She reached for the shampoo and lathered her hair.
Now, the hotel was more than a pretty photograph, it was a place. And the staff were more than names. They were people.
Evie was a good example. Abby had known the basic facts about her, but even after spending one afternoon with her, she could see that the situation was more complicated than she’d first imagined and that the facts at her disposal didn’t tell the full story.
Most surprising of all was that Evie had felt comfortable enough with Abby to talk to her honestly. She’d felt able to open up, and people didn’t usually open up with Abby. On the contrary they shut down, and sometimes even left the room.
And the fact that Evie had trusted her with information she hadn’t shared with anyone else gave Abby a deep sense of responsibility.
Yes, she was here for her mother, but she was determined to help Evie, too.
She’d done extensive research into the hotel as part of her report but nothing had suggested that Evie herself was concerned about the way the place was being run, or that she had fears of it closing.
Most importantly of all, her research hadn’t flagged the fact that Evie had already contacted head office to discuss the situation.
Abby rinsed her hair. What had happened to the emails Evie had sent? Who had she contacted?
Jack, presumably. That needed to be handled, as did the fact that the UK general manager clearly hadn’t spent any time at all at their Cornish hotel in recent months despite Gerald’s situation.
Was that why Jack had been resistant to her spending the summer here? Had he been afraid of what she might discover?
Abby turned off the shower and reached for a towel.
The truth was that although she was deeply uncomfortable with the idea of being “under-cover,” it was unlikely that Evie would have revealed any of those facts had she known who Abby was.
Evie had seemed relieved to have the opportunity to talk to someone from the outside. Someone who wasn’t already part of the close-knit team she worked with every day. If Abby told her the truth she’d hold back. She’d be wary.
In order to produce a fair analysis, Abby needed access to all the facts and Evie was only going to confide in her if she trusted her.
Which proved that, as usual, her mother was right.
She pulled on the robe that had been left for her along with the towels.
She didn’t love being “under-cover” but she’d keep it going for now and once she had a clearer picture of how the hotel was operating, she’d consider how best to deal with it. And in the meantime, it was important that she didn’t get emotionally attached. Not that such a thing was likely to happen. Her mother had drilled that into her from an early age.
Once your emotions are involved, you cease to make the right decisions for the business.
She dried her hair quickly, switched the robe for a white linen shirt that had been washed to a state of delicious softness and fell to mid thigh. Then she sat down at the little table by the window and opened her laptop. She was tired, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep and if she wasn’t going to sleep she might as well work.
First she dealt with her emails. Then she typed up her notes, leaving nothing out. She described the gardens, the food, the way she’d felt as she’d walked into the hotel for the first time. She mentioned each member of staff that she’d met, and her first impressions.
When she’d finished, she opened a new document and picked out the key points that would impact the business. Her mother wouldn’t be interested in the smoothness of the clotted cream, or the sweetness of the jam that Evie had told her was made in their own kitchens from strawberries grown in thehotel gardens. She wouldn’t care about the wild flowers on the cliffs or the way the sun had sparkled on the sea.
She wouldn’t care that Abby and Evie had laughed together, that Evie had confided in her and that Abby had found herself hoping they would be friends. In fact, an admission like that would probably horrify her.
Abby pulled herself together.
Her mother would care about how the hotel was operating.
Facts.
The acting general manager Evie is motivated and bright. It’s clear that the sudden departure of the manager Gerald had a significant emotional impact on the team. He was well-liked by everyone—
She paused, then deleted that last sentence. Her mother wouldn’t care whether the staff loved him or hated him. She only cared about outcomes.
She carried on typing.
Of note is the fact that Evie reached out to head office several times but received no response. We need to review the systems we have in place for offering support during potentially challenging periods, but particularly when requested.
