CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I raced into Bernie’s office for our Monday morning meeting a little out of breath. With our houseguests gone and a late night of making love with Vaughn, I was behind schedule. Rhonda was already waiting with the other department heads.
“Sorry, I’m late,” I said, sliding onto a chair next to Rhonda.
Bernie acknowledged me with a nod. “A lot has been going on. Would you fill us in on the two VIPs who rented the houses?”
I explained that with Lily’s exposure of Tina staying here, Tina had decided to go back to California for the rest of her training, taking Abbie with her. “Darryl wants to continue renting the house he’s in. He’s meeting with a lawyer in New York to address a sexual harassment claim from one of his staff members on the show.”
Next to me, Rhonda tensed. “What? That’s ridiculous!”
“I agree,” I said. “I can’t believe Darryl would do anything like that. It’s just not the way he’s made.”
“Not with four older sisters to keep him in line,” said Rhonda. “He told us how much he loves and respects them.”
“Does he expect to be gone long?” Bernie asked.
I shook my head. “When that news breaks, Darryl wants to continue to return here. He doesn’t want anyone to know where he is.”
“That brings me to another topic,” said Bernie. “Lily Dorio outed some important people with her newspaper interview. Most of our guests understand our request for total seclusion for others staying in the hotel. While we can’t be accountable for what she did, I feel we let down Robert Anderson and the bridal party who didn’t want any publicity about their wedding.”
“Lily’s behavior was blatantly rude, taking photographs during the ceremony,” said Lorraine. “I feel responsible, but honestly, I didn’t see it happen.”
“Annie and I were watching the ceremony, and neither of us saw her doing it. What a sneaky bitch,” said Rhonda, huffing with anger.
“I saw someone stop her, but I thought she hadn’t taken any photos,” I amended.
“Robert is a well-known figure in Hollywood as a producer,” said Bernie. “Following his divorce, he didn’t want to make a big deal over his quick remarriage. Now, his ex is requesting to re-open their settlement case for a variety of reasons. He’s not happy.”
“I never want Lily Dorio to stay here at the hotel again,” I said.
“I intend to have our lawyer write her a letter explaining what she’s done so we have a paper trail to avoid any further problems with her,” said Bernie.
“Vaughn refused to take her phone calls. Though the article claimed they were friends, nothing could be further from the truth.” Even now, my lips thinned at the idea.
“Annie and I checked the Presidential Suite after Lily checked out. I was afraid she might’ve done some damage there, but aside from stealing both robes and little stuff like a soap dish, it was fine. I didn’t even get a sense of a ghost.”
“Great news,” said Ana Gomez, head of housekeeping. “One of my workers was afraid to work there. I’ll tell her you said it’s safe, Rhonda.”
“Even a ghost would be scared off by Lily,” murmured Rhonda.
“Now on to new business,” said Bernie, and we heard a report from Lorraine about upcoming weddings.
###
An hour later, Rhonda and I moved to our own office, relieved to put that wedding behind us.
“The holidays will be here before we know it,” said Rhonda. “I’m already working on ads for Thanksgiving even though we have a couple of months before that happens.”
“I’m meeting with Dorothy soon to start organizing our annual Christmas party. She’ll update the invitation list for us.”
“She told me she has friends willing to help with the employee Christmas party,” said Rhonda. “What would we ever do without her? She keeps us tied to the neighborhood.”
“Maybe we should start a publicity campaign to counter any negativity from Lily’s interview. I want people to believe us when we say we protect guests’ privacy.”
“Let’s ask Angie and Liz to work on that,” said Rhonda. “They love working on projects together, and we need their help.”
“Perfect. They both need something creative to do after dealing with toddlers every day,” I said. “Vaughn is spending some time with the kids today. Then, he’ll take Liz to lunch so they can relax and talk.”
“It’s nice that they are close,” said Rhonda. “Will and Reggie are very close, but sometimes it’s too much—working and doing family things together.”
“How’s Will doing with the stress of the business?” I asked. “I’m concerned about him.”
“I understand Reggie had a heart-to-heart talk with him about it. He’s pushing to hire another employee to handle some of the smaller accounts. But you know how frugal Will is. He wants to wait and see.”
“I hope he doesn’t wait until it’s too late,” I said quietly. I knew Angie’s husband, Reggie, would be more than ready to take over the business while Will was gone. He and Will worked well together, but Reggie was looking forward to the time when the business would be his after Will retired.
###
A few days later, I got a call from Darryl, telling me he’d arrive at the hotel that afternoon.
“How are things going?” I asked him.
“Not well. Right now, the woman is making a statement to the press, but nothing is in the court system yet. What will it matter? Once my name is linked to the scandal and the news makes a splash about it, I’ll be declared guilty in the media.”
“That’s awful,” I said, feeling sick.
“My lawyer is working on things behind the scenes and is telling me not to despair. He’s working to bring suit against the woman. As you might imagine, I just want to disappear and ignore all the bad publicity.”
“We’ll keep you safe here. Why don’t you invite your sisters to stay with you at the house? That might make it less lonely.”
“I’ve already talked to them about it. One or two of them might be able to make it. We’ll see.”
I waited for him to mention Abbie, but when he didn’t, I let it go. “If they want to join you, have them talk to Bernie to get them registered privately.”
“Will do. Thanks for all your help.”
“We’re here for you, Darryl,” I said before he ended the call.
I told Rhonda about his plans.
“Does Abbie know about all of this?” Rhonda asked.
“I don’t know. He didn’t mention it.”
Rhonda’s eyes rounded with surprise. “Some matchmaker you are! She should be with him.”
“That’s not our call to make,” I said, even as I agreed with her.
“Maybe Tina can help,” she said.
“No, Rhonda. Darryl has enough to contend with. He doesn’t need our interference.”
She studied me and slowly nodded.
I talked to Bernie. “It’s very important that his presence is a secret. Also, I’ve instructed his sisters to call you to privately register as guests at the house.”
“Smart thinking,” he said. “The media is going to go crazy over this. It looks bad for Darryl.”
I wished I could deny it, but I knew he was right.
###
We were in our office when Darryl called. “I’m here,” he said to me. “Bernie suggested I reregister to insure my identity doesn’t leak out. I’m under a different name. Douglas Hathaway.”
“I took the liberty of ordering the same groceries you requested for your earlier arrival. I’m happy to purchase anything else you might need.”
“Thank you. I’ll make do. The first announcement has already hit the network news station.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Me, too. It didn’t have to be this way.” He abruptly ended the call, and I knew how upset he was.
Rhonda shook her head. “Let’s turn on the news.” We’d hung a smart TV on the wall of the office so we could keep up with the news.
The screen lit, and when we went to the ACBE TV station, we saw a picture of Darryl on the screen along with a photo of a young, dark-haired woman with a ponytail and wearing glasses. NIGHT SHOW HOST DARRYL DOUGLAS ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT streamed across the screen.
“Mr. Douglas is in legal trouble for allegedly acting inappropriately with one of his staff members. We’ve learned that the young woman is a former network staffer, and that she made her accusations against Mr. Douglas after she was let go. A source claims Douglas denies the allegations. Who’s lying and who’s telling the truth?”
I sat back in my chair feeling helpless. There was nothing I could do except to help keep Darryl safe at the hotel. “One helpful thing is they keep showing old pictures of Darryl.”
“Yeah. He looks entirely different today with his shaved head and new, tanned physique,” said Rhonda.
“In a short time, Darryl has changed a lot, making him unrecognizable. And most of that credit goes to Abbie.”
Rhonda didn’t say anything, but I could see her mind working.
“Oh, go ahead and call Tina,” I said. “I know you want to.”
“I feel she should know what’s happening in New York. What she does with the knowledge is up to her, but I wouldn’t feel right about not calling.” Rhonda picked up the phone and was forced to leave a message for Tina.
“We’ll see what happens with that call,” I said. “I hate to think of Darryl being alone at a time like this.”
At that moment, Bernie phoned. “One of Darryl’s sisters, Emma Strong, has arrived and is at the house.”
“Nice to hear,” I said. “Rhonda and I will go down and check on her.”
###
Rhonda and I eagerly headed to the house Darryl was renting. I felt much better about Darryl not being alone. The situation was too terrible to be by himself.
When we got to the house and rang the bell, an attractive woman appeared. She had the same hazel eyes I’d silently admired in Darryl and similar facial features. She gave us a friendly smile. “I know who you are. Glad to meet you, Ann and Rhonda. I’m Emma Strong. The baby sister in the family.”
“The one closest in age to me,” said Darryl coming up behind her.
“I don’t know what you’ve done for Darryl,” Emma said. “He looks fabulous. I like his new shaved head and his stronger body.”
“Stop, you’re making me blush,” said Darryl, giving his sister a little nudge.
“It’s not us, it’s Abbie who’s given him this new look,” said Rhonda, and I smiled to myself. She wasn’t going to leave her matchmaking alone.
“So, who’s this new woman in Darryl’s life?” asked Emma, smiling sweetly. “I can’t wait to hear about her.”
“She’s the best trainer anyone could have,” said Rhonda.
“She’s talented. But is she nice?” asked Emma, giving both Rhonda and me steady looks.
I spoke up. “Abbie has stayed at my house, along with Darryl, and I can honestly say you’d approve. She’s a sweet, fun, hardworking woman.”
“You’d better believe hardworking,” said Darryl. “She’s the one getting me in shape and changing me. I was very disappointed when she had to go back to California.”
“We all were,” said Rhonda. “We’re hoping she comes back.”
Darryl held up his hand. “I don’t want her to go through any of this mess with me. She has jobs to do without my bothering her.”
“Really?” said Emma. “If I’m understanding this situation with Abbie, you’re falling for her and yet you’re pushing her away? Hey, little bro, you’ve got to do better than that. At least call her. You owe her that.”
“I like you,” Rhonda said to Emma. “You and I think alike.”
“How long do you think you’ll stay?” I asked Emma.
“I’m not sure. I’m the first one here, but my other sisters will come if needed. Besides helping Darryl, it’s a break for all of us.”
“I promised them each a relaxing vacation,” said Darryl wrapping his arm around Emma.
I warmed inside at the smiles they shared.