Page 3 of Love Me Ever After
I waited until I got back to the station before calling Sara; signal on the last part of the journey was dodgy at the best of times and I didn’t need it cutting out when I was in the middle of the conversation.
Standing by the bus stop, I dialled and waited.
“Hello?” A female voice I thought I recognised answered.
“Hey, is that Sara?”
“Yes…” A note of suspicion crept into her voice, no doubt assuming I was a cold caller about to offer her compensation after an accident.
“It’s Mason. Mason Miles.”
A shriek down the line had me holding the phone away from my ear. “Oh. My. God. Mason!”
“Tasha gave me your number. She’s moving in with Luke and it seems there’ll be a spare room at yours.” There was no point beating around the bush.
“I never expected you to callmethough. What will Ems say?” Sara laughed.
“No idea, haven’t spoken to her in a while.”
“Huh. And don’t I know it,” Sara paused. “It was a bit of a shitty thing to do, Mason.”
“What? Tell her my plans to go on a secondment to further my career, offer her the opportunity to come with me and have her walk out on me? It wasn’t all one-sided, you know.” I don’t know why I felt the need to defend myself, given that all of this had happened eons ago. But I needed a place to live and without Sara’s support, I wouldn’t get a roof over my head.
Sara let out a sigh. “Yeah, you’re right. Anyway, that’s all water under the bridge and I expect you’ve got some hot chick in New York, so there’s no need for Ems to stress.”
I didn’t answer and let her think that was the truth. “About this room?”
“Oh, yeah. Look, Ems is working late tonight, why don’t you come around about six and see what you think.”
Suddenly, I had a vision of a future where Ems and I would be taking turns in working late in order to avoid each other. But I needed a place to stay and if that was how it would be, I’d have to deal with it.
2
Ems
“Yes,Barbara, I’m sure that will be absolutely fine. Why don’t you send me over a list of the food allergens and I’ll discuss it with our new Head Chef. She’ll be able to provide some alternative options for you.” Even though Barbara Smyth-Hall couldn’t see me, I forced a smile. It wasn’t her fault that Francine Waterson would likely throw a hissy fit when I asked her and her team to cater for every single food intolerance known to humankind. She was fiercely protective of her staff and, in the short time she’d been running the Ealynn Marina Hotel kitchen, everyone knew where they stood with her. I shuddered at the thought of having to talk to her about a huge event which meant a lot to me as the Events and Marketing Manager, and the hotel as a whole.
“Thank you, Emily. I don’t want to cause your chefs too much trouble, but you know what will happen if we don’t cater for everyone.” Barbara’s tone was cheery. “I’ll email something to you by the end of the day. We’re looking at around seventy people attending now, can you amend the accommodation booking too?”
I scribbled a note on my pad, tapping my pen on the desk. “Will do. Can you confirm those numbers in the email too?”
“Absolutely.”
We chatted for a few more minutes, going over some more details and re-confirming timings. When I finally put down the phone, Sonya Kane stared at me from across the office.
“Well? How’s it going?”
The regional summer conference for Lane & Parks Recruitment was a massive deal. For the first time ever, the whole of the southern office staff would be coming out of London to the Ealynn Marina Hotel. It was also the first time ever the hotel had organised something so big and outside of our comfort zone.
It was also a massive deal for me.
After I’d organised the Cavanagh/Roscoe wedding, Fraser Roscoe had approached me with a proposition. In an attempt to make the company less London-centric, the board had agreed that each region would have its summer conference at a venue near one of the regional offices. While Bristol was officially the South West’s flagship office, Fraser had managed to persuade them to come a little further afield. Once I’d got over the initial shock, I realised what an opportunity it was. It was the chance to show Sonya I could do more than organise a wedding or a charity event. If it turned out to be a success, we would be able to market the hotel as a conference venue as well. There was a lot riding on it.
The only fly in the ointment was that my ex, Mason Miles, worked for Lane & Parks. He’d left me when they’d offered him a fancy contract in New York. I knew he was back in the country staying with his friend Luke. When Tasha had told me, a little stab of jealousy pitched in my stomach that she’d seen him first and not me. I guessed I’d probably see him at the conference as I’d be overseeing the evening dinner. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it.
Ignoring that fact for now, I turned to Sonya. “Things are going to plan. Barbara’s going to send me more information about the potential food allergies and there are some amendments to the room bookings as more people are coming now.” I pointed at each thing on my pad as I spoke.
Sonya let out a breath. “It’s a lot of work for just a couple of days.”
