Page 23 of Lorenzo & Lily

Lily just pasted a fake smile on her face. If the man could find fault with someone – and he often found fault with her and women in general – he’d let them know about it.

“So, though you have done a competent job for us over these last three years–”

“Three and a half.”

“Er, yes, three and a half, but I’m afraid we’ll need to let you go.”

Icy fear dripped into her veins. “You’re firing me? Why?”

He cleared his throat. “Well, some might say our bookings are down–”

“Our room bookings are up ten percent over last year, and event bookings are up seven percent over last year. This is a steady increase undermytenure at the hotel.”

At her words, John’s nostrils flared. Before Lily had come on board, the hotel’s revenue had been in a steady decline for years.

“Why are you really firing me?”

He sat back, a pompous man who knew he held all the power. “We need to train someone to take over my position. I’m close to retirement and, since you don’t fit the bill, we’re letting you go and promoting Calvin to your position.”

“Calvin?” The night manager was even more arrogant than John. “Why don’t I ‘fit the bill’, as you put it?”

“Well you have so many things distracting your pretty little head. A man like Calvin wouldn’t suffer such distractions.”

Pompous fucking asshole. “Are you insinuating that because I have a child, I’m not able to oversee this hotel?”

He waved his thick fingers in the air. “Of course not, of course not. Such a thing would be illegal, as you know.” A smarmy grin covered his face.

She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, in an effort not to throttle him. “You do realize that Calvin also has children?”

“Oh, but he’s a man, you know, and has a wife to watch his children. You haven’t got anybody.”

Fucking prick!

“You could, of course, take over his position as the night manager.”

She didn’t bother responding, since they both knew it wasn’t an option for her as a single mother. “What is my severance package?”

He shifted in his seat again. “I wasn’t planning on giving you one. Now, you have one hour to clean out your office and leave. Otherwise, I’ll have security escort you out.”

She held her arms even tighter before she uncrossed them and stood. With a bright, fake smile on her face, she walked out.

She entered her office and shut the door, locking it for good measure. When she’d been hired – not by John, who was the owner’s nephew, but by the owner himself – she’d still been breastfeeding and they’d installed the lock to assure her privacy while she pumped.

Now it would be used for her last and final tasks.

She worked furiously over the next hour. She sent brief notes to any upcoming event host, and she sent a note to all the employees – except for Calvin and John, of course – thanking them for their dedication and assistance. She saved pertinent emails. Of the documents she was allowed to make copies of, she did so in order to have a record of them later, in case she needed them. She dumped everything into a box with her few personal momentos, and then sat down to write one final note.

This one to the owner.

She outlined what she’d been told, how she’d been told it. She thanked the owner three times for taking a chance on her and little Lily, and said she was proud to have worked for his hotel.

She also mentioned one of her first stops after leaving the office would be to a lawyer.

She thought about copying John on the message, but decided against it. She did, however, copy the owner’s wife, who adored Liliana. Perhaps it was rash and impulsive, but it needed to be done.

She’d put up with John’s misogynistic ways for over two years, and enough was enough. If she wasn’t strong enough to stand up for what was right, her daughter might not, either. And Liliana definitely deserved a better life than her.

One minute after her hour was up, she gave her office one last look before she grabbed the box and walked out the door.

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