“Good morning,” Jenay said to Beatrice.
Beatrice didn’t bother to turn around. “Good morning.”
“I need a copy of your schedule.”
“Yeah, sure,” Beatrice said noncommittally.
“I also need a list of the unoccupied rooms.”
Beatrice sighed. “I told you yesterday there are no unoccupied rooms.”
“I’m sure there is somebody who checked out this morning.”
“There are no vacancies,” Beatrice said. Then she looked at Jenay. “None. Alright?”
“Good morning ladies,” Charles said, and both ladies turned.
Charles began heading behind the front desk. Jenay was relieved to see him, since she was getting nowhere, once again, with Beatrice.
Beatrice was surprised. “Mr. Sinatra,” she said. “I didn’t think you’d be back today.”
Charles turned on the computer. “How many empty rooms do we have, Bea?” he asked her.
“Empty rooms?” Beatrice asked, careful not to look at Jenay. “We have several,” she said as he pulled up the vacancy list. “Quite a few.”
Jenay looked at Beatrice, ready to call her on her lies. “You told me there were no vacancies,” she said.
“You misunderstood me,” Beatrice claimed.
“You told me that repeatedly,” Jenay responded, refusing to go along.
“You misunderstood me,” Beatrice said again.
“Don’t misunderstand me,” Charles said as he printed out the vacancy list and then looked up at her. “You’re fired.”
Beatrice and Jenay both were stunned. Especially Beatrice. “Fired?”
“Fired,” Charles said. “And that was no misunderstanding. Hand me your keys. Then clear out your desk.”
He grabbed the vacancy list off of the printer. Beatrice, still in shock, handed him her master keycards. “But Mr. Sinatra,” she started. But Charles would have none of it.
He ignored her. “Let’s go see the rooms,” he said to Jenay, and began heading toward the elevators.
Jenay looked at Beatrice, she was just as stunned as she was, but she followed Charles. She was amazed at how little compassion he showed for his employee, but she knew to be an effective boss, she would have to make unpleasant decisions too. Although, even with a woman like Beatrice who probably hated her guts, it wasn’t going to be as easy for Jenay to pull off.
They stepped onto the elevator and leaned back against the rail. As soon as the door closed, Charles placed his hand on the back of her neck and began to rub her. They kissed on the lips. “Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked.
“You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn’t want to disturb that.”
“Good,” he said with a weary smile. “It’s eleven o’ clock and I’m still barely awake.” He yawned. “I’ve got to go home and change and get to my office.”
Jenay looked down at Charles’s attire. She’d already noticed that he was wearing his suit pants and dress shirt from last night. She didn’t realize how wrinkled they looked today. Probably had something to do with the way he flung them off last night. “You aren’t returning to New York?” she asked him.
“No. My partners can handle it. They claim they need me, oh how they need me, but it’s bullshit. They can manage just fine. Besides, they want to invest in this coffee house far more than I do.”
“A coffee house?” Jenay asked.
“To rival Starbucks, they claim. We’ll see. If the price is right, I’ll go along. If it’s not, I won’t.”
Jenay smiled. “The venture capitalist at work.”
“There you go,” Charles said as the elevator stopped and the doors prepared to open on the fourth floor. He looked at Jenay. “Come and pick me up this evening,” he said. “I’m taking you to dinner.”
Jenay liked that. “Okay.”
They stepped off of the elevator and began walking along the sleek corridor. “I’ll program my office address in the Jag’s GPS before I leave.”
“But how will you get home and to your office if you leave your car with me?”
“Transportation is never a problem around here. I’ll get Megan or even my son Donald to pick me up.”
Megan, Jenay thought. Pretty. Young. Sweet. She looked at Charles as they walked.
Charles looked at her. “What?”
She decided to be blunt. “So is Megan one of your bed warmers too?”
He smiled. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”
“Me? Jealous? Of course I’m jealous! What do you take me for?”
Charles laughed and placed his hand on her lower back. A guest walked pass, and looked back at them. “No, there’s nothing like that going on. I don’t fool with kids. She’s far too young for me. They have to be old ladies like you to get my attention.”