Love at your service

Glenwood Springs, Colorado

\" He, Jess, table no. 3 is ready to go!” Aunt Edna, the owner of the busy diner, yelled to the back of the kitchen where a lonely figure was crouched on the floor.

Jess Van Zant was sitting in the kitchen doorway, overlooking the small backyard of Aunt Edna\'s Diner. Her full name was Jordan Jess Van Zant, but everybody called her Jess. Jordan was a name that she didn\'t like to use, since it reminded her of the fact that her father had wanted her to be a boy. He hadn\'t wanted a daughter and when her brother Aidan was born, he had been over the moon and had immediately forgotten the existence of his daughter. She sighed as she looked down on her half-eaten cheese sandwich and diet coke, which was lunch that day. She\'d only been sitting down for 5 minutes enjoying a few moments of peace during the busy lunch hour rush at Edna\'s. \'No rest for the wicked\", she thought as she stood up and threw the rest of her unfinished sandwich in the bin and finished her diet coke.

As she walked through the kitchen, picking up the order for table no. 3, she couldn\'t help but notice the grouchy tiles, the grease stains and the dirty apron that Aunt Edna wore day in day out. How on earth had she ended up here? She had gone from being a successful front desk manager in a 4 star hotel to being a waitress in a roadway diner in a month\'s time! Well hopefully it was only for a few more weeks and waiting tables was always better than nothing. She remembered the awful scene in her office with her last boss when he had tried to take advantage of her. Brrr, the shivers rolled down her spine even thinking about it again. Her refusal to go along with him was the reason why she was here now.
After quitting her job at the Vista Inn, she had taken on the job at Edna\'s as a temporary solution to her unemployment. Since then she had applied to various jobs in hotels around Colorado and even one in Las Vegas, but hadn\'t had any luck so far. Well, maybe today?

\"Come on Jess, the guests are waiting! You can daydream in your own time, but not while you\'re on my payroll!\" Jess hurried in to the restaurant and placed the order on table no. 3, where George and Jerry Mackey, owners of the local hardware store, were seated. \"Hi there boys, how are you doing?\" They ate at the diner nearly every day, and Jess always enjoyed having a little chat with them.
George, the eldest of the two brothers and married to her best friend Rita, smiled at Jess. \"Well sunshine, seeing you always makes my day! Jess laughed and said: \"I am sure Rita has more to do with that! How are the boys, doing?\" George and Rita had been happily married for a year now and were the proud parents of the two-month old twin boys Luke and Jake. Rita and Jess had been best friends since high school, and she was a close friend to both Rita and George. Jess had baby-sat for them last week on Rita\'s birthday, when George had taken her out for dinner. Jess adored the two little boys, who had blond hair and blue eyes like both their parents. \"They\'re doing great, Jess, we are enjoying every moment!”
Jess turned to Jerry, who had been staring at her the whole time. Jerry had had a crush on her for as long as she could remember, but unfortunately the feeling wasn\'t mutual. Jerry was a nice guy, not bad-looking either, but after the painful break-up with her fiancé Jason, she had sworn off men forever. She straightened her back, as if to get rid of the bad memories and said to Jerry: \"Enjoy your lunch, Jer, I have to get back to the other guests.\"

She walked over to the next table to take their order, unaware of the many stares that she got from the men present in the diner. She was a tall blonde with beautiful curly hair, big green eyes and curves in all the right places. Personally, Jess would have preferred a little less of everything. Her full bosom too often attracted attention to herself from men and women always seemed to dislike her for her looks. Unfortunately, the unflattering uniform in
Edna\'s favourite colours, brown and beige, did not help either, since the fabric stretched against her bosom every time she leaned over the tables to deliver or remove an order. Jess secretly suspected Edna of buying her a uniform a size too small on purpose, as a sales pitch to attract more men in the diner!

Five hours later, Jess walked home the few blocks to her tiny apartment, glad to be able to breathe in the fresh air after inhaling smoke and cooking odours all day. When she walked up the stairs to her 1st floor apartment, she hurried up the last steps, eager to see if she had received a reply to one of her applications. So far she hadn\'t had any luck. Either they weren\'t hiring at present or she was overqualified for the job, too inexperienced or they didn\'t even have the decency to send her a reply! The problem was that she desperately needed another job. Edna\'s wasn\'t exactly a gold mine, nor did it do much for her resume. The longer she had to stay there the harder it would be to find another job.

As she opened the door to her apartment, she picked up the mail and flipped through it. Yes! Two envelopes from hotels that she had written! She opened the first one, which was from a luxury hotel in Aspen. Unfortunately they didn\'t have any vacancies at present, but they would keep her application on file for any future vacancies. One down, one to go. Fingers crossed, she thought.
The second letter was stamped in New York. \"That\'s odd, she thought, I didn\'t write to any hotels in New York\". She eagerly opened the envelope and removed the letter carefully. For some reason, it felt as if this letter was the key to her future. She felt the nerves tighten in her stomach. At the top of the paper, the elegant logo of Carter Hotels was printed in royal blue. \"Carter Hotels! Yes, the hotel in Vegas\". She quickly started to read the neatly typed letter. It read:

\"Dear Mr. Van Zant,

We are pleased to invite you to a personal interview regarding the position of Front Desk Manager at our newly opening Carter Hotel in Las Vegas. The interview will take place at the Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

Please contact my secretary, Ms Julie Inglewood, to schedule an appointment and to take care of the flight reservations. After the interviews with all remaining candidates, we will decide on the perfect candidate.

I look forward to meeting you,

Yours sincerely,


Todd Levinson
General Manager\"

Unable to say or do anything, Jess stared at the letter. She felt paralysed with excitement; finally her future looked a little brighter. Quitting her job after being sexually intimidated by her boss, the break-up with Jason and having to work at Edna\'s diner had all been very depressing and stressful. But now things were looking up. She had a chance on a great job at a brand new hotel!
The Carter Hotel chain was known for its luxurious hotels in which guests could expect the best possible service and were willing to pay for it. It would be a step up from the small but charming 4 star Vista Inn that she had worked at as Front Desk Manager for the past two years. She had started working at the Vista Inn during holidays and at weekends when she was 16 years old, cleaning rooms and later also waiting tables.


After studying hotel management, she had worked as a Front Desk supervisor at a luxury hotel in Vail for two years, when she had been approached by the owners of the Vista Inn, Mr. & Mrs. Kent, to come back to the hotel as Front Desk Manager. She had gladly accepted this opportunity.
Recently the Kent’s, who had always treated Jess more like a daughter than an employee, had sold the hotel to start enjoying early retirement in Florida. The new owner, Ray Winfield, seemed very nice and professional with lots of new ideas for the hotel. He was married and had a son. After many late night meetings together, however, she discovered that he was more interested in her performance in bed than at the hotel. One night while she was reading a market strategy report, he had come up behind her and had grabbed her by her breasts, while placing a wet kiss in her neck. At the same time he was saying how they would be so good together and that he could \"help\" her further her career if she would be good to him!

Without hesitating, she had got up out of her chair and had tried to push him away. \"Aha, he had said, you like it a little rough don\'t you!\" And while saying this he had pushed her on to his desk and laid himself on top of her, touching her under her skirt. By this time, Jess had been scared by his aggressiveness and had brought up her knee to his crutch with as much force as possible in her uncomfortable and vulnerable position. He swore and put his hands to his injured body part, giving Jess the possibility to get away from him. She had turned to him, her eyes furious. \"Mr. Winfield, I don\'t know what gave you the idea that I would be available to you, but I am not, do you understand! YYYou are disgusting! She was stuttering by now from the shock. \"Don\'t you dare try to touch me again, or I will file charges for sexual harassment!\"
\"You bitch, he screamed at her, you are always swaying your hips at me or trying to seduce me with your breasts in those tight dresses of yours. Did you think I wouldn\'t notice? I know your type, always trying to reach the top by sleeping with the boss!\"
Jess had looked at him in shock while he was accusing her of all those terrible things. The man that she saw in front of her was not the kind and sophisticated man that she had taken him for, but an arrogant chauvinist that obviously believed that women were only good for one thing and it wasn\'t work! Suddenly, the resentment and anger had given Jess the power to stand up to him. She wouldn\'t let him get away with this or her name wasn\'t Jordan Jess Van Zant! In strong but calm words, she spoke:
\"Ok, Mr. Winfield, if that is how you feel, I quit my job immediately. After this incident, I don\'t think that we can work together anymore. I will clear my desk in the morning and of course I will expect an excellent reference. I am sure you don\'t want everybody to know the reason of my resignation!\"
With cold blue eyes he had looked at her and said icily: \"You can expect it in the mail tomorrow\".
He had kept his word and partly due to his raving reference she was now invited to a job interview for her dream job. She looked at her watch, it was too late to call New York to finalize the details of her trip, but she would call first thing in the morning. All of a sudden, she felt as if she could take on the world! She had a good feeling about this job. Carter Hotels, here I come!

Only then did she realize that the letter was made out to Mr. Van Zant. Another result of her father giving her a boy\'s name. Oh well, she would straighten it out, when she would call Julie Inglewood. With renewed spirits, she started to make herself dinner and to celebrate she opened a bottle of white wine that she had lying in the refrigerator for a special occasion, just like this one.
Later that evening, as she was finishing her glass of wine while enjoying reading a romantic novel, the phone rang. It was probably Rita; they called and visited each other almost daily! Great, then she could tell her about the job in Vegas. Rita had supported her through the ordeal with Ray Winfield and later also after the break-up with Jason Tremont.


\"Hi, this is Jess\".
\"Jess, darling, it\'s Jason\".
Jess sighed, ever since he had basically dumped her, he kept calling and wanting to meet with her.
\"Jason, what can I do for you?\".
\"How about dinner Saturday night, at my place. I\'ll make a nice meal for you?\"
Jason cooking dinner for her? That would be a first!

Jason Tremont was the son of Ty Tremont, the owner of Tremont Real Estate, with businesses all over Colorado. Jason himself worked at the Glenwood Springs office and promised to be a successful heir to his father\'s throne. His mother, Mabel Tremont - Deveraux, was from a rich and prominent family from Louisiana and she had always rejected the relationship between her only son and Jess. Jordan Jess Van Zant came from an insignificant family, her father hadn\'t been able to keep any job longer than a year and her mother was a housewife. All a bit too bourgeois for Mrs. Tremont.
She had gotten on great with her father-in-law, but the dominant Mabel had made sure that Jess never felt welcome or at home at the Tremont family mansion. At first Jason had supported her and stood up for her whenever Mabel thought it necessary to put down Jess or her family, but later on he had joined his mother. Jess was sure that the only reason that he had been interested in her was the fact that she had refused to go out with him at first. Never before had a woman turned him down. After that he had pursued her constantly, sending flowers and cards, inviting her for romantic candlelight dinners and when she finally agreed to go out with him to the cinema, he had been elated.
Two months later they got engaged and she thought that her life was perfect. She had a man that adored and loved her (or so she thought) and she genuinely enjoyed being with him! The only thing that didn\'t work between them was the physical part of their relationship. When they had first slept together, Jess had still been a virgin, and she had expected a lot of their first time. Jason\'s idea of making love though was too make sure that his needs came first and then he would turn around and fall asleep!
Then after a while, Jason had started to make remarks about her looks and figure. Either her dress was the wrong colour or too sexy, and didn\'t she think that she would look a lot better losing a few pounds? Every time that she was invited to the Tremont mansion for \"an informal get together with friends\" she had felt more and more insecure about her appearance. She had always been content with her looks but now she started to wonder if indeed she wasn\'t a bit overweight? Soon after, she started to doubt whether her feelings for Jason were strong enough, but she had been too insecure to talk to him about it.
When the incident with Ray had happened, she had gone straight to Jason\'s apartment to tell him about the assault and her resignation. Instead of the support that she had expected and needed from him, he had reacted furiously. He had accused her of seducing her boss and of fooling around with other men! Jason had implied that it probably wasn\'t the first time that she had cheated on him and that he couldn\'t let her ruin his and his family\'s good reputation! Jess had been too shocked to defend herself, she couldn\'t believe that Jason didn\'t trust her and immediately took sides with Ray Winfield. First Ray had betrayed her trust and loyalty and then Jason had attacked her. He obviously had never trusted her, which made their relationship a sham, totally fake. The whole evening had turned into a nightmare. How could she ever trust a man again?
With pain in her heart, she had looked at Jason and calmly told him that if that was what he believed, then it would be better to end their relationship and Jason had agreed with her. She had taken his ring off her finger, put it on the dining room table and had walked out of his life.

After the break-up she had felt crushed, but after many late-night talks with Rita, she had come to realize that she and Jason had never really loved each other. Thank god that she had found out before their marriage! If she had married Jason, she would have become a puppet of both his wishes and his mother\'s!
For some reason, Jason didn\'t want to give her up though. He kept harassing her with phone calls and letters and sometimes he even stopped by at Edna\'s to try and talk to her. She guessed that Jason believed she would have come crawling back to him and in his own childish way he probably thought that he loved her. As far as she was concerned though, they were through with each other.
She always remained polite to him, rejecting his advances and telling him to forget about her.
\"Jason, thank you very much for the offer, but unfortunately I am working Saturday night\". Since that was true, she was glad that she didn\'t have to lie to him.
\"How about next week then?\", obviously Jason wasn\'t planning on taking no for an answer.
\"Next week I have a job interview and chances are that I might get a job outside Colorado, so it\'s best if we don\'t see each other anymore\".
\"So you are going to try your luck elsewhere, huh! A new hotel and a new victim! I should have known that you wouldn\'t change!\" Jason was now screaming into the phone.
Well, obviously Jason was back to his old self again! Jess realized that talking to him would only make things worse, so she quietly hung up the phone. Straight after that, the phone started ringing again and she was sure it was Jason again, so she quickly unplugged the phone. Soon she promised herself she would be away from here, away from Jason!