by Karen Abbott
“Asked for it, most likely!” Leanne taunted. “Stop at nothing, she won’t!”
“Keep out of it, Leanne!” Eva warned. She turned back to Tricia. “Do you want to make an official complaint, Tricia? We can talk somewhere privately, if you wish.”
Tricia hesitated, indecision plainly written on her face. “No … but I will if it happens again. I won’t be pushed out, like Carys!”
Eva was puzzled. “Carys? What’s this to do with Carys?”
“Got the sack for upsetting a guest!” Leanne said hurriedly. “I thought you knew.”
“No, I didn’t. When did this happen?”
“Over the weekend, apparently.”
“Who sacked her?”
Leanne shrugged. “I don’t know. I wasn’t here, was I? Phil or Mrs. Oliver, I suppose.”
Eva wasn’t happy. She hated anything like this. It upset the harmony among the hotel staff.
“Who’s with Phil now, Tricia?”
“No-one! I walked out and left him to it!”
“Right!”
With lips tightly pressed together, Eva rapped on the office door and strode straight in.
Phil glanced up. “Can I help you?”
Eva lost no time in coming to the point. “What is this I hear about Carys?”
“That depends on what you’ve heard.”
“You’ve sacked her!”
“At Gwyneth Oliver’s insistence! It was either that or lose a valued customer.”
“Who?”
“Pardon?”
“Who? Which ‘valued customer’?”
Phil leaned back in his chair. “That is no concern of yours. It happened when you were off-duty.”
“Staff personnel are my concern. Which ‘valued customer’ complained about Carys?”
“I think you are overstepping the mark, Eva! Are you questioning my judgment again?”
Eva paused. She had rushed into Phil’s office without giving much thought to the consequences. Still, she couldn’t back down now.
“In this matter, yes.” And the thought, ‘what about Tricia?’ echoed in her mind.
Phil joined his fingertips together and thoughtfully brought them up to his chin. “This isn’t the first time you have gone against my decision, is it, Eva? Do you have a problem with me?”
Eva hesitated. She did have a problem with him ... on a number of things ... but she sensed big trouble if she said so.
Phil sensed her indecision and smiled coldly. “Because, if you have, Eva, there is only one solution, isn’t there?”
Chapter Six
The worst part was facing Leanne and Tricia as she walked back into Reception. She felt shaken by the nearness of losing her job and couldn’t help wondering if she had failed Carys by not continuing to oppose her dismissal. However, without knowing the true facts, she might have put her job at risk without proper justification. She had had to back-down.
She was determined, however, to pursue it further in her own time and, if Carys had been dismissed unfairly, she would help her to fight for re-instatement. As it was, she had suffered a dressing-down by Phil for insubordination and had received a verbal warning of dismissal if it happened again.
Tricia and Leanne swivelled round on their seats. They could probably tell from her tight expression that the interview hadn’t gone her way.
“It’s getting late, girls. Time you were going off-duty,” she said with forced lightness, as she crossed towards her own office.
“Well?” Leanne demanded, a sparkle highlighting her eyes. “How did you get on? Got Carys her job back, have you?”
Eva paused and tried to speak calmly. “I don’t think that’s any of your business, Leanne.”
“Oooh!”
It was an insolent rejoinder ... but Eva didn’t feel up to reprimanding her. She would prefer to let the matter drop for the time being. She raised her eyebrows and let her displeasure be shown that way. Eva was glad when Leanne cast her eyes down and swivelled back to her work area and began to shut-down her computer.
“Just closing down, Miss Cunningham.”
Tricia looked anxious. “You didn’t say anything about me, did you, Miss Cunningham? I mean … well, I don’t want any trouble.”
“No, I didn’t, Tricia … but, remember, you don’t have to put up with any sexual harassment. Not from anyone!”
Tricia blushed and looked away. “I’ll remember.”
“Good. Now, off you both go. Thank you for your extra work. Goodnight.”
The girls departed, leaving Eva to check that everything had been shut down correctly. Rhys Edwards, the night porter, checked in with her and she left Reception to belatedly start her nightly tour of the upper corridors before retiring to her suite of rooms. She was ‘on call’, but didn’t expect to be disturbed … which was a bit of a misnomer, she couldn’t help reflecting. She was already disturbed—and didn’t think she had handled the situation too well! Talk about rushing in where angels feared to tread! She had rushed in with both feet and got stuck in the mud! Served her right!
The following day, she wondered if Phil would refer to the incident at the management team meeting, involving Matt with the verbal warning he had given her. Maybe she should mention it to Matt herself, in case Phil told him privately? But she decided against it ... she didn’t want it to seem as if she were running to Matt telling tales or asking for sympathy.
However, Phil behaved as though it had never happened and, for the moment, Eva was glad to follow suit. She felt uneasy … but it was such a tricky area and, more than likely, nothing more than an unfortunate clash of their personalities. His management style was not to her taste—but, as Phil had pointed out, if she was unhappy to work under his leadership, she had the option to resign and seek employment elsewhere. That wasn’t what she wanted, so she must stifle her discontentment and simply do the job she was employed to do.
On her first afternoon off, she visited Carys at her home, a small semi-detached house on a housing estate on the outskirts of Cardigan. Carys’s mother opened the door and invited her inside. Carys very nervously joined her in the front room.
“Is something wrong, miss?” Carys asked, throwing a swift glance at her mother.
“No, no … except your dismissal, Carys. Would you like to tell me what happened?”
“I dunno, miss. Mrs. Oliver said I’d annoyed a guest.”
“Which guest? Who had complained about you?”
“I dunno, miss. She didn’t say. She said I wasn’t cut out for working in the hotel business, see. Too self-conscious, she said.” She twisted her hands together nervously. “I suppose she’s right, really.”
“I don’t agree, Carys. I’ll fight your case for you, if you wish,” Eva assured her.
“Oh, no, miss!” Carys protested. “Don’t do that! It’s all right, honestly!” She looked at her mother again. “Tell her it’s all right, Mam!”
With Mrs. Jones’s assurances ringing in her ears, Eva finally departed, feeling very unsettled. She partly wished she hadn’t gone … but knew she wouldn’t have felt satisfied until she had done so.
Her attention was focused on the Leisure Club and implementing some of the ideas to improve their performance in the hotel from the management meeting on Monday.
Phil was keen to introduce some ‘Theme’ weeks and was in touch with some promoters who undertook to provide package deals for hotels such as theirs.
“They are a bit reluctant to organise one at such short notice,” Phil explained to Matt and Eva, “but I don’t want to pass up on this year. So, I’ve offered them a good discount and, if you are both in agreement, I think they will accept out terms.”
“We won’t make much on the deal,” Matt commented, looking at the sheet of paper in his hand.
“Nonsense! We’ll break even, anyway!” Phil was swift to argue.
“But bookings are flowing in from May onwards! We don’t need to run an ‘at cost’ deal’!” Eva protested.
; “Better to have what’s offered than to just hope for something more,” Phil insisted. “It’ll be a good PR deal.” He eyed Eva intently. “Trust me!”
The intensive look that accompanied Phil’s last two words made Eva feel uncomfortable. She didn’t trust him, that was the crux of the matter … and she knew Phil was beginning to realise her distrust. She carefully kept her expression neutral. She wasn’t looking for trouble.
If Matt saw the look that passed between them, he gave no indication. “Well, let’s see what they have to offer, at any rate,” he suggested. “As you say, a full house is better than a half-empty one. Which brings me to the other idea … the standard rooms that haven’t yet been redecorated. I’ve been in touch with a teacher I know up in Merseyside. His school is very interested in our idea of offering the rooms as a package ‘Adventure Holiday’ for their sixth form students over the Spring Bank Holiday and would like to have details of some of the ideas we discussed. They are willing to be our ‘guinea pigs’ if we can agree a price within their budget.”
“Hmm. As long as it doesn’t clash with any of our ‘Theme weeks’,” Phil agreed with some reluctance. “Our usual quality of guests won’t want a bunch of tearaways dashing around.”
“I don’t think that will happen,” Matt assured him. “It’s a school on the outskirts of Liverpool and they have a good track record. The teacher who was in charge of organising the adventure week got the chance of promotion and left suddenly, with plans only half-made. By the time his replacement took over, they had lost their provisional booking. Steve leapt at the chance … as long as they can afford it.”
“What exactly will they want from us?” Eva asked. “Full board?”
“Yes, dinner, bed and breakfast and packed lunches … plus our ‘expert’ knowledge of the local area and facilities available.” Matt smiled in his usual heart-stopping way. “Our visit to the local Tourist Information Office is about to have its pay-off!”
Eva didn’t want to think about that but she managed to return his smile. “Shall we pool our resources and draw up a suitable list?”
“Right! I’ll leave it with you both,” Phil agreed. “Cost the meals with Tony and see what sort of menus he is prepared to do and let me see the final programme before you send it off.”
That agreed, Eva and Matt spent a pleasant hour or so studying the brochures they had obtained; telephoning each venue to discuss group rates and preferred dates and times; and compiling an attractive mixed programme of places of interest to visit and physical activities, including Cilgerran Castle; the Shire Horse Farm; and the first section of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.
“How about suggesting they do the Town Trail in small groups with questions to answer and a prize for the winners?” Eva proposed as their discussion was coming to a close.
“Good idea! And we could organise a Table Tennis Tournament and a Pool Tournament throughout the week with the finals on Friday evening,” Matt added, jotting it down on the paper.
Satisfied that their initial plans would attract the Merseyside school, Eva handed them over to the Bethan to type everything up and compile a first draft of an Activity Brochure.
“What about the Town Trail and Quiz?” she asked Matt. “One of us needs to follow the trail and devise some questions. Do you want to do it? Or shall I?”
“How about us doing it together?” Matt suggested easily. “When are we next off duty at the same time?”
Eva consulted the roster, her heart thumping rapidly. Would she cope with such close contact for a few hours? Part of her mind said, ‘yes’. The other part said, ‘no’. “Tomorrow afternoon,” she heard herself say.
As it turned out, they had a pleasant time together. Nothing was spoken about their past but, although Eva was relieved it had been so, she knew it would have to happen at some point. She now wanted to talk about it … but Matt seemed determined not to give her the chance—and she hadn’t wanted to spoil their afternoon together by forcing the issue.
They were now getting on so well that the possibility of getting back together began to take root in her heart. She had made a big mistake going back to her parents when Matt had left her, she now realised far too late. She had been hurt by Matt’s failure to contact her, either by phone or by letter and had been too upset to make the first move. Were they being given a second chance? Dare she risk upsetting their newly formed friendship by reopening the old wounds?
But, she left it too late. Their afternoon tea in a café in town was in too public a place and a glance at his watch made Matt hastily wind-up their afternoon excursion, knowing Eva was on evening duty again. They drove back to the hotel almost in silence, albeit a companionable one.
“We must do this again,” Eva tentatively suggested as they entered the foyer.
Matt’s assenting smile was swept aside by Leanne’s petulant greeting of him.
“There you are, Matt!” she pouted. “I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve promised my friends, Ann and Trevor, that we’ll meet them for drinks and go on for a meal somewhere.” She slid her hand through Matt’s arm and smiled possessively at him. “Trevor is booking us in. I said you would ring to confirm. Is that all right?”
So that was why he was anxious to be back, Eva thought. Not wanting to cause any embarrassment, she took her leave with a casual wave of her hand.
“Thanks for a lovely afternoon, Matt. If you’ll excuse me, I must run upstairs and change. Have a nice evening!”
She wished she felt as happy as her voice had made out—but she didn’t. On top of her own desires to be back with Matt, she didn’t consider Leanne to be Matt’s type of girlfriend and found it difficult seeing them together. Sour grapes, no doubt! And, after three years apart, who was she to say just what his ‘type’ was?
The next few weeks sped by. Any spare time was taken by preparing the standard grade rooms for the Activity Week. It promised to be a busy week. Twenty-four youngsters and three teachers were coming, all eager and enthusiastic … and abounding in energy!
The youngsters were high-spirited but not unruly. Matt and Eva sat in on the first evening’s plenary meeting straight after their evening meal. Their teachers, Steve, Neil and Vicki showed promise of being in good control of the group and plans for Sunday were finalised. There was to be a choice of attendance at church or following the Town Trail in the morning and a visit to ‘Cardigan Island Coastal Farm Park’ in the afternoon, with a packed lunch in between.
The hotel seemed unnaturally quiet after the three mini-buses had departed with their exuberant load.
“I wouldn’t mind joining in some of the activities,” Matt commented, as he handed over his duty-spell to Eva. “It would be good to see at first hand if we made the right selection of activities.”
“Yes. Let’s hope it’s a success and we can make it a permanent addition to our brochure,” Eva agreed. She had enjoyed being involved with the planning and it would a shame to let it all go to waste once the week was over.
Matt got his wish granted sooner than he had anticipated. On return to the hotel after the Tuesday afternoon visit to Cilgerran Castle, stomach pains, followed almost immediately by sickness and diarrhoea, gripped both Vicki and Steve and six of the youngsters. The local doctor was called. He prescribed some medication and ordered a 24-hour bed-rest.
“I said those cockles tasted peculiar!” Steve groaned, referring to a roadside stop they had made at a mobile café. “Thank goodness no-one else fancied any.” His face was a nasty shade of yellow.
“We can continue with the Table Tennis and Pool heats tonight,” Neil decided. “A few of the youngsters will act as referees. But what are we going to do about our walk along the first section of the Coastal Path tomorrow? Shall we cancel it, d’you think?”
“No need for that,” Matt countered. “I’m off-duty tomorrow and I’m sure we can change the roster to allow Eva to be off as well.” He looked at Eva for her approval. “What do you say, Eva?”
“Well, yes
,” she hesitantly agreed, “but wouldn’t you prefer Leanne to accompany you?” She could have bitten her tongue out … but the words were spoken.
Matt’s look of annoyance quickly faded. “I don’t think walking along the Coastal Path is Leanne’s idea of a good day out,” he said casually. “And I know your capabilities, Eva. I would feel happier having you as my co-partner.”
Ashamed of her earlier comment, Eva could only nod her head. “Yes, I’m sorry. I’ll enjoy it!”
She checked that her walking kit was in good order before going to bed. Her boots were clean, only briefly used since her arrival in Wales, despite her good intentions. She laid out her socks, trousers, shirt and fleece and hauled her day-pack out of her wardrobe and made sure she had the right accessories ... Pembrokeshire Coastal Path Guide leaflet; water-bottle; chocolate snacks; and water-proofed jacket. Before turning out the light, she studied the leaflet. There would be some steep ups and downs but nothing too difficult. The group were well-disciplined and she had no fears of any silly behaviour. Yes, it should be a good day out, whatever the weather.
Even so, she couldn’t help groaning when she awoke to hear rain lashing against her bedroom window. Drawing back the curtains gave no better prognosis. Grey clouds in abundance and rain in plenty. Ah, well!
“It won’t last!” Matt predicted when they met in the dining room set aside for the group. “So, have a good breakfast, everyone and don’t forget to pick up your packed lunch from the table in the corner on your way out!”
Eva and Matt had decided to have breakfast with the group in order to get to know the youngsters better. They had met with them as a group a number of times in briefing sessions and had popped in to watch some of the Tournament heats so most of them were now familiar faces. Putting names to the faces was another matter.
“There are three leaders and eighteen happy hikers,” Neil announced once breakfast was over, “so I’m dividing you into three groups, each with a leader. If there are any problems, they’ll be the ones to contact first. Okay? Stay on the path away from the edge at all times. The path is safe, but rock falls and erosion are always a possibility! And any orders are to be obeyed immediately! Got that?”