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Deciding this was some kind of test of her temperament, Charlotte relaxed. She’d printed the email with the instructions for her first day. Before the day was over, she would find a way for this woman to see it.
“I’m Linda Hamilton, the human resources manager,”
she said before o ering Charlotte a limp handshake.
“Oh man, how many times a day do people tell you they’ll be back ?” Charlotte asked, doing her best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression to brighten the woman’s dour expression.
Linda gave her a withering look before turning on her heels and beckoning Charlotte to follow her.
Glad you’re not the one I have to win over , Charlotte thought before looking back at Paola and giving her a little wave.
“Good luck,” Paola mouthed silently.
The further they walked, the deeper Charlotte’s heart sank. Beyond the peaceful aesthetics and ungodly amount of water features, there was a nondescript corridor with half a dozen frosted glass doors. After HR, sales, customer service, and hospitality, there was accounting. Charlotte swallowed hard. She might as well be on the other side of the planet from Alexandra.
“Here you are,” Linda said, opening the door for her.
It was a nice o ce. Windowless but neat and decorated with fine looking furniture. A solid wood desk sat across from a couple of pretty, white leather chairs. The modern art on the wall made the space feel open and serene. Even the computer and two silver monitors were sleek and attractive.
“I’ve left all the forms you’ll need to sign.” Linda pointed a slender finger at the green folder on the desk. “Inside you will find instructions for how to log in to the onboarding software. There are also notes from your predecessor indicating what programs are used for what process. When you get to the nondisclosure agreements, come to my o ce and I’ll notarize your signature.”
Charlotte wanted to ask why the former accountant wasn’t training her but didn’t think Linda would take kindly to questions. A moment later, she was gone, and Charlotte was left wondering what had possessed such a warm and friendly person to pursue a career that required human interaction.
Tucking her satchel into a desk drawer, Charlotte took a deep breath before opening the folder and getting started. A floor plan of the spa resort was helpful, but it would’ve been nice for Linda to take her around and introduce her to
everyone. Leaving it to Charlotte to do herself was so awkward.
“At least I’ll be able to find the bathroom,” she muttered to herself as she traced the color-coded layout.
It was simple. On one side of the building were all the administrative o ces. On the other, the sauna, steam rooms, and Turkish bath surrounded various treatment rooms. At the center, a small kitchen and health-conscious café area led outdoors to a walk-in pool and private cabanas.
Charlotte expected that the action happened in the dozen guest rooms making up the second floor. They couldn’t be booked without corresponding treatments. Ataraxia obviously did not want to be labeled a hotel. The rooms were tangential to the wellness goals and not easily obtained.
As the day and tedious videos marched on, Charlotte’s nerves and anticipation waned. It was nearly quitting time, and she hadn’t so much as caught a glimpse of Alexandra.
When she imagined all the ways she’d charm her, she hadn’t anticipated being so . . . solitary. At this rate, she’d never get anything for Jayson.
A cursory glance at the day-to-day business records didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary. There was certainly no reason to believe Alexandra was running some shadow operation out of the resort.
Could the cops be wrong? She reasoned it was her job to find that out too.
Taking a stroll around the resort, Charlotte hoped to run into Alexandra. After finding nothing unusual around the upstairs guest rooms, she dared to knock on Alexandra’s
o ce door. She tried not to be disappointed when it went unanswered.
Plan B presented itself in the form of Paola waving at her from the reception desk. Befriending her might be productive. Receptionists saw and heard everything.
“How goes the first day?” she asked, her smile as bright as it was seven hours ago.
“Not bad, but a little lonely,” Charlotte replied, leaning against the desk.
“Well, you can always stand up here for a while. It’ll cure that real quick,” she joked.
“Are there any good happy hour spots around here?”
Charlotte asked more abruptly than she intended.
Without hesitation, Paola rattled o a list of possibilities.
