Page 5 of Baking With A Rockstar

Ariella

I’m fine, calm down Valiente. I’m getting ready to go to work.

Nero

Call me when you finish work. I’m heading to the hospital to check on Cassiel.

Ariella

Okay.

Nero

Okay?

Ariella

Yes Sir.

Nero

Good Girl.

Even through text, I can hear his voice. Who knew a two-word phrase could really work a girl up? I’m so smitten with everything that it takes me a while to catch on to Alma scowling at me from behind her desk. I put my phone back into my backpack.

“Sorry,” I apologize.

It was going to be hard to stop hyper-focusing on anything but Nero today. My apology falls flat, as Alma’s entire demeanor comes off as irritation. Her eyes turn stoic when they zoom in on my neck. My ponytail has fallen to the back, so I shove it back to the front and readjust the hood on my sweatshirt.

She either really hates the Dodgers, or she really hates me.

“I’m sorry. Is everything okay?” I ask, trying to alleviate the awkward tension.

I didn’t know anything about Alma besides that she was Thalia’s friend. There was a moment when she lusted over Axel, but it’s common for women to throw themselves at my brother. Maybe she’s projecting her anger at his rejection onto me.

“It’s fine. When you finish the rooms, you’ll need to clean the staff’s bathroom. I take it you know where everything is?” Her voice is short. I smile and nod before heading to the supply closet.

All of Vicente Consuelo’s grandchildren knew how to carry their own weight at the hotel at a young age. My brothers andI were forced to spend the summers in Texas working for my grandparents. Of all the things afforded to me, the lessons in work ethic were the most valuable.

From the time I could hold a broom, I was with my grandmother, learning how to make a bed and fold neat corners.

Cleaning rooms was a different type of nostalgia for me. I take in the scent of Fabuloso, stick in my ear pods, and find a Corrido Tumbado playlist.

Stripping beds, cleaning tubs and washing linen- all while dealing drugs in my head. My body moves to the music, I dance with the vacuum, and I use the broomstick as a mic. It’s a whole ass vibe. Time goes by quickly, and it’s not until my air pods die that I realize I’ve been cleaning for five hours straight.

I had been so engrossed with cleaning that I forgot to check my phone. Nero still hasn’t said anything from this morning, but I had paragraphs from my mother. Ya, I’m not reading that book. Probably more shit on the Cuevas family. I didn’t want to think about that.

While I was offering up my virginity on a silver platter, both my parents were also sick with the stomach flu. Most of my mom’s messages during that time were just pictures of herself getting IV Drips.

Adriana Consuelo hated discomfort. It was the one reason why she wanted to shelter me from it. Something as little as a sickness made her fly over the edge. Who knows how much money she spent on all those IV drips? Ever since I had to watch my own money, I have been more annoyed to think about how easily others were wasting theirs.

Speaking of money, I need to text Alfonso and see if he can come by this weekend. I need a nail fill, and Alfonso was a one-stop shop for everything. If you need a pet groomer, he was your guy. Need your nails filled or your hair cut? He was yourguy. A new car stereo system? Again, he was your guy. It was impressive all the business endeavors he was involved in.

Ariella

Can I stop by this weekend?

Wait, no, Nero will kill me if I go back there. Unsend that.