Monday didn't care that I had only been at the Wisteria for a week. I had three vendors who wanted to review their contracts, six rooms with plumbing problems, a garden that had every rose bush infected with some kind of plant fungus, and a partridge in a pear tree. Luckily, I also had competent employees, so I let them do their jobs and made myself available if they needed me. By the time I ordered my lunch from our cafe, it was two o'clock.
"Riley, I'm going to go grab my lunch. Can I grab you anything?" I needed to stretch my legs and give my brain a break.
"No I'm fine. Thank you for asking," he said with a smile. He was busy with the projects I had stacked in his email inbox. Riley was extremely efficient. He asked good questions and never made the same mistake twice. Even better, when he did make a mistake he was quick to own it.
Leaving my office, I stopped a moment to listen to the call center staff in their cubicles. I made a mental note to tell Kerrie, the supervisor, that I liked the little off script touches each person added. There was certain information they needed to convey every single call but they didn't need to sound like robots.
I loved walking around the Wisteria. We had our first all department staff meeting last week and it was clear the staff were happy here. Everyone attended, paid attention, asked good questions and many came up to introduce themselves afterward. While I had met most of the employees, I planned on attending each of the monthly department staff meetings next week. Our operation was small enough that there was no reason I shouldn't know all of their names.
"Hello Miss Sara!" Della greeted me at the hostess stand when I walked through the cafe doors. She wore a brilliant smile and her signature box braids were a bright red. "Your order will be ready in just a moment."
"Thank you! Can I add a large peach sweet tea also?" Riley lived for peach sweet tea and was always making sure I had snacks and water, so I thought it would be nice to return the favor.
"Of course. I'll grab that right now." Della hurried off to the kitchen. An older couple, probably my grandparents' age, came in behind me and I stepped to the side.
"Are you in line?" the wife asked me. I shook my head.
"No ma'am. I'm just waiting for my order. The hostess should be back shortly."
"Oh we don't mind waiting. We have lunch here three times a week."
"You must really like the food." The couple nodded.
"And the service. Nicest people in Cadence," the husband said. "Are you staying here?"
"No, I'm a local." We chatted for a few more minutes until Della brought out my food and a giant peach tea.
"Put it on the tab boss lady?"
"Yes, my personal one."
"Oh are you the manager here?" the wife asked.
"Yes Miss Henrietta, she's the big boss," Dell answered. "She's in charge of everyone in the whole inn." The couple looked impressed.
"Good for you honey. We need more women running things round these parts," the husband said, making me smile. "Henrietta here used to run the hardware store down on First. Did so well, I became a stay at home father." Now Della and I were the ones who were impressed.
"That's nothing to shake a stick at, Miss Henrietta," Della told her.
"Well the thing is, men are really rather simple," Henrietta explained. "Once they found out I knew the difference between a pipe wrench and a hammer, they couldn't get enough of me. Didn't hurt I looked great in a short skirt too." Oh my, Henrietta was now my favorite person. Della took Henrietta and her happy husband to their seats and I took out my phone to send her a note through our messaging system to add their meal to my private tab as well.
Back in my office, I presented Riley with his sweet tea and was rewarded with an "OMG!" squeal of delight. I was getting ready to dig into my club sandwich when my email dinged. It was the roster for the front desk staff meeting. It had been moved up to this Thursday. Great, another headache. My Thursday was already full and I didn't want to miss this meeting. I clicked around on my calendar as I munched on my fries. Oh perfect, the meeting I had scheduled was cancelled. Crisis averted.
As I scrolled through the names of the front desk staff, one caught my attention. I sat there, chewing and thinking, what are the odds? The name also had a star next to it, denoting a new hire since the last staff meeting, so they would be officially welcomed during this staff meeting. How recently had they been hired? When had Rian Watson become an employee?
***
My lunch was cut short by an update on the plumbing situation from Ron and his maintenance supervisor. Then my banquet manager let me know she screwed up and over ordered for an upcoming wedding. Instead of ordering for two hundred, she ordered for two thousand. Holy typo Batman, that's a lot of salmon. While that was happening the property manager called to let me know that the internet for my apartment would be another day. The hits just kept coming. Five o'clock turned into six o'clock. Six turned into seven. At eight I finally closed my laptop and decided that not having internet for another night at home was a blessing in disguise.
I said goodbye to the night staff and the evening doorman. My body collapsed into my car. I flipped through the radio stations until I got to an R&B station. The thumping bass gave me enough pep to drive home. I stopped by BJ's and grabbed a burger since I was definitely not going grocery shopping tonight.
I had to practically drag my body up to my apartment. When I got inside, I kicked my wedges off and groaned as the blood rushed into each of my toes. I dropped my bags into a dining table chair and then sank down in a second chair to eat my dinner. It was the best tasting burger I had ever had. All I wanted to do was crawl into my bed and sleep so I had skipped the Dr. Pepper and chose water to wash the burger down. After I cleaned up my dinner garbage, I slunk down the hallway and changed into a pair of grey sweatpants and a matching t-shirt. I threw my hair up into a messy bun to brush my teeth. Once I crawled into bed, I felt all of my energy drain from my body. I did a quick check for any texts I may have missed.
'Hope you had a good day. Can't wait to see you Wednesday.' Brady's text made me let out a happy sigh.
'It was crazy. Looking forward to seeing you too.'
'Want to talk about it?'
'Maybe tomorrow. I'm just getting home and totally ready for bed.'
'Gotcha. I'm happy to listen whenever you need me.'
'Thanks. Have a good night!'
'Night.'
I put my phone face down on my bed side table and let out a little squeal as I pulled the covers up over my head. I would definitely talk to him tomorrow.