The Devil’s Angel

t to suck this much at it. She had caught the head receptionist throwing dirty looks her way all day because her brain had simply refused to register that the spa was located on the seventh

e to stand behind a desk, squinting at a computer all day, repeat information about the hotel's facilities and services like some kinda robot and worse of all, doing all these in an uncomfortable skirt and blouse as was the hotel's policy. "You keep zoning out. You're sure you're okay?" Tina asked softly. Her brows were furrowed slightly and Tiana thought for a moment that she couldn't tell if it was out of concern or plain irritation. "Yeah, I'm good. I just kinda spaced out earlier but I'm okay". There was no use in telling Tina who was so loving this job at Kimbaki that she felt suffocated, that she did not understand why she was she here, that she thought that she looked like a clown in her uniform, that she did not mean to sound like a douchebag but that this job that Tina had worked so hard to snag, had been given to her on a platter of gold and oh, she was not ecstatic about it at all. She hated it so much, she wished she could run away. She felt like a player in the game of soccer who desperately prayed to be taken off the bench but when the so much anticipated moment finally came, she realized that the game had been changed and that they were now playing badminton. "I need to use the restroom. Can you manage on your own for a minute?" Tiana nodded and then thinking better of it, gave a verbal answer. "Yeah, sure" she said and stretched her lips into something that suspiciously resembled a smile. She was sure Tina did not understand her. She had caught her throwing curious glances her way as if she was trying to figure her out. In the first ten minutes that she had met Tina, she had heard all about Tina's grandmother at the welfare home and her boyfriend Jake, who was the sweetest creation that Earth had ever produced. She had painstakingly listened and nodded through the story of what Jake had set up for their last Valentine's day celebration. And the one before the last. And the one before that until she could bear it no longer and had to excuse herself. "What the?!" Tina had laughed. "I thought you were mute". Tiana had been astounded. "You thought I was mute" she'd repeated. "No offense. You just kept nodding along without saying nothing. I kinda thought...". Tiana did not think she could consider herself a quiet person. This job was simply sucking the life out of her. She took a deep breath and looked up. Even though she hated this with an hatred that surpassed that which she had for cold medicine, she was determined to put up with it. She was muttering "I'm not a quitter" to herself for the thirteenth time when her eyes caught the figure rapidly approaching the front desk. She cleared