Chapter 8
Evie
The room was a mess, thanks to the out-of-control partying of a couple celebrating a milestone birthday.
Every surface was covered in half-empty wine glasses, bottles and half-eaten plates of food.
Someone had spilled a bottle of red wine on the duvet, there was broken glass on the carpet, and the place was littered with party poppers and burst balloons.
“I don’t believe this.” Evie stared at it, appalled. “Is this the way they behave in their own homes?”
Abby glanced around her. “It must have been quite a party. Does this happen often?”
“Hardly ever. We’ve been lucky that way. Some guests are untidier than others, but we have little actual damage.” Evie grabbed a lone balloon that had wrapped itself around a light fitting.
This was the last thing they needed.
It was part of running a hotel, of course, but it was bad timing. She’d already had one of the housekeeping staff call in sick that morning, so things were stretched.
It was Abby’s first day and she’d offered to help wherever she was needed but it didn’t seem fair to start her with this job.
“The Grangers are due to check in here this afternoon.” Mandy surveyed the scene with weary acceptance as Abby went to check the bathroom.
“We’re going to have to move them to another room.
There’s no way we’ll be able to turn this room around in time, especially with Tilda off sick.
We’re going to need to have the carpet professionally cleaned for a start.
This is why I prefer the rooms in the stable wing.
They have those beautiful slate floors.”
Evie retrieved a cushion from the floor. She’d forgotten about the Grangers. “They requested this room specifically because it’s their anniversary and they stayed here on their honeymoon.” She sighed. “I’ll call them myself and break the bad news.”
“Wow, they clearly partied in here, too.” Abby’s voice came from the bathroom. “What is that on the mirror? Is it lipstick? Was the woman kissing her own reflection or something? What time are the Grangers arriving?”
“Check-in is from four o’clock. Why?”
“Because I’m sure we can rescue the room by then.
” Abby walked back into the bedroom, all business.
“I worked in a hotel in San Diego a couple of years ago where two of us managed to turn around a totally trashed room in six hours, and that included having the bathroom door replaced. And this isn’t as bad.
There doesn’t seem to be any physical damage, apart from the bedcover and that mark on the carpet.
No holes in wood-work or broken drawers. ”
She bent to make a closer examination of the stained carpet. “This will come out. If not, we can put a rug over it.” She stood up. “Where do you think we should start, Mandy?”
Mandy stared at her. “Me?”
“You’re the expert so I’ll follow your lead but I’m sure that between us we can turn this around in time for the Grangers to check in and have their special stay, aren’t you?”
Mandy glanced around the room, looking doubtful. “Well—”
“It obviously means such a lot to them. It would be great to make this happen so that they can have the special celebration they’re hoping for, don’t you think? I’ll do whatever you tell me to do. Where shall we start?”
Evie was mute with admiration. Whenever she’d had to ask staff members to go above and beyond she usually found herself prostrating herself. Would you mind awfully? … or I’d be massively grateful if you could …
She virtually begged, and most of the time it didn’t work.
Abby hadn’t given Mandy a choice. And that approach seemed to be working.
Mandy straightened her shoulders.
“The Grangers are nice people. You’re right, it would be good to do this for them.
Make it special. Okay, where would I start—” She surveyed the room, suddenly businesslike.
“I’d pull on a pair of gloves and clear all the rubbish and also bag up any bedding or cushions that are ruined.
” She eyed Abby, gauging if that was the right answer. “Then I’d take it a step at a time.”
“Sounds good. And you’ll want me to make a note of anything that’s broken or damaged beyond repair.
I’ll do that, and I’ll take a few photos right now so that we have that on record.
You can leave this to us, Evie.” Abby was already pulling on gloves from Mandy’s trolley.
“If in a few hours we don’t think we can do it, we’ll let you know and you can call the Grangers. Mandy and I have got this.”
Evie admired Abby’s optimism and enthusiasm (and also the way she’d skilfully managed Mandy), but despite her obvious willingness to get her hands dirty Evie doubted they’d be able to turn the room around in that time and not only because of the enormity of the task.
Mandy loved to chat, and Abby presented her with a whole new audience.
That would slow the pace of things considerably.
Still, the room needed to be dealt with either way, so she left them to it and went to handle the next problem, which was a long line at the reception desk.
She worked there until the line was cleared, then headed back to her office to deal with all the paperwork that was mounting up.
A few hours passed before she even lifted her head to check the time and when she did she discovered it was lunchtime.
She couldn’t put the moment off any longer.
She was going to have to call the Grangers and work out a way to make it up to them.
Whatever she offered would eat into the hotel’s profits, but she didn’t see an alternative.
She closed her laptop and walked through the hotel greeting staff and guests, quietly observing everything before ending up back at the room Abby and Mandy were turning over.
She opened the door with her key.
Two large black bin bags leaned against the wall, both stuffed to the brim.
She heard laughter and Mandy’s voice.
“So she said to him, listen, sunshine, I’m old enough to be your mother, and that’s when he told her!”
“You’re kidding.” Abby was laughing so hard she could barely speak. “I’m convinced you’re making this up. Grab the end of this, Mandy, and we’ll give it a shake.”
“Every word is the truth. He said you are my mother, and can you imagine her response?”
“Honestly? No, I can’t. I wish I’d been there to see it for myself. That’s the best story ever. Throw me that pillow, will you?”
Evie paused in the doorway. She hadn’t expected this to be a fun task, but they were both laughing like old friends. Abby hadn’t struck her as the talkative sort, but it seemed she was as chatty as Mandy. Which was good on one level, but presumably meant they hadn’t made much progress.
Resigned to making that phone call, Evie stepped into the room.
“How are you doing here? It’s lunchtime, and you should—” She stopped, stunned.
If she hadn’t seen them both standing there, she wouldn’t have known it was the same room.
The rubbish had been removed, every surface shone and the carpet had been returned to its previously pristine state. The bed was freshly made, the white linens displaying not a single crease. The bed looked so inviting Evie was tempted to lie down on it herself.
“How did you do this?”
“Mandy is brilliant,” Abby said. “Just brilliant.”
“We worked hard.” Mandy patted the last pillow and placed it carefully on the bed.
“And it helped that Abby is a genius with stains and blobs. Also full of great stories. When you have a moment you have to ask her about the mess she had to clean up at a hotel in Cape Cod last year. It involves guests who decided to barbecue fish on their balcony, the fire service and a dramatic rescue of a dog who shouldn’t have been in the room in the first place. ” Mandy smiled at Abby. “Hilarious.”
“We made a note of the damage, but there’s nothing too dramatic. I’ll email you the list,” Abby said. “Apart from needing to replace one cushion from the sofa, and the pretty one with the sea-bird that was on the bed, this room is ready to welcome the Grangers.”
“Thank you.” Evie felt weak with relief. “You’ve both done a great job. I’ll get those cushions and sort out a welcome basket and some fresh flowers.”
“I can do both those things,” Mandy said. “I’m about to dispose of the rubbish so I’ll do that afterwards.”
Evie wondered if she’d noticed the time. “It’s lunch—”
“Oh, we already agreed that we’re not going for lunch until we’ve finished here,” Abby said. “You’re okay with that, aren’t you, Mandy?”
“Definitely.” Mandy nodded and patted Abby on the shoulder. “Please tell me you’re going to be working in housekeeping the whole time you’re here. I hope I didn’t bore you with all my stories about how the hotel used to be when I first joined. It was a real trip down memory lane.”
“I loved hearing about it. This whole thing ended up being so much fun.” Abby frowned, as if that was surprising.
“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?”