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They both smirk at each other and I feel a twinge of nausea taking over.Maybe it was a bad idea…
“Well, then you can kiss the manager promotion goodbye,” Tina says.
Tiffany laughs. “She can kiss her job goodbye too.”
“For your information,” I say with my shoulders back and my chin in the air. I’m not going to let these two get to me. I’m not. “I comped it for Mikey Reynolds fromTheLuxury Traveller Magazine.”
I turn to them with a satisfied smirk, but they’re staring back at me with blank faces. “Who?”
“Mikey Reynolds! The number one reviewer at the number one travel magazine. Hello? You should know this, it’s your job!”
“My job is to sit here and try not to swear at the customers,” Tina says in a monotone voice.
“She’s not very good at it,” Tiffany says, shaking her head. “She swore at that annoying kid last week.”
“It’s true,” Tina says with a nod. “He said I looked like Auntie Edna from The Incredibles.”
I can’t let them distract me. Mikey Reynolds will be here any moment. This has to go well.
It took a lot of work to get him to agree to an article for the May edition of the magazine. I’m really hoping for a five-star review. If we can get that and maybe even the cover, that manager position ismine.
It was ballsy of me to comp the Aspen Suite and set this up without asking during my second week here, but I believe you have to be bold in life. I believe that owners want to see initiative from their employees and this was a great way to help me stand out from the pack.
And if it all fails, well, I also believe it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
“Excuse me,” a little girl says as she pokes her tiny head over the counter. She’s adorable with a big bouncing pom pom on her woolen hat. “My mittens got wet.”
She places them on the reception desk.
“Were you making a snowwoman?” I ask with a big smile as I take them.
“Or, snowballs?” Tina asks.
“If you were, make sure to nail the Karen wearing the red coat in the face,” Tiffany tells her.
“Tiffany!” I snap. “Don’t say that!”
I put her mittens on the radiator to warm up. It’s an old-fashioned one that gets really hot, so it shouldn’t take long.
“It should be ready in a minute,” I tell her. “Want to go warm up by the fireplace and I’ll call you when they’re dry?”
She shrugs her little shoulders and then waddles over there in her oversized snowsuit. There’s a giant fireplace in the middle of the lobby that could fit whole trees inside it. She sits in one of the big comfy chairs as I turn to check that her mittens aren’t burning.
“Is that your VIP guest?” Tina asks.
I whip my head around and smile when I see him. Mikey Reynolds.
He nods as he looks around the lobby. He has his iPhone to his mouth and is recording his thoughts. “When you walk into the Greene Mountain Lodge,” he says in a low voice, “you’re greeted by a cozy cottage feel set in a giant package. The roaring fire devours humungous logs, warming the children who have spent the day playing in the snow. No. Playing outside… Hm. Warming the adorable children who have shuttered their video games and screens for the weekend. Ugh. Needs some work.”
He sees me smiling at him and frowns as he turns off his phone and slips it into his pocket. “Were you listening to my notes?”
“Not at all,” I say, shaking my head with a big smile. “You must be Mr. Reynolds. I’m Lauren. We spoke on the phone.”
He nods as he looks around. His forehead scrunches up when he looks at Tina and Tiffany who haven’t glanced up from their computers. Gosh, don’t they care who this is? Would it kill them to throw him a smile? I swear, when I become manager, these two aren’t going to get away with this whole crabby employee shtick they got going anymore.
“I was hesitant to drive to Montana in the winter with my family in the car,” he says as he shakes off his hat. “I nearly slipped off the road twice.”
“Well, I’m glad you made it safely. Is your family here?”
