Page 26 of The Holiday Cottage

“But it won’t be enough. The speaker is stressed too. In fact, she’s so irritated she is threatening to give up and go home.”

“Of course she is. Business travel is always stressful if you have to be somewhere by a certain time and everything is delayed. She probably feels embarrassed, even though none of it is her fault. So our problem here is to make her feel special and valued. Any suggestions?” She stepped to one side to allow a small group of guests to pass and pulled her coat around her. It was too cold to be standing outside.

“Um. She’s staying here at the hotel tonight. The room is nice, but it’s nothing special. The client wouldn’t give us the budget.” Sophie paused. “I suppose I could talk to the hotel and see if I can get her room upgraded. We do use them a lot for events.”

“We do,” Imogen said. “And that is excellent thinking.”

“Maybe they have a suite.”

“Worth checking.”

“And we could offer her a complimentary spa treatment.”

“That’s a genius idea. Brilliant.” Imogen saw one of the team gesturing to her from the doorway. “I need to go. I’ve just arrived at the graphic design awards. I’ll be here for the next couple of hours.”

“But will you be contactable?” The panic was back in Sophie’s voice.

“At all times. But you won’t need me, because you’ve got this. And if the client is rude, just listen, keep calm and assure him that you’re doing everything you can to deliver the very best outcome. You’re doing well, Sophie.”

“It doesn’t feel that way. I wish I was as calm as you. You will be here, won’t you?”

“I have never missed an event, Sophie.” She wasn’t sure if that meant she had a sad life, or that she was efficient.

She was going with efficient.

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that the client keeps asking for you, like the rest of us don’t know what we’re doing and that the whole airline debacle wouldn’t have happened if you’d been there because you’re like some sort of wizard problem solver—” Sophie cleared her throat. “I need to calm down. Problem, solution, problem, solution.”

“That’s right, and you’re doing a great job.” Imogen raised a finger to indicate to her hovering colleague that she’d be done in one minute. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Right. Because you’ll be here. Of course you will. I’m going to make all those arrangements and I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Keep me updated.” Imogen slid her phone back into her bag, sprinted up the steps and into the hotel. She felt a wave of dizziness and realized she hadn’t eaten anything since the night before. She’d grab a snack before heading to the big evening event. She wasn’t surprised Sophie was finding the client difficult. Alan Marsh was difficult. One of those annoying people whose glass was always half-empty even when you’d filled it to overflowing. He found fault with every small thing and seemed to be looking for an excuse to fire them. Imogen had been careful never to give him that excuse. And she wasn’t going to start today.

“Hi, Arthur.” She waved a hand to the man behind the concierge desk and he waved back.

“Good to see you, Imogen.”

They used this venue so frequently that she knew the staff well.

She headed straight to the ballroom where the event was taking place, spoke to the tech point person and the account manager and slid into the back of the room for five minutes. The atmosphere was buzzing.

“The tables look great.” The centerpiece of each table was a hologram of a snowflake.

Christmas was already dominating her life and there were still weeks to go until the day itself.

She stayed long enough to speak to the client, check everything was exceeding expectations, and then she headed upstairs to the room they were using as their HQ for the duration of the day.

As she’d hoped, the place was empty because the rest of the team were now at the event.

Imogen took off her shoes, poured herself a large glass of water, ate a banana and a chocolate bar and then sprawled on the sofa.

She was exhausted. Her mind was racing, her heart was racing, and she still had to find time to check through the plans for her events the next day. This close to Christmas the events they ran were almost always back-to-back.

She thought about Rosalind.Are you sure you haven’t taken on too much, Imogen?

She could not afford a single misstep. Although she’d reassured Sophie, she felt uneasy about the event tonight. The client was tricky. She needed to bring her best self.

She closed her eyes.

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