PLEASE.
‘And that leads you on to the main booking system,’ Matthew announced proudly, clicking the mouse and loading what looked like the most boring spreadsheet of all time. ‘Easy, eh? Just one click. I tell you, technology is a marvellous thing.’
I tried and failed to seem enthused. Matthew sighed.
‘Is any of this going through into that brain of yours?’ He reached for one of the many dust cloths he kept next to the branded fountain pens and began to polish away a barely noticeable smear on the shiny desk.
‘Honestly, Matthew? No.’ I yawned, leaning back in my chair.
‘I thought as much. Always been a fan of your honesty, though.’ He smiled, winking at me. I stood up briefly to see over the reception desk and check on Fritz, who was sitting in his armchair as usual, greeting guests. At that moment, he was having his belly rubbed by a duchess, who was speaking to him in a baby voice, so I left him to it and sat back down.
‘How did it go with Prince Gustav?’ Matthew asked.
I shrugged. ‘Fine. He was nice about it. I gave him some selfie-stick tips and by the end he was practically begging me to stay to teach him more. I wish he’d tell Mum that I’ve been punished enough.’
‘Do you think you have?’
‘Are you kidding? I’ve had to do a hundred boring things.’
He raised his eyebrows.
‘Mum’s being so harsh.’
‘Can you blame her? She’s under a lot of stress, what with the Christmas Ball approaching.’
I snorted. ‘Like she has much to do with that. Audrey organises the whole thing.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure.’ Matthew folded the dust cloth and placed it neatly back next to the fountain pens. ‘Audrey does a huge amount, of course, but your mother heads up the entire operation. Not to mention how much she does to run this place.’
‘She doesn’t have to take her stress out on me.’
‘She just wants it all to go smoothly. And this time of year there’s always plenty to do – the Christmas Ball means a lot to her.’
‘Duh, it’s the best night ever. And she gets to flirt with George Clooney.’ I rolled my eyes.
Matthew shook his head. ‘It’s not that. Maybe you should ask her sometime.’
‘Whatever, she’s beentotallyunfair to me. I apologised to Prince Gustav so I don’t understand why I’m still being punished,’ I huffed.
He laughed and shook his finger at me. ‘That stubborn expression of yours reminds me of the time when I caught you swapping the keys around so all the guests got the wrong key to their room. Do you remember?’
‘That was Cal’s idea,’ I lied. ‘But I was the one who got in trouble.’
‘I find that hard to believe.’ He smiled, his eyes twinkling. ‘You were the brains behind all your operations.’
‘I always took the fall for Cal, if that’s what you mean.’
‘Trust me, he didn’t get away with anything. I may be a jolly worker, but make no mistake, I’m a very strict father.’ He straightened up as a guest approached the desk, greeting them like they were an old friend whom he hadn’t seen in ages.
While I waited for him to finish, the phone began to ring next to me. All the phones at reception were gold-plated vintage ones, with a rotary dial and everything, and they had that old-fashioned trill ring. They totally suited the decor.
I watched it ring and I could see Matthew glancing at it out the corner of his eye but the guest was in full flow, telling him all about his trip to the zoo and, as the politest man of all time, Matthew wouldn’t dream of breaking away mid-conversation. The phone continued to ring. I just stared at it at first but then it started to bug me so I craned my neck over the desk to see if any porters were nearby, but they were all busy. I put my hands over my ears grumpily until FINALLY Audrey appeared and snatched it up. She did a lot of ‘uh-uh’s and ‘mm’s and then went, ‘of course, straight away,’ before neatly placing the receiver down.
‘You took long enough,’ I said, as she turned to face me with her hand on her hip. ‘Is there any way of turning down the volume on that thing?’
‘You know that is the internal line, right? I’ve told you several times before.’
‘Yeah. So?’
