Chapter 8
‘Cancelled? Who the heck cancels a destination wedding?’
While they all knew it would be hard to fill the shoes of long-time incumbent Roger, the new guest relations manager was not quite as cool, calm, and collected as Lily knew the job required.
And following this morning’s conversation with Dee, she felt bad having to add to Erin Howard’s settling-in hiccups by telling her she too would soon be jumping ship.
But at this, their first meeting, Lily at least hoped to provide some solutions to issues arising from Shay Brady’s wedding cancellation, and in the process, perhaps help her new resort colleague and their hapless guest.
‘The bride left the groom in the lurch at the airport, though he travelled anyway and is here at the hotel now.’ Lily sat forward.
‘I hope you don’t mind, but last night, I took the opportunity to have him moved to a Sanctuary suite instead of the honeymoon one they’d reserved.
I know I really should’ve checked with you, but he was pretty shaken, so I requested we put him on the other wing, away from all the loved-up couples beachside. ’
Poor Shay. She so wanted to help ease his discomfort and heal his broken heart. Despite Dee’s warning. But she couldn’t help it. Client or not, Lily did consider him a friend; he deserved better and, these days, she was kind of an expert on soothing broken hearts.
Erin kneaded her forehead. ‘Fine, sure, great idea.’
Her new colleague seemed very distracted, so Lily wasn’t sure whether now was a good time to raise the other suggestion she had to help out Shay. But she went for it anyway.
‘Dee and I have had to dismantle many of the wedding arrangements last minute, the majority of which are of course at the client’s expense.
But I did wonder whether, as a show of goodwill, we could agree to offset some of the in-house catering and entertainment cost; drinks, music, and maybe flowers, et cetera, by repurposing them? ’
Erin’s head seemed to snap up at this, and for a moment Lily worried that she was about to shoot the idea down and out of hand, but no, she seemed intrigued by the suggestion.
‘Repurposing? You mean kind of like sustainability?’
‘Yes, perhaps for use at the upcoming sunset party.’ To Lily it made perfect sense not to waste perfectly good resources or have the client unnecessarily out of pocket any further, and while she knew Erin’s predecessor would’ve shared her reasoning, she couldn’t yet get a good read on his replacement.
‘Yes, of course, fantastic idea actually,’ Erin enthused, her dark eyes lighting up a little. ‘Grant did mention something about a beach party happening soon that was kind of a big deal.’
Kind of a big deal? The annual sunset celebration was the highlight of the year; a long-standing tradition for The Palms Hotel and indeed the island – a major beachside bonfire gathering incorporating authentic Caribbean entertainment, food offerings and dancing.
The event pretty much showcased everything the resort had to offer, and since it was open invitation, it drew crowds from all over.
The latest addition to management clearly still had a lot of catching up to do, since having the event go off smoothly was a major part of Erin’s brief.
And Lily certainly wasn’t shouldering the majority of the burden on her own this year.
Again, Dee typically shirked any on-the-ground prep, preferring to bury herself in the paperwork instead.
Though, as Lily briefly filled Erin in on the finer details and considerable preparation the occasion entailed, she now felt doubly obliged to stick around for a bit longer, since evidently, the newbie was having trouble finding her feet.
Strange, since management had been singing Erin’s praises before she arrived, Grant in particular intimating that given her experience, she was a very safe pair of hands.
‘Sorry, I’m still getting up to speed with everything,’ Erin said then, as if reading Lily’s mind.
‘Of course it’s a big deal, and I look forward to working closely with you to help pull it off.
Shame about the wedding but speaking of …
’ She moved to her computer and tapped a few keys to awaken the screen.
‘Grant also highlighted something about a VIP guest proposal happening soon. Some influencer?’
‘Yes, all’s in hand there too,’ Lily assured her. ‘They’re arriving tomorrow.’
Some upcoming guests, a well-known fashion influencer and her entourage (or at least her boyfriend) had requested the hotel’s assistance in setting up a ‘surprise’ romantic betrothal on the resort grounds during their stay.
To Lily, broadcasting such a joyous and intimate moment to the world seemed the very antithesis of romance, though it was no secret that she truly didn’t ‘get’ influencer culture in general.
Whereas Dee devoured every social media app she could find and was an avid Kardashian lover. Again, chalk and cheese.
Why anyone would intentionally put their lives online for money or validation from complete strangers was a complete mystery to Lily, though she knew she was mostly alone in that belief.
The hotel business, and their manager Grant in particular, welcomed every opportunity to showcase its offerings and breathtaking location via social media, but Lily figured there was no real way to ascertain whether this increased tendency to fawn over VIPs – most of whom appeared to be such purely in their own heads – resulted in any increased business.
Certainly, the parade of self-appointed tastemakers she’d dealt with were prima donnas; their entitlement and over-the-top demands ensuring they took far more than they could possibly give back.
While Lily had always loved her job, typically anything VIP-related tended to be a lot of additional trouble for little or nothing in return, and she couldn’t imagine that this latest arrival would be any different.
Regardless, she was of course going to ensure that the boyfriend’s intended proposal was suitably romantic and ‘wow’ enough to satisfy an audience of strangers, plus ensure that the hotel looked amazing in the process.
Assuming she said yes, of course, though Lily guessed the ‘surprise’ bit was purely for the cameras since most of these things were expertly contrived.
‘Her boyfriend was very clear about requirements and everything’s in place,’ she assured Erin, ‘While I’ve never heard of the lady in question, I understand she has quite the online following. I’m really not much of a social media person,’ she added almost guiltily.
‘Ha, great minds.’ Erin laughed. ‘I thought I was the only one who couldn’t understand why people prefer watching strangers’ lives over getting out and living their own.’
Lily smiled, heartened to have finally found a kindred spirit.
‘But, hey, it is what it is, though I’m definitely not falling for the gimme a freebie stay “cos I’m deigning to sprinkle my special magic on you”.
’ She chuckled. ‘Should’ve gone to Vegas if you wanna be comped.
Honestly, is it just me or would you rather gift stuff to people who can’t actually afford it?
Anyway, sounds like you’ve got everything under control, thank you.
’ Then Erin smiled. ‘Honestly, I’m not having the best start, but having talked to you, I’m already feeling better. ’
Lily was liking Erin more and more too. Which was why she didn’t want to yet break it to her lovely new colleague that she was planning to abandon her.
‘And I do love that idea of the catering switch-up, you know. A brainwave and one that could actually work even more to our advantage,’ Erin muttered, more to herself than Lily. ‘Thanks again for the heads-up and anything at all you need, let me know. That sunset party sounds like a lot of fun.’
‘I think you’re going to love it – it truly is the highlight of our year. And don’t worry, after all this time Dee and I have pretty much got the arrangements down pat,’ Lily assured her, smiling. ‘Save for any last-minute hiccups.’