have always been there for me; they took me to my dance recitals and my musicals; I even was in softball for a few years. I was good at it, and I was ready to use it to help me get into college. But then I got hurt in the last inning of the middle of the season, my senior year. I finally made it to the apartments, and I got out of the truck and made my way up the stairs. I start to load the truck. It won't take too long, at least, to load it up. All the boxes fit perfectly in the Uhaul truck. I close the back door, get back into the front, and make my way toward New York. At least I am not too far from where I am moving to. I currently have a seven-hour and forty-five-minute drive. I started making my way out of the state. It felt very long trying to get through my state. I finally passed the state line, and it was starting to get close to late lunch and early dinner time. I might as well stop now for both gas and food since my drive will be long. I stopped a little after five to get gas and food. I have about two hours until I finally get to my new apartment. I stopped at a little diner a bit outside of New York City. I pull in and then make my way to the diner; it is really cute. It's like a little mom-and-pop restaurant. It smelled very good, and I could not wait to order and eat. Next door to the restaurant is this gentleman's club, and on the other side is a small store mixed with groceries and some clothes, but not much. I caught the eye of a man walking out of the gentleman's club. He was tall and looked like he could do some real damage. I look away, walk into the restaurant, and wait to be seated. It smells so good, and by good, I mean amazing!

They finally set me and I checked out the menu there was a lot that I could choose from. I continued to look at the menu and I finally got to the appetizer part. I found the mozzarella sticks! Mozzarella sticks are my favorite thing ever well that and also cheesecake. I wait for the waitress to come back. It took a few but she got back to me, "What can I get for you?" the girl looked at me with a sweet smile but it went away as soon as the man I saw over at the gentleman's club. "Yeah, I'll take the chicken diner plate with tatter tots, and then I'll also want the Appetizer Mozzarella stick please." I smile at her and she gives me a quick smile, she turns around and heads to the kitchen to give them the ticket. I take out my phone and notice out of the corner of my eye that the man that I have been seeing sitting at the booth just two tables over from me. I look over slightly to see his face, the man has dark brown hair and emerald green eyes, and he has light freckles over his nose. He was dressed in a suit and looked very expensive. I look over to his right and see that he has a short girl wearing heels, they look like Louis Vuitton. The dress was magnificent, it was a crushed velvet red dress with a corset top and it went down to a bit passed her knees. The top of the dress pushed her breasts up to where they looked bigger than I believed them to be. The bottom of the dress also has silver tassels coming off with a slit going up the left side of the dress. Her blonde hair with pink streaks sticks out more than her fancy outfit, her eyes are beautiful. They are a very light blue, the kind of blue that reminds me of the ocean, I could get lost in her ocean-like eyes so easily. There are also two other people with them. A tall-haired man He couldn't look any more ruthless and like he would fire every person that came near him, whether they worked for him or not. His hair is a light dusty brown, his eyes are silver or grey kind of hard to see since he turned away from my point of view quickly. His skin tone is almost a light tan but not too dark to overthrow the stubble that sits on his face like a morning aftershave. 

He is dressed in a fancy black suit and tie outfit, his tie is red and his pocket square is red as well. His suit is lined with matte black with the edged lined in this shiny-looking black. It looks like he is flaunting his wealth for sure. I look away from them they are sitting at their table about to order while my order is coming out. So glad that food is on its way out because I feel like I am about to pass out from the lack of food. She sets the food down and smiles as she turns around, the men look my way and the one with the girl looks back at the menu and then ignores me. The other man looks me in the eyes and his face gives me the feeling that he wants to choke me. I look back down at my food and start to eat the food like it was water. I gulped down the food and I started to feel so much better, I left cash to pay for the food left a tip for my waitress, and headed back out to continue to drive to New York City. It doesn't take me too long and I am forty minutes outside of New York City, The closer I get the crazier the drivers get. This one idiot speeds passed me and almost causes me to crash, he cuts off my front end and honks as if it were my fault. "This is going to push my anger over the limit if I drive in this city…" I start to make it into the city limits I stop at a light and that idiot that almost drove me off the road pulls up right next to me, I look over and I can't see shit. His windows are so tinted that you can't even see the lights shining off the dash. 

The light changed and he sped off once again, I was almost at my new house, and man it was getting late but at least when I got there I could unload the truck and go drop it off. It is just down the street so then I can just walk back home without having to worry about finding a way home. I pull up within a matter of minutes and there it is, my new home. It is an old 1900 brick building with old painted windows, the stairs in front are big with white paint following up to the front porch and the front door. I get out of the truck and make my way up to the front door, there is a note and a lock box. The note reads: 

Dear Skylar, 

I hope that you enjoy your new apartment the code was sent to your email and your phone number just in case you can not find it. There are a few groceries in the fridge and the pantry, and there is a list of places for you to visit if you are looking for things to do or restaurants and other places. On the back of the paper is the wifi. 

I hope you enjoy your first-night stay call me if you need anything at all. 

Sincerely, 

Al Stanley

Al is so sweet, I put the code in on the keypad and the door unlocks, I walk in and it feels so good in here. I close the door behind me and put my bags down. I go back outside and start bringing in all the boxes and bags, it takes about twenty minutes to bring in all of my stuff. I drive the Uhaul to the Uhaul place and return the truck. I start to walk home it is pitch black out and very late and I know it. But all I know is that I am happy to finally be in my new home and I will start looking for my new job starting tomorrow morning. I make it halfway to the apartment and I see this car speeding down the road and behind that are two motorcycles. I don't worry about it because it is a new city and there is an entirely new culture and people there so I will have to adjust to the new setting. I get back to the apartment go inside and lock up, I make my way up the long spiral staircase that leads to my bedroom. I know this apartment isn't the biggest but it's a one bed one and a half bath with a big living room and kitchen with an attic space. I now finally have a place to store all of my stuff and not worry about keeping my items down to a limited amount. I make my way into the bedroom and lie down in the bed, It is so comfy that I could just lie here all day long. I don't think I can get up out of this bed because it feels like I am sleeping on a cloud. 

Last night was very long but I slept so well that I didn't want to wake up this morning. It felt so good to sleep in a normal bed with ultimate comfort. I look over to my right and there is a terrace. I push the covers over swing my feet over the right side of the bed and slowly let my feet touch the ground. I stretch and look around more since I have the sunlight out and can finally see the rest of the room. It is so cute and sweet, the walls are light pink with white trim on the bottom and top of the walls. The windows are traced with white trim, the terrace window is almost six feet tall maybe a bit taller but it is so pretty to look out of. I look out the window and I can see the lights starting to dim in the town and the town starting to light up with the sun instead. It was so pretty there were so many people up and walking outside and driving by. I go downstairs dig through my luggage and pull out a really cute shirt and skirt combo. The shirt is a black t-shirt with lace on top, I also have on a matte black blazer. My bottoms are these blue mom jeans with rips at the knees, I put on my velvet black pointed books underneath the jeans. I find my purse and put all of my stuff that I will need to find a job in it and then head out on the town. I make my way down the road and there are many help wanted signs everywhere.

There are restaurants and stores I could work at if I wanted to. I would like to work in the same line of work. I have worked in a hotel and then of course I want to be a writer, I just need to find a place that would let me intern or something similar for the time being. I see this woman in a very nice work suit like she works for a very fancy company. I watch her walk into this extremely fancy-looking hotel. It was extremely tall, there are so many levels to this hotel it looks like it never ends. I move closer to the window and look in it is so beautiful inside! The front door swings open and a girl leaves she looks extremely upset. She turns around and takes a deep breath, "I FUCKING QUITE!", She slams the door and then turns in my direction, "Hey are you okay?" She looks at me with anger in her eyes. "No they treat their employees like shit and do not give a fuck about anything, if a bad or lazy employee does something wrong or bad they ignore them but if a Google employee messes up on accident one time its the end of the fucking world and then apparently we are shit and should get demoted. And OH MY God! Do not get me started about that Fucking bastard of a man that we call a boss or an asshole however you want to call him. They don't know a good worker if they've ever seen one!" She turned the other way and stormed off. 

Right after I watched her get into a cab I saw a front clerk take out a sheet of paper, he walked towards the window placed a help wanted to sign on the window smiled at me then walked back to the back room. I sigh and shrug my shoulders. I guess I will not be going in there unless it is my last resort. I continue to walk around and see a newspaper company I walk in and go to the front desk and the lady looks up at me her eyes are this dark blue mixed with grey color. She looks exhausted to the point of wanting to pass out. "How can I help you ma'am?" I give her a light smile, "I was wondering if you guys were hiring, I have a degree in journalism and also in English and writing." She looks down at her computer and types for a few minutes and then looks back up at me. " We do but I am looking at our requirements and also the qualifications, yes you do have half of what we need but do you have management and running a company alone on your resume?" I sigh and shake my head. "I do not, thank you for your time." the lady smiles and goes back to work and I turn around to leave. I kept going from building to building and kept getting rejected for either not being qualified enough or I wasn't what they were looking for at this time. This is going to fucking suck, I need to find a job by tonight or I am going to have some issues paying rent on the first of next month. I start walking back to where I started I come back to that one hotel… I do not want to go in there, but it seems to be my only choice of work if they hire me. I might not be up to their standards if they don't like my qualifications. I walk into the hotel, and as soon as I look around I notice that this place was definitely out of my price range by a good three to four zeros. "Wow," I am just astonished, it is just so pretty in here. I walk over to the front desk and as soon as I walk up the man next to her smiles with glee and immediately comes around the desk. "Oh, are you here for the job!" He put his hands together and smiled, "Yes, I assume I am.." He scurried off into the back room and from the sound of it she was on the phone with someone. I take a deep breath and try to relax, He came back and had a large smile on his face. "The boss is ready to see you. If you go over to the elevator and go up to level 32 and go all the way down to the end of the hall it is the last door on the left. I nod and I walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. The elevator finally opened and I walked in and then this guy walked in the elevator with me. He stands next to me, I try not to look over at him but I look out of the corner of my eye. It was one of the men that I saw at that little dinner. Maybe he is staying here in town, the elevator could not move any slower… 

Finally, the elevator stopped on the floor I needed. The door opened and go got off the elevator. I make my way down the hall and I hear the man follow me down the hall. Is he following me? I continue to walk and he does as well. I am actually kind of nervous because he won't stop following me. I make it to the door but then turn around, " Why are you following me!" The man looks down at me, he is almost a half foot taller than me but he is not much taller. "You are walking into the boss's office, and I am his right-hand man so when new clients or new employees join I like to be the one to interview them." I sigh and look at him, "Well, then where shall we go for the interview?" He had a slight smile on the left side of his face and then turned around and I just followed him. We went into a room and he pulled out a chair for me, I sat down in the chair and He sat down in the chair across from me behind the desk. I looked around while he was getting prepared, On his desk was a computer, some paperwork, and also a nameplate. I read the nameplate and it was a name I feel like I've heard that before, Garrick Holden. Where have I heard that name before? Great now that's going to fucking bug the shit out of me. "So, you want to join the Shinning Knights?" I nodded, "Yes, I had worked at a hotel back in Main. They went bankrupt so I decided to move to New York for a fresh start." He types on his computer and then looks back at me. "The only position I currently have open is a maid position. Will that be okay?" I sigh, "Yes, that will be okay. I have 2 years of cleaning experience and 1 year of receptionist." He nods and types something into the computer again then looks at me. " Okay, when is your next availability for training?" I sit up in the chair and take a deep breath. " I can start now if that is possible?" He grins and then stands up, "Great, let's go get your uniform and get you started." We both head out of the room and walk the way to the end of the hall back toward the elevator again.

We stand in the elevator and it is taking us down a few levels not much, we went down three flights. It got to the level and the doors opened i followed him down the hall and he took me back through the staff door and all I could see from corner to corner was staff running around trying to get things together and to take orders to rooms and make sure things get done within the time that they were asked for. "Wow, never slow here is it?" He continues to walk and then looks over his shoulder, "Yes, there is never a moment of rest and sitting unless it is break time. But for now, you will work with Merya, She has worked with us for two years now, she is 19 but will be 20 in a month. So you two are not far in age so then you can make a friend as well while you are." I smile and we continue to move. We get to the back area where there are rows and rows of lockers. "This will be locker" He opens a locker and there is a set of clothes in there, "These are your uniforms you wear them here and here only." He closes the locker door and writes on a piece of paper and then slips it into the name slide on the front. "Okay, well I will let you get changed and then Merya will be in with you in a moment and you can start on your training." He walks away and closes the door behind him. I pull out the uniform and look at it, it is a black dress that goes down to my knees. There are short shorts as well in case I wanted them underneath. A white apron and a pair of black shoes are stretchy to match between the sizes five to seven. Which works for me because I am a size six. I get dressed and then sit down to put the shoes on. Three girls walk in and one of them comes over to me and the other two continue to walk over to their lockers. "Hi, I am Merya." She smiles and sits down next to me. "So I hear that you are going to be working with me" I look over after putting my shoes on, "Yes, is it normally this crazy here?" She nods and smiles, "Yeah, never a dull moment. You ready to get started?" I nod and I stand up as well and then follow Merya out of the locker room and into the busy hall wall. We walk down the hall and avoid the people running around us and trying to avoid hitting them. We make it to the employee elevator and go up a level. We get out and move into the room that is two doors over, she grabs a maid cart and we head out. She has me push the cart and follow her down the hall when we get to the room at the end of the hall she knocks on the door and waits for someone to answer. No one says anything so she unlocks the door, "housekeeping." We walk in and she pulls the cart in and starts to clean I grab a duster and start from the top of the room and then will work my way down to the floor. 

I worked for eight hours straight and I am exhausted. Merya and I walk back to the locker room and open our lockers. "So, what do you think of your first day?" She looks at me while we are getting undressed and then starts taking out her other clothes and starts to put them on. "It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be." I get out my clothes and start to put my normal clothes back on and man it feels great to put on my normal shoes the ones I use for work were killing my feet. I say sitting and taking in a deep breath I pull out my phone and look through my notifications I see that Garrick has put me on the employee group chat and the payroll. I grab my bag and head out to go home, This was a long night and tomorrow I have a ten-hour shift so I need to get home and get some rest. I made it out of the building and started to walk home the nightlife is out and thriving in New York. Busy and not bad but it is still bad enough to where I do not want to get into a cab and get stuck in traffic. It takes almost twenty to twenty-five minutes to make it home, I unlock the door walk in, and lock the door behind me. I make my way up the stairs and take my clothes off as I move more and more up the stairs. Finally, I have all of my clothes off and climb into bed. I get comfortable and then I pass out, finally peace after a long day at my new job. 

The next morning my alarm goes off at six am, and the sun is just barely peaking out, I can hear the birds chirping and the cars honking. A different city, I keep forgetting that I moved but I will get used to it hopefully in the next couple of weeks. I get up out of bed, Stretching my legs over the side of the bed, I get up and walk over to my dresser. I put my clothes on grab my bag and head out the door, I am going to stop at a coffee shop before I get to work because I will desperately need the coffee to keep me on my feet and then food to keep me on pace. I head down the road and stop at the coffee shop that is just two blocks away from the apartment. I walk in and wait in line, there are a lot of people out today. I finally get to the front of the line, "Hi, what can I get for you?" I look up at the menu, "I will take a brown sugar Ice Chi Latte and a sourdough breakfast sandwich." I pay for my meal and walk over to the counter on the other side, I stand there waiting for my order and others get passed one after another. Finally, my order is called and I pick it up I head out of the coffee shop and make my way to work, I eat my breakfast sandwich and work my way through my latte. It felt great to eat and drink at a normal time and not a snake every six to eight hours. I finished my food and made it to work on time. I walk in and make my way to the locker room to change and finish my coffee, I get my work clothes on and put my other clothes into my locker, I down my coffee and head out to meet Merya in the closet on the next floor and to start cleaning rooms with her. Since I proved myself yesterday on knowing what to do she is letting me clean some rooms by myself. She is working in the room that is next door she has a smaller penthouse room while I am working on the bigger penthouse, once she gets done with her room she will move over to my room to help me out since it is bigger than what we both were expecting. It is our first time working up here on the VIP level. It is the Penthouses that wealthy families, billionaires, and political families rent or buy out for the time being. I was working on one of the three bedrooms in the penthouse. The bedrooms are huge the light blue walls with gold trimming on the floors and ceilings. The windows are big and the view is amazing! The beds are king size and the furniture looks like it is more than my apartment is worth if it was sold. 

I finished in the main bedroom and made my way into the bathroom I grabbed my towel and spray I turned around and there stood a man, he looked to be six foot five. He has light cream skin, and his eyes look deadly but they are an emerald green with flex of gold in them. His face is very defined, he has stubble making him look a bit rough but not extremely. His body is sculpted, it looks like someone took hours to sculpt each ab and pectoral muscle that pops. He is so toned it is sickening. I meet him in his eyes, I stand there nervous and not knowing what to do. "What are you doing in my room?" I freeze and I have no clue what to say. He is standing there with a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair is wet and there is steam coming out of the bathroom as if the shower was still on. "Are you going to explain why you are in my fucking room or am I going to have to file a complete and get your ass fired." I jump and open my mouth... "I… I am sorry, I was cleaning your room, sir. I am the new maid…" Ge sets down the dirty clothes on the ground next to the door to the bathroom. "Well, stop staring at me like I am a murder." I look at the ground and back up a bit towards the walk. "I am sorry sir." He shakes his head then walks towards the bed and sits down, I see his back and all of the muscles, He has a large tattoo that spreads from his shoulders and goes down his spine which looks like his tailbone. 

"Well, if you are going to just stand there why don't you come over here and help me out." I look up and walk over, "What do you need help with sir?" He looks up at me, He stands up and towers over me with his steaming hot body. "Why don't you put away the cleaning stuff and help me wrap my shoulder, I pulled my arm out of the socket and well I only have one arm left." I searched through my kit and found the first aid kit. I put it out and found something that I could use as a sling. He sits back down and I take his arm and use the wrap to make a sling. It did not take me long to notice that he had many scars all over his body. While I was wrapping his shoulder I could see not just small and medium-sized scares over his body but what looked like bullet hole wounds as well. "Thank you for helping me with this, I normally would ask my men to help but I just returned from my other job and my guards are currently on a shift change. I also think my doctor is on vacation. So are my best bet." I looked him in the eyes and then went back into wrapping his shoulder down to his wrist. A man walks into the room and looks at us with stone-cold eyes, "Sir, we have a meeting in ten minutes." He stands up and walks away, I grab my stuff and the cart and then push it out of the room and make my way into the hall. Once I am in the hall I rush my way into the employee room and take a deep breath, Merya walks in and looks at me confused. "What is wrong with you? I told you I'd come in when I was done with my area." I look at her with tiredness, "I was cleaning then this man came out in a towel and oh my god it was a fucking hot wet body covered in either scars or bullet wounds and a large tattoo on his back and I seriously thought he was going to kill me with the way he was looking into my eyes. She puts her hand on my shoulder, "Well, you are still here and you are okay. Just take a few deep breaths and go take your break we only have three hours left let's make it go buy fast shall we?" I nod and walk away to clock out for my hour. Finally I can breathe…