Total pages in book: 11
Estimated words: 10287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 51(@200wpm)___ 41(@250wpm)___ 34(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 10287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 51(@200wpm)___ 41(@250wpm)___ 34(@300wpm)
Milo laughed. “That’s as close to a ringing endorsement as I’ve ever heard her give.”
Sarah smiled and left to clock in. She really did need a plan for after the baby came.
****
On her lunch hour the obvious finally occurred to her and she clocked out, making a beeline for her SUV. She hoped she could make it downtown and back in an hour. She weaved through midday traffic, parallel parked, and lurched out of the vehicle. She found her best friend in her office, half-buried under a sea of paperwork. Sarah flopped into a chair.
“More shopping?” Abby asked, grinning. “Baby shopping this time? Pretty please?”
Sarah shook her head and Abby scowled. “Woman. You are ruining my fun,” said Abby.
“Sorry. We will go shopping. I swear. But I came to ask you for a favor.”
Abby raised an eyebrow. “You want to send another dirty video to Chris? You need help with ideas?”
Sarah flushed scarlet as she remembered making that video. And Chris’ reaction to it. She hadn’t tried anything like it again. She didn’t know if it was scientifically possible to be fucked into a coma, but she didn’t want to risk it. He had bought her a snazzy little toy after that, though. However the rule was he was the only one allowed to use it on her.
Though one time she turned it on while he was in the shower. Just to see what he’d do. It was-
“Sarah?”
Sarah blinked at Abby and shook her head, both to clear her naughty thoughts and to indicate no. “No video,” she said. “I need a job.”
Abby sat back in her chair. As the hotel’s owner, Sarah was pretty sure Abby relegated the task of hiring employees to someone else. But she’d make an exception.
“I need regular hours,” Sarah explained. “And less dealing with bikers and rough necks. I was thinking maybe front desk? Or if you don’t have anything there, housekeeping is fine. I’ve worked in salons before, too, but only as a hair washer and to be honest I need more money than that. I figure I’ll take three months with the baby, find a nanny, and then start my new job.”
Abby pushed the sea of paperwork away from herself a little bit. Her face was inscrutable.
“Sorry, Slick. No.”
Sarah blinked at her, unable to process it. “What?”
“No,” Abby repeated. “I won’t hire you to work in the hotel.”
Sarah gaped at her friend. “Look, it won’t be a problem,” she insisted. “I know we’re friends, but I won’t slack because of it. I’ll work just as hard for you as I do for Maria. I wouldn’t take advantage.”
Abby pushed her chair back and stood up. “I know,” she assured Sarah.
Sarah looked up at her. “Then what’s the problem?”
“Let’s go for a stroll,” Abby replied.
Sarah reluctantly got up. “You’re not going to take me for a ride and only one of us comes back, are you?”
Abby laughed. “Close. But no. The Raines side of the family are strictly mercenaries. But I am going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”
Abby led Sarah out of the office, past the reception desk and into the hotel’s temporarily closed bar. There were only two men here, pulling up the flooring at the end of the bar where the hole had been knocked into the wall. Abby ushered her through.
Ducking under a sheet of plastic Sarah asked, “Don’t your neighbors mind that you tore a gaping hole in their wall?”
Abby shook head. “The only neighbor is the book store on the corner.”
Sarah entered the large open space that had exposed beams on the ceiling, studs for a wall up near the back, and more plastic sheeting everywhere. She looked down at her feet and then up at Abby.
“What?” Abby asked.
Sarah grinned and shrugged. “Well, I am standing on plastic.”
Abby scoffed. “Relax. You’re not going to die.” She turned and gestured to the large space.
“What is it?” Sarah asked, looking around. The ceiling was high, the floors were just concrete.
“Well, it’s nothing right now,” Abby admitted. “I bought the property a few weeks ago. With a lot of hard work and a good executive chef, it’s going to be the best restaurant in Rapid City.”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? You didn’t say anything!”
“Only Tex knows. Because has to listen to me bitch about rezoning and building permits and shit like that. I wanted it to look a little better before I brought it up,” she told Sarah. “But back there’s the kitchen. We’re putting in a nice hostess area right in front of the door. Large double entryway from the restaurant into the hotel bar.”
As Sarah looked around the placement of the studs made sense to her now. “You want me to work in your kitchen?! Oh, my God! Yes! Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times yes!”
Abby smiled and shook her head. “Oh no, Slick. Aim a little higher, sister. I want you as my Executive Chef.”