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He led me through the lounge to a back room housing stacks of boxes and supplies.
He turned toward me, furiously thrusting the papers at me. “Explain.”
“These were not final plans. Hell, these weren’t even any plans. These were just mine. My boss hasn’t even seen these. It was just me—”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “That’s a cute story, Sienna. But these look a little bit official to be just some daydreams in a journal.”
I shook my head, feeling my whole body start to tremble. Tears burned the back of my eyes.
“I have advanced architecture software on my computer for work, so yes, they do look professional. I know how this looks. But honestly, I sketched those out when I first got this assignment. Iwaspretty much daydreaming in my journal. I just happen to do it a little more professionally than others.”
He stared at me hard as though trying to peel away the layers of my honesty. But his face remained stoic, unreadable. The trust and understanding we had started to build were crumbling in real-time.
“Ondrej, please—”
“I thought we were on the same page, Sienna. I thought you understood what this hotel means to us, to Prague.”
“Are you not listening? They aren’t real plans. Had I known anything about the Novák, I never would have made the first pencil mark.”
He shook his head. “I trusted you. How stupid was that? Because behind the scenes, you were planning to turn this place into just another sterile, soulless building all along.”
My heart raced, a cocktail of anger and hurt swirling inside me. "Is that what you think of me? Just some heartless corporate drone? I thought you knew me better than that, Ondrej."
He sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair. “I thought I did, too. Now, I don’t know what I think of you. And you know what? I don’t think I care. It doesn’t matter. Not any of it. The Novák is gone no matter what. Who cares what you want to do with it? It’s not going to be yours.”
His words weren’t untrue, but they hurt all the same.
“Ondrej—I care about this hotel. About your family, I—” His gaze was piercing enough to stop me mid-sentence. And for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of the connection we'd shared. But it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
As I spoke, I felt the futility of my words. The damage had been done, and no amount of explanation could mend this newly formed rift. Ondrej's expression was a mirror of the betrayal he felt, and it cut deeper than I had anticipated.
Finally, I nodded firmly. “I wish you’d believe me, but I understand. I’m going.”
I started to exit when I heard his inhale. I waited on the edge of a precipice for him to say something, anything, but nothing came but an exhale. I nodded and left.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Ondrej roamed the corridors of the hotel, each step echoing against the ornate walls. The betrayal was growing into a living, breathing thing inside of him. The previous days with Sienna lingered in his mind. He wanted to believe in her, in the bond forming between them, but his natural skepticism cast shadows of doubt. Was it all just a strategic move on her part?
Lost in these thoughts, he nearly missed the low murmur of voices coming from a small alcove. Pausing, he recognized two of the hotel's most senior staff members, Lenka and Jan, their conversation a mix of hushed excitement and concern.
"...and with Wolf Corp's takeover, maybe we'll finally see some real changes around here," Jan said with a note of hope in his voice.
"The Novák siblings, bless them, they've been trying, but they're out of their depth. We need a firm hand and modern ideas. This hotel can't survive on nostalgia alone,” Lenka said.
Ondrej felt a sting at their words, a mix of hurt and frustration. But their words also sparked a realization within him—a realization that perhaps his resistance to change was also a form of holding on to the past, maybe too tightly.
Once a symphony of seamless service, the early hours at the Hotel had now descended into a cacophony of mild chaos. Ondrej watched from a distance, his heart sinking as he observed the fallout of the previous day's revelations. The staff, usually the epitome of professionalism and efficiency, were now flustered, hurrying about with palpable anxiety.
At the reception, a family with two impatient children tugging at their coats looked bewildered as the front desk attendant frantically searched for their reservation. Nearby, a couple grumbled about their breakfast order–poached eggs that never arrived and a lukewarm cappuccino at best. Ondrej felt each complaint like a personal jab. It wasn't just about the mismanagement of orders or the delay in services—it was about the erosion of trust, the very foundation on which his parents had built this establishment. He had always taken pride in the hotel's ability to offer a haven of comfort and luxury. Now, it seemed, that legacy was slipping through his fingers.
Ondrej lingered in the break room doorway, his presence unnoticed as he listened to the heated staff conversations. The room was filled with tension, the air thick with a mix of fear and frustration.
Marie, who had been with the hotel for over twenty years, was animated as she spoke. “I’ve seen a lot of changes here, but never anything like this," she said, her voice trembling. "What will happen to us if they go through with these changes? Will there even be a place for us here?"
Tomáš, a younger server, shook his head. "I heard they want to automate a lot of services. What if they replace us with machines or bring in their own people?"
Sienna's name was mentioned more than once, each time with a mixture of resentment and betrayal. "She seemed nice enough, but look at what she's planning to do to our hotel," one of the housekeepers muttered, glancing at the blueprints that had sparked the unrest.
