AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Toby considers for what feels like an age. I can see that he’s not one for impulse decisions.
“When you say, ‘travel as a couple’,” he says, eventually, “does that mean we’d have to share a room?”
Crap. I hadn’t thought about that. This plan is full of holes, I realise. This is what happens when you pitch without adequate preparation. There’s really only one answer I can give though. I need to get Mark onside with this idea, and I’ll have to work out the details later.
“Madison?” Mark asks.
“Yes, I think we would. I don’t see any hotel being keen on giving away two rooms for free when one is the norm. Also, the whole aim of this is to blend in as much as possible. Even if the hotel agreed to two rooms and we travelled as friends, it would raise our profile a little. The hotel staff are going to be like sniffer dogs on full alert for anything unusual. The more ordinary we are, the better our chances of going undetected.”
“But what about the sleeping arrangements?” Mark presses.
“Look, this is a professional situation,” I counter. “If we have to share a bed then I would expect both of us to make sure we are appropriately covered up, and I would expect us both to keep our hands to ourselves.”
“I can assure you that you have nothing to fear from me,” Toby interjects.
“So, in principle, you’d be up for a trip like this?” Mark asks him.
“Yes, I think so, if it fitted in with my schedule,” Toby replies. “I think Madison’s right about the potential benefits of an undercover review, and so it’s worth a shot. If it doesn’t work out then we don’t have to do it again, but we won’t know unless we try, will we? Listen, I’d better go. I can see Robyn fidgeting from here. Do you mind?”
“No, that’s great. Thanks Toby, I’ll be in touch.” Mark gets up and holds the door open for him, and we watch Robyn rush over to him and practically drag him into another meeting room. Mark turns back to me and silence descends. I’m not completely sure, but I’m feeling more confident that I might actually have pulled this off and saved my career. He sits for a while, alternately looking at me and staring at the ceiling. Once again, I let him formulate his thoughts, and sit as still as I can.
“OK,” he says, eventually. “This isn’t where I expected this meeting to end up, but I’m happy. I think this is an interesting idea and certainly worth a punt. I’m not going to say ‘yes’ right now as, although I have the ability to commission this, I want more time to consider it, and I also want to talk it through with a couple of my colleagues. I also need to see whether there’s any appetite for this type of review from any of the hotel owners. It’s more risky from their perspective, so I’m not sure how well it will be received.”
“That’s fair enough,” I answer. “All I would say is that this is potentially good for them too. I don’t know of any hotel owners who want their guests to have a horrible time, and I’m sure the owner of the Bellavista doesn’t like reading the TripAdvisor comments any more than I did. What this offers is for them to get an impartial picture of what’s going on, and the opportunity to improve. If they’re not interested in that, then they aren’t the sort of hotel Voyages Luxes should be reviewing anyway.”
“Leave it with me,” Mark replies. “I’ll give you a call in a few days.” With that, he unplugs his laptop and stacks the notepad on top of it, indicating that the meeting is over. I take the cue, place my notebook back into my bag, and stand up. Mark gets up and opens the door for me.
“Thanks for coming in today, Madison. We’ll speak soon.”
Once I’ve left the Voyages Luxes offices and stepped back onto the street, I exhale loudly, trying to release some of the tension of the last hour. Although it’s cold, the sun is shining, and I find I’m enjoying the freshness of the air after the stuffy atmosphere of the meeting room. I make my way down to a coffee shop that I like in the Pantiles. When I get there, I order a flat white and a Danish pastry, and sit down at one of the tiny rickety tables outside to enjoy them. There’s a chilly breeze but I’m warm inside my thick winter coat. As I eat and drink, I reflect on the meeting. I’m pretty pleased with how I handled it and thought on my feet, although I shudder when I think how close to disaster I was. Bloody Peter Smallbone. I know I’m not out of the woods yet, but Mark had definitely come around to the idea by the end, so I’m hopeful that it will come off. I liked Toby too, and not just because he helped to bail me out. I’m not used to travelling with anyone else and I don’t know him, which is far from ideal, but he seems nice, and I have a good instinct for people, so I reckon we’ll probably get on OK. What was it he had said? Oh yes, I have ‘nothing to fear’ from him.
Called it – he’s definitely gay. I’m not saying that I’m God’s gift to mankind or anything, and that no heterosexual male could possibly resist me. It’s just the subtext in the way he said it, and the way he emphasised the word ‘nothing’.
I’m pleased, because that will make the whole business of having to share a room much easier. I can relax, knowing that he’s definitely not going to try it on, and we can get on with the work. With sexual chemistry firmly off the menu, what could possibly go wrong?
