Someone Unexpected(5)

     



 



Each Blu brother was in charge of a different hotel and I had read that  Sebastian Blu had made the Blu Sierra Miami the six star hotel that it  was. Whenever the hotel was mentioned in the paper, a reference was  always made to how hard he worked to make the hotel what it was and how  dedicated he was to ensuring the guests had a perfect stay. From what I  had read about him, he seemed to be somewhat of a workaholic. It was his  idea to have a six star hotel and at first his father disagreed, but he  insisted. Spencer Blu ran Blu Sierra New York City, and Shane Blu was  being groomed to run Blu Sierra Chicago.



Blu Sierra had nearly 400 hotels worldwide and they were different than  the others in that they had a variety of hotels from boutique hotels to  the Blu Sierra in Miami which was the premier six star hotel for the  chain. I had read many articles about the Blu family, and I had also  seen a training video that featured their rise to fortune with Blu  Sierra hotels.



Their great grandfather Sheldon Blu originally wanted to be a banker but  his interest turned to hotels when he noticed that a local 12 room  motel could not handle the demand for the area. He built his first hotel  in San Francisco, California and quickly learned that rooms were never  empty for more than one hour so he realized that he had stumbled upon a  potential goldmine of a business. He went on to build several hotels all  over the country and when he brought his son, Seymour, into the  business years later they expanded all over the world.



Sebastian, Spencer and Shane's father, Stanford, Seymour's son, was  known for his ruthless business practices and his affinity for flashy  cars and pretty women. He was often seen tooling around South Beach with  his third wife in the latest luxury car. The rumor around town was that  he cheated on wife number one with wife number two who was 15 years  younger than him. She was a contestant in a beauty pageant, he was a  guest judge and apparently as soon as he laid eyes on her he behaved  like a dog in heat, openly disrespecting his wife. I heard that he  dumped his wife of 20 years, and the mother of his three boys, three  days after meeting the beauty queen. He married her soon after that and  they were married for almost five years until he met a 26 year old model  who was in town shooting a spread for Maxim magazine. He dumped the  second wife for his third wife and he had been married to her for nearly  five years. At nearly 31, Mr. Blu's third wife was younger than his  oldest son Sebastian who was 32.



The third Mrs. Blu liked to frequent the spa at the hotel so I had seen  her a few times and she was absolutely stunning. Rumors were always  flying around that she had the hots for Sebastian and she was just using  the elder Mr. Blu for his money. I didn't have an opinion one way or  the other because I had never seen her with either of them, but I will  say that the woman definitely had a ravenous appetite for the finer  things. Her assistant was always loaded down with at least five or six  shopping bags from designer boutiques when she stopped by the spa.



She didn't seem to be all that friendly because she never spoke to  anyone when she came to the hotel. If she needed anything her assistant  was the person who spoke for her and I found that to be so incredibly  rude, but it wasn't my job to judge. As long as she was happy with the  service she received that's all that mattered to me. I noticed that her  assistant was just as pretty as she was so the rumor about the Blu men  liking beautiful women around them seemed to be true.



The more I thought about Ms. Parker's comment about Mr. Blu liking  pretty things, the more I realized that she probably wanted me there  because of the way I looked. I was sure that she would have the room  filled with attractive servers. It still bothered me when someone  focused on my looks rather than my ability, but if this was a way to get  me in front of the owner I'd take it. It wasn't every day that I had a  chance to be in the same room as the owner of the hotel, so I wanted to  make sure that I made a lasting impression. Since I was up for another  promotion any exposure for me would be good exposure.



The day of the gala I took my time getting ready and I was really not  looking forward to being a waitress all evening, but I had to admit that  the uniform was simply beautiful. It was a black and silver sequined  form-fitting mini dress with ¾ length sleeves and I had to wear 4 inch  black stilettos. I checked my hair, which I managed to get to fall in  near perfect waves, and applied my lipstick and headed out the door.         

     



 



The gala was held at the Fisher Club and when I got there the room was  absolutely beautiful. The chandeliers sparkled and the tables were set  with silk napkins and sterling silver napkin rings. The theme was black,  white and silver and every single chair had a black cover and was tied  with a huge silver bow positioned around a white silk tablecloth. In the  center of each table was a gorgeous silver vase with two dozen white  roses. Ms. Parker was buzzing around the room and I walked over to her  to get my table assignment.



"Hi, Ms. Parker, the room looks gorgeous. I'm not sure if sections are  assigned and I didn't see a list showing where the servers will be  stationed. Can you tell me which area will I be serving?"



"Oh Elena, you look stunning dear! Wait, did you ask which tables you'll be serving?"



"Yes, ma'am."



A hearty laugh escaped her lips and I was thoroughly confused. What is so funny?



"I'm sorry dear, your comment surprised me. You won't be serving  tonight, I need you to manage Mr. Blu's section this evening. Make sure  that his every request is taken care of and all of the servers are at  his beck and call. Mr. Blu is very particular and we want to be sure  that he is happy with the gala."



I felt nervous butterflies at the mention of my responsibilities for the  evening. I had never met Sebastian Blu in person and I knew that he had  a reputation for being a perfectionist. Everything had to be perfect  for him and he had a zero tolerance policy for mistakes. Managing his  section would mean incredible exposure for me so I wanted to make sure  that there were no problems that night.



I gathered all of the servers, who were very pretty women (shocking),  and had a quick meeting with them, stressing the importance of zero  mistakes that evening and making sure Mr. Blu was happy. Whatever he  wanted, I instructed them that they were to get it for him immediately.



"I don't want Mr. Blu to have to wait for anything longer than one full minute tonight. Do we all understand?"



The girls all nodded in agreement and I sent them off to the kitchen to prepare their trays.



The guests started arriving and I checked to make sure that our section  looked impeccable. My dress was different from the servers' uniforms who  were wearing black pants and sleeveless white ruffle tank tops tucked  in neatly with a slim black belt and strappy high heels. They all looked  gorgeous and I was ready for whatever the night was going to bring.



Most of the guests of Mr. Blu's party were already seated, beautiful  women occupied nearly every seat at his table. That's a bit much isn't  it? My opinion of him was not very high given that having all of these  women sitting and waiting for him at the table made him look like he had  his own personal harem! There were two empty seats and I gathered those  were for Mr. Blu and his date, who I was sure would be stunning.



The servers were all standing in a row near Mr. Blu's table and I went  in the back to place fresh glasses of wine on trays for the servers and  when I re-entered the ballroom to let them know that they should go get  them, I saw the most gorgeous man I had ever seen walk over to the  table. He had to have been at least 6'2", with thick dark brown hair,  gorgeous dark eyes and he had a muscular build which was evident even  through his beautiful tuxedo. Money seemed to literally drip from his  pores. I saw the flash of his expensive watch and cufflinks as he ran  his hand through his perfect hair and I was completely mesmerized by  him. It wasn't until one of the servers asked a question that I realized  I had been staring at him. Thankfully he didn't see me gawking and I  was able to snap out of my trance and switch my focus back to work.



I periodically glanced in his direction as I made my way around my  section, and then I realized as the manager of the section I should  probably introduce myself to him and let him know that I was at his  service if he needed anything. Well, I better get this over with. I was a  ball of nerves as I walked over to him but I just kept telling myself  that this was great exposure for my career and anything he wanted I  would make sure he received.



He looked up as I approached his table and I could see the familiar  appreciation in his eyes as he looked at me. I was used to that look,  men looked at me like that all the time. But there was something more  behind his eyes that I couldn't quite put my finger on. His date gave me  a withering glance when she noticed that he seemed to be entranced with  me.