Page 4 of Savage Romance
“Come back here, you little sh—” A stocky woman, also dressed in the magenta scrubs waddled outside and froze when she saw Zoe.
Zoe stared after the disappearing girl, to Conchita, who chewed her bottom lip, to the stocky woman, who seem to have regained her equilibrium.
Before she had time to speak, Zoe cut her off, “I’m not sure what went on here, but I’m pretty sure you just hit your co-worker and that kind of behavior is not acceptable.” Zoe turned her attention to Conchita. “Can you please continue here, while I deal with this?”
The older woman gave a decisive nod. “Yes, ma’am, and thank you.”
“For what?”
“Not looking the other way like the previous manager did.” She glared at the other woman. “Meryl here and her buddy Grace have been bullying the other housekeepers for months now.”
Zoe frowned, started to reply, and decided to get back to it later. She made a quick call to the front desk to intercept the young girl, whose name was Mona according to Conchita, and directed Meryl to follow her to her office.
“Sit.” Zoe pointed at the chair in front of her desk. She knew she should be civil, but her temper was still boiling, and her rage was riding her hard. Zoe knew if she didn’t tread carefully, Meryl could file for unfair termination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Inhaling through her nose to the count of four, holding the breath to the count of seven, and exhaling through her mouth to the count of eight, Zoe took deliberate, measured steps around the desk and settled in the chair.
Meanwhile, Meryl was sulking in her seat with her arms crossed and a stubborn expression on her face.
Zoe looked her straight in the eyes. “Meryl, I’m displeased and quite frankly shocked by your behavior. We don’t condone bullying and violence. You’ve slapped one of your colleagues which is reason to fire you for cause.”
“What?” Meryl shot upright. “You can’t fire me.”
Zoe tipped her head. “Actually, I can, and I have.”
Meryl bristled, “You can’t afford to lose household personnel. We’re understaffed already.”
“Maybe we are, but what I certainly can’t do is continue letting you harass the other staff members.”
After a little back and forth, where Zoe kept her temper in check and her answers short, she concluded the meeting by accompanying Meryl to the employees’ break room. Once Meryl had changed into her street clothes from her locker, Zoe collected her uniform, ID tag, and keys and escorted her out of the hotel’s entrance.
Zoe took the time to comfort Mona, and after settling the poor girl, she had another bully to confront.
Chapter Five
“You really don’t need to attend the meeting.” Zoe fought to keep the scowl off her face and the unhappiness with him showing up for the meeting with housekeeping out of her voice as she met the hotel owner in the hallway.
“Darlin’,” Dennehy drawled, “If looks could kill, I’d be a dead man. I sincerely hope you never plan on joining our poker night—not that someone who isn’t a local billionaire or isn’t a man would attend—but you would be slaughtered.”
Zoe stilled. She needed to remember that despite his professional appearance, Ben Dennehy was a savage caveman. And let’s not forget, I should add being a male chauvinist pig to his resume.
Irritated by Dennehy’s remark, Zoe took a moment to rearrange her expression to make sure her face wasn’t giving away any signs of how she was feeling and pulled back her shoulders. Pointedly ignoring Dennehy, Zoe walked into the conference room and was met by eight pairs of eyes. The emotions in those stares ranged from anger and resentment to distrust and fear.
When they spotted the owner behind her, faces went slack but it seemed mostly out of surprise and respect, not fear.
Her eyebrow arched as she stared at the eight people now responsible for housekeeping. But even with two people fired, by having a better schedule and no more bullying, Zoe was convinced she could run housekeeping like a well-oiled machine with this team.
Since taking over the general manager position, she’d improved the day to day running of the hotel so much already, and this was just a minor hitch. If only her asshole boss wasn’t looking over her shoulder.
Why is he taking a personal interest in something that shouldn’t even be a blip on his radar? Doesn’t he have businesses to run, companies to buy, and opponents to ruin?
Zoe cleared her throat. “Okay people, thanks so much for getting here on a Monday, especially those who don’t have to work today. But I wanted to talk with you all before the news gets around.”
Murmurs and shuffling feet gave away some of the restless tension now settling over the group.
“First, let me assure you that you have nothing to worry about and will all still have jobs when this meeting is over.”
That eased away some of the tension.
