The time went quickly, with Adelaide following behind and chattering pleasantly. After putting away the supplies and hanging the broom on a hook, Fallen promised to be back on Tuesday.
After she stepped out, she listened to make sure the door lock clicked into place.
She made her way home, freshened up, and put on an extra layer under her jeans and sweatshirt so she could stay warm at the football game.
On her walk to the school, she let her mind sift back through the information she’d learned that afternoon. Thomas was living somewhere in the past. But that didn’t necessarily make their love story impossible—just a bit unconventional. The fact that he was at war, however, was more troubling. If his world was full of danger, he needed to get out of it as soon as possible. Fallen tried to keep her hopes in check, but her heart raced. Learning more from Ellen now seemed even more essential than it had before.
···
Fallen wasn’t the first at the field, but she was early enough to get a good seat on the bleachers. She rubbed her mittened hands together until she saw her brother. He spotted her in the crowd and pointed as she waved. The team started to warm up.
The spot next to her creaked as someone sat down. She didn’t pay attention until a cup appeared in front of her. She almost shrieked when she turned and met Mr. Orbit’s eyes instead of Ellen’s.
“I’m sorry. I don’t drink coffee.” She held up a hand to ward off his gift.
“It’s hot chocolate. Do you drink that?” He held one for himself in his other hand.
She nodded and took it, mumbling her thanks. Her hands shook despite the heat of the cup. Having him next to her turned her stomach and put tears in her eyes she was desperate not to shed.
“Are you back for another visit at the hotel?” she asked. Every muscle in her body was strung tight. He seemed more sinister every time she saw him—asleep or awake.
“No. Just passing through. Always checking on things.” He sipped his drink.
Fallen just continued to warm her hands. She was surely not going to drink something he’d had access to while she wasn’t watching.
“He’s looking good out there.” Mr. Orbit pointed with his pinkie at Fenn, who tossed the football back and forth with Mitchel, the crazy driver.
“He knows how to play the game, and he’s a hard worker.” She moved away to give herself some more personal space.
“Never messes with the rules, I bet. Never takes a break on the company dime.” Mr. Orbit sipped his drink again.
She didn’t answer, but she heard the threat in his words. He wasn’t talking about Fenn anymore.
She wanted to pour her hot chocolate on his crotch more than anything. But she refrained. He controlled her link to Thomas, Fenn’s link to football, her job—so much. How had this happened?
Orbit pulled a box out of his trench coat and opened it. Inside was the watch Nora had sold to the pawn shop. Fallen looked from the watch to his eyes.
“I had a visit from your mother at the hotel earlier today.” He tilted his head.
Fallen felt sick. “I’m sorry.”
“She walked a long way to talk to me. And she was very regretful that she’d sold your watch. Told me a whole story about how she wanted to get the money back to you.”
Fallen set her cup between her feet and hugged her body. “Could you tell if she’d been drinking?”
He nodded. “Yeah. The bottle of wine in the paper bag was kind of a tip off.”
“I’m so sorry.” She wanted something else to say, but she had nothing.
He shook his head. “Don’t feel like you have to apologize. My father was a drunk. A functioning one, but a drunk.”
Fallen looked at his face. He gave her a weak shrug. “Amazing he could run a multimillion dollar company while blasted off his ass most days.”
“Nora’s not functioning any more.” Ironically, they finally had something in common.
“I noticed.” He stopped her before she could apologize again. “No, I really mean it when I say you don’t have to apologize. I think for my dad it had to do with the family business. I think he wanted something else out of life. Just a guess, though. He wasn’t a touchy-feely type. We didn’t talk much.”
For a moment, Mr. Orbit was candid and real. Fallen was shocked into silence.
“I grabbed this back from the pawn shop, so you could have it again. I suggest you hide it.”
“Well, I thought it was hidden before.” Fallen sighed sadly. “I couldn’t possibly take another gift from you.” She held up her hands.
“I hope you will. This might be the first nice thing I’ve done in a while. Positive reinforcement and all that.” He offered it to her again.
She took it in her mittened hand, thinking of Fenn and his graduation someday. It would be a wonderful thing to give him, but every time she saw it on her brother’s wrist, would it make her feel the uncomfortable way Mr. Orbit made her feel?
“Thank you.” She watched Fenn move to huddle with his team.
“I fear I haven’t approached my interest in you the correct way. Have I frightened you?”
Fallen hesitated before looking at him. It was impossible to know how to answer. If she said no, he might keep it up—the pictures, the stalking in room 514, not to mention their strange dream-world relationship. But if she said yes, what would he do with that information?
She decided silence was the safest and shrugged.
“You don’t have to say anything.” He pulled out his phone and took his glove off to open up his pictures app.
Fallen winced as he began pulling up the photos and deleting them one at a time. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone else was looking. He had made good use of his zoom feature.
Seeing how many he had took her breath away. Last in the lineup was the one of her on the bed, terror in her eyes.
“You know what? If this is you trying to date me, you have for sure gone about it the wrong way.” Her temper had taken over. She heard a warning voice in her head, but this man was a bully.
He slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I can see that.” His lips became a tight line.
“I just want to do my job. That’s it. I didn’t ask for any of the rest of this.” She tossed up her hands and accidently knocked over the hot drink at her feet.
When she bent over to pick it up, he snaked his arm around her waist.
She sat up quickly and gave him a hard look. “What did I just say?”
He looked around her. “Shh. It’s my ex-wife. I need you to pretend to be happy for a few minutes.”
“Mr. Orbit, seriously.” Fallen had had enough of his bullshit. She went to stand, but he pressed both hands on her hips to keep her in place.
“Just another minute.” He tracked someone over her shoulder.
Fallen turned to see Ellen moving through the section, though she didn’t seem to be looking their way.
“Let go of me, or I’ll scream.”
“You scream and you’re fired.” The glimpse of humanity she’d seen in him was gone.
She put her head down, hating herself.
“Just lean into me now. That’s a good girl. Snuggle up.”
Orbit put his arms around her unyielding body. She didn’t do as he asked, but she didn’t make a scene either.
“Ellen needs to know what she’s missing.”
He seemed to say this more to the demons in his head than to her.
Fallen waited him out while he smiled, which she didn’t reciprocate, and patted her back as if their embrace was mutual and enthusiastic.
“There—she’s found a seat. I should have remembered that her stepson plays for Poughkeepsie.” He let go of Fallen, and she shifted even farther away. “That wasn’t so bad, right?”
She ignored him and turned toward the game. She began fantasizing about Thomas bounding across the field, leaping into the bleachers, and punching Mr. Orbit’s lights out.
“Listen, I have to go, but know that I’
m here if you want to talk about your mom. I understand.” He patted her shoulder, and she flinched.
When she didn’t respond further, he got up and left. She felt tears in her eyes again. He was going to make this impossible. Fallen wiped her nose and put a hand on her chest. She couldn’t quite take a deep breath. Being around Mr. Orbit felt like being locked in the truck of his fancy car while he drove her who knows where. She would have to compromise a lot to see Thomas. But she knew her heart wouldn’t let her make any other choice.
After she got her nerves under control, she focused on connecting with Ellen. Though now she wondered if it was too big a risk. She wouldn’t put it past Orbit to be sneaking around, watching her.
Fenn was on the bench to start the game. Fallen picked up the mess of her cup and sidestepped her way out of the bleachers, finding a trash can to toss it in. She took the opportunity to look all around, remembering that Ellen had on a red jacket. In a sea of blue shirts and scarves supporting the home team, the red jacket was easy to spot.
Ellen met her gaze like she’d been waiting for it to happen. Fallen watched as the woman excused herself from the man beside her and began to walk toward the building.
The bathroom seemed to be Ellen’s go-to meeting spot, and Fallen followed her at a distance—though she wasn’t sure why she bothered. If Orbit was peeping from somewhere, he would know they were up to something.
Ellen smiled like they were good friends as their eyes met in the mirror. Another woman was also washing her hands, so Fallen played along.
“I heard your son plays for Poughkeepsie?”
Ellen responded, “Why, yes, he’s number 33.”
The hand-washing woman left, and Ellen checked the stalls.
“We’re alone.”
When she turned back toward her, Fallen took in her earmuffs and tall boots. Ellen looked elegant and like she had money for days.
“I’ve been checking my email for a response.” Fallen folded her arms.
“Are you with him? I saw you two hugging.” Ellen folded her arms as well.
“Are you jealous? Is that what this is about? Because I honestly have too much on my plate right now to deal with that.” Fallen edged for the door. Maybe the woman had nothing to offer and the best thing to do would be walk away.
“Understand this: I’ll never be jealous of that man in my life.” Ellen stood straighter. “He took things from me that I cherished. I’m just grateful I outsmarted him. And I want to offer you some hope. I just have to know that I can trust you.”
Fallen thought she saw compassion on the woman’s face. Ellen unfolded her arms and pointed in the direction of the bleachers.
“I found my true love here, while I’m awake. We’re together every day now. But it was a fight, and Lad did everything he could to prevent it from happening. It was worth it, though. My husband is worth any fight.” Ellen made her leather-gloved hands into fists.
Fallen recognized Ellen’s determination; it was reflected in her heart as well.
“Joe and I were an anomaly. People who dream in the room aren’t usually able to meet in person.” Ellen looked nervously at the door. “And I never want to risk what Joe and I have. But I think technology is the downfall. Before the internet, people weren’t able to track each other as easily.”
The bathroom door opened to admit an older woman. “Ellen? There’s a Joe waiting for you outside. He asked me to tell you Lad’s car is in the parking lot?”
“Thank you. Very much.” Ellen looked at Fallen. “Just keep at it. Don’t stop looking. I’ll try to send more emails if I can. I just don’t want Lad to know that we talk—that could put both of us in danger. Please be as discreet as possible. Good luck.”
And with that, she left the bathroom. Fallen waited a moment to give her a head start, then returned to her seat in the stands and tried, without much success, to focus on the game.
···
Fallen used Sunday to get groceries and clean the house. There was laundry to be done. She also hid Fenn’s watch again, loosening a board in her closet this time and adding some Elmer’s glue that did a damn good job of keeping the wood from rattling around when it was touched.
In the afternoon she and Fenn did yard work together, and Fenn told her he’d seen their mother downtown, walking hand in hand with a man. When he’d waved, Nora had turned her back. Fenn had rationalized this as their mother just not seeing him, but Fallen had darker thoughts of Nora not wanting Fritz to meet her kids—or maybe even know she had any. Fenn said Nora had looked pretty clear, their code for not completely intoxicated, but Fallen cautioned him to not get his hopes up. She told him a version of what Mr. Orbit had said about the visit from Nora at work because it seemed to be the only way to help him understand her current state.
As usual, he managed this news better than she’d expected, and they had a nice dinner of homemade pizza after they had cleaned up from working outside. Fallen felt like the day had been well spent.
On Monday, Desta was absent again from work. Fallen walked behind maids 8 and 9 and heard them wondering about it. Apparently Desta’s attendance record was legendary, so this was unusual—and a bit alarming. Fallen wondered if Desta was ill or if Orbit had “suggested” leave for her again. She had things she wanted to ask Desta about Ellen. Could he have anticipated that? And she was also eager to report about her experience with Adelaide. She just plain missed the only woman at work she thought of as a friend.
Instead of any chatting, Fallen cleaned four extra rooms on Desta’s floor, but she couldn’t bring herself to skip 514 to save time. She had to be in the place where she found her gateway to Thomas, even if right now it was closed.
After dusting the desk, Fallen picked up the antique mirror to shine the front. When she caught sight of herself in the reflection, she squinted. Just past her, she thought she could see something—a moving picture like a tiny television set in the top left corner. It sure looked like Thomas... And then a little brown puppy came bounding over. The man picked up the dog and rubbed its head before looking in her direction. She wondered if he could feel her watching him.
And when she blinked, all of it was gone. The mirror held nothing but her reflection. Maybe she’d made it up in her head. She’d used her imagination to drum him up because she missed him so much. Fallen hugged the mirror to her chest before she remembered the camera watching her. Then she shined it again and set it back on the desk. All she really wanted to do was tuck it in her cart and take it home to stare in it. Instead, she finished her routine.
As she walked home and then made dinner for Fenn after he got home from practice, Fallen thought about the mirror. She’d have to pay attention to it when she fell asleep on Thursday to see if it did anything. She remembered seeing a flash of light in it once or twice when she was transitioning from the dream place.
Tuesday, she saw Fenn off to school—or to the weight room, actually—and scooted off to work. She was pleased to see Desta had made it when she arrived, but the woman looked a little worse for the wear. Seems her sick day had been legit and not Orbit-induced.
“How’s it going?” Fallen gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder.
“Doc wants me to quit the cigs.” Desta huddled over in what looked like a painful round of coughing. She kept one hand on her mouth and the other in the center of her chest. “But I ain’t no quitter.”
“I know.” Fallen gave her a half smile. She appreciated Desta’s dedication to the hotel and, in a twisted way, even her smoky testament to Burt.
“Did the doctor give you anything for the cough?” They arrived at the supply closet and Fallen helped Desta pull her cart out. Someone had refreshed it before Fallen had a chance to, and she looked at the housekeepers for 8 and 9. “Thanks,” she mouthed, and they nodded. Their concern for Desta had been genuine, and it was a relief to see that maybe they weren’t completely evil.
“No. Just told me to add honey to my tea and take some painkillers for my chest. He’s tr
ying to get me to start with the e-cigs, but that feels like cheating a little on Burt.” Desta gave Fallen a broken look. “It’ll get better as the day goes on. Think I’m just fighting something off.”
Fallen decided to follow Desta to her floor and do the four rooms she’d worked on yesterday to make the woman’s day a little lighter.
8 and 9 had already started on their share of Desta’s rooms, but Desta fought them all when she realized their plan. Eventually they each agreed to do only three rooms and let Desta do a few of her own.
Fallen was happy when she finished her allotment in about the same amount of time as 8 and 9. She was getting better at her job. They all crowded into the birdcage when it was time to go up to their own floors.
“Damn. Desta looks rough,” 8 tisked. “I don’t like her color. It’s all, like, gray and shit.”
9 agreed. “Desta, she’s the real deal. Did I tell you about when my kid was in the hospital? It was before you were hired. I thought I was fired for missing so much work.”
8 nodded. “Yeah, you told me. Ol’ D did your rooms and logged you in so you’d get paid.”
9 shrugged. “When a woman helps you with your child? That’s a good person. She didn’t even know me yet either.”
8 snorted as the elevator stopped on five. “You’re lucky about that. If she’d known what an asshole you are, she never woulda helped you.”
9 grabbed the spray bottle of water off her cart and squirted 8 as Fallen pushed open the gate and pulled her cart forward.
As she stood in the hallway, 8 addressed her like a person, for possibly the first time ever. “It’s good, you helping Desta. She needs a friend. Nice lady.”
“Thanks, you too. And I agree. She’s an open heart.” Fallen waved as she maneuvered her cart down the hall.
“Later, rookie,” 9 called as the door closed.
Fallen shook her head and allowed herself a sigh of relief.
After a few more hours of work, she took a lunch break to see Desta, whose color did look much better now. She asked Fallen about the new job and seemed happy to hear Adelaide was such a sweetheart.