Page 53 of The Hotel Nantucket
“That’s what he said, yeah. And don’t ask me to clarify. I’m forty-two years old, I don’t even know what that word means.” Raoul musses Alessandra’s hair, which she’s sure is already pretty mussed. Raoul is the only person on planet Earth she would allow to do this. “What are you doing here again?” he asks.
“Oh, you know me,” Alessandra says. “I can’t get enough of this place.”
Later that morning, Alessandra places the folio for the Chung family in an envelope and hands it over with a smile.Sorry we didn’t get a chance to catch up…Me too, so busy…The baby…This stupid thing called work, only get a day off every two weeks…So much fun, thank you for hooking us up with the suite, here’s my number, call if you ever get back to San Fran, and hey, friend me on Facebook!
“I will!” Alessandra says. She won’t. “Bye!” Jamie and Duffy stroll cute baby Cabot right out the door.And that,Alessandra thinks,is that.
Except it’s not. A few days later, Alessandra and Edie are powering up their computers and getting ready to start the day when Richie suddenly pops out of the back office, terrifying them both.
“Whoa!” Edie says. “I thought there really was a ghost!”
Richie doesn’t seem amused, which is strange because normally he’s happy-go-lucky and always has a dad joke ready. But he’s clearly been here all night. Alessandra worked the graveyard shift her first few months in Lake Como; she understands how it splinters your nerves.
He shakes a piece of paper at Alessandra. “You comped a night in a suite for a guest named Chung? No code, no explanation, and no sign-off!”
“I…did,” Alessandra says. She was so happy to have the Chungs gone (Duffy was “triggered”—Alessandra still hasn’t processed that one; if either of them should have been triggered, it was Alessandra, and what was that crack about the nice normal home?) that she completely spaced on the fact that she would have to explain the comped night. The desk staff are allowed to comp a night if something goes wrong—if guests have an unusually bad experience or if they can’t check in until after five o’clock—but staffers are not allowed to do what Alessandra did and comp at will. Every single comp must be run past Lizbet. Still, Alessandra had expected Richie to let it slide. He has never said a word about her taking five or ten bucks every few days from petty cash to pay for her lunch, though it’s possible he doesn’t know she does this. “Is it really that big of a deal?”
“It was a six-hundred-and-forty-five-dollar room rate,” Richie says. “That needs to be paid. By you. You made a unilateral decision to comp the room.”
“Okay?” Alessandra says. “I’ll point out that Edie upgraded the Marsh familyfor the summerwithout anyone’s permission. That adds up to a lot more lost revenue than six hundred and forty-five dollars, and no one is makingherpay.”
Both Richie and Edie are silent.
Richie huffs. “Fine. I’ll let this go but don’t do it again, either of you.” He disappears back into Lizbet’s office.
Alessandra turns to Edie. “I should have just gotten them a toaster,” she says.
Edie gives Alessandra a withering look.
“I’m sorry, Edie,” Alessandra says. She pauses. “Is it a desk thing to throw your helpful, kind coworker under the bus?”
“Yourdesk thing,” Edie says, and Alessandra is more relieved than she can explain when Edie lets the tiniest smile slip.
15. Behind Closed Doors
Adam drags Raoul into the break room, and Grace follows them because it looks like trouble!
“We need to speak to Lizbet about the schedule,” Adam says. “It’s not fair that she switched our shifts. You need to talk to her. She likes you better.”
“I don’twantto talk to her,” Raoul says. “Because, believe it or not, I’m ready to stop working nights. I did it for an entire month. Now it’s your turn.”
“You just want to spend all day with Zeke,” Adam says.
Raoul blinks. “Oryoudo, and that’s why you’re kerking.”
“I hope you’re not accusing me of anything,” Adam says. “Because I don’t need to remind you which one of us was caught making out with that busboy at Nikki Beach.”
“That was before we were even together,” Raoul says. “I’ve been faithful since our first date. And working with Zeke isn’t going to make me unfaithful. If you think that, then you have trust issues.”
“Ihave trust issues?”
“Do you have a thing for Zeke, Adam?”
At that moment the door to the break room swings open and Zeke steps in. “Adam, you’re on tonight? I’ve gotta bounce.”
“I’ll be right there,” Adam says. “Just chatting with myhusbandwhom I neversee.”
Zeke looks from Adam to Raoul and must sense something because he steps back out and closes the door.
