Page 31 of Hotel Mallois

"Look at me," Katherine demands, but softens her expression. "Tell me if something happened, please."

Jodie can't resist that gesture. She runs her hand over her neck before speaking.

"I had a somewhat unpleasant encounter with Marjorie, nothing to worry about," Jodie clarifies as soon as she notices Katherine's change in expression. "She's still being herself, and today I handled almost all the rooms on the seventh floor alone."

Katherine raises her eyebrows.

"The seventh floor? But those rooms are immense, the largest in the hotel," she inquires with a harsh tone of voice.

"I know, maybe there were some absences today," she tries to defuse the tension. Now Jodie isn't so sure telling Katherine what happened was the right thing.

"We have enough staff to cover absences if we have them, I can tell you from memory the number of employees we have contracted by service, and I assure you it's not necessary for one person to handle so many rooms."

Katherine's brain is boiling, and she again has that feeling of loss of control because in another situation, she would talk to her director, Lamir Kumar, to supervisewhat happened and would handle it through disciplinary action if necessary, but right now, the Mallois owner wants to leave her penthouse and personally remove Marjorie García from her hotel.

Jodie observes how the blue of Katherine's eyes turns opaque and an angry energy floats around her body.

"Don't worry, it was nothing," Jodie says, pressing against her boss and lover's body while holding her face in her hands.

Katherine loses herself in that momentary caress but reacts quickly.

"I'll go talk to her," the middle Taylor decides, "she can't..."

Jodie raises her hand to let her speak.

"This is something I have to resolve myself, Katherine. If I see it's getting out of control, I'll file a complaint with management myself," she says firmly.

Katherine is about to tell her that sleeping with the boss has its benefits, but fortunately, her phone interrupts that radical thought, and the businesswoman answers the call.

"Yes, we'll be down in five minutes," Katherine tells her caller. "Come on, we need to go to the Magnolis," she asks Jodie, "Mike is waiting downstairs, we're meeting with the construction manager."

Jodie finishes loading the remaining glasses into the dishwasher, starts it, and after changing, follows her boss to the elevator. Katherine, with her powerful bearing, crosses her hotel, attracting all eyes as usual, but now,being accompanied by another woman as strong as her makes the people around them unable to stop staring.

After traveling several miles, they arrive at the Magnolis Hotel and meet with Joshua Stanley, the renovation manager who has finally finished.

"Mrs. Taylor, welcome," the man says politely. "Your team has supervised every corner of the hotel and given their approval. We just need yours to consider my work complete."

The two women take their time and tour each floor of the new hotel. Almost two hours later, they meet again with Joshua, who is now with Mike, in the lobby.

"Thank you very much, Joshua," Katherine extends her hand to shake the man's, "although you took longer than expected, the result is what I was hoping for."

Joshua smiles with satisfaction; it's no secret that Katherine Taylor is a very demanding woman.

"Jodie, I need you to confirm with the cleaning team that they can start tomorrow and stick to the work sheet you sent them," Katherine requests, and Jodie already has the phone to her ear relaying her boss's order.

They leave the new hotel and Katherine, although happy, rarely celebrates these things, only at the inauguration or appropriate event; that's why she's surprised by Jodie's reaction when they reach the car.

"Congratulations, honey," she says sweetly and grabs her by the waist, "the hotel looks spectacular, it'll be the second best in New York."

Jodie kisses her tenderly and hugs her tighter. Katherine feels dizzy; she feels like she's on cloud nine.

"I can't take you out to lunch, but we can go to your penthouse and I'll cook whatever you want," Jodie says smiling, but sad she can't take her girl to a restaurant as she deserves.

Katherine's heart is beating so fast she feels her chest might burst open at any moment. She's dated dozens of women throughout her life, but none has filled her soul as much as Jodie does in the short time they've known each other.

"You and I are going to dinner wherever you want," Katherine says with darkened eyes. "I don't want you to cook tonight, but as soon as we get back to the penthouse, you'll be my dessert."

Chapter 18

---