Read Chapter 10: — GLASS AFTER MIDNIGHT

Sophie Kent did not like mistakes.

When Eleanor arrived for a briefing with a faint crease in her blouse, Sophie noticed it from across the room.

“Uniform standards apply to everybody,” she said in front of the team. “This is not your kitchen at home.”

The comment was unnecessary. Eleanor felt the heat rise into her face.

“Understood.”

“As a reminder, you'll polish the banquet glassware tonight.”

There were hundreds of glasses.

Hannah offered to help, but Eleanor refused out of pride.

At eleven-thirty, she regretted every principle she had ever held.

She washed, rinsed, dried and polished until her fingers wrinkled. She had skipped dinner. By half past midnight, the stack still looked endless.

A voice behind her said, “Why are the kitchen lights on?”

She nearly dropped a glass.

Adrian stood in the doorway, jacket over one shoulder.

“I've been sentenced.”

“To glassware?”

“Apparently my crimes were textile-based.”

He looked at the remaining racks.

“This is excessive.”

“Please don't say anything. It'll make things worse.”

Adrian studied her, then rolled up his sleeves.

“What are you doing?”

“I washed glasses for four years while studying in Boston. I'm overqualified.”

He took the sink beside her.

They worked in companionable silence at first. Then Adrian began telling stories about terrible student jobs. Eleanor admitted she had once hidden in a hotel linen cupboard to cry after a guest shouted at her during her first year in hospitality.

“Did it help?”

“No. Somebody came in for towels.”

At one-thirty, they finished.

Adrian held up the final glass. “I win.”

“There was no competition.”

“There is now. Loser buys food.”

Eleanor opened her mouth to answer and the room tilted.

She gripped the counter.

Adrian caught her elbow.

“When did you last eat?”

“Lunch.”

His expression changed.

He took her to his office, found chocolate and juice, and made her sit until the colour returned to her face.

It was too late to travel home safely, so he arranged an empty guest room.

“Sleep,” he said. “This is not a favour. You became unwell at work.”

Eleanor was too tired to argue.

The next morning she stepped into the corridor just as Adrian came out of the room next door, where he often stayed after late shifts.

The lift opened.

Sophie stood inside with three members of staff.

Nobody said anything.

Nobody needed to.

By lunch, the entire hotel had a story.