by Karen Abbott
“Yes, but …” Eva wasn’t ready to abandon her trust in Burt quite so readily. She looked at Matt again. He was remaining strangely silent in all of this. “What about you, Matt? What’s your opinion of Burt?”
Matt’s face was stern, his expression almost closed. “Like you, I have already upheld my opinion on Burt’s attitude.”
Was there a warning message in his eyes? Eva wasn’t sure.
“However, if that isn’t enough to convince you,” Phil continued, “some thirty bottles of some of our better wines have gone from stock. Burt is one of four key-holders, the others being myself, and the bunch of duty-keys that you both share. Matt has already assured me of his ignorance of the matter. Do you have anything to say to shed light on their disappearance, Eva?”
Chapter Five
Eva was shocked. “No, of course not! Did Burt admit to the theft?”
Phil waved his hands airily. “What do you think? Of course he didn’t! But his resignation speaks for him! He couldn’t wait to get out of here!”
This still sounded preposterous. Eva knew that part-bottles of wine were sometimes taken home by members of staff, both from restaurant and kitchen. They were ‘waste’, anyway. But this was blatant theft!
“Have you informed the police?”
“Matt and I were discussing the matter. What is your opinion?”
Eva shook her head sadly. “I suppose we’ll have to. What do you think, Matt?”
Matt hesitated. “I’m not sure it would serve much purpose,” he eventually said slowly. “If Burt has stolen the wine, he certainly hasn’t taken it with him right now. He’ll have already got rid of it. He was off the premises yesterday, remember?”
Eva made a wry grimace. That was true. Even so …
Phil once more thoughtfully regarded his fingertips. “I think …” he said slowly, “… that now this is out in the open and Burt has gone, we should let matters lie. As Matt has said, what is to be gained? We have no proof and the publicity could bring the hotel into disrepute. I’ll inform Will Dagnall about what has been going on and I think we will be advised to draw a line under it all.”
He paused, adding as an afterthought, “It also sheds light on the discrepancy between room bookings and meals served. That was obviously another ploy at getting more money under his control. Chef’s bonus is tied to 65% of his gross profits. The more money going through his department, the higher his annual bonus!”
Eva sighed. It did seem to tie in. There weren’t many perks to the job! She supposed he must have seen the opportunity and succumbed to temptation. Still, she was saddened by the events. She’d liked Burt.
“And no word of this outside this office!” Phil warned as she turned to leave. “As far as the other members of staff are concerned, Burt has had a disagreement with me and has resigned! Is that clear?”
She nodded sadly. “Yes, I suppose so.”
Matt left the office with her. He, too, seemed greatly subdued by the morning’s events.
“How was that for a shock?” she declared despondently.
“Yes … but not entirely out of the blue, when you consider the other things that have been going on.”
“But I never thought Burt would be the culprit!”
“You never can tell.”
His words seemed non-committal and Eva searched his face for a clue to his real feelings but found none. Aware of her close scrutiny, Matt added, “I think it might be a case of, ‘give a man enough rope and he’ll hang himself’.”
Members of staff were very subdued for a number of days. Speculation was rife and Eva found it difficult to keep to the official line … but keep to it she did.
Johnny Tunstall struggled to fill Burt’s place for a couple of weeks but was clearly finding it difficult. Not only was he better at being ‘second-in-command’, but also his wife, Amanda, was heavily pregnant and, with two children already in the family, life was tough going for him at the moment.
At Johnny’s request, an advertisement was placed in the various catering magazines and with known agencies and, by the beginning of April, a new head chef was appointed, named Tony Chartris. He had an easy-going nature and readily fitted in with Phil’s management style, obeying orders and using recommended suppliers.
True to Phil’s prediction, food costs stabilised at a lower level, showing only a slight seasonal variation. However, Tony lacked Burt’s flair for haute-cuisine and guests grumbling about the quality of their meals became commonplace. Burt’s extravagant desserts were sorely missed by regular guests, many of whom commented that what was served was no better than those bought at supermarkets … an accusation that often hit the nail right on the head, if they did but know it!
Phil urged complainers to bear with him and hoped Tony’s skills would improve. Meanwhile, the hotel’s fragile reputation was suffering.
However, work on the Leisure Club was progressing nicely. Huw had organised the fitting of the two changing rooms with showers and toilets and had overseen the decorating of the small complex and the laying down of the flooring. Phil ordered two ‘Snacks’ machines from DigiGamesMasters to be situated in the foyer and sixteen pieces of gym equipment were eventually installed.
For the time-being, Eva took on the overall responsibility of the Club and engaged four new members of staff trained in ‘health and fitness’. She had already run an advertising campaign in the local press and would-be members began to trickle in. Hotel staff members were offered discount membership and the majority of them took advantage of the offer. Eva then asked for volunteers from members of staff to enrol for a week-end course in ‘health and fitness’ at the local Leisure Centre in town, so that they would have back-up staff with the necessary training.
Phil declined the invitation to attend but was willing to cover the management roster to allow both Eva and Matt to attend.
Eva was surprised but pleased at Matt’s personal support of her venture, since she knew that he already had the necessary qualifications.
“I’m looking upon it as part of our ‘team-building’ programme,” he explained. “As Will said, the more we play together, the better we’ll work together!”
Eva wondered if his words carried special meaning about the two of them but Matt didn’t linger at her side. Instead, he rejoined the rest of the participants, manoeuvring himself, it seemed to Eva, to be assigned to the sub-group in which Leanne was the only other participant from Glan-Yr-Avon.
She saw Leanne’s welcoming smile and quenched the surge of longing she experienced as Matt responded to the girl’s greeting. That quirky smile of his was very endearing, reminding her of how young they had been when they had first met and how his boyish charm had enslaved her.
She sighed sadly. Too late, it seemed, she was beginning to realise how much he still meant to her. She wished she hadn’t been quite so cool towards him … but what was she to do? Matt had made it clear that he no longer wished to clear the air between them and she couldn’t face being rebuffed by him if she were to re-open the subject.
She forced herself to look away and concentrate on what the instructor was telling them but she found it difficult to remain focussed. Why was Matt behaving as though Casanova’s mantle had fallen upon him? She had never known him to play the field like this. Was he doing it to make her jealous? Did that mean that, deep down, he still cared for her? She wouldn’t admit it anyone—but he was succeeding!
Even so, it caused another pang to her heart when she saw Matt taking hold of Leanne’s elbow and usher her towards his car at the end of the day. Her own social life was non-existent. Nor could she contemplate it whilst Matt was still around. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to build a close relationship with anybody else, after the way her first and only one had ended so terribly.
Back at the hotel, Eva was thankful to work a few hours. It made it into a long day and she over-slept slightly on Sunday morning. She showered, dressed and hurried from her apartment to get some breakfast, deciding it woul
d be quicker than asking for room-service.
Out in the corridor, Carys scurried past her, pushing the service trolley. “Morning, Miss Cunningham!” she said breathlessly.
“Good morning, Carys. What’s the hurry?”
“I’ve got extra rooms to do, miss,” Carys flung over her shoulder. “Nesta is on the Leisure Course.”
“Right! But slow down.”
Her warning came too late. As Carys approached the lift, Phil stepped out, narrowly missing a collision with her. Even so, he dropped the file of papers he was carrying.
“Oh, it’s sorry, I am!” Carys apologised, her face burning red. She bent down and hastily began to scrabble the papers together. She rose and thrust the bundle into Phil’s hands. “Sorry, Mr. Crawleigh! I didn’t see you!” Without waiting for a reply, she hurried on her way.
“Really! The gaucheness of that girl is unbelievable!” Phil exclaimed, regarding the untidy bundle of papers in his hand. “I think we should seriously consider giving her notice!”
“Oh, no,” Eva protested. “There’s no harm in her. She’s a good worker. She’s just shy!”
“Hmph! Her lack of poise is abysmal! Still, she’s on a short contract, isn’t she? It might be simpler not to renew it at the end of the season. Make a note of it in her file, will you.”
Eva faced him squarely. “I’m sorry but I don’t agree,” she flatly refused. “She has done nothing to warrant dismissal.”
Phil wasn’t pleased by her stance. He frowned at her. “I don’t need your agreement, Eva. However, we’ll leave it for now but you must realise that we need to maintain staffing standards. We’re still on an uphill struggle, you know.”
Eva didn’t have time to dwell on the matter. She travelled with some of the others back to the Leisure Centre for the remaining sessions of the ‘Health and Fitness’ Course. It was both informative and challenging and improved their own performances in the gym by teaching them the correct way to use the equipment. The short section on rock-climbing reminded her of happy days accompanying Matt climbing in the Lake District but she didn’t volunteer to demonstrate her prowess at the sport. They finished with a session in the pool, introducing would-be instructors to life-saving techniques. The Course leader invited any interested parties to contact him later and he would arrange to set up qualifying Courses, all of which would come in useful later in the season when their outdoor pool was reopened.
The consensus of most participants was that the Course had been a great success but it didn’t give Eva the satisfaction she had expected. She felt disheartened by Matt’s general coolness towards her, made worse, she admitted to herself, by his involvement with Leanne. His choice of Leanne puzzled her. Dilys or Tricia … or even Bethan, yes. But, why Leanne?
She was on duty from lunchtime onwards on Monday, following Matt. He stepped out of the inner office frowning at a paper in his hand.
“Something wrong?” Eva enquired.
“Seems so.” He dropped the paper in front of her. “What’s this all about?”
Eva looked at the heading. DigiGamesMasters. “It’s the company who supply the slot machines,” she informed him. “You know, the one-armed bandits and the snack machines.”
“I know which company it is,” he replied with exaggerated patience. “What I don’t understand are the terms of their agreement with us.”
“Oh?”
Eva picked up the paper and began to read it, the frown on her face matching the one on Matt’s by the time she had finished. “We only get fifteen per cent of the takings,” she said blankly. “Isn’t it usually thirty per cent?”
“Too right! And guess who paid for the repair of the faulty one? And for the installation of the snack machines!”
“It seems to be us,” she murmured in surprise, flipping over to the second page. What she read there made her draw in her breath sharply. “I don’t believe this!”
“And there’s your signature giving authorisation!”
Eva shook her head. “I didn’t sign this.”
“It’s your signature.”
“Yes, but I didn’t put it there.”
“Who else would sign your name?”
“Hey, what is this? What are you accusing me of?”
“I’m not sure, Eva. All I can see is that Glan-Yr-Avon is paying way over the odds for something that doesn’t bring in much profit and you seem to have authorised it! If you didn’t, how have they got hold of your signature?”
“I signed a work sheet and an acknowledgment that one of the machines needed to be repaired. What’s their game? They must know it would be checked.”
“Not necessarily. Who normally deals with this company?”
“Meriel said Phil usually does it but he wasn’t in that day, so I took care of it. Do you think they realised I was new and tried it on?”
“I’m not sure what to think at this stage. If I didn’t know you so well, I might have thought it was carelessness. As it is …” Matt took the paper out of her hand and looked at it thoughtfully. “We’d better see what Phil has to say about it before we take it any further.”
Phil, when questioned, brushed their concerns aside with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I agree our percentage is low. The former owners were old friends of the man who runs the company. I had intended to renegotiate the terms when the time for renewal comes around. Whereas now you have signed the agreement for another year, Eva.” His face darkened as he looked at Eva. “It smacks of carelessness. Thoughts on your next hair-do were they?”
Eva felt her face colour. “I didn’t sign this paper!” she stated coldly. “I’m not stupid! Neither am I careless! I have total recollection of the paper I signed! It was to say that the service had been done and to recommend repair or replacement of the faulty machine.”
“If you had kept to your own parts of the business, this wouldn’t have happened! I would have seen at a glance that it was out of order!” Phil sharply reproved her. “Didn’t Meriel say that I prefer to oversee this franchise?”
“Yes … but you weren’t here.”
“It could have waited. Next time such a case occurs, I would appreciate it if you followed my guidelines. As it is, you had better leave it with me to sort it out. I expect someone’s got their wires crossed and mixed up our account with someone else’s!”
“It doesn’t give us much faith in their system, if that’s the case, does it?” Matt questioned mildly.
“And that’s downright forgery!” Eva added, pointing at the facsimile of her signature.
“Unless you’ve signed it and won’t admit to your mistake!” Phil fired back, raising his eyebrow.
Eva flushed at his tone. “I know I didn’t,” she replied as calmly as she could. “What’s more to the point is that it’s a deliberate attempt to cheat the hotel out of some money!”
“Business is business, I’m afraid,” Phil countered. “It’s a cut-throat world. You get the best price you can for everything!”
“That works both ways!” Matt interrupted. “We need to reconsider our position in this!”
“I’ve said I’ll look into it!” Phil snapped. “So shall we leave it for now? There are more important things to be dwelling on, such as our late spring and early summer programme! I take it you’ve got some ideas ready!”
“Not yet,” Eva apologised. “I’ve been wrapped up in promoting the Leisure Club.”
“Well, now that it’s off the ground, it’s time to move on! Have some ideas to bring to our planning meeting tomorrow! You, too, Matt! Will Dagnall is looking for great things from the two of you!”
“Let’s hope we live up to it, then,” Matt drawled.
Eva felt out of good humour for the remainder of the day. She was annoyed by Phil’s negative reaction and felt that Matt could have been more positive in his support of her. Was he afraid of stepping out of line for some reason? Such niceties hadn’t used to bother him when he felt strongly about something. Maybe that was the problem? Did he thin
k her capable of carelessness?
Tricia and Leanne were on late duty in Reception the following day. Both were keen to get on and vied with each other to be given extra tasks that might look well on the CVs. Their rivalry boded well for the hotel, especially now, after the management meeting had thrown up a number of possible promotions to pursue. They had both offered to work an extra hour or so to complete their work schedule.
Phil came through the swinging doors and headed towards his office.
“I need some notes taking down. One of you girls come with me ... Miss Gornall,” he decided, as Tricia and Leanne both rose from their seats.
Tricia eagerly followed Phil into the inner office, notepad at the ready, flinging a triumphant glance over her shoulder at Leanne.
Eva smiled. She was looking forward to the wind-down for the day and had already switched the background music to their quieter night-time level. The restaurants had closed and the tables were being laid for the following day’s breakfast. She was just setting off on her evening patrol of the upper corridors when Tricia stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut behind her.
Her face was pink with fury as she threw the notepad onto the desktop. “I tell you, if that ‘Creepy Crawly’ touches me again, I won’t be held responsible for the outcome!” she stormed.
Eva halted and returned to the front of the desk. “What was that, Tricia?”
Tricia looked startled to see her. She bit her lower lip. “I’m sorry! I didn’t see you there, Eva.”
“That’s beside the point, Tricia. You made a statement in my hearing. I must follow it through.”
“She’s had a ‘knock-back’, I expect!” Leanne mocked. “Didn’t Phil succumb to your charms, then?”
Tricia rounded on her. “Don’t try to twist things! If he’s never tried anything with you, you must be the only female on the premises he hasn’t!”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“What exactly happened, Tricia?” Eva asked calmly.
Tricia pressed her lips together, then sighed in exasperation. “He made insinuating comments about me … and ran his fingers up my arm. It sounds silly now … but I didn’t like it.”