Page 18 of Mr. Romantic (Mister 2)

I put my cream-colored linen suit back on from earlier today and freshen up my face and hair before walking out of the cabana and heading over to the main building. Here goes nothing, Ivy.

Oh, stop. It’s not like I have a chance in hell of getting this job. Even if Nolan is impressed by my analysis, Claudette won’t be. Face facts, I’m out of here tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest.

But I’m going out in style.

The front desk ladies greet me by name when I approach, and then point to a set of stairs that wind up to the office. I arrive on the second floor at five minutes to six, and smile self-consciously at the two men sitting in the outer office waiting room.

“Hello,” I say.

“Hello,” they say in unison.

I’m screwed. They are both in their mid thirties, slightly older than Nolan. They are both wearing expensive suits, and they both look like men who have most certainly done this before.

Well, there goes my grand exit. I bet they have all the same ideas I’ve come up with for adding value to the Hundred Palms Resort customer experience, and then some.

“Oh, good,” Claudette says from off to the left. “Ivy has finally arrived so we can get started.”

I was early. Five minutes. She is really out to make me look bad.

“Come on in to the conference room, everyone. We’re doing this together. Nolan?” she calls. “She’s here.”

God, I wasn’t late.

Nolan Delaney appears from an office down the hallway and smiles at us. He’s wearing a suit again. Perfectly tailored, black suit with a yellow silk tie. “OK, everyone. I can’t wait to hear what you’ve come up with.”

We file in and take our seats around a long oval table. I sink into my chair when I notice the two other candidates pulling out presentation material. One guy is setting up a projector.

I have nothing and even worse, this is painfully obvious to everyone in the room.

“Ivy,” Claudette says from across the table. “Do you need to grab anything?”

“Um, no.” I smile and tap my head. “I’ve got it all up here.”

I look self-consciously at the two men, but they don’t seem to be gloating quite as much about my lack of props as Claudette is.

Suck it up, Ivy. You’re smart, capable, and you have good ideas for this place.

I glance over at Nolan and find him smirking at me. He cocks his head and raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t comment.

“Mr. Miller,” Claudette says. “You can present first.”

“Thank you, Ms. Delaney. Mr. Delaney. As you know—”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Nolan says, interrupting him. “We haven’t all met. Let me introduce everyone for Ivy’s sake.”

Well, that was nice.

“Ivy, this is Bram Miller, current brand manager for Beachwood Resorts in the Caribbean. How many resorts do you oversee, Bram?”

“Ah, seventeen, Mr. Delaney.”

“Bram got his MBA at Harvard and specializes in golf course promotion. Our professional course will be competitive and we think it will be a major draw for Hundred Palms.”

“I have you covered, Nolan,” Mr. Miller says with a confident smile.

Bram? Nolan? Well, they got cozy fast.

“And this,” Nolan says, pointing to the second candidate, “is Daniel Davies. He got his MBA at Stanford and is the project marketing director for the Shell Island Luxury resorts in North Carolina.”