Belinda 24

Belinda had been working for several years as a programmer for a large computer firm. It was good work and paid well enough but she began to see the writing on the wall, the company was having 'issues' and it was only a matter of time before it was gone. Then, it was. Closing its doors, the company let everyone go and Belinda was now out of work at 32 years old. Scouring the internet, newspaper want ads and a few trade magazines, Belinda found herself unable to find another job and it seems that those who send you the bills don't really like it when they don't get their money. It was a tricky spot to be in for anyone, but Belinda only had to worry about Belinda.

"Well, what to do?" Belinda was on the phone with her brother Eddie. "I could really use work, I mean, SOMETHING; of course nothing hard. I'm not into actual physical labor."

"Belly," (his nickname for her since they were very young-it drove her CRAZY!) Eddie started, "You've been looking now for over a month, time to not be your usual demanding self. I got word from a friend that the newly expanded Grande Regal Hotel down the street from you is hiring housekeepers. You should give it a go."

"Eddie, you mean be a maid? No, No way. Its hard work and I know they don't get paid all that well. Maybe I could put in for the front desk. That might be good and hell, computer skills would be important there."

Eddie was skeptical since Belinda didn't have the greatest people skills, something a hotel desk clerk very much needs. Its not that she was rude or insensitive, but Belinda could be very short with people who seemed stupid, uncooperative, befuddled or in any way shape or form, not up to her standards; in a word, impatient. Hell, she could be VERY rude. They went back and forth and finally, Belinda agreed to go down and seek employment but NOT as a maid.

The next day, off she went to the Grande Regal to apply for work as a front desk clerk only to find that all those positions were filled. Night auditor, filled. Reservations clerk, filled. Only maintenance and housekeeping had vacancies and Belinda had no mechanical skills at all. She COULD clean, but, no, that was not for her.

She thanked the human resources staff (that office was also not in need of personnel) and left.

Two days went by and after getting rejection letters from the last two computer companies within an hour ride of her and a 'last notice' on her cable bill, Belinda said to herself, "Damn it, fine, I'll work as a maid for a few months until I can FINALLY get a real job." She marched down to the Grande Regal and filled out an application, hoping that the jobs hadn't been filled in those last few days. They hadn't. She was completely relieved deep down, but yet felt disappointment that she got the job. She was to train on Sunday morning.

Training was simple enough, she was shown the proper way to make a bad ("Duh, everyone knows how to make a freakin' bed!") how to fold the towels ("Who cares, as long as it's folded?") Wipe down the tub, sink and counter ("I'm in HELL!") and generally clean the room of someone who was NOT checking out, in other words, what they called a "Stay Over" as opposed to a "Check Out" ("Such technical terms, UGH!").

Belinda also was shown how to set up her maids' cart, how to organize the towels, the sheets, the trashcan liners, the pens and paper, the shampoos and conditioners and all the other items that would be needed in the course of a day.

"Do we get tips?" she asked of the Assistant Head Housekeeper, Danielle.

"Yes, you do, but don't always expect them. We pay a decent wage for the hotel industry but we know that tips are very helpful and we encourage you all to keep track and do what is right come April."

Was she kidding? "I'm not reporting a single dime of tip money," thought Belinda as she politely smiled and nodded.

Ok, lunch time was going to be good. Of the 8 girls in the 'class' four spoke English, one barely. The other three, she had no idea what language that was but was sure it wasn't Spanish, and didn't all maids come from Guatamala? Actually, Dagmar was the only other 'regular' person having grown up two towns over. Dagmar was a few years older than Belinda and had been a waitress at a nearby chain restaurant until the Board of Health decided they should close before anyone died. Dagmar had a decent sense of humor and Belinda liked her right off. Well, she felt she had no choice, since she was the only American in the group. Dagmar assessed Belinda and thought, "Probably a douche, but hey, maybe if I get to know her..."

After lunch, back to training. What cleaning products to use and how. What not to mix, what to do if you find something illegal in a room or if there's damage. Then came the one item on the agenda Belinda hadn't considered, what to do if confronted by a naked man. Belinda had heard a few stories about guys who would wait for the maid to arrive, not answer when the knock was made and then show themselves off, 'ACCIDENTALLY' when the maid entered, but figured it was urban legend. A few of the girls had worked as maids before in other hotels so all this training was just a formality, but when this subject came up, a couple 'harrumphed' in disgust, a couple giggled but all had their own stories. Too bad Belinda had to wait for the translation which she was sure took some of the humor out of the story.

So, after a full day of training, Belinda was certified as a maid. BIG WHOOP! She was to start the next day. Danielle said to them all, in English and Spanish to be at work and punched in no later than 8 the next morning and preferably by 7:30. Though many people were not even out of their rooms until AFTER 8, it was good to get their carts ready up on their floors and be ready to jump right in once the doors began to open. With 5 floors of 45 rooms each, there would be 15 Housekeepers on duty (maid was considered NON-PC) three per floor, 15 rooms each. There was the Head Housekeeper, Mrs. Lender and two Assistant Head Housekeepers, Danielle covered the Lobby and floors two and three. Margaret covered four and five. There were also two Housemen who would vacuum the hallways, clean the lobby, stock the maid's closets on each floor with everything needed during the course of the day and take down the dirty laundry if/when the laundry chutes would be blocked up. They also got stuck with helping the maids with unusual situations such as the time Roberta (who had worked in several hotels before) found a dead dog in a room. The Houseman came up, calmed Roberta (even though he was nearly freaking out himself) and wrapped the dog in the comforter and called the front desk which made the necessary arrangements. Freaky stuff really did happen in hotels.

Belinda had been there about a month when she and Gertrude, a Housekeeper who had been there several years and had her share of stories, hit it off. Dagmar had quit getting an assistant Head Housekeeping job at a nearby competitor. Gertrude, a woman of about 52 told Belinda an interesting story. "I was cleaning 221 one afternoon. It was a stay over but I could see this was a business man and was probably going to be in meetings all day, so I didn't rush," she began. Belinda was feigning interest, but doing it well. "So I'm on my knees bending over the tub wiping it out when I get this feeling that someone is behind me. I turn and there's the guy. I had seen him leave in the morning. Not bad looking for about 65. So, my uniform dress is 'up' a bit, not intentionally, I was alone, but he's just standing there with this big grin. I start to get up and he's all apologies for sneaking up on me. I assure him its fine, it IS his room after all. He starts to leave and I can see he's breathing a bit heavy which makes me think, 'he was eyeing me.' I again assure him it's his room and he should stay. I'm finishing up and will get out of his way. So, he starts a bit of chit chat and I bend back over the tub, sort of helping the dress slide up just a touch more."

"You were teasing him." Belinda said flatly.

"YOU DAMN RIGHT I was teasing him. I figured I'd have my fun. Maybe it'd get me a better tip." Gertrude was rather proud of her antics. She continued, "So, I keep working and bending and he's still chatting but I can actually hear his breathing and my first thought was, 'did I over do it?', but I kept going anyway. I also slid the zipper in front down just a bit more to let these babies show a bit more. I got up and bent over the toilet. I had apparently slid the zipper down a bit TOO much and they almost fell out of the dress when I bent to swab out the toilet. He gasped and excused himself going into the room."

"These horrid yellow dresses are far from complimentary, yet it sounds like you made it work for you. But the guy, what'd he have a heart attack?"

"That was what my first thought was. I dashed into the room to see him sitting on the bed. I asked, 'Are you alright?' He said, 'I'm fantastic. I just can't stand up right now, sorry.'" Gertrude smiled at Belinda and added, "I asked him, 'any special reason?' He just blushed and nodded to his crotch."

Belinda was actually becoming interested and encouraged the story to continue, "...and?"

"Well, I kind of felt bad that I'd gotten him so worked up so I thought, I guess the noble thing to do would be to help him out. I asked him, 'I'm guessing it's my fault. I could help you fix the problem. I mean, it's the least I could do.' He nearly shit himself when I made a jerk off motion with my hand. He nodded like a bobble head doll and I quietly closed the door and undid his pants and jerked him off."

Belinda was aghast but titillated. "What was it like, his, thingy?"

"Very soft skin. He wasn't real long but kind of thick. I even briefly toyed with the idea of blowing him, but decided that would be going too far. I just messaged him until he came. What's one more towel? He was grateful as hell and it was fun for me, something I'd NEVER done before with a stranger. I mean, I'm pretty straight laced but it was a challenge that I just couldn't pass up." Gertrude said. "Best part, when he checked out the next morning, he left a $100 tip and a note that said simply, "Please don't accept this in the wrong way, but you made my year and the room was perfect."

"So, you're a hooker?" Belinda said rather matter-of-factly.

"I guess in the strictest sense in that moment, I could be called that, but I think you're being overly critical. Hey, you're new. Who knows what might happen." Gertrude was a bit miffed at Belinda's assessment of her story and got up and went back up to work on the 3rd floor.

Belinda was getting into the swing of things and much to her disgust, was beginning to fit in with the other women, even using her high school Spanish from time to time, even though her command of the language was poor at best but combined with hand gestures and pointing, and the English that the Latina girls knew, everyone communicated. Even the women speaking that screwy language that Belinda had never heard before were communicating well. Belinda eventually found out that the language was Tagalong, the language of the Philippines. Actually, in truth, the Pilipino women spoke perfect English, so, Belinda had no concerns, but amongst themselves, it was often Tagalong. The worst part for Belinda, was that, even though it was back breaking work at times and disgusting at times and boring at times, she was kind of enjoying the job. It was fun finding strange things in check out rooms or to kind of get to know the people in the stay over rooms simply by seeing what was lying around. She truly began to enjoy the other housekeepers as well. An odd ensemble but they could be fun to work with. Belinda was scared. This was not what she expected.

Week five almost ended normally. It was a light Friday and Belinda had gotten only 9 rooms due to a lot of vacancies. Of course, she still had to put in a full day for a full day's pay, but she took her time in each room. She got the empty check out rooms first. In 502 she found used condoms in the trash. They were just lying there on top of the rest of the trash. Belinda's first reaction was to recoil a bit, but then she looked close and counted six. The guest has only checked in the night before. "Wow, busy beavers...well, at least ONE busy beaver." She chuckled at her own joke. But then she realized that the room would need a bit more caution in picking up and cleaning, just in case. She donned her rubber gloves, which were normally reserved for the bathroom and stripped both beds. Both had been used. "Orgy?" she thought. Then she tucked all the sheets and towels into a pillow case and tossed them into the laundry bag on her cart. So far, nothing strange and the bathroom trashcan didn't have anything bizarre in it. She went to vacuum and as she bent down to take a quick look under the bed, she saw a massive double dildo. Keeping the gloves on, she removed it and wrapped it in a new towel intent on showing the girls her discovery. She chuckled some more.

At this point, Belinda decided that maybe a peek under the mattresses was in order. She'd heard of a guy who used to check in every three months and hide dozens of dirty magazines under the mattresses. Nope, nothing there. Must be someone else.

When the Margaret came up to start inspecting the rooms, Belinda said, "Hey, whoever had this room was really fucked."

Margaret was taken aback and asked, "What? Why do you say that?"

Belinda told her about the six condoms and then showed her the dildo. Margaret laughed and added, "Yup, Roger THAT, as they say." Then she added, "How about the blankets and comforters get replaced, just to play it safe?"

Belinda hadn't made up the beds yet so, she didn't argue, plus, it probably wasn't a bad idea. She called the housekeeping office and requested new bed covers be brought up since none were in the closet down the hall. When Jack, one of the Housemen came up, she told him about the condoms and the dildo. Jack was 21 and rather shy. When she showed him the dildo, he blushed, giggled and abruptly left. Belinda was torn between feeling bad about embarrassing him or wanting to laugh her ass off. She laughed, but quietly to herself.

The following Monday morning, Belinda made her way to her cart on the 5th floor. The maids tended to be a bit protective of their carts. They had them set up the way they felt most comfortable with them (pens here, spare ice bucket there, towels just so, etc.). When she opened the door, hoping the weekend housekeepers hadn't screwed around with her cart, she saw the dildo with a bow on it hanging from the front of the cart and a note that said, "If only the weekend help could get this kind of bonus!" Belinda had forgotten to dispose of the 18 inch item of destruction. She giggled and, using a towel, tossed it into the trash bag. The fun was over, back to work.

Belinda, Maria and Carmelita took their room lists and were relieved that none had more than 10 rooms today. Tourist season was almost over and it seemed that business people were doing more conference calls. Fewer tips, but the hourly wage stayed the same so, it was all good. Belinda made her way to room 502 first, a check out that had the 'Please Make Up This Room' tag on the door. She entered and did a spectacular job in all of 15 minutes. The room was practically all done as the guest had stripped the beds, put the trash together, cleaned up the bathroom and still left a $10 tip.

The next room was a stay over. The guest also had put the tag on the door. As Belinda entered, she saw a man in his underwear sitting on the bed putting on socks. He jumped, she jumped. She apologized and he said, "Since when does a 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign mean, COME IN?"

Belinda apologized again, pulled the door shut and reread the tag. Yup, 'do not disturb'. She slinked down the hall wanting to die. She figured something like this would happen, and it did.

Five minutes later, the man came out of his room and walked rather deliberately towards Belinda. He stopped at her cart and as she began to shrink down into a blob on the floor, his expression softened and he said, "I'm sorry I snapped. I mean, I'm not big on my room being entered while I'm not decent, but, I'm guessing it was an honest mistake."

Belinda slowly regained her composure and explained that the previous room had the opposite showing and she just looked past what was actually printed on the tag. She begged his forgiveness and he gave it, asking the same from her. She did.

Now that that was behind her, Belinda continued. At room 509, she did the usual knock with the key and announced herself. She did the customary three tries before entering the room. As she did, there was the naked man every Housekeeper meets at least ONCE in her career. He was about 30 and not a good looking guy. A bit skinny and a tad horse-faced, he stood at profile in front of the TV and casually looked over at Belinda. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. I had the TV on and was really into this show."

Belinda did notice he was pretty well endowed but, yuck, it was tough to care. She was a bit mesmerized by his size though and he noticed her staring. "If you still want to clean the room, I'll stay out of your way," he said as he turned to reveal his full front. Then he added, lifting his member up, "Would you mind if I just pee'd first?"

Belinda calmly said, "Feel free. I'll return later on. And next time the TV drowns out my knocking, make sure it's actually ON or I'll be tempted to call the police. I'm sure they can find something to charge you with." She backed out, closed the door and made a notation on her room list sheet that 509 contained a weenie waver.

Two days later Belinda was cleaning 509 again, but the freaky guy had checked out (only left a $2 tip. A CHEAP freak!) so she felt very good about that. She did the usual knock three times and entered the stay over room. As she sauntered in she could hear light moaning. "Oh shit, NOW what?" she thought to herself. There on the bed was a beautiful woman, totally naked, eyes closed, headphones on and hands teasing her well waxed mound. Belinda started to back out when the woman's eyes suddenly snapped open and she had a very startled look that immediately slid into a look of total relaxation. She smiled slightly then she pulled off the headphones and said, "Hey, sorry, I didn't hear you. I really love this band. Ever hear of them? They're called, Landslide and they're from Michigan. Here, give a listen." And she motioned for Belinda to take the headphones.

Belinda was about to say, "I'm sorry, I'll come back," when the woman, probably mid-thirties, short brown hair, insisted. Belinda let the door close behind her and took the headphones giving a listen. They weren't a bad band at all. She sat listening suddenly realizing she was still next to a beautiful naked woman who was still playing with herself, though not as vigorously. Belinda finished the song that had been playing and removed the headphones. "Yeah, they're good. They been around a while?" Belinda knew she should be leaving the room, but part of her was really tempted to just see how things went. She wasn't into girls, but this was interesting.

"They got their start about 10 years ago as a blues band and then into soft rock. I forget how I heard about them at first but I've seen them in person a few times."

"They kind of get you a bit hot and bothered do they?" Belinda asked looking her over, again telling herself that she wasn't into women, but this was interestingly awkward.

"Oh, geez, I wasn't even thinking," said the woman, who then offered her hand to Belinda, "I'm Rachel. I'm sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable? I should put something on," added the woman and yet making no effort to do so.

"No, that's fine. I've seen women naked before. I even masturbated with my roommate in college so, I'm cool with it," replied Belinda who could feel herself turning beet red and yet unable to move.