Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Thankfully, I have a day off today. The worst things about hotel work are the hours. Working weekends, working evenings, and having split days off are what I hate the most. I’ve agreed with Avril that when I start as director of rooms, I won’t have split days off. It was a complete non-negotiable for me. But during these few weeks of training, I do have to put up with it.
Although today isn’t really a day off. I’m meeting Avril and Poppy for brunch. They both seem lovely and I’d probably be friends with them if I knew them outside of work, but the fact is, they’re my bosses. But they invited me to lunch today and I can’t exactly say no.
I make my way up to Central Park and Tavern on the Green.
As the hostess takes me to the table, I see Avril and Poppy grinning at me. They both stand and we all give each other hugs.
“I’m sorry this isn’t the New York brunch we promised. Lunch will have to do,” Avril announces. “I’m excited that you could make it.”
“Me too,” I say, as I sit down and take the menu from the waitress.
“Shall we do mimosas?” Poppy asks. “As a tribute to brunch?”
“Definitely,” Avril says. “Unless you don’t drink, Aurora?”
“Not usually at lunchtime, but I’m happy to make an exception, given this is a tribute to a New York brunch.”
“I knew you were a good hire,” Avril says.
Poppy puts her hands up, palms facing the table. “Stop right there. We need to lay some ground rules.”
“We do?” Avril asks.
“We absolutely do. First rule is, no talk about work. This is our day off, I don’t want to talk about work for at least a couple of hours at a New York brunch tribute.”
“Agreed,” Avril says.
I nod, but I’m a little unsure why I’m here if we’re not going to talk about work.
“And second,” Poppy continues, “nothing we say here can be repeated at work.”
Avril makes a circle with her index finger. “Circle of trust right here.”
Poppy nods. “Yeah. We’re in the friend zone. We’re not signing your paychecks and you’re not having to make a good impression. Agreed?”
I smile but narrow my eyes. “Okay, but you do sign my paychecks. I hope.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to be a boss over a mimosa. So anything that happens at a brunch tribute, stays at a brunch tribute. Let’s just be friends these next few hours.”
Warmth gathers in my chest. “That sounds good to me. You can be my first friends in New York.” I’ve still not managed to catch up with Ryder and Scarlett. They’re still in Colorado.
“I’ll drink to that,” Avril says, glancing around for a waiter. “If only I had a drink.”
We place our orders, then Avril leans forward and lowers her voice conspiratorially. “I know it hasn’t been long, but have you met anyone since you’ve been here? Been on any dates?”
Suddenly, my neck heats where Deacon’s fingers pressed against my throat as he kissed me. I’m not about to tell them about that. We might be in a friend zone, but some things are best kept to myself.
“I did join an app and I went on a date.”
Avril’s eyes light up. “How was it?”
“He didn’t show.”
“Asshole,” Poppy says.
“Did he give an excuse? What did he say? Do you have his address? Can we TP his building or something?”
I hadn’t even thought about my date who didn’t show up. My brain has been way too full of Deacon’s kiss.
“He didn’t say anything. Our last messages were arranging the date and then he didn’t show up, and he didn’t message to explain why.”
“He didn’t even apologize?” Poppy asks.
“You didn’t message him to ask him where the hell he was?”
“There was no way I was going to message him.” Definitely not when I had a much better evening because he never showed up.
“I would have told him I was going to hunt him down and kill him,” Avril says.
“And that’s why there are five different guys with five different restraining orders against you,” Poppy replies.
“Really?” I ask.
Avril laughs. “No, no restraining orders, but I don’t hold back. I probably should, but I’m just sick of these guys being pathetic and getting away with it.”
“I dated a guy last year for three months and it turned out he was married,” Poppy says.
“You didn’t know before you went out with him?”
Poppy shakes her head. “He told me he was divorced. And then I ran into him and his not-so-ex-wife at a restaurant in Tribeca.”
“Thank god you didn’t tell Worth until we’d left,” Avril says. “Our brother would have gotten arrested.”
“How did you know it was his wife and he wasn’t just cheating on you?” I ask.
“Because I went up to the table on my way out and introduced myself.”
Avril starts to laugh. The kind of uncontrollable giggles I haven’t had in years.