Time

I watched her hypnotize my coworkers, each of them listening intently as she handed out assignments. They were simple tasks, like dinner was to be outside her door at 6PM sharp, and warm towels at 9AM. Simple, but she said each as if it were gravely important, accentuating it with a large tip and a promise of more. She went through everyone on shift, except me. I had come in late and was hanging back, observing the commotion at the front desk.

She looked young, only a few years older than I was, maybe. But her confidence — it was obvious that asking for things was just a formality. She was going to get whatever she wanted, but still, she asked kindly. She ran the room with a grace and authority that only comes with age.

When her gaze came to rest on me, it was her eyes that really struck me, an almost imperceptible, but unnerving difference between the two. Her right eye had a glimmer in it, excited, almost impish, but her left eye showed no reflection. No glimmer. No light at all. In fact, it seemed to do the opposite, as if it were absorbing light.

I was standing in front of her before I even realized I'd moved. "Please put two bottles of cold water outside of my door every morning at 7:30." She slipped something into my hand. I nodded, mesmerized. Then, she whirled around to face the crew. "Now, who's showing me to my room?" The three men behind the desk clambered to get out in front first.

"Wait! I don't get in until three. I'll switch with someone."

She barely looked back as she made her way to the elevators. "No. It has to be you. You'll figure it out."

I looked down and saw it was a $100 bill in my hand. Apparently, I'd figure it out.

—————

After three weeks of waking up early to get to the hotel before class, I was growing tired of her games. I noted my coworkers were also coming in during their off-hours. We had completely disrupted our schedules for her, and it didn't make sense. Someone on the first shift could have easily dropped off her water at 7:30AM, and I certainly was capable of delivering her dinner at 6PM. However, she was adamant about who did what, and I didn't want to seem ungrateful. A fresh stack of tip envelopes was behind the front desk every morning, except for the day after we tried to swap assignments. She got her water, towels, and other requests as usual, but somehow, she knew we'd switched. There were no tips the following morning. I wasn't willing to try that again; the extra money was taking a big chunk out of my student loans. Still, I was losing over two hours of my day to the additional commute. My schedule was already tight, so I was cutting into the only time I had left: my sleep. I knew my coworkers were doing the same. I was exhausted, we all were, but we powered through. It couldn't be for that much longer. How long was she planning on staying?

—————

Another three weeks went by, and we heard she would be staying indefinitely. Then, we found out she had been tipping housekeeping to not clean her room. That did it. We had to know more about her. Sleep deprivation and curiosity clouded our better judgement.

"Cassie, you have to. You're the only girl."

"Woman," I corrected him.

"Whatever. You gotta do it. We'd get in way more trouble."

"Not 'whatever.' If I called you a boy, you'd be pissed."

"Okaaaay. Are you gonna do it, Woman?"

"Fine."

On a technicality, I won the privilege of sneaking into her room.

—————

One of the guys gave me a nod when I clocked in, which meant she left that morning and had not returned. She came back at the same time every day, so I had about one hour to do my detective work. I swiped the master key and made my way to the top floor.

Upstairs, I glanced around one last time before I quietly opened her door. Light from the hallway flooded the entryway. I tip-toed deeper into the room. It was dim, but I could make out dozens of water bottles lining the wall, all unopened. The curtains were drawn. The bed was—

"Cassandra. I knew it would be you." I jumped back and fumbled for the light switch. There she was, sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed, heels and all.

"I'm sorry! I thought you weren't here," I blurted out as I tried to back out of the room.

She let out a laugh. "You realize me not being here wouldn’t make your snooping any better, right?"

"Right. I...we...We thought—"

"It's okay. I'm not mad. Fortune favors the bold, dear." There it was again. Usually, when a young person calls you "dear," it's condescending. When she said it, it felt sincere.

I nervously avoided eye contact, looking around the room instead, which appeared to be completely uninhabited. No bags, everything untouched, dusty. She picked up the hotel's complimentary pen and pad from the nightstand, scribbled something, and tore off the sheet. "Tomorrow, you still have to bring the water. That's very important. Then, meet me here at 9AM." She handed me the address and pulled a little black notebook from her handbag. "Hold onto this, too. Look through it and bring it with you tomorrow. You should go back to work now. Don't forget the water. No matter what."

I slipped the address, which was just a few blocks away, under the back cover of the notebook. At the door, I hesitated. "You were waiting for me. How did you know?"

She waved me off. "Sweetie, when you get to be my age, you learn a thing or two about people."

—————

That night, as I was walking home from the bus, I was looking through the book. It was just a bunch of names with numbers next to them in a uniform, handwritten script:

Michael 15

Shana 273

Reggie 164

It was almost full, with only eight empty lines on the last page. I felt a buzz on my hip. Distracted, I reached for my pocket, and, not realizing how close I was to a fence, snagged my sleeve as I pulled my phone out. The alert was a text message from one of the guys. u get caught? sugar mama’s checking out tmrw @ 8am. Ima miss $100 towel deliveries.

When I got home, I saw the fence had torn a giant hole in my coat sleeve. I sighed and left a note for my mom, asking her to sew it up for me. Except for weekends, we didn't see each other much, especially since Mystery Woman checked in. She was a paramedic on the night shift and got home after I left in the mornings. During the week, we mostly communicated through notes and texts.

The next morning, I took out the book to double check the address and sharply inhaled. The last page only had one blank line left. Seven of the empty lines from the night before now had the names of my coworkers—Antony 108, James 65–in that same strange handwriting. I felt fuzzy. Were those there before? It was dark, and there was the text message, and the fence. Maybe I was on a different page? Unsure and little spooked, I threw myself together, found an old coat in the closet, and ran out the door.

I dropped off the "very important" water and went to a nearby cafe to kill time. Sipping tea, barely keeping my eyes open, I flipped through the notebook again, trying to make sense of it. When I got to the last page, my heart jumped. Plain as day, in that bright corner of the cafe, it clearly read Cassandra 92. I slammed it shut and jammed it into my bag. Everything felt wrong, but I had to know what was going on. 9AM was approaching. I steeled myself and started walking toward the address. A sudden jolt of energy rushed down my spine and out through my fingertips. My eyes snapped open, and I took a deep, full breath. I was awake, sharper than I had been in weeks. It was a strong kick for a small tea, but, GOD, it felt good. My phone started buzzing. I ignored it. Whatever it was could wait.

—————

I sat across from her, incredulous. "You're...a...sleep vampire?"

"What? No. I'm not anything. It's the book. The book does it."

"Will I be rich too?"

"I can't guarantee it, but you'll be amazed at what you can amass when you live for over 200 years and never sleep. But I will start you off with this." She slid a folded piece of paper over to me. "My predecessor did the same for me. It's a tradition of sorts. Think of it as a signing bonus."

I picked it up and unfolded a $20,000 check. "Wow...I don’t...thank you? Soooo what happens now?"

"You just have to make people lose sleep over you. Favors...heartbreak...get creative. One hour of lost sleep means one extra hour of life for you. The book will record it for you, one line per person. Try to get the most you can out of each because once it fills up, you're done, and the book resets for the person on the last line."

"And I’ll steal their...life? No, I can't do that."

"Life force, and I never stole."

"You took 92 hours from me! And Ant and James and...all these people!" I waved the book at her.

"I paid you $4200 for that. I'm sure you've given away a lot more for much less. And get off your high horse. Of course you can. You already have. I can tell by your eyes. Let's see the book."

The names were gone. "It's blank..."

She took it from me. "Did you get a sudden burst of energy earlier? You did," she smirked. "It felt good didn't it? Yes. See? Here," she had turned to the first page with a single name on the top line. "Who's Miriam?"

My stomach dropped. I remembered the text I blew off earlier. Eyes filling up, I slowly took my phone out and read the message I'd ignored. Hi honey. I stayed up and fixed your coat. Can’t have my baby walking around with holes in her sleeves! Love you!

Mom.

A wave of nausea rolled over me. I snatched the book from her hand and tore at the page, but it wouldn't rip. "What is this?!" I threw the book at her. My knees buckled, and the world fell out from under me as shadows swirled in. I faintly heard her say, "You'll get used to it." Then, darkness.

—————

I woke up disoriented and frantically searched for my phone, keys, and wallet. Moving. I was moving.

"Don't throw up in my car, princess."

I was in a cab. My coat and bag were next to me with my things, including the notebook and the check. "Where are we going?"

The driver eyed me in his rear-view mirror. "You tell me. Your friend paid me 200 bucks to drive in circles until you woke up. Said you'd being going downtown to Chambers Street or somewhere in Staten Island."

School or home. "Ummm..."

"My shift ends in 20 minutes. I'll take you downtown, but Staten Island's over an hour away. If you pay like your friend, I'll take you. Otherwise, you're going downtown."

"$200 for Staten Island!? Your time's that precious? Whatd'ya got a date?"

"Yeah. With my bed. I been working since midnight, girlie."

"Girlie?" A flash of anger ran through me. I let it pass before I spoke. "Just head down Broadway. I gotta think about it."