Page 26 of Love Me Ever After
“Possibly. It made me and my team look bad, Ems,” huffed Mandy. “I’ve apologised and given them some free drinks to make up for it. They weren’t too upset, but I don’t like to disappoint people.”
“I’m sorry, I’ll speak to Barbara and find out what happened.”
The office door opened and Sonya stormed in, face like thunder. “Mandy. I’m sure whatever you’re talking to Emily about is important, but I need to speak to her. Now.” Her tone was measured, but I sensed concealed anger.
Mandy stood up. “I think we were done anyway. Let me know what Barbara says, yeah?” She left the office and Sonya shut the door behind her.
She spun around, hands on hips. “Do you want to tell me what happened last night?”
I swallowed hard. “What do you mean?”
“I know it was you who organised the room key. Your access code was on the computer.”
“Shit.” I breathed, closing my eyes.
“This was your opportunity to show me that you can run a big event without help and you repay me byhooking upwith one of the attendees?” Sonya’s voice rose, emphasising my behaviour.
Now didn’t seem the appropriate time to tell her it was Mason, and not just any delegate. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think.” I screwed up my face.
“That much is obvious. It doesn’t show much professionalism, does it? Simply because you know people who work for the company doesn’t mean you can guarantee repeat business. How can they take us seriously when they find out the organiser was doing God knows what in a hotel room when she should have been overseeing their event?”
“They don’t need to find out,” I whispered, swallowing again and trying to keep the hot, embarrassed tears at bay.
Sonya sucked in a breath. “I, for one, won’t be telling them. Seriously, Emily, I’m so disappointed in you right now.”
The fact she’d called me Emily twice in less than five minutes already led me to believe that. It was like listening to my mother when I’d been in trouble as a teenager. Although Jacqueline and I hadn’t spoken in a while. We weren’t close and she’d decided to have a mid-life crisis and move back to London to pursue the bohemian, artist lifestyle she’d always wanted.
Sonya continued. “This was a great opportunity for you to show me how you’ve grown, how you’re able to handle more than weddings and birthday lunches.” Finally, she sat down, glaring at me from the other side of the office. “But now I’m not so sure.”
“It was a mistake,” I whispered. “I got carried away.” That was certainly true. The anticipation of being with Mason again totally overrode any other emotion I should have had.
Sonya turned her attention to the computer screen. “I want you to go home for the rest of today. Take tomorrow off and come back here for Melody Johnson’s mother’s eightieth birthday lunch on Saturday.”
My blood ran cold. Had I really fucked things up that badly that she wanted me to leave now? “But… I’m meant to be seeing Barbara Smyth-Hall after lunch to talk about their future plans.”
“I’lltalk to Barbara. I’ll tell her you had to go home sick.” She didn’t look at me as she spoke. “If she’s talking to someone who doesn’t have friends in the company, she might be more prepared to tell me the truth about those plans.”
“I’m fine.”
“Emily, please. Let this settle and revisit it after the weekend.”
Defeated, I had no other choice but to leave. I hated how Sonya had made me feel so small and incapable. A couple of days of space between us might well be a good thing. Sometimes working in a team of only two people could get a bit intense and things needed to come to a head. But up until this point, we’d never had a cross word, at least nothing this serious.
Swallowing hard to force back the tears, I got my stuff together and switched off my computer.
“I’ll tell Melody you’ll be looking after them on Saturday.” Sonya still didn’t move her gaze from the screen. “Have a good weekend.”
I was dismissed.
Walking through the hotel to the foyer, I hoped I wouldn’t see Mason. He was the last person I wanted to see right now. I wasn’t sure I would be able to hold myself together if I did.
Pushing open the door and walking out into the sunshine, I realised I didn’t want to go straight home. I needed to talk to someone about what had happened with Mason, how work had crashed down around my ears, and I definitely needed a drink. Checking the time, I wondered whether Sara would be taking a break around now. On a whim, I walked to Blossom. If Sara wasn’t on her lunch, maybe they could squeeze me in for a manicure or something to cheer me up.
Sara sat at reception when I walked in, talking with someone on the phone. She waved at me, then carried on with her conversation. “I could fit you in at half four this afternoon or ten tomorrow morning.” She paused, waiting for the person on the other end of the line to confirm their choice. “Excellent, I’ll see you this afternoon.” Grabbing a pencil, she scribbled something in the paper diary on the desk and ended the call. Glancing up, she eyed me with suspicion. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you meant to be at work?”
All the frustrated tears I’d held back slipped out, pouring down my face. It was almost ridiculous to think it had had such a huge effect on me.
Sara jumped up and wrapped her arms around me, giving me a huge hug. She held me at arm’s length, taking in my appearance. “Shit, Ems, what’s happened? Are you okay?”
