* * *
“All done?” Stella tucked into the grilled squid with aioli, the fifth little dish they’d ordered. They’d been here for hours, ordering half portions so they could taste everything on the menu.
“Yes.” Lisa slipped her phone into her handbag and sat back with a long sigh. “It’s a lot. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the general manager first thing so he can brief the staff. By now, there will be a lot of speculation about redundancies, so I’m sure they’ll be relieved to hear that they can stay on. It took a bit of convincing, but Mr Calvo agreed that loyal and trained staff makes for better service.”
“Everyone?” Stella sounded surprised.
“Yes, the ones that pass the service training, but that shouldn’t be too hard. The kitchen staff were already laid off months ago, so we’re going to hire the new head chef early. That will give them time to put their team together and create a bespoke menu. Anyway, I won’t have to worry about that too much; the general manager will take care of the recruiting. And then there’s the interior designer, the contractor, a web designer and a Spanish copywriter who will translate all customer-facing marketing messages.”
“That’s a lot.”
“Yes, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” Lisa chuckled. “It’s going to be a hectic time, but I’m excited. The scale of the project is much smaller than the ones I’ve worked on in the past but it’s also much more in-depth and there’s a lot I have to figure out as I go along.”
“But you have experts on board,” Stella said.
“True. A big part of it is project managing and I have no problem with that. But I’ve never been involved with a physical overhaul, you know? This is new to me. It will be fun, though, doing something different for a change.”
“I can imagine.” Stella shot her a flirty wink. “I have a feeling you can do anything you set your mind to. How about your hours?”
“As long as the job gets done, my hours are flexible. The builders will be there Monday to Saturday, and in the first weeks, I’ll mainly be working from home and just drop in now and then, apart from when I have meetings. Once we get closer to finishing, I’ll be on-site mostly.”
“That’s nice. You’ll be able to enjoy the rest of the summer.”
“Yes, and I can even come to Seville with you. That is, unless I have to be on-site those days. I’ll know more about my schedule this week once we’ve finished the planning.” Lisa hesitated. “Do you still want me to come?”
“Of course.” Stella’s smile widened. “I didn’t think you’d be able to make it with the job, so that’s amazing news. I’ve already told my mum about you, and she can’t wait to meet you. She even threatened to come over here and leave my father to run the business if I didn’t bring you.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Is that a bad thing?”
Lisa shook her head. “No, not at all.” She felt herself blush but kept her eyes locked with Stella’s. “What did you tell her?”
“That I have a cute, beautiful, sexy, smart new girlfriend with a hot accent.”
“Really?” Lisa laughed. “So, you told her I was your girlfriend.”
Stella shrugged and shot her a smug look. “You are my girlfriend, aren’t you?”
“Yes…” Warmth spread through Lisa’s body, making her glow all-over. They both felt secure with each other, but they hadn’t voiced it. She thought about her parents and her brother, and how excited they’d be for her if she too, told them she’d met someone special. “Yes,” she said sweetly. “I’m your girlfriend.”
45
“How’s your new fridge, Dave?” Stella sat down on her usual stool and regarded the huge stainless steel unit behind the tiki bar.
“It’s bloody perfect.” Dave opened the industrial fridge that was twice the size as the old one, showing off his neatly organised stock. Now that the money from the sale of Premier Sunset had come in, there was budget for repairs and Stella had wasted no time requesting items they desperately needed. “Loving the new coffee machine too.” He grinned and raised a finger to his lips as he slid a cup underneath it and pressed the cappuccino button. “Shh…Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Stella asked.
“Exactly! This one hardly makes any noise.”
Laughing out loud, Stella took the cup from him. “If I knew it would make you so happy, I would have paid for it myself a long time ago.” She gave him a high-five and sat back to enjoy her second coffee of the day. “God, this is so much nicer than the crap we had before.”
“Isn’t it just?” Dave smirked. “I got the fancy coffee beans too. Talk about splashing out.”
“Talking about splashing out…” Stella turned to the poolside where Manuel was setting up for a new ‘class’ as he called it. “Have you heard what he’s organised for this morning?”
“Yeah…” Dave frowned as he watched Manuel pull the speaker closer to the poolside before securing a banner between two palm trees. It said:‘Monday morning dive-bombing competition. Start your week with a splash!’“Did you sign off on this?” he asked, lowering his voice.
