‘I will be honest,’ he continued. ‘Claudine can be very exacting. We took months to recruit your predecessor but then she got headhunted within a week of starting, so we had to rush the second application process. I was a little worried. But she already seems to like you.’
‘She does?’ Bella thought of the thrusted hand, the icy smile.
‘Oui, believe me, she was delighted.’
Bella looked at Yves’s face which seemed open and genuine, and decided to take him at his word. ‘Well, that’s good,’ she said. Tentatively she sat in the chair. It creaked a little, but was relatively comfortable. ‘So is Claudine the manager?’
‘Non, the CEO,’ he said. ‘She owns the hotel. But yes, the manager too, I suppose.’
‘So I’m… obviously I’m also a… manager,’ she said carefully, not wanting to alert Yves to the fact that she wasn’t entirely sure of her job title. ‘Is that, uh, my full job title? Just for… just for some forms I need to fill in,’ she lied.
Yves looked confused. ‘Well of course your full title is Project Manager. As you know, Claudine has big plans for this place and wants to find the right support. I hope that she will find this in you.’
‘Oh. Yes. Hopefully!’
‘You were the most experienced applicant by far,’ Yves said reassuringly. ‘You have run many hotels, I understand?’
Bella felt hot. She remembered, as she’d scrolled through application after application, being a little freer with the truth. Nobody seemed to be giving her more than a generic response, so what did she have to lose? She may have substituted ‘running a B&B’ with ‘managing several holiday premises’ (there were, after all, several rooms available) or ‘managing Pete’ with ‘managing all on-site staff’ (after all, hehad beenthe entire staff). But she hadn’t thought at the time it would really matter.
‘Ah… well, I managed a site. With, um, more than one type of accommodation.’
‘Oui,oui.’ Yves waved his hand dismissively as if it were one and the same. ‘For someone like you, this work will be nothing. It is unusual for someone of your experience perhaps to apply for a role like this; as soon as Claudine saw your form, she knew she had to snap you up.’
Her experience? Bella thought again to her late-night applications. Her ‘have to secure a job at all costs, so talk up your CV for God’s sake’ attitude. She remembered saying something about accommodation that was perhaps a little OTT, but had she mentioned multiple sites? By then, after completing what had seemed like hundreds of online applications – and feeling as desperate as she had – anything was possible.
She opened her mouth to correct him, then closed it. This job was her only option, she reminded herself.
‘…to see you now,’ Yves was saying. He gestured to the door.
‘Thank you.’
Straightening, smoothing down her trousers and giving her hair one last ruche for luck, she thanked him and, heart skittering, made her way towards Claudine’s office.
14
NOW
‘Come in.’ Claudine’s voice sounded clipped and efficient.
Bella pushed open the door, fixing on a smile. ‘Hello again,’ she said in careful French.
‘Yes, hello, Isabella.’
Claudine smiled and gestured to a chair in front of the desk on which Bella perched, first nervously and then, remembering, in a manner she hoped looked confident and together. She reminded herself that she already had the job – she wanted to impress Claudine, but she wasn’t on trial here. Hopefully.
‘It is good to meet you properly in person,’ Claudine said, arching an eyebrow. ‘I’m sorry our call was brief the other day, but given your experience, you will understand that things are very busy in the industry.’
Bella nodded politely, thinking of the B&B rooms in her slightly tumbledown French farmhouse. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Busy.’
‘OK, well, things have moved on significantly since I first advertised this role, and even since last week. You will be aware that the hotel is being considered for potential “Hotel Club” status.’
Bella was more than familiar with the ‘Hotel Club’ brand – specially selected hotels linked across Europe, often smaller, boutique places. Presumably becoming affiliated with this brand would mean big business.
‘That is one of the reasons we chose to take you on board. A true anglophone with experience in France, you are quite a find. Especially as Hotel Club membership will require some staff to be bilingual.’
Bella made a noise meant to sound like acquiescence, but which sounded more like a strangled cat. She was definitely an anglophone, and had some experience in hospitality. But this sounded way out of her league.
She’d forgotten, when ‘being more Juliette’, that bigging herself up on a form was one thing. Living up to promises made after a glass of red might be a whole other ball game.
