Chương 12
There it was.
Not a noble explanation.
A real one.
“I liked being the person who wasn’t failing.”
She looked down.
“And if you were failing harder, I looked better.”
The sentence hurt more than I expected because it matched what I had always suspected.
She swallowed.
“That was cruel.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at her bare feet on the carpet.
A blister had formed near one heel.
Nothing about the moment resembled the apology I had imagined.
Maybe that was why I finally believed it.
“I’m not ready to pretend it didn’t happen.”
She nodded.
“I’m not asking you to.”
“But I don’t want another ten years either.”
Her eyes lifted.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah.”
A small smile appeared.
“I can work with okay.”
From the hallway, Priya called my name.
I stood.
Emily lifted her shoes.
“Duty calls?”
“Constantly.”
She followed me toward the door.
At the threshold, she stopped.
“Jake.”
I looked back.
“If I get the Northline job, I’m paying the hotel first.”
“You’re paying the hotel either way.”
She smiled.
“There he is.”
Then she slipped one shoe back on, winced, took it off again, and walked barefoot toward the music while I went back to work.
Priya was waiting beside the front desk with a folded invoice and the expression of someone who had discovered a problem she hoped belonged to another department.
“What now?”
She handed me the paper.
“Daniel’s authorization is being reversed.”
“Good.”
“Accounting needs Emily’s signature on the payment plan before she leaves.”
“Fine.”
“And there’s a woman in the lobby asking whether we’re hiring.”
I looked at her.
“Those two things are related somehow, aren’t they?”
Priya pointed discreetly toward a woman sitting near the fireplace.
She was maybe twenty-five, wearing a black server’s uniform and holding a pair of flats in one hand.
“I recognize her from the party.”
“She’s Emily’s friend?”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“She was one of the temporary servers hired by the outside staffing agency.”
I looked again.
The woman sat straight despite obvious exhaustion.
Her hair had fallen loose from what had probably been a neat bun six hours earlier.
“Why is she asking about work?”
“Because she says her agency supervisor told her not to come back.”
“For what?”
“Apparently she refused to serve alcohol to someone who was clearly intoxicated.”
“That’s the job.”
“I know.”
“Who complained?”
Priya looked toward the ballroom.
“Trevor.”
I closed my eyes.
“Of course.”
“He apologized afterward.”
“That’s becoming another theme.”
Priya handed me a business card with a name written on the back.
“Her name is Sofia Ramirez.”
I walked toward the fireplace.
Sofia stood when she saw me.
“You’re Mr. Carter?”
“Jake is fine.”
She glanced at Priya behind me.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
Her shoulders loosened slightly.
“I’m sorry about asking during an event.”
“You can ask.”
“I heard you sometimes hire directly.”
“Sometimes.”
She nodded.
“I’ve done banquets for three years.”
“For that agency?”
“Two.”
“What happened tonight?”
Sofia looked embarrassed.
“A guest had too much to drink.”
“Trevor?”
“You know him?”
“I’ve had an educational evening.”
That got a tired smile from her.
“He asked for another double bourbon.”
“And you said no.”
“I told him I’d get water and food.”
“Reasonable.”
“He called my supervisor.”
“What did your supervisor say?”
“That I should have let the bartender make the decision.”
“He did.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“The bartender agreed with me.”
“So why are you being fired?”
She rubbed one thumb over the edge of her shoe.
“My supervisor said the client complained that I was rude.”
“Were you?”
Sofia thought about it.
“Probably.”
That answer made me like her.
“How rude?”
“I told him he was drunk.”
“Accurate but not elegant.”
“I know.”
“What exactly did you say?”
She winced.
“I said, ‘Sir, you are drunk enough that another bourbon is not going to improve your personality.’”
Priya made a noise behind me.
I looked at her.
She stared at the ceiling.
Sofia’s face went red.
“I shouldn’t have said it.”
“No.”
“I was tired.”
“I believe you.”
“And he kept snapping his fingers at me.”
“That would do it.”
She looked toward the entrance.
“I can leave.”
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
“We need another banquet server.”
Priya spoke behind me.
“We need two.”
I looked back.
“Since when?”
“Since Monday when you refused to approve overtime.”
“I approved some overtime.”
“You approved six hours.”
“That’s some.”
Priya looked at Sofia.
“We need two.”
Sofia smiled uncertainly.
“Are you offering me a job?”
“I’m offering you an interview Monday morning.”
Her face brightened.
“Yes.”
“Ten o’clock.”
“Yes.”
“Bring your résumé.”
“And maybe don’t tell drunk guests their personalities need work.”
“I can promise nothing.”
Priya laughed.
I pointed at Sofia.
“That answer may cost you the job.”
“I understand.”
She left with her shoes still in one hand.
Priya watched her go.
“I like her.”
“You like anyone who challenges authority.”
“Not true.”
“You challenge me daily.”
“You make it easy.”
The ballroom music changed again.
This time the bass was loud enough to reach the lobby.
Priya checked her watch.
“Thirty-seven minutes.”
“Until?”
“Contracted end time.”
“Thank God.”
“You own a hotel.”
“I’m aware.”
“You say that every Saturday.”
“I regret my life choices every Saturday.”
She handed me another clipboard.
“Sign.”
I signed without reading.
Priya pulled it back.
“You should read things before signing.”
“Then why hand them to me?”
“To see if you’ve learned.”
“I hate working with you.”
“No, you don’t.”
She was right, which made it worse.
The final hour of the party dissolved into smaller problems.
Someone lost a coat that turned out to be on the chair where she had left it.
Two guests argued over whether a rideshare had canceled.
Trevor asked for his whiskey back three times before remembering he could not drink it on the property.
May you like
Megan convinced the band to play something from the early 2000s that caused half the room to scream in recognition.
Emily danced.
