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When it came to relationships, I didn’t know what I was doing, and I didn’t want to endure a heartbreak again. I knew I could count on my career to be there for me, and my career wasn’t going to break my heart. Even going through the shit I did with my boss, Leroy, wasn’t as bad as this breakup had been. And, with how things were looking up for me, there was still a chance I would walk away from this with at least a nice bonus.
I might not get that promotion after being late, but I would get some money to line my pockets, which was always nice in the expensive New York City economy.
“I have to admit, I’m pleased with how this looks,” Mr. Hopkins told me as he came out of his office and surveyed the room. “I really didn’t think it was going to work with the music theme that you wanted along with the requirements from Jason and the wants I have. But look at the place. I don’t think you could have done a better job of combining all those aspects and still make this place unique if you had the entire world at your fingertips.”
“Thank you for that,” I said with a smile. “I strive to make sure each and every one of my clients is satisfied by the time I’m finished with their space, so I am glad to hear you are pleased with the final outcome.”
“I am, and I’m telling you right now that my wife and I are planning on designing our own house in the coming years. When it’s time to retire, that is, and when that happens, I want to personally hire you to come and design the interior space. I know my wife would love your style, and with how you have that eye for detail, I’m sure it would be the magic we need,” he said.
“I appreciate that,” I replied. “I’ll leave you with my business card, and you can reach out to me any time you like. We can discuss pricing over the phone, and when the time comes for me to get out here, I’ll likely fly commercial, which will save some money for my quote.”
“No more private jets?” he asked with his eyebrows raised.
He had asked me originally about the new pilot when Gerald had come into the hotel a couple of days before. Gerald had wanted to see how things came together firsthand, and he felt that he could just walk on in whenever he pleased. I didn’t know if he had done that out of his own assumption, or if he had been told specifically by Greyson that he was allowed to show up.
Either way, I wasn’t happy with him being there.
He was an older man, in his fifties at least, and he didn’t believe in good hygiene. I was surprised he was even employed by the same company as Greyson, and I was dreading the flight back to New York with him. The only saving grace I could see in the situation was that he would be sitting up front in the cockpit, and I could convince him to close the door so I didn’t have to see out the windshield.
It would hopefully be enough to help with his lingering odor, but I feared it wasn’t going to be enough to make it back home without me getting sick in the process.
I did understand I was being harsh toward him because I missed Greyson, but that didn’t change the fact that I would have complaints over him anyway.
He was older and he was gross. Greyson was young and handsome. I knew it wasn’t fair, but I also knew that he ought to have better hygiene if he was going to be a private pilot, too.
But, that was something I could deal with when the time came. I wasn’t going to stress about that detail with the hotel still looming over me. I had to make sure that this was fixed before I worried about anything else.
“I think commercial is more my speed,” I said. “You don’t have to worry so much about being hung up based on one little part being broken now, do you? They always seem to have an alternative option if you have somewhere you have to be, and with that alone I think it might be a better option for next time.”
“Well, all I have to say is that I’m blown away with what you were able to accomplish here, and I’m more than pleased with your services,” Mr. Hopkins said.
“I would appreciate it if you would pass that along to my boss,” I told him. “He is the one I really want to notice how much I put into this.”
Mr. Hopkins laughed and headed back to his office, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from yelling out to him that I was serious. I didn’t appreciate the fact that Mr. Hopkins had been one of the two people to call my boss and tell him that I was late to work the other day, and that may have been what cost me my promotion.
But, what good would that do now?
If I were to tell him, it would either make him angry with me for all but accusing him of robbing me of my promotion, or he would call and talk to Leroy, which would probably be worse. I knew I wasn’t supposed to discuss the details of what I did with clients. They were charged according to his prices, and we were paid according to his cuts. I wasn’t the one who made any of those choices, so I wasn’t going to talk to a client about them, either.
All I could do was hope Mr. Hopkins would take what I said to heart and go to tell Leroy how I had pulled it all together in the end. And with tomorrow being the last day of my working here, I had done it all before the deadline, too. And that was something that made me proud. The way he had acted about me being late that one day would make anyone think that we were going to be late with the opening, but that wasn’t the case at all.
We were on time, and things were going smoothly. Now, if there was any reason the hotel didn’t open when it should, it wasn’t on me or my company. I had done my part, and short of stopping for a brief final check tomorrow, I was finished with the hotel. I was about ready to sign off on it.
But, I would wait until the next day to do that.
“You want me to get us an Uber?” Gerald asked. He was eating a chocolate bar, and I couldn’t help but wonder how a grown man was able to get chocolate all over his face from eating one. He even had chocolate still on his fingers.
“I’m going to be a couple more hours,” I lied. “You go ahead.”
“You sure?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied. I didn’t give him the chance to argue with me, heading back toward the storage bay of the hotel. I wasn’t going to really be that long, but I didn’t want to get a ride back to the hotel with him, either. I didn’t want to spend any more time with him than I had to, and that would be even more than I wanted when we had to fly back home.
I waited until fifteen minutes had passed once his Uber drove away, then I called for my own. I didn’t think I would see Gerald again, but I was forming a story to tell him in case he saw me coming into the hotel shortly after he’d arrived. I knew it wouldn’t be hard to come up with something that would satisfy him, but I didn’t want to deal with it right now.
I slipped through the lobby and headed toward the elevator, glad I didn’t see him along the way. But, I continued to hurry in case he was in the halls or somewhere else where he would find me in the hotel.
Thankfully, I didn’t see anyone all the way to the door of my room.
