Chapter 11 ~ Isabella ~
A nd I'll make sure you won't find a job anywhere else!
Emmett Kershaw's threat echoed in my ears as if the little bald man with the beady eyes had just uttered it. I felt like he was lecturing me all over again, even though there was a thick wall and a busy street between us.
I stood on Crosby Street, staring at the facade of the hotel where I had worked until yesterday.
Yesterday?
Had it really been just yesterday?
I closed my eyes briefly.
The encounter with Carter had changed everything. While not much seemed different on the surface compared to a day ago, something had been set in motion within me—something I couldn't yet define precisely or predict where it would lead me.
Thanks to these changes, it felt like much more time had passed since I was fired. It seemed like an eternity since I had last entered the hotel. Yet it had been just over 24 hours.
I really had no business being at my former workplace anymore. Emmett Kershaw had made that crystal clear.
Really.
But given my dire financial situation, I had no choice but to enter the lion's den. The hotel where Emmett Kershaw was surely strutting around like a pint-sized emperor today, harassing my former colleagues as he pleased. With that thought, I suddenly wasn't so sad about not working for Emmett Kershaw anymore. With some patience and perseverance, I was bound to find a better position! A job without a dictatorial and controlling boss, without a know-it-all colleague like Gina. Maybe I'd even get paid better! After all, I had skills: I had learned all the necessary theory in my evening course and gained the practical experience over the last few months.
All I needed to appear credible to a new employer was a letter of recommendation from Emmett Kershaw.
Again, I heard that fateful sentence he had hurled at me yesterday morning: And I'll make sure you won't find a job anywhere else!
I couldn't let that intimidate or stop me now. Yesterday morning, Emmett Kershaw had been in a particularly foul mood. I had never seen him in a good mood, but yesterday had surpassed anything I had ever witnessed in the short time he had been our boss. Surely today would be better, and he wouldn't mind writing me a letter of recommendation.
At least that's what I hoped.
Come on, Isabella Abbott. Standing out here on the street analyzing the situation three times forward and four times backward won't make anything better. It won't make your doubts disappear, nor will it get you a letter of recommendation. Both will only happen if you take action. So, get going!
I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. I quickly crossed the street. In front of the hotel entrance, I took another deep breath.
Shoulders back! Head up! Straight back! You need to exude confidence, then you'll get what you want.
This voice in my head wasn't mine, but my older sister Joanna's, and the encouraging words hadn't been spoken recently, but many years ago when I was auditioning for a role in a high school play.
You got that role, Isabella. And you'll see: It'll be the same now with the letter of recommendation.
I nodded vigorously and entered the hotel.
"Isabella! How lovely to see you again so soon. After yesterday, I didn't expect you back." Jim, the doorman who reminded me so much of my grandfather, beamed at me. I was touched by the friendly welcome.
"I have to say a proper goodbye," I replied, smiling at Jim. "I enjoyed having you as a colleague so much, I couldn't just leave like that. And besides..." I paused and looked around cautiously, "...I wanted to ask Emmett Kershaw for a letter of recommendation. A kind of reference. It's not so common in the US, but in other countries, it's standard practice. I need to find a new job and could use a reference."
Jim's face contorted painfully at these words. "Well, good luck with that, my dear." He looked at me with concern.
"You don't think the chances are particularly good?" I inquired cautiously.
"Honestly, no." Jim looked at me, thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "But with Emmett Kershaw, you never know. He could say this today and that tomorrow. Yesterday he fired you, today he might hire you back. That's how he is."
Yesterday he fired you, today he might hire you back.
Jim's words were music to my ears. If I had a job again, that would be... my life would be perfect! I could keep paying off my loan as before. I would be working in a hotel again, just as I had always wanted. I could continue gaining experience and then look for a better position at my own pace. Without pressure. I wouldn't look so awkward in front of Carter.
The thought made me feel warm inside.
"Isabella?" Jim's question startled me out of my daydreams. "Is everything alright? You look so... so transported."
Transported.
That was a nice way of putting it. A bit old-fashioned, just like Jim was. Perhaps that's how one had to be as a doorman. It fit the job perfectly.
"Everything's fine." I smiled at Jim again. "Well, I'll try my luck then."
"Good luck," Jim wished me.
"Thanks." I nodded to him and headed for the reception desk. After just two seconds, I began to question my plan again.
"Well, well! You again. I can't believe you have the nerve to show your face here!" Gina was on duty and immediately sprayed her usual venom in greeting.
"Hello Gina," I greeted, trying not to let my annoyance show.
You want a letter of recommendation, Isabella. Just be as charming and polite as possible. Gina can say whatever she wants. You don't need to lecture her or argue with her. She won't change anyway. And that's not what this is about right now.
"Because you misbehaved, I now have to work more. Double shift yesterday. Again today. And tomorrow too. Thanks so much for your collegiality." Gina glared at me viciously.
"I'm sorry about that," I replied. "If it were up to me, I'd be standing here working my usual shift, and you could be enjoying time with your children. Unfortunately, Emmett Kershaw decided otherwise." I smiled at Gina.
She looked even more suspicious now. She probably wasn't used to such nice tones. No wonder. Gina's manner didn't exactly invite particularly kind treatment. I looked around cautiously, leaned forward over the reception counter, winked conspiratorially, and whispered, "Is he here? Emmett Kershaw. I'd like to speak to him. Maybe I can persuade him to do something to ease your workload and rehire me." There. That should be music to Gina's ears.
There was still a certain suspicion in Gina's look, but she said, "He's in his office in the back. You can just go through. He doesn't have any visitors or other appointments at the moment." She glanced at the large telephone system. "He's not on the phone either."
"Thank you," I replied, and this time I actually meant it. I nodded briefly to Gina and disappeared into the dark hallway marked Private - Authorized Personnel Only . Not authorized were all hotel guests. They should under no circumstances see that this corner of the hotel hadn't been renovated for several years. Several years? More like decades. When Emmett Kershaw had first come to inspect the hotel, we had watched with bated breath as he walked through this wing. Maybe he would find the rooms as unattractive as we did and finally plan a renovation here too? A modern break room would be wonderful. Emmett, however, seemed to feel particularly comfortable in the seventies-era charm of this hallway. At the memory, I turned down the corners of my mouth.
There was the door to Emmett's office.
I quickly lifted the corners of my mouth again and put on a smile that I hoped didn't look too fake. I knocked. Audibly, but not too energetically. I didn't want to upset Emmett under any circumstances. From inside came an indistinct "Yes".
So I opened the door and stuck my head into the office. Emmett Kershaw was sitting at his desk with his phone to his ear.
"It's important to me that my future partner understands my preferences...," I heard him say. I quickly wanted to withdraw.
But it was too late.
Emmett Kershaw had already noticed me.
"GET OUT!!!" he yelled at a volume I had never heard in my entire life.
As quickly as I could, I closed the door again from the outside and leaned against the wall in the dark, musty hallway, breathing heavily.
Damn shit.
It couldn't have gone worse.
I had caught Emmett during a private, obviously a very private phone call. Whether he was on his cell phone or not, Gina couldn't know of course. And the fact that he uttered a "Yes" at the exact moment I knocked on the door, which wasn't meant for me at all, was more than an unfortunate coincidence.
What now?
Should I leave and come back another time?
You need the letter of recommendation now, Isabella. Every day of delay is another day you don't have a job, don't earn money, and your account slips further into the red. This way, you'll never be able to pay off the loan, but will have to helplessly watch as the apartment is sold. Waiting doesn't make things any better. Emmett Kershaw won't forget this. So you might as well get it over with.
So I would wait until my boss - my former boss - came out of his office.
At that moment, he yanked the door open from the inside. Even in the semi-darkness of the hallway, I could see that his face and his bald head were bright red. His piggy eyes, on the other hand, were barely visible.
"What do you think you're doing?" he yelled as loudly as before.
"Mr. Kershaw, I'm sorry," I said as quickly as I could to interrupt the impending fit of rage. "I had no intention of disturbing your phone call, certainly not."
"You came into my office without being asked!"
"I'm sorry," I assured him again. "I thought I heard a 'Yes' from you. But maybe that wasn't meant for me."
Emmett looked at me, boiling with rage. "Just get out of here! You don't work here anymore, haven't you realized that yet? You don't even have the right to be here. There's a big sign at the front of the hallway that says Private - Authorized Personnel Only . You must know that."
I swallowed. This really wasn't going well. Terrible. At least, I consoled myself, Emmett Kershaw was talking to me at all, and as long as that was the case, not all was lost. So I bravely kept talking.
"I'm here because I wanted to... uh... want to ask you for something," I quickly corrected myself.
"You can forget about your job. No one needs workers like you, really no one. Your colleague Nina does the job much better."
Gina. Her name is Gina.
I held back this comment. If Emmett Kershaw couldn't or didn't want to remember Gina's name, that wasn't my problem.
"I need a letter of recommendation. I worked here for several months, even before you bought the hotel. It's my first practical experience in the hotel industry after the evening course. So a letter would be good. For my applications." While I had initially presented my request as confidently as possible, my sentences became shorter and more confused towards the end.
Damn it, Isabella. Don't justify yourself. You have every right to ask Emmett Kershaw for a letter of recommendation.
"You can't seriously believe that I'd waste even a minute of my time writing you such a ridiculous letter?" My boss's scornful reply instantly shattered all the hopes I'd had when entering the hotel. I felt so weak that I had to lean against the wall with its old-fashioned, slightly musty-smelling wallpaper.
"What should I mention in such a letter? That you're constantly misplacing things, arriving late, and eavesdropping on your boss's private phone calls?" The accusations Emmett Kershaw leveled against me felt like lashes from a whip.
"That's not who I am at all," I protested.
"Oh, really? That's how I've come to know you!"
"Maybe I've lost a thing or two occasionally. And I was late once. That's all."
Emmett took a step toward me, bringing his face uncomfortably close to mine. I would have loved to take a step back, but since I was leaning against the wall, that escape route was blocked.
"Listen here, you insolent piece of work. I'm not going to write you any letter. No matter what wonders you think you've performed here, or not. Whether you get a letter or not is entirely my decision. MINE. Because I'm the boss here. You can beg me on your knees - you still won't get it." The longer Emmett spoke, the closer he brought his face to mine. Again, I wiped a speck of spit from my cheek.
I shuddered with disgust.
Beg on my knees.
At this thought, I shuddered again. What a domineering sadist!
"And if you're wondering where your salary is at the end of the month, I can tell you exactly. Here! You'll get exactly nothing, because you haven't done your job!" Emmett Kershaw now looked as triumphant as only a true sadist could.
I felt sick.
No salary!
My situation was getting worse and worse.
Without money, I was ruined!
And in no time at all!
"I'm entitled to that money," I now rebelled against Emmett Kershaw's threat. I had nothing left to lose. "You can't withhold it from me."
Emmett Kershaw laughed mockingly. "You'll see what I can do. I can do anything I want. You haven't fulfilled your work duties. Misplaced things. Arrived late. Invaded my privacy. I should sue you for that alone. And then it wouldn't be me owing you money, but you owing me!"
Emmett Kershaw had suddenly switched to addressing me informally, but I refrained from pointing it out. I didn't care. I had lost this battle.
"Your lawyer can send me as many letters as he wants to get your money. Mine writes better letters. You don't stand a chance." A sadistic grin rounded off the sentence.
I didn't have a lawyer, and I couldn't afford one. Emmett Kershaw wouldn't be receiving any letters from me. There were more important letters I had to write. Job applications.
"Now get out of here," Emmett Kershaw hissed at me and finally took a step back. I hastily detached myself from the wall and continued down the hallway. To the back door. There was no way I wanted to face Gina or the nice Jim right now. If anyone asked me how this went, I would start crying out of desperation. My lip was already trembling, and I was barely holding back my tears.
Emmett Kershaw wouldn't see me cry.
I wouldn't grant him that triumph.
After what felt like an eternity, I reached the back door and pushed it open. I took a deep breath of fresh air. It smelled like spring, but that didn't match my mood at all.
What should I do now?
My sister Joanna was far away on her dream trip in the Outback, together with her husband Chandler and my adorable niece. I didn't want to call her back from there or disturb her vacation joy in any way. For so long, I had been the black sheep of the family, always needing help.
I didn't want that role back.
Some time ago, I had helped out in my friend Leanna's shop. While I had enjoyed it, it hadn't offered me any career prospects. The bakery trade wasn't my forte. I felt much more comfortable in the shining hall of a hotel. I didn't want to knock on Leanna's door either. We hadn't seen each other very often anyway since she had her baby. Parents simply led a completely different life than singles.
No, I didn't want to ask anyone for help.
For long enough, I had been the Isabella who never really got her life together and kept falling flat on her face. That was over! Even in this crisis, I wouldn't fall back into that old pattern. I wanted to make it, and on my own.
There had to be another way out of my situation. I needed a damn good plan.
Without a recommendation, it would be nearly impossible to find a job in a hotel. Or any decently paid job. I could probably start as a dishwasher anytime. But the salary would never be enough to pay off the loan.
No, I had to come up with something else.
And then a thought struck me.
Could Carter help me?
I would meet him tonight.
I felt warm.
Very warm.