Chapter 14 #4
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 emotion bubble 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.”
“So Abby was sort of spying.”
“I suppose so.”
“Mm. For a spy she was remarkably good at clearing up mess. You should have seen the bathroom she did in the Merlin suite
last week. Pat said the two of them almost needed hazmat suits but Abby got stuck right in.” Donna thought for a moment. “You’re
saying she was finding out what’s going on here and reporting back to her mother?”
“Apparently.”
“Which means her mother takes notice of what she says.”
Evie had no idea where this was going. “I suppose so.”
“Well then, maybe we can turn that to our advantage.”
“How?”
“Abby’s a decent person. She made a bad choice, but I suppose it’s not much of a choice if the boss is also your mother. She
could have resigned on principle I suppose, but this is her mother so that’s going to mean a lot of awkward Sunday lunches.
The way I see it, if she’s feeding stuff to her mother, we need to make sure she’s feeding the right things.”
“It’s too late for that. She’s already sent feedback,” Evie said. “And I feel bad. This is all my fault. Or at least, a large
part of it is my fault.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because I’m the acting general manager. I saw how things were from the first day I took over, but I haven’t managed to turn things around. I’ve let you all down.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is true. I thought it would be great stepping up and managing this place. It’s what I’ve always wanted. I had loads of
ideas at the beginning, but I have totally failed to put any of them into practice. I wrote a memo and no one even read it,
and that’s on me. Her report will probably say that I don’t know how to get people to take me seriously, and an effective
general manager needs the respect of the staff. And she’s right. Someone more experienced should step into the role and I
should move aside. That would be best for everyone.”
There was a long pause and then Donna stood up. “I’m glad you told me this. I wish you’d told me sooner. I remember the memo,
but I thought they were just ideas you’d been having. I didn’t understand what was at stake. I’m pretty sure the others didn’t
understand either. That’s on us.”
No, Evie thought, it was on her. She hadn’t been direct enough, she saw that now.
She’d sent the memo because it had seemed easier to email people. She’d been afraid to act like the boss, always conscious
that most of the staff were older than her and had known her forever. It felt like overstepping. She’d had no idea how to
handle her new position or them, but instead of learning and dealing with it, she’d hidden away. She’d addressed things in
a roundabout way and hadn’t been direct. She’d hoped that by sending the memo it might be enough to persuade people to change
what they were doing. But it had been a type of avoidance. She should have done it in person. She should have been straight
with them. That’s what a leader would do, and she was supposed to be a leader.
“Donna?” She stopped her colleague before she could reach the door. “Ask everyone to come to the conference room at midday. I’m going to talk to them.”
Donna nodded approval. “Good plan. I’ll do that.”
She turned and left the room, leaving Evie feeling overwhelmed by a sense of responsibility.