“It’s important to be able to have a laugh at work,” Mandy said. She gave the room one last look. “We’re done here. Where would you like me next, Evie? What’s the priority?”
Evie was still digesting the fact that Mandy had agreed to delay her lunch break. Whenever she gently suggested something similar she was always told that there was nothing that couldn’t wait until after lunch.
She pushed that aside and focused on Mandy’s question. “Connie is in the process of setting up one of our function rooms for a children’s party this afternoon. We’re expecting a balloon delivery any moment.”
“You want help with that? Point me in the right direction.”
“That would be great, thanks. And then I thought you might want to work alongside Edward this afternoon. He knows the hotel better than anyone, and you’ll pick up some useful information about the local area, so if a guest happens to ask you something at least you will have had some preparation.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Abby followed Evie out of the room. “Did things change for you with the staff when you were promoted?”
“Change? You mean our relationship? No, not at all. And that’s good and bad I suppose. They treat me exactly the same way they always have. Although I wasn’t exactly promoted in the traditional sense. It wasn’t a case ofhey, Evie, we think you’re brilliant so we’re giving you the big job. It was morehey, Evie, we’re desperate so you’re in charge of the ship for now and please don’t sink it.”
And it was sinking. And it didn’t matter that she wasn’t responsible for how they arrived at this point. She was responsible for what happened next.
“But they must have thought you were capable of doing the job.”
Evie shrugged. “I was the obvious person. The only person. There wasn’t anyone else on the team with the same experience.” Was that a bit too honest? “I’m happy, obviously. I’m lucky to have been given this chance. But my position is temporary. I’m a caretaker.”
Abby angled her head. “Do you think Gerald will be back?”
It was a question that plagued her daily.
“I don’t know. I went to see him at home a couple of weeks ago and he didn’t look that well. Rhoda—that’s his wife—said he’d been sleeping a lot. He asked about the hotel. He’s worried about the place and Rhoda was frustrated that he couldn’t switch off.”
Would he come back? She didn’t know. And what would happen to her job if he did?
Would she really be able to step back into her old role, knowing what she now knew?
There were things she’d want to challenge him on, and shewouldn’t feel able to. She wouldn’t know how to. But holding it all in and carrying on as normal would be hard.
Still, there was no point in worrying about that now.
“That’s tough on you,” Abby said. “I guess you don’t really know where you stand. You probably don’t feel you can make the job your own because it doesn’t feel as if it is your own. You have lots of ideas, but can’t make major changes in case Gerald does come back. And you must be wondering what your role will be if that happens.”
How did she know all that?
Since stepping into this job Evie had felt completely alone, unable to share her thoughts with anyone apart from her dad and the occasional indiscreet moment when she’d confided in Tristan. She hadn’t even talked to colleagues she’d been fairly close to before her promotion. They’d all be horrified if they knew she was contemplating leaving. They wouldn’t understand. She knew they had no idea how she was feeling or what she was dealing with.
But Abby knew. Abby had seen it instantly. Abby understood.
Grateful for whichever lucky star had brought Abby into her life, she cleared her throat. “That’s it exactly.”
“Your position isn’t easy, I can see that. We should talk about it more. Come up with some solutions.”
Evie was touched. “Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing you can do. There aren’t any solutions. Believe me, I’ve looked for them. All I can do is carry on doing the best I can and see what happens. And in the meantime I now have you, which is brilliant on many levels. You have no idea how good it is to talk to someone about it. I hope you don’t think I’m unprofessional, but it’s not as if you’re a permanent member of staff. Talking of which, I don’t suppose you’d like a permanent job? I’m kidding. I know you like to move around. I’ll try and be grateful that atleast we have you for the summer. You’re completely brilliant. I’m sure you’ve heard that a million times.”
“I—no. In fact, I haven’t.” Abby seemed a bit surprised by the praise which Evie thought was a bit strange.
Or maybe she’d been too effusive. She had a tendency to express her emotions freely and some people found that a little uncomfortable. Abby seemed like the reserved type. The sort of person who thought carefully before speaking and only revealed exactly what she’d chosen to reveal. On the other hand she’d tucked into scones with the same enthusiasm as Evie and had laughed out loud while working with Mandy. She’d been having fun and seemed almost surprised to be made welcome by everyone.
She remembered Tristan’s warning that she should be careful around Abby and felt a flicker of irritation with him for planting thoughts in her head. The whole point of Abby being here was to offer support and help. She had plenty of experience. More importantly, her experience had been gained from working in different hotels and that gave her an advantage over Evie who had only ever worked in this one place. Abby must have seen both good and bad in her time. Evie might be able to tap into some of that experience and improve the way things were running. But she wasn’t going to be able to do that by holding back and not being honest.
She wasn’t by nature a suspicious person and it felt uncomfortable behaving that way particularly given that Abby seemed really eager to get to know everyone and was interested and engaged.
And besides, she liked Abby. She hoped head office wouldn’t move her on too quickly because she could picture them becoming friends.
“Thanks for listening. It helps to talk things through with someone who understands.”
