His Second Chance Read online

  Growing up, I had seen the ins and outs of the hotel business. I’d been there when my father had hired and fired people. When things would break down or guests would have complaints. I’d seen all the good parts along with the bad. I knew just how vital it was to have good people in every position. Even those that were washing the sheets in the back needed to feel as though they were an asset to the company. I’d seen my father do this to a small degree, but he still left a lot to be desired in his approach. I wanted to change things up a bit more. I wanted everyone to see that they were an important piece in this machine and that I counted on them. I also wanted them to see that they were recognized. As I waited for Jill, I began to ponder just how I could do this in the best possible way.

  When Jill looked up, I continued. “I’d also like to start a recognition program for milestones. If an employee has been here for a certain length of time, they should get recognition for that. I want them to know that they are appreciated and I recognize their loyalty.”

  “So what are you thinking?” she asked. “Mention at a meeting or something like that?”

  “No, more than that,” I said shaking my head. “I want to celebrate these milestones. Maybe have a cake or something. For really big ones, I’m thinking a free night stay or something along those lines. It’s not like it would cost the hotel all that much but I’m sure it would be appreciated. We can always think about it. Just keep it in mind.”

  Jill nodded. “I like that. I can see if I can find some great ideas online and then run them past you. See if I can dig up what other companies are doing along those lines. I’m sure there’s something out there.”

  “Perfect,” I said. “Please do. I want this sort of thing to be a top priority. Think along the lines of awards, a free night in the hotel, maybe a free dinner. Things that are a little more than a cake with their name on it. That’s fine for the smaller milestones but if they’ve been with us a while, I want to celebrate that.”

  “What about those who have been here a while already?” she asked.

  I debated. She made a good point. “How about you get me a list of those that have been here the longest and how long they’ve been with the company. We’ll see how many there are and go from there.”

  She nodded and made a note. “Okay then. Anything else you would like to see implemented sooner rather than later?”

  I leaned back in my chair and thought for a moment. There was one other thing that had stuck out in my mind that morning. “I’m thinking that there aren’t enough managers. Having one person over multiple departments doesn’t seem wise. After all, there are different duties for each one. A person in the kitchen won’t understand the duties of the housekeepers. A groundskeeper won’t understand the duties of a bellboy. I want department heads over each one. Make sure you promote from within. Most likely someone who has been in their department the longest. But we’ll teach them how to be managers. I don’t want to just stick them in a position and expect them to know what to do.” I had big plans to make sure everyone was on the same page and clear in their job roles. After all, I’d learned that many employees left their jobs not long after starting simply because they didn’t understand what was expected of them or feel comfortable in their new role. That wasn’t something I wanted happening at my hotels. If I had good people, I wanted to keep them.

  “I can start working on that.” Jill nodded. “I’ve always thought that was the way it needed to be.”

  “So why not say something?” I asked. “Not that I’m mad. I’m just wondering why nothing was done so that we can improve.” I stood from my dark wooden desk and walked over to the window. “If something didn’t work before, I want to address it and find a solution.”

  “Well, for one I didn’t think the suggestion would be welcome,” she said, somewhat surprised. “But I also didn’t know who to speak with. For those of us in the offices, there’s no real set manager that we could go to. I most certainly didn’t want to bring it up to Mr. Jackson when he came through. He often seemed as though he was in a hurry and didn’t have time to listen. No offense.”

  I nodded, taking in what she was saying. “None taken. I have no intention of being anything like my father. I can’t promise that I won’t be busy some days, but I would like to be a bit more approachable. Of course, now that you’re my assistant, you can speak directly to me. I would like for you to be my voice when I’m not here. If you aren’t sure about something, you just let me know.”

  “Understood,” she said with a nod.

  I turned away from the window to face her, “Now I noticed that the cubicles in the office area were arranged to almost isolate everyone rather than bring them together. I don’t want them to feel as though they are trapped in a cage or something. I want to make sure they aren’t miserable when they are stuck at their desks. I think I want to bring in some plants and things like that to make the area much more inviting. Just because it’s an office area doesn’t mean it has to be so boring and bland. Let’s make it a bit more pleasant to be in.”

  A thought occurred to me then. Why not bring in a professional to make the place much nicer and not so analytical looking? Just because it was behind the scenes didn’t mean that it couldn’t still be a nice area. Everything seemed so white and sterile. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, but it was also a bit cold.

  “Actually, I might bring in a professional. I know an interior decorator,” I began. “I want to move the desks around like we discussed when we were in there, but I will talk to my interior decorator and see if she has any input as to what we can do to make the areas behind what the customers see more appealing. I don’t like it being so plain.”

  “That’s your call. I think it sounds like a great plan.” Jill nodded and smiled.

  Just then my cell phone began to ring. I picked it up and saw it was Leslie. “Speak of the devil,” I said with a smile before answering.

  “Good afternoon, Leslie. I was just talking about you,” I said.

  “Oh?” She said sounding surprised. “I hope it was good.”

  “Of course it was,” I chuckled. “What did you need?”

  “Oh,” she said as if she remembered she was the one that called me. “I ran into an old friend today and she invited us both out for drinks tonight. I was just calling to see if you might want to.”

  “Sure, if that’s what you want, I don’t have a problem with it,” I shrugged. “I’m actually almost done here and I needed to speak with you anyway about something. No rush though.”

  “Great, I’ll send you the details once I get them,” she said sounding strange. For a moment I wonder if perhaps she didn’t want me to want to go along after all. Oh well, too late now.

  “Sounds good,” I said with a nod before hanging up. I turned to Jill and said, “Well, I think that’s good for the day. I’m going to go meet with the interior decorator and see what she has to say. I really like her style and think she could do some good around here.”

  “Works for me,” she said with a nod. “I will start implementing your changes where I can and if I have any questions I will let you know.”

  “Excellent. Thank you so much Jill. I think we’re going to work well together,” I said as she stood and I shook her hand. I was anxious to get to see Leslie again. Hopefully, she was as eager to see me as I was to see her.

  Once Jill was out of the office I spun around in my chair. While the desk itself was nice and the chair was comfortable, I needed to make this place more comfortable soon. The walls were a light mustard yellow that I wasn’t fond of and the chairs for guests were made with a floral print. Definitely not. I made a mental note to have Leslie redo my office as well once I got her on board to work on the hotel itself.

  I grinned at the idea. She said she wanted steady and consistent work. Redesigning the hotel could take months and then I still had another I wanted to put a different look to. Once she was done with them both and I had talked her up all those months, I was certain she wou
ld have work lined up. There was no reason for her to not quit her job once she heard. I just hoped she didn’t try to fight me on it.

  Of course, I understood her need for stability. With everything that had happened to her family, who could blame her? But still, she needed to see that sometimes you just had to try. When your dream is being handed to you, you don’t shake your head and turn it down. You grab it with both hands and don’t let go.

  Standing from my desk, I decided I was ready for a drink. I was curious as to who this friend was of Leslie’s, but it didn’t matter in the long run who it was to me. As long as it wasn’t some ex-boyfriend that was trying to win her back. Then I might get a little irritated but I couldn’t see her doing that. Knowing what Leslie had been doing, she probably ran into one of her old friends from Beverly Hills. I just hoped that whoever it was, they were actually a friend. The last thing I wanted was for my baby girl to get upset.

  Chapter 12

  Leslie

  As I sat at the table in the corner with Kellie, I knew I’d made a mistake. The bar itself was nice and I really liked the ambience. There was a small stage in one corner where they apparently had live music on the weekends. Pictures of bands littered the walls and some of the older ones were of groups that I’d heard on the radio before. It was a dark but clean place and I wished I was there with anyone else but Kellie. Otherwise I might have actually been enjoying myself.

  In the short time that we had been together in the bar, she’d been incredibly rude. Of course, she didn’t see it that way. She was just a privileged woman who had no clue that you shouldn’t talk to people the way she had been. The waitress had rolled her eyes at her more than once as Kellie grew bossy and demanding. I also noticed that she was loud and drank like a fish. She’d already downed two martinis and was working on her third. She had started out okay, but as the alcohol hit her system, the gloves came off.

  “Oh my gosh, did you see that woman?” she asked in a not so hushed tone. “I can’t believe she was wearing that! If I was her, I would cover up more. Maybe wear a mumu or something,” she scoffed.

  I personally didn’t have a problem with the wardrobe of the woman in question. Instead, I was wondering how I was able to hang out with Kellie all those years ago and where did the woman go that I had had lunch with? In my memories, I didn’t recall her being such a snob. But ever since we’d taken our seats and she’d started drinking, all she’d done was criticize those around us.

  I felt my phone vibe and I checked it, hoping it was Brett saying he couldn’t make it. Not that I didn’t want to see Brett. Part of me hoped he didn’t show up so I didn’t have to be embarrassed by Kellie any more than I already was. He shouldn’t have to put up with her ridiculous behaviour. It wasn’t like he’d known her well back in the day. They’d met in passing here and there when she would come over once in a while. But that was it. I sighed and looked at my screen, expecting it to be him. Instead, I saw it was my longtime friend Nicole Morris. She and I became friends after I moved to San Jose and had been inseparable ever since. I was grateful to have someone with some common sense to speak to for a little while.

  Hey Leslie! What are you doing? She messaged.

  I quickly began to type back. I’m in London and ran into an old friend from when I lived in Beverly Hills. We went out for drinks and now I’m seeing it’s a mistake. I almost wondered if I should message Brett and tell him that plans had changed. Was it too late for that?

  Oh, who is it? She replied.

  Kellie Carter, I sent back. I’m not sure if she was always this snobby or if it’s a new thing.

  I think I remember you talking about her before. What’s she doing? Nicole asked. I struggled to think of how to describe how Kellie was acting.

  Pretty much making fun of anyone she deems not as cool as her, I answered finally.

  Ugh, she sent back. I hate it when people do that. Don’t even stress, girl. You’re so much better than her.

  Please tell me I wasn’t a stuck-up little snob when you met me, I pleaded. I was starting to wonder how I had ever made friends after moving to San Jose if I had been. Truly, if I had acted like Kellie before, I needed a beat down.

  Don’t worry, you weren’t. You were actually much nicer than I had anticipated when I heard you were from Beverly Hills. I had honestly expected you to be an asshole, she sent back with some laughing emojis.

  Well, I guess that’s good, I said with my own laughing emojis.

  Just then, Kellie squealed and took off from our table. When I turned to see what caused her to make such a commotion I saw her wrapping her arms around a surprised Brett. He didn’t seem to know what was going on and he searched the bar for help. When his eyes finally landed on me, he looked as though he were pleading for help.

  I have to go, I sent back to Nicole. She’s currently making an ass of herself and I need to save someone.

  Good luck, she sent back and I closed my phone. I was certainly going to need all the luck I could get if I was going to make it through all of this. I stood from the table and went over to join them. Brett seemed to be doing his best to politely extract himself from Kellie’s arms but she was clinging to him as if he were the last bit of oxygen in the bar.

  “Brett, you remember my friend from Beverly Hills, Kellie Carter?” I asked as I drew closer.

  “Oh, that’s right,” Brett said with a nod. “You used to go over to Leslie’s house, didn’t you?”

  “Sure did,” she said with a nod. “We were the best of friends before she left.” Finally letting him go, she smiled. “We’re going to have the best time tonight. I can feel it.”

  “Let’s go sit back down before we lose our table,” I suggested and Kellie nodded. Not that I would have minded if we did. Maybe then we could have ditched Kellie all together.

  “Great plan!” she cried as she hurried back to her seat. Brett and I both followed and sat down at the table, Brett giving me a look that said he wasn’t sure what to think of Kellie. At the moment, neither did I. A waitress came by and got his drink order before disappearing again into the crowd.

  “So Brett,” Kellie said as she slapped the table. “What have you been up to lately? I hear you recently moved to London.”

  “I have,” Brett agreed. “I am taking over a couple of hotels that my family owns here. I actually just got started today.”

  “Oh, that’s so fascinating,” Kellie said as she leaned forward. Her ample breasts seemed to push out of her shirt and I shook my head in disgust. It was blatantly obvious she was trying to get his attention. Brett, however, didn’t seem phased by them.

  “Not really,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s mostly all about making sure things keep running smoothly. There isn’t a whole lot to do at this point but make sure the whole operation is working the way I want and that everyone is somewhat happy.”

  “Yeah, but it must be nice to be able to get in there and flex those muscles of yours,” Kellie said as she placed a hand on his bicep. I shook my head in disgust and looked away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brett pull away.

  “That’s not really my style,” he admitted. “I prefer to listen and see what my employees need in order to do their job better.”

  “But, I mean, you’re the boss,” she said as the waitress returned with his drink. “You know better than all of them what would be best.” She stopped the waitress and asked for another martini. I shook my head, wondering just how intoxicated Kellie was trying to be. Brett waited for the waitress to leave before he spoke.

  “Actually, that’s not true. There is no way I would know better than the housekeepers when it comes to how to do their job. Same goes for maintenance, the cooks and everyone else in that hotel. They know a ton more about what is needed for their jobs than I do.” he turned his attention toward me then. “So how did the shopping go today?”

  Inwardly I smiled, even though I was still feeling a bit jealous of Kellie. “It wasn’t bad,” I shrugged. “I picked up a few thin
gs. I need to check measurements for another whenever you get the keys.”

  “Actually, I already got them,” he said as he dug in his pocket. “I made a spare so that you can get in there and do whatever you need without having to track me down.” He slid it across the table.

  “Thanks,” I said before I was rudely interrupted by Kellie.

  “It’s so great you’ve decided to move to London. Maybe we can go out sometime. It’s always great to have a local friend when you move somewhere new and need help finding things. I can always show you around sometime,” she said.

  “Thanks,” he said. “I appreciate that. I admit, I’ve been here before but visiting is completely different from living somewhere.”

  “I know!” she said loudly. “When I first moved here, I had no clue where anything was. I hadn’t hired any help yet and I had to go out and find things all alone. It was terrible. But now I feel like I know this city like the back of my hand.”

  I watched as the two continued to talk and I could feel my irritation and jealousy growing. Brett still didn’t seem interested in her boobs or her advances, but that didn’t matter. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. I was doing my best to ignore it, but the more I fought it, the more it grew. I wanted nothing more than to rip her hand off of his forearm and slap her in the face. To think I used to be so close to her.

  Kellie’s next drink came and she downed it in two swallows, it seemed. The more she drank, the more obvious her flirting became. I tried to let it go, knowing that Brett wasn’t mine. I had no claim on him and he could be with whomever he wanted. But there was still a part of me that was filled with pure rage. I stared down into my glass, wanting to take a drink but afraid to. Was it the alcohol that was making me angry? If it was, it wouldn’t do me any good to have more. Then I might do something I would regret.