“That must be frustrating.”
“Occasionally it is.”
“And yet still you smile.”
“On the outside, yes. Sometimes on the inside I’m screaming.”
“That’s why I made you lunch. Good food is a way of calming inside screaming.”
How did he know her so well? “Am I that easy to read?”
“No. But I’ve been paying attention.”
She swallowed. “You do that with people?”
“Not generally.”
But he did it with her. He’d paid attention to her.
She felt warm inside and the way he was looking at her took her breath away. “The hotel has definitely improved since you turned up.”
“Ah, the hotel.” He smiled, as if he’d actually forgotten about the hotel. “Do you see yourself staying long-term? What do you want?”
She wanted the same thing he wanted. More control. The opportunity to implement her own ideas. The chance to experiment. When she’d been asked to step up and be acting general manager she’d thought maybe this was her chance, but it hadn’t turned out the way she’d planned.
She was little more than a caretaker.
But that was far too much information to share with someone who was essentially a colleague.
“I want to be able to make a difference. The way you feel about your restaurant is the way I feel about the hotel,” she said. “I want guests to leave feeling as if it was the best stay they’ve ever had anywhere. If we get a bad review, I’m heartbroken. I spend hours figuring out what we could have done differently for that person. It takes me weeks to recover from it.”
“Because your feelings are hurt?”
“What? No! Because someone didn’t have a great holiday. Holidays are precious, aren’t they? I don’t want people feeling disappointed when they leave. If that happens then I basicallyhaven’t done my job well, and I very much want to. This place means a lot to me.”
“You never thought about moving away?”
Not until recently.
She thought about the email that had been waiting for her in her inbox that morning.
She’d be invited for an interview the following week. And it would be virtual, so she wouldn’t have to make up excuses for disappearing for a day.
She’d told no one, of course. There seemed no point at this stage. She probably wouldn’t get the job. Her experience was limited to this one hotel which she knew might put her at a disadvantage. She was tempted to discuss it with Luca. He’d worked in a London hotel. It would have been useful to talk through his experience and see what she could learn.
But it was unfair to put him in that position. The moment any of the staff got wind of the fact she was considering leaving, things would be awkward.
The only person she might be able to tell would be Abby. Not because she wasn’t a permanent member of the team and therefore telling her didn’t have the same implications, but because she always gave thoughtful, measured answers to problems. She’d be telling her as a friend, not a colleague.
Maybe she’d do that. Or maybe she’d wait to see what happened after the first interview.
And in the meantime, Luca was waiting for an answer.
“The Alexandra feels like home to me.” It was true. It did feel like home. At certain points in her life she’d spent more time in the hotel than her actual home. But people left home, didn’t they? They didn’t stay forever.
How would she feel about leaving this place?
She gazed out across the ocean. She’d lived right beside it all her life. She couldn’t imagine being immersed in city life,her view all steel and glass. But the hotel she’d applied to was perched on the edge of one of London’s most famous parks, so she’d have plenty of green space.
