The first week was a brutal adjustment. Dorothea scrubbed floors until her knuckles bled, navigating the dark, sticky corridors like a phantom. She never spoke, never complained, and never made eye contact. Her silent, machine-like efficiency quickly alienated her from the rest of the staff, who preferred to gossip and slack off in the breakroom. By the time three months passed, The Velvet Room became Dorothea's entire world.
She worked the graveyard shift, from midnight to 8:00 AM. She was a ghost.
But Leo Carter, the senior maintenance guy who trained her, hated her.
Leo was lazy. He spent half his shift smoking in the alley. Dorothea's relentless, machine-like work ethic made him look bad to management, and he punished her for it.
Tonight, the club was hosting a massive private party for a Wall Street firm. The place was a disaster zone.
Leo cornered Dorothea by the service elevators. He kicked her yellow mop bucket.
"Hey, mute," Leo snapped. "VIP lounge on the 8th floor is trashed. Somebody smashed a bottle of Dom over the velvet couches. Go clean it up."
Dorothea nodded, reaching for the button to call the service elevator.
Leo slammed his hand over the panel. "Elevator is locked down for VIPs only tonight. Security orders. You gotta take the stairs."
Dorothea froze. From the basement to the 8th floor. With a heavy caddy of industrial cleaners, trash bags, and a mop.
It was a blatant lie. The service elevator was never locked down for cleaners. It was pure, malicious bullying.
Melody, a waitress passing by, frowned. "Leo, come on, she can't carry all that up eight steep flights-"
"Mind your business, Mel," Leo barked. He looked at Dorothea with a nasty grin. "Unless you want to tell Alicia you can't do the job?"
Dorothea looked at his smug face. She didn't argue. She couldn't afford to lose this job.
She silently unhooked the heavy plastic caddy from her cart. She grabbed the mop and a stack of thick garbage bags.
She pushed open the heavy fire door to the emergency stairwell.
The air inside was dead and freezing. The concrete stairs spiraled upward endlessly.
She started climbing.
By the second floor, her thighs were burning. By the fourth floor, her breathing sounded like a broken accordion in the silent stairwell.
By the fifth floor, the pain started.
It was a sharp, stabbing agony in her lower right back, right where her kidney used to be. The missing organ left a structural weakness in her body. Heavy exertion caused the surrounding muscles to spasm violently.
She dropped the caddy on the landing of the 6th floor. She leaned against the cold cinderblock wall, clutching her side. Her face was drenched in cold sweat. Her vision swam with black spots.
Her hand trembled as she reached into the pocket of her uniform. She pulled out a cheap, strawberry hard candy-a habit she picked up to fight off the dizzy spells. She popped it into her mouth, letting the artificial sugar hit her bloodstream.
Keep going, she told herself. Just keep going.
She picked up the heavy caddy again. The plastic handle dug into her blistered palm.
She dragged herself up to the 7th-floor landing. She was completely exhausted, her body running on pure adrenaline and sugar.
She paused to catch her breath, leaning her head against the metal railing.
That was when she heard it.
The stairwell was supposed to be completely empty. But from the floor above her, the 8th floor, she heard the distinct sound of a woman giggling, followed by the low, smooth murmur of a man's voice.
Dorothea stiffened. She didn't want to interrupt a drunken hookup. She just wanted to do her job and survive the night.
