Page 7 of Lexi Lets Go

"Oh yes, the falls. Sorry, yes. Those are the Mystic Falls. That is how the town got its name. Yes, at the back of our property here. There is a path that meets up with the nature park the falls are in, and that path will lead you right to the falls. It's an easy hike, just a little over a mile," she said.

"Maybe you could show me later," he said with that hypnotic smile on his face.

"I can have someone show you the path whenever you are ready," she said, trying to ignore the hundreds of butterflies fighting in her belly.

"But I want you to show me," he said. His eyes locked on hers as he reached out to take her hand. He was going to kiss her hand, and then Lexi would cease to exist; she would be nothing but a puddle on the floor.

"Liam, we need you in the meeting room."

Liam looked back at Lexi and cocked his eyebrow and gave her a wicked smile. "Maybe later then," he said as he turned to leave for the meeting room.

Lexi smiled as he walked away, feeling slightly dazed.

The woman standing in the doorway cleared her voice loudly. Lexi shook her head to try and combat the hypnotism this man seemed to have. She looked over at the woman standing in the archway of the reception area, arms crossed over her chest, and looking irritated.

"Is there anything I can help you with?” Lexi asked.

"No, we are good for now. But I just wanted to give you this list. It’s how Liam likes to be interacted with by the staff.”

"I'm sorry?"

"I know this is a small town, but we would appreciate your discretion and professionalism," she said with a biting edge to her voice.

"Of course," said Lexi, the customer service smile finding her face again. The woman handed her a piece of paper and Lexi took it. "While I have you here,” she continued, “can I give you this menu? Just let us know what you would all like to order, and I’ll take care of it for you."

The woman took it from her hand and turned and left.

Lexi looked down at the paper in her hand. It was a printed list of rules. She was already feeling a bit put off by the professionalism comment. Lexi was always a professional. Always.

As she made her way through the list, she realized how intense it was. The first couple things were fine, mostly about safety and security, no unauthorized pictures, no posting whereabouts on social media, things of that nature. Things her staff would never do, though she was going to check back in with Nancy anyway.

After that, the list got a bit weird. Apparently, there was to be absolutely no gluten. Fine, we all have allergies. Absolutely no pickles. Fine, we all have our food preferences. But no one could talk to Liam directly. If you needed to ask him a question, you needed to go through his manager. Anything Liam asked for needed to be okayed by his manager first. Any interaction with him would require an NDA. It didn't seem to make much sense. The rest of the list went over things like the thread counts and the square footage requirement of any room he stayed in. Lexi's head was reeling.

What did he think this was? A five-star resort? Luckily, they would not be staying the night because if his majesty needed this thread count, she would not be able to provide that. The inn only had one brand of sheets. And while they were nice sheets, nicer than any she had ever slept on, that's for sure, she was sure the thread count wasn’t high enough.

Well, this list did the trick. It broke whatever spell she had been put under about dealing with his guy. She didn't know she was dealing with a privileged pompous ass, but she knew that now. Why did he talk to her at all if he wanted all communication from his manager? He had seemed decent enough, but apparently, he left the douchebaggery to his manager. She needed to call a staff meeting and ensure they were all on the same page with how to deal with these people. Of course, they would meet the demands she was able to. She was a goddamn professional, after all.

After she found Nancy, she gathered the rest of the staff to go over the finer points of the list. She didn't give them the whole list, just the highlights, but ever since that meeting, she had been in a foul mood. He had seemed... well, he had seemed almost like a god, but if this is the devotion he required, he was just an asshole. And really, should she be surprised? How had she let herself get swept up in his smile and charm?

It was getting into the afternoon, and she still hadn't heard if they were close to getting out of her inn.

Around lunchtime, Liam’s manager came storming through the lobby. "Is this the only lunch in town?" the woman asked Lexi with the menu in her hand like it contained a flesh-eating virus.

"No, there are a few other restaurants. Is there anything in particular you are looking for? We have a great Italian Bistro."

"He can't eat gluten. Pasta is gluten."

"Right. That cafe menu does have gluten-free and vegan options, and they can work with most diet restrictions."

"Fine. Here is the order," she said, giving the menu to Lexi. The woman turned on her heel and walked back into the meeting room, shutting the door behind her.

The menu in her hand looked like it had been graded, and it had failed miserably. It was covered in writing. Each person's order had special instructions from diet restrictions to just plain preferences. Wow, a bunch of Hollywood types with eating a long list of diet restrictions, figures. Walking to the front desk, she picked up the phone and called Josh at the cafe. They had barely opened. She hoped they would be able to handle some of this stuff.

After a couple of rings, he picked up. "Hey Josh, Poppy said you guys might be able to handle a large lunch order."

"Yeah, what do you got?"

"I have a list from a bunch of Hollywood prima donnas with many unfortunate eating restrictions."

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