“The boss of England branch of SG Travel Group is coming in the afternoon. She is going to personally examine the qualifications of our hotel. So, no one can make a single mistake, including the cleaning ladies and the chefs. Understand? Great! Let’s go for it!”
Anna just finished a meeting in the conference room of the Carousel Hotel. Previously, the headquarters had negotiated long-term cooperation with SG, a well-known foreign tourism group. The preliminary work had been completed, and all that was left was the on-site examination. Coincidentally, the SG group had selected Anna’s hotel in the draw.
Therefore, as long as the team thought the hotel was qualified, they could sign up for a long-term partnership. After that, all SG’s England branch travelers would stay at the Carousel Hotel.
It was a scorching afternoon, and the hotel managers were waiting for the group to come to the entrance.
After a while, a black Bentley pulled up at the front door. Then, an assistant got off from the passenger side and opened the back seat door.
The first thing everyone saw was a pair of four-inch shiny high heels. Then, it was followed by a pair of long, slender legs.
The woman held the door and stepped out of the car. The black jumpsuit she was wearing made her look particularly tall. Her hair was delicately pinned up, with curly bangs on one side of her face. She was wearing diamond earrings from Bulgari and red lipstick, looking like a mighty and domineering woman.
Everyone looked at each other suspiciously. SG was a well-known international travel group, and Birmingham was a famous tourist city. So, no one expected that the manager of their England branch looked just in her mid-twenties. The woman was not only young, but also very pretty. So, of course, people were puzzled.
The hotel’s general manager was the first to come forward and ask, “Hello. Are you Charlotte Wilson, the president of SG England?”
“Yes, it’s me.” The woman took off her sunglasses and smiled gracefully
“Hello, I’m Vincent Jones. We’re ready for the examination. So, come on in.”
Charlotte nodded and said, “Ah, that would be great. I’ve just been transferred back to England. I know that the Carousel Group is well known and classy. But, this is my first contract since I took over this position. So, I want to make sure my clients can get the best service. Please don’t mind if I’m being picky.”
“No, we won‘t. Please come in.” Vincent said.
Everyone entered the hotel after Vincent and Charlotte exchanged pleasantries at the door.
However, Anna always felt that Charlotte had looked at her several times, and she hoped it was just an illusion.
“Our hotel is the oldest of the Carousel hotel chain. However, our facilities are all up-to-date. You see, the decor here…”
“Wait a minute.” Charlotte suddenly interrupted Vincent.
She stopped at the lounge area. Staring at the vase of flowers on the coffee table for a moment, she then walked over quickly. She said sternly, “Why are there flowers here?”
Vincent tensed up but had no idea what she meant.
Charlotte said with displeasure and frustration, “You know, everyone may come to the hotel. The social elites and people from the upper class often have some special personal habits.
You have placed flowers in the lobby, and that’s nice and pretty. But, have you considered that there might be guests who are allergic to the pollen?”
“Oh my God! Sorry, we didn’t notice it. We’ll get rid of the flowers right now.” Vincent said.
Then, he glared hard at his assistant and said, “Put away all the flowers in the hotel as soom as possible.”
Charlotte frowned as she saw the assistant’s work tag and said, “Wait. What kind of accountability mechanism do your hotel have? The lobby manager is supposed to be in charge of this matter today. But clearly, they’re not.”
Vincent froze for a moment, and then immediately looked nervously to his side.
Anna was the duty manager of the lobby today. However, everyone knew about the fact that Anna and Wayne were dating. Even if she was accountable for this matter, Vincent knew he couldn’t embarrass Anna in front of so many people.
Just at this tense moment, Anna, standing in the crowd, suddenly said, “Yes, it’s me. I’m the manager on duty in the lobby today. Sorry, I didn’t notice the flowers here.”
Charlotte looked at Anna. In a beige lobby manager’s uniform, Anna stepped firmly out of the crowd
Charlotte read aloud the name on her badge and said, “Anna Gabriel. You have a nice name.”
Anna frowned for a moment and replied, “Thank you. I’ll take care of the flowers right away. And, I will assure you that nothing like this will ever happen again. I hope this mishap will not affect your company’s overall opinion of our hotel.”
Charlotte glanced at Vincent and said meaningfully, “Oh, you can fix the mistake, but it’s not easy to fix the person who made a mistake, isn’t it? Vincent, it looks like just about anyone in your hotel could be a manager.”
Her remark was so harsh that it was like slapping Anna in front of everyone. Anna felt very embarrassed. She thought that maybe because she might have been praised a lot recently, she suddenly felt humiliated by such a severe rebuke.
Afterwards, her face was flushed.
“Stay here, Miss Gabriel. You don’t have to come with us,” Charlotte said indifferently and then left with the crowd.
After everyone got into the elevator, Wendy immediately comforted Anna. She said indignantly, “Miss Gabriel, why don’t you explain to that woman? You didn’t put that flower here. You Don’t Have to Follo… You shouldn’t be blamed by her for no reason.”
Anna gave a bitter laugh and said, “I can’t, Wendy. I can’t say that Vincent put the flowers here. You know, a lot of people were here just now.”
If I say that, I would be asking the entire hotel to take the blame. If an employee like me made a mistake, we could be forgiven. Also, our errors won‘t affect the company in any way. But a senior manager like Vincent would be in big trouble if he does something wrong. I‘m not a senior manager, so I can take the blame, Anna thought to herself.
“Oh, no! You must feel terrible! I’m so sorry.” Wendy said as if she looked was the one being misunderstood.
Anna squeezed her hand and said with a fake smile, “Come on, Wendy. I don’t feel bad at all, so don’t be upset. You go to work now. I’m happy that she doesn’t need me to keep her company because I can take a break now. Okay, I’m going back to my office to read the papers. Bye.”
After that, she went to wait for the elevator, as if she was not affected by what had just happened. However, as soon as she entered the elevator, Anna’s smile quickly disappeared. She looked at herself in the mirror and then let out a long sigh.
What a shame! She thought to herself. Charlotte stayed in a VIP suite on the top floor that afternoon.
“Charlotte, this is the room we prepared for you. This is the most expensive room in our hotel, and there are only two suites like this on each floor.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte said.
After they left, Charlotte closed the door and sat on the sofa to make a phone call. The moment the phone was dialed, Charlotte immediately became a different person. She said, “Hey. Karl, I’m back! Guess where I am now?”
“I’m in Wayne’s hotel!”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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