“Yes, it was. And I don’t expect you to forgive me.”
“I need—” Evie broke off as the door to her office flew open.
“SOS from Tilda! The Seashore room is in a state. Is Abby available?”
“I’m available.” Abby walked across the room gingerly, as if every step was an effort. She held on to the door and glanced back at Evie. “I’ll send you those emails as soon as I’ve done the room.”
Evie wasn’t sure she’d have the courage to read them.
“Right. Good.” She wasn’t going to feel sorry for Abby. She wasn’t.
But she did. She felt sorry for Abby and sorry for herself.
She had things to do but she felt drained after everything that had happened. She flopped down onto the chair and ate a piece of toast from Abby’s plate.
Her eyes stung and she felt as if there was a lump in her chest.
Her office door opened again and Evie quickly brushed her palm over her cheeks. Why couldn’t people leave her alone? There was no such thing as privacy in this place. Maybe she should lock herself in the laundry cupboard.
Donna walked in and closed the door behind her.
“Okay. Tell me everything.”
“What?”
“Don’t play that game with me. I held your hand when you learned to walk. I know when you’re upset. I’m not sure who looked worse a moment ago. You or Abby. Have you had a fight? And don’t lie to me because I always know. You once tried telling me you hadn’t eaten the last chocolate biscuit. You were about twelve at the time. You were doing your homework in one of the bedrooms and I was watching you for your dad. Of course the chocolate round your mouth was a giveaway, but I would have known anyway.”
“We haven’t had a fight. At least, not in the way you mean—” Evie rubbed her forehead. For a moment she felt like a child again and she longed to spill everything out, but she couldn’t do that. “It’s fine, Donna. It’s kind of you to check on me but I need five minutes to get my thoughts straight. It’s a work thing.”
“Look at you! All grown up and serious. Everything’s going to be okay.” It was her most maternal voice and it was the final straw.
“I am grown up. I am grown up!” Something burst inside Evie. “And everything is not going to be okay. Not until all of you stop treating me like a child and take me seriously. Yes, I grew up here. Yes, I learned to walk in these corridors, but I’ve learned a lot of other things since then, too. I’ve learned about balance sheets, and SEO, and the importance of upselling. And I’ve learned that sometimes things have to change, no matter how much we’d like to stay stuck in the past.” She took a deep breath. “And I’ve learned that I’m not great at managing people because I have no idea how to motivate them to do what I want them to do. This place is in trouble—it has been in trouble for a while, and unless things change around here fast, I’m not at all confident the hotel has a future.”
Donna stood in stunned silence and Evie felt an immediate wash of remorse.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap or be rude. Ignore me. I’m having a bad day. Leave me alone for ten minutes and I’ll pull myself together.”
But Donna didn’t leave.
Instead, she walked across to the table and sat down. “I’m the one who is sorry. I didn’t know I made you feel that way. I love you like my own child.” She gave a rueful smile. “And that’s the problem, isn’t it? You’re not my child, you’re my boss.”
Evie felt an ache behind her ribs. “Donna—”
“Is it true that we’re in trouble? Is that what you were discussing with Abby? Are they going to close us down? Sell us to that weasel man who is always hanging around? Why didn’t you say something?”
Evie looked at her, eaten up by guilt. “I didn’t have facts. Only suspicions. And I don’t know what’s going on. But I do know it’s not good. We need to think more about how we can increase our profits.”
“Gerald didn’t like to—” Donna stopped, cutting off her own sentence midway through. “But Gerald isn’t here now, and if what you’re saying is true then it seems his approach didn’t work.”
“I’m not talking about exploiting or taking advantage—I’m talking about making the most of opportunities. If we have a better room available then instead of giving it away as a goodwill gesture, we should ask the guest if they’d like to upgrade for a small charge—still less than it would have cost them to book that room to start with. They get a bargain, and we get money for an empty room. Try and encourage them to book spa treatments, and to treat themselves to afternoon tea—”
“What can I do? And what does all this have to do with Abby?” Her voice was gentle and kind and Evie felt emotionbubble up inside her. She’d been horribly rude and she didn’t deserve kindness.
“It turns out that Abby isn’t who she said she was. I mean, she is in a way—it’s true that she works in all departments, but she’s based in head office and her mother is the boss. She wasn’t supposed to tell us that.”
“The boss. You mean the actual boss? The elusive Alexandra?”
“Yes. Her.”
