Front Desk Staff, by Bethany Maines

 

 "Front Desk Staff," by Bethany Maines, in Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers, edited by Judy Penz Sheluk,, Superior Shores Press, 2025.

The publisher sent me a copy of this book.

Camila, our narrator, works the front desk of a fancy spa hotel.  She's not too pleased with her co-workers, especially Zack, who is trying to cheat her out of a big tip.  "Zack's sexual orientation was money. And he would code switch to the language of whatever got him cash the fastest."

And don't get her started on the customers: "The next guest was a typical Wall-Street-Suit-Bro. The kind of fifty-ish guy with an ex-wife he met in college, a trophy wife he met somewhere cooler, and a girlfriend he met at the strip club." 

Camila has a nasty tongue in her head and that's the best part of the story.  When she finds out a guest is up to no good she has to figure out a way to save the day - hopefully without ruining the hotel's reputation or cutting into her own money-making schemes.

A funny story that is a lot of fun.