Page 47 of Room for Improvement

“I would agree that it has its problems, but it’s not a complete write off,” suggested Bryce. His father did have a tendency to let his temper take over at times. He had clearly been stewing over the review and decided this executive meeting was where he was going to vent his rage.

Jordan glanced up and momentarily caught Bryce’s gaze. His slow blink an unmistakable ‘thank you’ for his show of support.

Bryce turned and looked back at his father, and as he did Edward’s eyes locked on him. He took in a deep breath. For the briefest of moments, Bryce imagined that his father was going to accept his calming words. But when Janice placed a pile of papers on the table next to Edward, Bryce’s heart sank.

“I wish I could concur with you Bryce, but unfortunately the reviews say otherwise.”

His father pulled a piece of paper from the top of the pile.

Edward held the document high in the air, waving it around. All eyes were glued to his every move. “I’ve also spoken to our mystery guest team. Three of them have stayed at the resort in the past month. They all say the same thing. There are not enough staff on shift at any time. The assistant manager is cutting corners at every opportunity. The only thing he hasn’t managed to completely stuff up is the food and beverage, and that’s because Tony is in charge, and he won’t let anyone touch his budget.”

Bryce glanced at his brother. To his credit, Jordan was paying full attention to their father.

When Edward reached for another piece of paper, Bryce silently chided himself for not having grabbed his third coffee of the morning when he’d had the chance.

Sitting quietly while his father read aloud from scathing reviews of the Laguna Beach resort was one of the longest half hours of Bryce’s life. Long check in lines. Overcharging on the bills. The list went on and on. The lack of towels. Guests having to go to the front desk in order to source bedding.

At least I have fixed that problem. Housekeeping confirmed they received the order.

Edward’s fingers tapped on the creased glossy cover of Luxury Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. “I thought they were taking things a little too far with this ‘Room for Improvement’ review, but to be honest I think we might have gotten off lightly. The more I have read this piece, the more I have come to realize that it was a fair summation of the clusterfuck that is our newest resort.”

An audible gasp rippled around the table. Edward Royal was a man who used foul oaths sparingly. Bloody was about the worst the well-spoken Englishman lowered himself to using in meetings. Clusterfuck was like listening to an atomic bomb going off.

Bryce gritted his teeth. He hadn’t seen the reports from the mystery guest team. They were saying the exact same things that Vivian had done in her review. The review which he’d taken as a personal insult and then gone online to publicly attack her credibility and character over. According to his father, Vivian hadn’t been spiteful in her review of the Laguna Beach resort, she had been refreshingly honest.

What if her review was just about the resort, not me?

It didn’t explain why she’d ghosted him, but maybe Vivian had just been doing her job. Which meant he had overreacted. And badly.

His father’s fist pounding on the table stirred Bryce from his scattered thoughts. “When did Royal Resorts require guests to bring their own linen? If there has been a policy change, no one bothered to inform me. Ladies and gentlemen, we are the purveyors of luxury resorts, not summer camps.”

He nodded toward Janice, who to Bryce’s relief removed the pile of papers from in front of her boss. The message had been delivered. Edward was not a happy man. And when Edward Royal was displeased, heads tended to roll.

“Jordan.”

The middle Royal son snapped to attention. Bryce’s gaze darted around the room. No one dared to look at Jordan, every pair of eyes was cast down. It was like being back in school and the principal was dishing out a punishment that everyone was keen to avoid.

“Go to your apartment and pack a couple of large suitcases. You are leaving for Los Angeles today. When you get to Laguna Beach you will take over the day to day running of the resort. I don’t care whether that means you have to clear plates from tables or make beds. You will stay put in California until I can find a suitable replacement. I’ve spoken to your assistant manager, and Austin Brown is going to report to me each day on the efforts you are undertaking to dig us out of this gargantuan hole which you have thrown us all in. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And before you think of getting on a plane and coming back here, I want a full report from you as to why things got to the state they have. I want details of every single point where you have failed, and what you should have done in the first place.”

Bryce’s heart went out to his brother. A public dressing down was never a nice thing, and he could just imagine that this meeting had set Jordan’s hopes to be seen as a capable Royal Resorts executive back at least a year or two. “How about we accept that what’s done is done, Edward, and let Jordan worry about fixing it. When he is eventually back in New York, he and I can sit down and do a full debrief together.”

Edward took in a slow breath. It was rare for anyone in the Royal Resorts office to question him, but Bryce was prepared to stand his ground.

“Alright. Let’s get the resort back on track, and then the two of you can prepare a report to the board explaining how this will never happen again.”

The rest of the meeting’s agenda was dealt with in short time. It was obvious that the only thing Edward Royal had really been interested in dealing with this morning was the situation in California. When he finally closed the meeting, Edward motioned for both Jordan and Bryce to remain behind.

As soon as the boardroom door was closed, Edward rose from his chair and gathered his sons around. “Now, gentlemen, I know that was a rather unfortunate meeting, and one which will no doubt have tongues wagging for the rest of the day.”

Bryce and Jordan nodded.

“But it had to be done. We can’t have a billion dollar investment become the laughing stock of the leisure market. Jordan, you are booked on the 2pm American Airlines flight out of JFK. Bryce can deal with any other matters you might have outstanding here in New York. Call me when you arrive at the resort.”

Their father was sending Jordan on a commercial flight to LA. If that didn’t send a powerful message of parental disappointment, nothing did.

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