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NNENNA'S POV

“Thank you for applying, please come again on Monday,” the man I learnt was the general manager, told me.

“Okay, sir. By what time please?” I asked.

“By 10 O'clock is okay,” he responded.

I nodded and stood up from the chair in his office. I took one last glance at his desk to confirm that my letter and file were there before I made my way towards the door.

As I left the building, the only thing on my mind was that I would be accepted. It did not matter to me that I would have to divide my time between my studies and work with what he told me, the only thing I wanted at this moment was doing something that would yield money for me to take care of certain expenses.

I did not wait to tell Natalia that I was leaving, besides I did not see her again. I simply sent a short text to her explaining that I have met with the manager. The sun was at its peak when I stepped outside, it was like it positioned above the sky directly opposite the hotel because its rays were reflecting on the glass windows of the building. I regretted not taking a cap or umbrella with me.

When I walked out of the building, I bumped into a man's back. It seemed like he was walking backwards and did not see that I was coming behind him.

“Ouch! Sorry,” I apologized even though it was not my fault.

“No, I'm sorry. I should have watched where I was going to” he apologized and placed a hand on my shoulder, “Hope I did not hurt you?” he asked.

“No, sir” I shook my head at him.

He smiled, thankful that I was okay. Then he went away.

“Hi again,” I heard the young man who was talking to the other man I bumped into, say.

“Hi,” I returned and made to walk away when his next words stopped me.

“You don't remember me, do you?” he said.

“Uhh...no! Have we met before? I must have forgotten,”

“Yeah, you definitely have. Although, we weren't properly introduced then. I am the guy you bought those books from in school, at that stand close to...” he started to explain but I cut in when I remembered.

“Okay, I remember now. How are you?” I said.

“I'm good. So...have you finished reading those books?” he inquired.

“No, I have not finished them. I started it but I've had a lot of things on my hands at this point. It's just been a tough period for me and I need to meet up on my school work...” I stopped talking when I realized I was rambling with a stranger.

I just met him two times for goodness sake and I started ranting about my problems as if I had known him as long as the beginning of time.

He was just staring at me and smiling.

“I have to go,” I told him.

“I would also like to inform you that we have new arrivals and we want to do an auction sale on some of our old books, it's going to be in form of a small gathering. If you're interested, I can send you a message on the details whenever we're ready,”

“Sure, that'll be nice. Call your number,” I fished out my phone from my bag.

He did and we waved goodbyes before heading our separate ways.

Monday finally came after days, hours, and minutes of thinking and worrying about the outcome of the interview. I packed my books for the first two lectures I had today before 10 am.
However, throughout the first lecture on PHYSIOLOGY 201 my mind was somewhere far away from what the average-aged man was saying.

I was doing maths on how I was going to use my first salary to complete buying my textbooks, after I was relieved of that burden, I would make my hair then change my closet. I was engrossed in the thought that I lost grasp of what he was talking about, I did not even remember the assignment he gave us but I told Adunni to snap and send to me on Whatsapp.

Speaking of Whatsapp, money that I have spent on data to subscribe to social media was one of the highest expenses for me. Even when I did not want to subscribe, I had no other choice because I needed to get information on what was happening in school. Most times when I could not subscribe, I would call Adunni or Bolanle—our course rep to get news on what would happen for the day.

I was tired of that life, I was tired of depending on people to move forward in life, I was tired of letting people know my next move simply because I needed their help, that was why it is imperative that I got a job.

As soon as the first class was over, I left the hall and took a shuttle to the school bus junction. The time was 9:30 am and I must arrive earlier than the stated time so that I would create a good impression for my first time.
I got to the hotel seven minutes later and requested to see the manager.

After waiting till it got to my turn, I met with the manager and he delivered what sounded like good news to my ears.

‘Finally, I smell freedom.’ 

The man directed me to the head of the cleaning department, a lady in her late thirties who gave me a tour on the hotel grounds and directives on the rules and regulations guiding the department. She was stern when reciting the rules to me, she also did not fail to mention that I answered to her and she in turn answered to the management of the organization.

She gave me the night shift and strictly warned me that a minute later than the time I was to report for duty meant an extra minute to overtime which I would not be paid for.

I accepted, excited that I was finally starting the journey to earning my money. I left the hotel after that and returned to the hostel to prepare my mind on my first day at work.
I wanted to share the news with Helen but she was staying over at a friend's place for some days and I had no idea when she would come back. 

I revised my notes, reheated the porridge yam I cooked in the afternoon then took my bathe. I changed into a black trouser and a simple blouse then put my umbrella and black shoes into a fancy bag. My phone and a jotter was contained in a small sling bag. I boarded a cab to the hotel to begin my first day at work.

Adike helped me retrieve the cleaning materials from the store before she handed the keys over to Joy who would be my partner for the night shift. We were three working at night and Adike told me already that the halls, the reception, and the empty rooms must be cleaned every night if any other place was not tended to.

Once the reception was free, one of us started dusting, sweeping and cleaning the area while another person saw to the sheets, towels and empty rooms. Since this was my first day at the hotel, I was told to clean the reception, the staircases, and the hallways. By the time I was done, I felt as if my waist has dislocated because the pains of bending down has began to catch up with me.

Duty ended by 12 midnight latest, and workers were allowed to have their rest. They served dinner by 9 pm if the kitchen had leftovers, if there were none then every man was responsible for himself. I did not like the look of the ukwa they prepared so I had vegetable soup instead. After I was done with my chores, I went to the spot assigned to me tonight. I tried to go over screenshots of the notes I had on my phone, however, within minutes I nodded off.

Before I left the next morning, the head minder; Mrs Opeyemi, applauded the good work I did for my first time but she also admonished that the next time it would be better I woke up on time to recheck the hallways especially the reception if I was the person who cleaned them the night before. Her reason was that it would not seem nice if a customer walked into the mess that any customer had left the night before or during midnight. She stated that one of us had to recheck the reception again in the mornings before we got ready to leave or handed over to the morning shift workers.

I understood her point and thanked her for the admonition. We bade goodbyes before I heard her talking to Joy. I skipped out of the building and a gust of the morning breeze gave me the chills. I did not bring my sweater last night so I endured the cold morning until I got the junction where I took a cab back to my hostel.

On getting to the gate, I heard voices hurling obscene words at one another. Cynthia and another slim dark-skinned girl were shouting on top of their voices. I wondered what could have upset them this early morning.

“Why are they shouting?” I asked Neesha.

“My sister, I don't know. It was their voices that woke me up sef, I think it has something to do with Anita spreading her clothes on the same line that Cynthia spread hers thereby causing her clothes to fall off,” she related.

I sighed exasperatedly, “Which kind of trouble is this now?”

“Don't mind them, but to me...Anita is the cause of this wahala. That girl just likes trouble,” Neesha complained.

“Let me just go inside and pretend like I was not around,” I informed her before walking towards my room door.

When I got to the door I saw that it was still locked which meant that Helen was not in yet.
I locked the door after myself, I could not risk letting one of the girls come in to disturb my peace. After taking a brief shower and change of clothes, I started calculating how much I was going to spend on each bill I had to settle, from the stipulated amount of money I was going to get as my salary.

Twenty thousand naira was not enough to cover all the costs but it was going to go a long way to help purchase all my textbooks. The number of assignments and tests that have been given were almost driving me out of my mind. I had the option of asking Helen for help but I have bothered her enough, it was high time I carried my cross alone.

I left for school by 9 am and after the day's lectures, began to regret that I bothered attending them. Every lecturer ended up giving pages upon pages of assignments in their workbooks or handbooks with the due date for submission. I just had to try a little harder at work, perhaps I might get good tips from customers and that would help me procure one or two books.

I decided to pack my dinner instead of depending on the food the kitchen staff might prepare tonight. The only part of the hotel that prepared meals I drooled over was the bar & club section. From assorted meats to different veggies on the side, not to talk of the dessert they served. It was mouthwatering indeed. I have not been assigned to work in that area but I went there twice last night to call one of the waiter, as I was instructed. To avoid going to bed on an empty stomach because I might not like what the chef would prepare, I made jollof spaghetti and dished a plate for myself ensuring that I left enough for Helen as well. She might be back later tonight.

Tonight, I was assigned to clean the empty rooms. Change the sheets and dust all corners. It was not so easy as the previous assignment of yester-night because this one entailed dusting and vacuuming every possible corners that the customers could reach. Some rooms did not need thorough cleaning, perhaps the occupant checked out in the morning or the previous night. After tending to the two rooms that were  turned upside down by the previous guests, I decided to take a short break in a decent-looking room.

I went over my notes on physiology, comparing and contrasting the differences in my note from the textbook. Some minutes later I lost the battle of the will to stay awake. Nodding off seemed like the most important thing to do at the moment.

I had no idea how long I was out, but I jerked awake when I heard the ringing sound of my phone.
I wondered why Joy was calling, seeing as I have two missed calls from her already.

“Hello,” I started.

“How far babe? I've been calling...” she said.

“Yes. Sorry, I was too busy I didn't hear my phone ringing, initially” I lied because I would not let her know the real reason I had not answered the first two calls.

“Anyway, that's besides the point. I called because there's a man requesting for new bedsheets and a set of towels. He's lodged in room 024, are you free to attend to him?”

I was about to tell her that I was too busy before she mentioned that the man used to leave a handsome tip to the staff who attended to him very well.

“Okay, I'm coming” I agreed and got set to carry out the job.

I selected a new set of matching bedcovers and pillowcases, just in case he was the type of person who loved matching designs. I carried a set of freshly washed white towels as well before heading to 024.

Joy already went through the trouble of coming to personally warn me about tending to guests in their rooms. She told me that if I did my job well, the man was likely to reward me however, I should mind my business because I could see what I may not understand.

She further went to narrate her little experience some months ago when she walked in on some couples doing the deed in the bathroom. She had not seen them in the act, but she claimed to have heard moaning and groaning. She quickly changed the sheets as instructed and left the room.

Her story made me hesitant to knock on the door. The first knock may not have been loud enough as I did not get a response but I knocked again. Louder this time.

I heard a faint ‘come in’, so I turned down the knob and walked in.

“Room service,” I announced “I'm here to change the sheets”

“Did you not hear when I asked who was at the door? You should have introduced yourself before coming in, what if the...” she suddenly stopped her statement.

Meanwhile, I was still peering down at the materials in my hands not to notice why she stopped talking. I thought she was trying to get off the bed so that I could make it again.

“Uh...Nnenna?” I heard her say.

Now I realized why her voice seemed familiar to me. I looked up and could not believe who I was seeing.

★★★★

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