Jealousy (Hazel)

It had been weeks since I saw Markos again. He was nowhere in the hotel premises in my first three weeks of work. I started to believe that he never came around that hotel. It was probably his least-visited hotel.

Disappointment hit me in waves. It felt like I was back in college begging for his attention, begging for him to tell him what I did after ghosting me. I hated that I felt like crying.

Knowing he knew I worked in his hotel and he didn’t come to see me hit hard. I wanted answers for our past mess and at the same time, I also wanted his attention. I would be lying if I said I didn’t still have feelings for him.

“Hazel, you’ve been asked to clean the penthouse,” Derek stated as he passed by me.

I was at the reception checking my book of chores. The penthouse suite hadn’t been slotted for me in the book. I started to think that maybe Derek had mistaken me for someone else.

But I squished that thought when I remembered how much he hated me. He never treated other housekeepers the way he treated me. He was cordial and formal with them while he threw insults my way.

I didn’t respond to any of that because I hated confrontation. I also didn’t want to lose the job that I had just started. I couldn’t get comfortable and think Markos would have my back.

Staying quiet was the only option I had.

“Can I get the keycard to the penthouse, Julia?” I asked the front desk reception.

“Oh, it’s occupied at the moment. You can just go in.”

I furrowed my eyebrows at her in question. The rules clearly stated that we weren’t supposed to clean rooms when they were occupied with guests.

“But…”

“Don’t worry about the occupant. You can go and clean now.”

Nodding my head, I went into the elevator with my cleaning equipment. I tapped my foot on the ground as it went up. When the door opened into the penthouse suite, I grabbed my cleaning equipment and went inside.

However, my steps faltered when I took in the scene in front of me. Markos was locking lips with a woman in the middle of the penthouse. For a moment, I just stood there watching them.

The woman was very hot from where I was standing and she was nothing like me. She was more gorgeous, and taller, and her hair was perfectly straight.

His hands were on her waist with his eyes closed like he was enjoying every sensation he was receiving from the kiss. He acted like he would have much rather been kissing her than doing anything else.

It stung…bad. It felt like a lump was stuck in my throat and my chest constricted painfully. Anger and feelings of self-loathing rose. Before I realized it, I was glaring at the pair.

The woman’s eyes opened and she saw me. She pulled away, bringing Markos’ attention to me.

I felt embarrassed, having just been caught watching the two of them kissing.

“I-I’m sorry. I’ll be back later.”

“She’s a creep, Markos. Did you see her? She was watching us.”

“I wasn’t—”

“Shut up, helper. I saw you watching us. Do you wish it was you kissing him instead of me?” She asked as she sized me up. “Wake up, bitch. You’ll never have a man like him.”

As she spewed every word of disrespect, Markos just stood there watching the whole scene with a calm look on his face. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking but it hurt that he let the woman he’d brought up to his penthouse insult me like that.

Especially when I had been told it was okay to go and clean while it was occupied.

“I apologize. I was told I could clean this room despite being occupied.” I said as I looked anywhere but at the pair in front of me. I felt like crying and I didn’t want to show them weakness.

I felt humiliated, embarrassed, and hurt. I swore nothing could have compared to the rollercoaster of emotions running wild in my chest.

“You can clean. We’ll excuse you.” Markos uttered calmly.

He grabbed her hand and dragged her upstairs, probably to his room. I wanted to break down because I was away from prying eyes but I couldn’t allow myself to let the negative emotions seep in.

Instead, I took deep breaths and pushed back the tears threatening to fall.

I cleaned aggressively as I thought of Markos and that woman I’d seen with him. She was blonde with ocean-blue eyes. I couldn’t deny that she was gorgeous and hot as well. She had a body most women coveted.

She was nothing like she. She was the opposite of me. She was better than me. Why would he want to kiss a woman like me when he had a woman like her to kiss?

I didn’t want to hear them fucking which I was certain they were doing so I cleaned as quickly as I could and got ready to leave. I would clean the bedroom another time, preferably when they were gone.

But just as I waited for the elevator doors to open, I heard a series of giggles and footsteps. I prayed for the elevator to open fast but of course, luck was not on my side.

“Miss. Thompson,” Markos called.

I closed my eyes tightly before opening them and turning around. “Yes, sir?”

“You can clean my room now.”

I couldn’t help but notice how carelessly he’d buttoned his shirt and how his lips were full of smudged lipstick. His hair was a mess and so was the woman’s hair. Her lipstick was smudged and she was barefoot.

She couldn’t take her hands off Markos and he didn’t mind it. If anything, he seemed to enjoy it. It hurt to watch the spectacle.

I wasn’t trying to get caught staring at them again so I headed upstairs to clean his room. The bed looked like it had been slept on and there was a condom wrapper on the ground. I took out the sheets and added a new set before cleaning the floors and the bathroom.

Among other things I found was a pair of used underwear, probably from the woman downstairs. I put in the trash among the other items and arranged Markos’ wardrobe. He had an impressive collection of designer suits, ties, and shoes.

I put everything as it was supposed to be before leaving. The girl was gone by the time I went downstairs. I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to Markos.

He’d told me he would help me by giving me a job but I felt like there were some ulterior motives. The fact that he personally requested I clean his penthouse while he was in there with another woman proved he wanted to show me nothing would happen between us because he was over me.

I made peace with not getting answers from him as to what happened years ago. I had also made peace with not being good enough for him anymore. What I needed to do was squash any feelings I had for him and show him I could make lemons out of lemonade.

He was standing in front of his glass walls looking down below as he held his phone against his ear with one hand and a glass of whiskey with the other.

When he heard me, he looked behind for two seconds before he turned around and ignored me completely. It stung but I ignored the sting and left.

When I went home that day, I spent almost an hour looking in the mirror. I analyzed all my flaws, feeling my self-esteem only got lower. I’d thinned out over the past couple of months and all the features I liked about myself were gone.

My breasts and ass were smaller, my full cheeks were less full, and I looked older than my age. Before I knew it, tears were falling down my face. I’d never felt that low in my entire life.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe the more I compared myself to the woman I’d seen in Markos’ penthouse. He’d been back barely a month and I was back to the hell he’d thrown me in when he first left me.