Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83343 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83343 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“You told me yourself that you’re a powerful man and people aren’t entirely at ease with you.”
“But you are,” I say. We make eye contact. We pause and wait and stare and I wonder if I should say something, but neither of us does. She looks away first.
“I’m different.” She straightens the corner of the paper she just placed on the table.
“You certainly are.”
She’s not looking at me but there’s an extra beat before she speaks again, like I’ve ever so slightly confused her.
“To them, you are their boss, a billionaire, someone who could stop them from ever getting another job again.”
I’ve never asked for validation from anyone in my life, but something in me wants to ask, and what am I to you? But I don’t.
“I know.” I take the piece of paper and sign it.
“Thank you,” she says. “And I’ve found someone you might want to think about for hotel manager.”
I squint at her. “You’ve what?”
“I know you’ve left that to the search firm, but they haven’t come up with anyone you like so far, have they? I just started looking through industry articles and LinkedIn and I came across someone I think you’ll like.”
“Who is it? You?”
She tips her head back and laughs. I can’t help but smile because it’s the most joyous thing that’s happened to me all week. I can’t imagine Kate is an easy person to make laugh, and the fact I’ve managed to imbues me with a certain amount of pride. “No, silly,” she says.
Has anyone ever called me silly before?
“She’s been working in Asia for the last decade, but she trained at the Four Seasons in the US.”
“Talk to the recruitment agency. I’m sure they must have considered her.”
“I don’t think so. She has no managerial experience.”
I widen my eyes. “Kate, come on. I need someone very experienced.”
She shakes her head. “You are one hotel in rural England. You’re not going to attract someone on their way up at one of the big chains.”
“I don’t see—”
She puts her hand up, palm facing me to stop me from talking. I go silent from shock more than anything. I don’t think anyone has ever done that to me in my life. “I’ve tracked her career. She’s excellent. More than capable. And she’s in her early forties. She wants to come back to the UK. She was born here, and her kids are eight and six; she wants them to finish their schooling in the UK.”
I sigh. “You’ve spoken to her? This wasn’t part of the brief. We have plenty of time to find a manager. We need to build the hotel before we staff it.”
She shrugs. “As soon as we have the planning permission, we’ll have an open date. Staff need to be trained. They need to be recruited. We have no one to run and organize all those workstreams. You need someone with loads of energy. Someone hungry for success.”
“I’d prefer someone experienced. Someone with a track record of success.”
“I don’t think that’s who you need.”
I don’t even bother answering because what she’s saying is ridiculous.
“What’s the incentive for someone with a track record of success in the luxury hotel industry to come and work here? You have no established brand that will look good on someone’s LinkedIn profile and there’s little opportunity for promotion. You need someone looking for a long-term role as much as a next step.”
I sit silently, taking in what she says. No one had said this before. Recruiters just nodded their heads when I told them I needed an experienced, successful manager. Maybe Kate is right and I’ve been thinking about this all wrong.
“Who’s your suggestion?”
She slides out her tablet and passes it to me. “Olga’s very experienced—just not at the top job. But she’s managed people and she’s worked very closely with upper-level managers.”
“So, why hasn’t she had a top job? There must be something missing.”
Kate sighed. “She’s a woman. Plus she has kids. She doesn’t fit the mold.”
“You’re telling me she hasn’t had a top job because the hotel world is sexist?”
“Probably. Or maybe she didn’t want it until now. You can ask her when you interview her. Tomorrow at ten. I checked your diary with Michael.”
Kate stands and reaches for her iPad.
“You’re incredible,” I say. “You’ve done everything I thought you would and more.”
Our eyes lock and a frisson of electricity passes between us.
She swallows and then says, “Thank you for trusting me with this job.”
“Thank you for doing it so well.”
She leaves and it takes me twenty minutes to refocus—to think about something, anything, that isn’t her.
Beck and I are having lunch at the pub and we’re sitting at what I now consider my regular table. Kate isn’t on shift, though she’s still here a few nights a week despite the salary increase she negotiated from me.