With her hesitation, Edward threw his hands up in the air. “Fine. I’ll double it.”
Double? That added up to one big bonus.
“And I’ll still give you your pick of the next projects.”
“Are you going to put that in writing?”
He cocked his head, his neck beginning to turn an odd shade of pink.
“Strike that. Your word is good with me.” She stood. She could be only so mad with that kind of bonus for such a short assignment. “I’d better get to my office and get Kendra working on those reservations.”
“I think that’s an excellent plan.”
Vanessa walked back to her office dreading having to burst Kendra’s bubble. It would have been such a nice reward to let her come to Paris to help get things started. She was going to be disappointed.
I’ll make it up to her on the next project.
But when Vanessa walked in, Kendra stood with two flutes of French champagne. “Let’s celebrate. I can’t wait!”
Vanessa took the bubbling glass and raised it to her. With a high-pitched clink, they both sipped.
“Okay,” said Vanessa, taking another sip. “Thank you, this is nice, but I’ve got bad news.”
Kendra lowered her glass.
“I’m sorry to say we will not be in Washington or Paris.”
Confusion flooded Kendra’s features. “Where, then?”
“I’ll be in the mountains of North Carolina for a quick shutdown.”
“North Carolina?”
“I can’t believe it either. I’ll be closing down a tiny fruitcake factory and clearing space for a sporting-goods company to warehouse inventory. And it’s a tight timeline.”
“Over Christmas?”
“By January first.”
“If that isn’t heartless.” Kendra drained her glass. “Do those people even know what’s coming?”
“They must. We are always very clear at acquisition that things can change down the road. It is rotten timing, but it can’t be helped.”
Kendra poured more champagne in both of their glasses. “Mm-hmm. That’s always what the big company line is. Just business, right?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, everyone will be well taken care of. That’s never a problem.” Vanessa tried not to think of the individuals involved when she handled shutdowns. It had been a long while since she had done one of these, and somehow, she’d never had to do a shutdown over the holidays. “I’m disappointed too, but our next project will be something wonderful. Edward promised.”
“Christmas in Paris would have been amazing, but I feel worse for the workers in North Carolina than for us.”
Vanessa plunked down in her chair. “Edward thinks he needs me on this one. I plan to make the best of the situation.”
“Of course you do.” Kendra slugged back the champagne. “You’re right. It’s our job, and at leastwe’llhave paychecks next year.”
Ouch. If that wasn’t like a kick to the gut.
“I know you have plenty of vacation built up,” Vanessa reminded Kendra. “There’s no need for you to spend yourChristmas in Fraser Hills with me. Just let me know what days you’d like to take off and I’ll approve them.”
“Thank goodness,” Kendra said. “I don’t mean any disrespect, but I don’t think that town is going to be very festive this Christmas. I’d rather be in a happy place.”
