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She stayed calm in the elevator, but I wasn’t trying to make her smile then. I have a feeling that firm answer will be harder to hold once I am.
Rachel Hartwell thinks she can out-negotiate me. Tomorrow, she’ll find out how charming I can be when I want something.
4
RACHEL
I’ve spent the morning dealing with problems.
A guest in room 217 said construction noise ruined her anniversary. The work is three blocks away, but I sent Maintenance up anyway. They couldn’t hear anything.
So I went up myself. I stood in the room with her for five minutes and heard nothing but traffic far below. She was still upset, so I apologized, sent up a bottle of our best champagne, and moved her dinner reservation to a table by the windows. That seemed to fix the noise.
Then eighty cream roses arrived for tomorrow’s wedding. The bride had ordered white. When the florist said they couldn’t replace them in time, I called every shop I knew and found eighty white roses at three different places. One of our drivers went to collect them.
By the time I fix that, I discover two companies have been booked into the same meeting room for breakfast on Friday.
At ten, I’m sitting at the head of the conference table with a cold cup of coffee.
“This can’t continue,” Iris says.
She’s run housekeeping for eleven years, and one glance over her glasses is enough to show when she’s displeased. Today, that stare is aimed at me. Beside her, Lucinda studies her hands.
“What can’t?” I ask.
“Giving Lucinda fourteen rooms a day.”
“I’m keeping up,” Lucinda says.
“By staying late,” Iris tells her. “Maria cleaned three of your rooms yesterday.”
“I didn’t ask her to.”
“You didn’t need to. She saw that you needed help.”
Lucinda presses her lips together. She returned three weeks ago after knee surgery. Her doctor cleared her to work, but fourteen rooms a day is clearly too much.
Martin sits at the other end of the table. He runs operations, so his mind goes straight to the schedule. “If we lower her number, someone still has to clean the rooms we take away.”
“I’m not asking for special treatment,” Lucinda says.
“No,” Iris replies. “I am.”
“We’ll make a plan,” I say.
They all look at me. I turn to Lucinda. “How many rooms can you clean during your normal shift without hurting your knee?”
“Rachel—”
“I’m not trying to embarrass you. I need an honest number so I can fix this.”
She hesitates. “Ten. Maybe eleven, depending on the rooms.”
“Ten,” Iris says. “Eleven is what she finishes when she skips her break.”
Lucinda gives her a sharp look.
“Then ten,” I say. “When is your next doctor’s appointment?”
