Dirty Dishes (A Harry Styles Fanfic)

Chapter 3: Coming Home

 (Coming Home is by Diddy-Dirty Money and Skylar Grey)

Erin's POV:

            When I arrived at the Gats it felt as if I was seeing the world in a new light. I took a deep breath feeling the warm air fill my lungs as the sun beat on my already slightly tanned skin. As I scanned up to the roof, I admired how the building slowly merged with the clouds. It seemed big before but in that moment it was just unfathomable. Most people go off to college and realize how small they really are, but that was something I had grasped early in life.  I went to a small town university. The only residents were the students for the most part. I left a day after all of the finals were finished, and I swear it looked like an abandoned ghost town. Nowhere in the world has, or probably ever will make me fell as small as the Gats does.

            After I was satisfied I grabbed a few things of luggage out of the trunk and threw it behind me to roll it in. I slowly pushed the revolving doors taking in the bustling lobby, preparing myself for the craziness. The second I stepped out of the doors I was greeted by Allen. He ripped my luggage out of my hands and pulled me into a tight hug.

            “AirBear, you're back,” he yelled in my ear, “to save me from this madness.”

            “AlPal, How you been,” I asked with a chuckle.

            “Good, but I missed you,” he said backing away and grabbing my luggage.

            “How long have you been back,” I questioned.

            “I got back a week ago, glad to have finals over,” he said grabbing my other luggage.

            “You’ve only been back a week and you need to be saved,” I asked with a smile.

            “Every time I’m here without you Marg expects me to cover all of your jobs. One plus side though: We're neighbors this year. I’m your right side neighbor and that kid that is coming is your left side neighbor,” he explained.

            “What kid…” I started to ask before I was interrupted by Greta.

            “ERIN AND ALLEN? Why I never… Stop with the jibber jabber Al and get back to work.  Your desk shift starts in five minutes Erin,” Greta said turning to go yell at the next unsuspecting victim.

            “I’ll bring these up to your room and we can catch up tonight,” Allen said heading to the elevator. I reluctantly went to put on my white blouse and black pants to prepare myself to work the desk. I sat in the rolling office chair, and logged on to the computer. Greta walked by handing me my walkie-talkie so she could boss me around from every corner of the hotel at every hour of the day. I began counting the seconds as they ticked by.

            The hands of the clock move so slow when I work the desk. You know when you look away from a clock for an hour, but then when you look up it has only been five minutes. That is exactly what I do the whole time I’m at the desk. It doesn’t make sense to most of my coworkers; they love the desk more than any other job, but not me. Maybe it’s because I have worked here my whole life.  The Gats is my home. Not metaphorically either, I have lived here since I was a baby.

            My mom is a security guard, so she has to live in the hotel. When I was a kid I lived in her room, but when I turned 10 I made a deal with Greta. She agreed that if I help out, which I was already doing, I could have my own room. I still lived in the room right next to my mother, so she could keep an eye on me. I still had curfews and chores and everything like a normal child, but our house was just different than the normal set-up. When I turned 15 I officially started to work in the hotel with a part time salary and everything. Although my mom was nearby I pretty much answered to Greta my whole life. She was the one that paid my rent, so it was more important for me to please her than my mother.