The hot water sluiced through her auburn hair, down her back and over the curve of her buttocks. Julia stood under the hot water rinsing the last of the shampoo from her hair. Normally she would shower at home after her shift was over, but Jake tended not to stay awake on the week nights since he had to be up a few hours after she would likely arrive home. She smiled to herself as the hot water and resulting steam enveloped her body, washing away not only the grime of the night, but most of the tension as well.
Reluctantly shutting off the water she padded across the locker room to where her clothes were, one towel wrapped around her hair, the other around her still damp body. Sitting on the bench in front of her locker she removed her lotion and set about rubbing herself down. The tropical coconut smelled never failed to relax and excite her. Once she was done she took a quick glance around the room to ensure she was alone before dropping her towel. Despite having worked here for eight months, and the fact that she was a 33 year old mother of two, Julia was still not comfortable being naked around others. As she pulled her thong on she heard the door open, and moment later Tina was approaching her with a smile. Tina had been the one to train her when she had started. Julia had experience as a chamber maid, but it had been many years, and learning the rules of the resort and where everything was kept took a bit longer than she'd expected. Tina knew how uncomfortable Julia got and loved to tease her whenever she could.
"You been working out hun?" Tina asked as she settled a few feet from Julia on the bench, "you're lookin' mighty good if you don't mind me saying so."
Julia blushed. Tina had caught her again!. Here she was standing in her thong and wearing nothing else. Tina was a Latin woman in her mid forties, that didn't look a day over twenty five in Julia's opinion.
"No, but I should be. I need to work of this little belly of mine," she replied as she clasped her bra behind her.
Tina stopped undressing and looked at Julia. "You're kidding me right?" she said in a mildly irked tone, "you're a mother of two, in her thirties, and you have the body of a twenty something. Really, you look damn good; give yourself a little credit hun."
Julia pulled her jeans on as she looked at Tina, an unbelieving look upon her face. She made as if to reply as she buttoned her shirt, but Tina cut her off.
"And don't go looking at me like that," she said as she finished dressing in her uniform, "talking yourself down doesn't change the truth. The truth is...you're pretty...beautiful...attractive...call it what you want, but you are. You can't deny that your tips are better than most of the rest of us. We all see the way some of the guests look at you."
Julia slipped her sneakers on and smiled at Tina. "Thanks. I appreciate it. Do you want a rundown on where I finished off?" With a smile on her face Tina nodded yes and they walked together to the central station.
After covering where the mid-shift left off Julia said goodnight and turned to leave.
"Son of a ...." Tina said as Julia reached the door. Turning back Julia saw the frown on her face.
"What's wrong," she asked as Tina shook her head in a disapproving manner.
"Château twelve just placed a call for some towels," Tina answered with a look of distaste on her face. The château's are a boom or bust situation: either a very nice tip is given, or nothing. And nothing was the answer far too many times for the chamber maids. Similar in design to a condo, they are rented for blocks of time like a time share. It wasn't unheard of for movie stars and their ilk to rent them, after all Jiminy Peak is a top notch ski resort in New England. Number twelve was the primo château, secluded from the rest of the resort even more than numbers one through eleven as it stood alone with the best view of the mountain. This meant having to go outside to get to it. If a cart wasn't available, it was a ten minute walk from the central work station, and ten minutes back. Tina was not looking forward to starting her night twenty minutes behind schedule with the work load she had before her.
"I'll take it," Julia said, running a hand through her still damp hair, "I won't mind the walk. Besides Jake and the boys are asleep, so I have no reason to rush home."
Tina beamed at her, "Really, you don't mind?"
"Not at all," Julia answered, "what are they calling for?"
"Four or five more towels, the caller said they are completely out," Tina said as she gathered the towels from the supply closet, "You're sure you don't mind?"
"Really it's no big deal," Julia said as she took the towels, "besides one of these days one of us will get a tip worthy of gossiping about." The women laughed as Julia said goodbye again and set off for château twelve.
The five towels were a bit more cumbersome than Julia had allowed for. Her walk was slowed by the fact that she couldn't see very well around them. The air was cold, right around freezing, but still considered a nice January night in New England. Her damp hair hadn't frozen, which she took as a plus. She climbed the steps to the door of château twelve slowly, hoping not to slip on the snowy stairs. With her last step her left leg slipped from under her and sent her butt first into a small snow pile. With her free hand she pulled herself back up, her butt wet and frozen. At least I didn't drop the towels, she thought. Knocking on the door she stood as patiently as she could, the air chilling her even more now that she had a wet fanny, as she listened for the sound of someone approaching the door. After a minute or so she knocked again, just a little harder. The seconds seemed to drag as the cold slowly bit at her as she waited for a reply. Unwilling to wait any longer Julia reached into the back pocket of her jeans and withdrew her id card, which worked as a universal key on all the residential units of the resort. Stepping in she quickly shut the door with her foot. Standing still for a moment she listened for an occupant. She could hear the shower running, and realized that was the reason no one had answered the door. Julia decided to set the towels outside the bathroom door and announce herself so they would know the towels were there. As she went around the corner to the hallway leading to the bathroom she was knocked backwards, the towels sent flying. Holding her head she looked up to find a nude man squatting along side her asking if she was ok.
Julia quickly averted her gaze from him and tried to focus on the wall. "I'm...I'll be fine. I'm sorry to have disturbed you," she muttered to him.
The stranger was squatting in front of her, his hand holding the side of her head as he looked at the small bump that formed where she had collided with him. "Are you sure you're ok," he asked in a tender manner, "Let me get some ice for it."
"No, really...I'm ok," she replied, "I got enough of a chill falling in the snow at the front door, I don't need the ice to add to it."
He suddenly looked at her with question on his face. "Do you work here?" he asked.
