Even After All

Part Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Two

Less than an hour later, her brain still aching from the anger of the moment, the confrontation, Mattie was groaning as she dropped her head into her spare hand, the phone glued to her ear, “are you sure?”

Mark, the receptionist who was on the other end of the call gave a “yup. She has a note from Paul promising her a meeting room and a buffet for forty five for half twelve. The kitchen has no record either. They can try their best, but it might eat into their prep for lunch...then there’s the lack of venue. The bars all have bookings.”

Mattie sighed, when would the legacy of Paul Simmonds end? She had to try her best to honour the booking, so hanging up she called the kitchen. There was protest and anger, but finally one of the chefs promised to supervise having the buffet made up. Mattie hung up then grabbed her phone and made for the reception. She’s literally made three paces from her office when she literally bumped into Dylan and his new left hand Louise.

                “We’ve got a list of things that apparently only you know about.” Dylan offered stiffly. He was obviously still smarting from their argument. But she didn’t have the time to help them, not at that moment.

                “Sorry, got a minor emergency...can I come back to you? Or better yet email me and I’ll get on it as SOON as I get back to my desk.” That was a compromise, wasn’t it? Put it top of her list of priorities once she’d dealt with an emergency because the hotel’s reputation was important, very important.

As Dylan nodded a little bewildered, she noted the scowl from Louise, she obviously didn’t appreciate that Mattie had a job to do, one that made demands of her. She responded to the look with the cheesiest grin she had. She didn’t care what this woman thought, she had a job to do, and as she’d told Dylan THAT was her priority.

Mrs Payne was the secretary for the chairman of the biggest import company based in the area, Simon Gore ran a million pound business out of Gatwick airport, and the fact that they’d chosen their hotel for a meeting was to Mattie a huge scoop. As she smiled at the PA she glanced over at Mark the receptionist, “can we show Mrs Payne here to the board room?”

Mark’s eyes widened, the boardroom was the room adjacent to Mattie’s office in the management suite, an area that they kept away from the public. Mattie gave a confident nod, “I’ll just check that the coffee is on its way up there. I do apologise again for the mix up Mrs Payne.”

The older women smiled, “on the contrary, you’ve been more than accommodating Miss Davies.”

Mattie smiled, “call me Mattie please. Now Mark here will show you to the boardroom, I need you to ensure that it’s suitable for your meeting. If it is, I’ll get it set up as soon as possible.”

She didn’t offer a plan B as there wasn’t one, not really, she had to pray that the boardroom sufficed for their needs, and as the receptionist took the woman off in the direction of her office, she crossed her finger behind her back, this had to work.

Once they were out of sight, she ran towards the kitchen. Leon the chef on duty was known for being temperamental, so she walked up to him, “thank you so much for being SO cooperative over this, I can’t thank you enough.”

Leon might have a short fuse, but he also responded well to flattery, “well it’s my job...I can hardly complain.”

Mattie pulled one of her dazzling smiles out of the bag and said, “I will remember this Leon, thank you. If you need anything I’ll be in my office.”