Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Avril says, “Good morning, Mr. Black.”
He nods at her and then his gaze slides to me. He glares, then passes us.
What does he have to be in a bad mood about? Plus, he’s the one that knocked into me and spilled coffee on me. He should have at least apologized.
“Mr. Black is one of our most important and regular guests,” she whispers.
And the hits just keep on coming.
Of course the only man in New York I actually have an opinion about, the only person in New York I actively don’t like and who clearly doesn’t like me, is the most important guest of the Hotel on Ninth Street.
I knew all our regular guests at The Rookery. I knew their room preferences, where they last went on holiday, and literally what they had for breakfast.
There wasn’t one of them who didn’t like me. None of them had ever glared at me, let alone thrown coffee on me.
“When you say ‘regular,’ how regular?” I ask.
“Most of our regular guests stay with us on average about once a month. We have fewer of them in the summer, to be honest. They all go to the Hamptons or Europe for the summer and we tend to have more tourists. But some—like Mr. Black—are with us all year round.”
Of course he would be.
“And he stays once a month?” I try to sound more casual than I feel.
“No, Mr. Black stays with us every Sunday—he books Saturday night, but rarely stays that night with us. He arrives Sunday morning and then he’s with us until Wednesday.”
“Every week?” I ask, trying to sound calmer than I am.
“Yes, every week. If only we had more guests like that.” She laughs.
“I wonder why?” I ask, not expecting an answer from Avril.
“Isn’t that the best part of working in a hotel? Speculating about all the guests? Wondering what their lives are like when they’re not in the hotel.”
I smile. I’ve never thought about it, but I speculate about the guests in The Rookery all the time. “Yeah. I guess it is. The Rookery is different. We have people who come back every year and we have a smattering of business guests, but most people are families and retirees on holiday in the area.”
“That makes sense. You’re out of the city.”
“But if Mr. Black stays so often, it must make better sense for him to rent an entire apartment or something? Surely?”
Avril’s eyes grow wide. “Don’t suggest it to him, please.”
“I promise.” Although I’d like to slide brochures of other hotels under his door. I don’t want to have to deal with him on a regular basis. I mean, I wouldn’t mind looking at him. I just don’t want to be in his pathway or be snapped at by him. But life’s all about navigating obstacles. Mr. Black will just be the first hump I have to get over.
FIVE
Deacon
Brian is more irritating than usual this morning. He shouldn’t even be working. It’s Sunday. This entire morning is more irritating than usual. It doesn’t help that I haven’t had my coffee because it’s all down some woman’s shirt. I didn’t have time to go and get another because some of it spilled on me and I had to go back to the hotel and change.
“I’ve told you a thousand times that I won’t travel if it means being away from New York Wednesday to Sunday.”
“But the conference is only on Wednesday to Saturday.”
What about my answer is he not understanding? “Then I’m not going.”
“This might be your only opportunity to get in front of ABC Inc. this year.”
“I don’t have time to say the same thing to you over and over again, Brian. You asked me to go, I said no. This isn’t a negotiation. I have a call coming through. I’ll speak to you later.”
Brian is my COO. He’s good at his job. I basically pay him to be tenacious, but he should have learned that one thing I’ll never change my mind about is leaving my kid when it’s my days to be in the house with her.
Gabby has wanted to move our days around a couple of times, but my answer is always no. I’m not going to confuse Willow. My daughter needs to understand that whatever happens, she’s going to wake up to her mother on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and me on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That’s just how this works. The only thing that’s ever been flexible is Saturday night. We started off agreeing to alternate Saturday nights, but Gabby asks me to stay until Sunday so often, we agreed, to keep things consistent, I would stay every Saturday night. It suits me. I get more time with Willow. And it suits Gabby, as she gets to go to dinner or whatever the hell she does with her Saturday nights.