Page 116 of Mr. Almost

She snorts. “I don’t have to leave. You aren’t my boss. You are the Williamson charity case. It’s quite annoying, really. Mrs. Williamson isn’t even allowed in here anymore. You are a sneaky one. I wonderwhat you had to do in order to get him to give up his mother. That takes real skill. Really, we should be taking notes. Right, Tristen? Oh wait. You are taking notes. I bet you’re even stalking her. Do you have a shrine at home with her pictures?”

With shaking hands, I pick up the phone and dial security.

“I need an employee escorted off the premises and banned. Please come quickly.”

Hanging up the phone, I look at Kendra once more. “You need to go now. Security is on the way.”

Instead of leaving, she starts screaming about me and the hotel. I can’t even focus on it because all I can see are the security guards running our way. They get a hold of her and pull her away from the front desk. When she is finally gone, I know what I have to do.

“I need to go report this. You got the front desk?” I ask Tristen.

She nods. “She was wrong, you know. You weren’t handed this job. All that shit she said was lies. She’s just a jealous bitch.”

I give her a sly smile. “You got a little bit of something right here.” I rub the side of my nose.

She rolls her eyes. “Go do your report.”

I laugh as I walk away from the front desk to the back of the hotel. Bypassing the hall to the staff entrance, I take the main elevator to the meeting room floor. Going down to the main entrance to the offices, I take a deep breath. Not having to go past the conference room is better, but this area still bothers me.

“Hey, Olivia. What are you doing up here?” Mandy, the receptionist, asks.

“I need to see HR. I had to fire an employee just now. She was escorted out by security.”

Mandy winces. “Damn. Hold on.”

She calls the head of human resources, Danielle. When she sets the phone down, she smiles. “She said to come on back. She’s in the conference room right now doing an onboarding, but she is going to meet you outside.”

I force a smile. Of course. That conference room is my kryptonite.

Walking down the hall, I try to keep my breathing even. Danielle is waiting for me just like Mandy said.

“Thank you for meeting me out here. What happened?”

“I don’t think I should say the things she was saying out here. Especially with a new hire right there,” I whisper.

She nods. “I don’t need the details. You fired her? Had her escorted out, Mandy said?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’m going to email you an incident report. Go back downstairs and type it all out. Print it, then bring it back. You did the right thing. We try to always handle any firings, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. If security was required, you handled it well. Do you have any witnesses?”

“Tristen was there. The security guards saw the end of it.”

“They will turn in their reports. Have Tristen fill one out too. Don’t look so freaked out. This is all part of being a manager. Welcome to the club.” She pats my arm. “The first one is always the hardest.”

She turns back to the room, leaving me standing there wondering if I have situations like that to look forward to.

MASON

“Do you think Mommy will like the cake?” Ari asks.

Ari is standing on a chair, mixing the cake mix. I’m standing behind her to ensure she doesn’t fall.

She is getting more interested in the kitchen. I don’t mind helping her out when Olivia is out. I am not an amazing cook, but I like to eat. Olivia is much better at it, but she’s been working late lately. Untilthe hotel gets fully staffed and she gets used to her position, she is putting in extra hours.

It’s another reason why I know Max made the right decision. She enjoys her job and wants to make sure she’s doing it right. She has empathy for the employees, and mixed with her no-bullshit attitude she’s the perfect person to handle the employees too. They will respect her, but not hate her. I’m so proud of her for what she is doing. I can see the schooling she studied so hard for paying off. She has all of these new ideas to make the place better. I find it adorable that that’s what she wants to talk about during pillow talk. I’d let her talk about anything as long as I could keep hearing her voice.

“She’s going to love it because you made it. Are you sure chocolate is her favorite, or is it yours?” I tease.

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