Chapter 19

"The boss wants to see you in his office," Iris says on the other end of the phone.

I swallow hard. I have no clue what I did to get called up there, but I don't want to go. Not because I'm worried about the meeting. Even if they fire me, I will find another job.

No, that's not why I'm shaking in my shoes right now. It's the fact that to get to the offices, I have to pass that conference room. The one where my heart broke. Even knowing it was all a lie, it's still traumatizing.

Tristen is working the front desk with me again, which makes me happy. The last two weeks, it seems like they have been cycling people through shifts with me. I much prefer working with Tristen. After the girls' night we had with Chloe when Mason took Ari out on a date, we have become closer. She's less of a coworker and more of a friend now.

"They need me upstairs. I'll be back."

Tristen gives me a sympathetic look. I told her all about why I avoid the offices during girls' night. Ever since, she has made it a point to always be the one to go up there when needed. She truly is a good friend.

"I'll be here. Let me know if you need anything," Tristen tells me.

"Thank you. You're a good friend," I tell her, squeezing her arm.

Then I head to the elevators. Standing there waiting for it, my nerves only get worse. My mind is already playing back the memory of standing here all those years ago. Nervous and excited to tell Mason about our child. Hoping that he would want her as much as I did. I remember thinking about the connection we had. Wondering if we could help it grow and be a real family.

Stepping inside the elevator, I try to push those memories away. They aren't doing me any good. Unfortunately, trauma responses don't tend to wait until it's convenient to hit you. By the time the elevator opens, I'm a shaking mess.

Iris standing on the other side of the doors doesn't make me feel any better. She takes one look at me before she grabs my arm, looping it through my own as she leads me down the hall.

"How about we stop in the break room and grab a bottle of water? I'm parched," she tells me.

I know what she's doing, though. She saw the panic on my face, and instead of commenting on it, she is giving me a moment to collect myself.

As we continue walking down the hall, I see the door to my nightmares is open. I tense the closer we get.

Iris is a true savior, though. She notes my reaction and pivots, taking me down a side hall.

"Such a maze up here. So many ways to get around. I swear sometimes I get lost," she jokes.

I can feel myself relax the further from the room we get.

"I didn't realize there was more than one way around," I admit.

"Of course. That's the staff elevator, but there is a public elevator at the back of the hotel too. It's the one that anyone coming to visit the offices uses. You can use it too. Then you pop out right at the reception to this area."

I give her a grateful smile. "That's a good idea."

"Any who. Here's the break room." She leads me inside the room.

There are a couple of employees sitting around, but no one pays us any mind. Iris goes to the fridge and pulls out two waters. She hands me one.

I take it, opening it to take a swig. My nerves have settled significantly.

"Ready for our meeting? No reason to be nervous. It's not bad," Iris tells me.

"Yeah. I don't want to keep Max waiting."

Iris snorts. "The man can take a little waiting. No one should be jumping at his beck and call."

She loops her arm in mine again, leading me down the hall.

"Aren't you his assistant? Isn't that your actual job?" I ask.

"Yeah, right. Most people view me as his assistant because I'm a female and always at his side. We are more like partners. He wouldn't be able to manage without me."

"That must be nice. Do you like your job?"

She smiles. "Love it. It's like I get to be the boss behind the scenes. He's the face, but I'm the brains. Not to say he's not smart. He does a lot of things that I couldn't or don't want to do, but I've made myself invaluable to him. If I were to ever leave, he would be lost."

"Sounds like a man for you," I joke.

"Right? Here we are." She opens the door to the office, leading me inside.

Max is sitting behind his desk with two chairs in front of it. Iris gestures to one seat as she takes the other. I take it, my nerves settling back in now that I'm here.

"Hey, Olivia. How are you?" Max asks.

"Good, and you?" I reply, wishing he would get to it already.

"Good. Ari doing well?" he asks.

I lick my lips. "She's fine. Mason's grabbing her from day care for me today."

He nods. "He's a good man. If he steps out of line, let me know. I can still kick his ass."

"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be rude, but did you call me in here to talk about Mason? If so, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this."

Max's eyes widen as Iris muffles a laugh beside me.

"Not at all. Sorry. I was making small talk. That, and I really did want to know how my niece is doing. I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable."

I relax a little. "You can always ask about Ari. She loves her uncle Max."

He gives me a warm smile. "And I love her. Okay, back on topic. I called you in here as your boss."

"I figured as much. What's going on?" I tell him, trying to think of anything I've done wrong.

"Do you know much about what was going on when you were hired?" he asks.

"Only that you had some turnover and needed to resort to the temp agency to hire some employees."

"That's right. Before you were hired, we had a few employees who were acting poorly. They were allowing the other employees to do things that weren't good for business. When you started, we had gotten rid of most of the bad seeds, but morale was down. We were pulling from other areas to fill positions temporarily, hoping for the best. Then you walked through those doors."

"Is that a good thing?" I ask.

"Absolutely. Did you know that Tristen was only meant to be front desk until we hired someone to manage the desk full-time?"

"I didn't. Have you hired that person?"

He gives me a warm smile. "This morning I contacted the temp agency and bought out your contract. I'm sorry that it took so long, but the temp agency has processes they have to follow. The position we would be hiring you for is one of the management positions. We have three available. What this means is that you would be responsible for training new employees, keeping things running smoothly, preparing schedules for your assigned areas, and reporting any issues to us and HR. The salary starts at fifty thousand a year, but with your experience here already and your schooling, we are prepared to offer you seventy to start with a quarterly bonus based on set goals. The position also comes with full health benefits and a 401k. You are salary, so no more set hours unless you want them. Your schedule is flexible. You also get three weeks paid vacation a year." He slides a piece of paper across his desk. "It is all laid out here in your offer letter."

My heart is racing in my chest. This is what I wanted, but it seems too fast. Too good to be true.

"You don't have to offer me a better job because of my connection to you. Your relationship with Ari isn't contingent on giving me a job. Nor do I want it because of Mason. I don't want to be handed anything."

"No, Olivia. That's not it," Max starts, but Iris cuts him off.

"Liv, I can call you that, right?" Iris asks.

I nod, so she continues.

"You have known me for a bit now. Remember that conversation we had on the walk here?"

"Yes," I answer easily.

"Good. Do you honestly think that I would allow Max to make any decisions based on his emotions and not good business sense?"

"Allow?" Max mumbles, but she hushes him.

I think about it for a moment. Iris has no obligation to me. She's not related the way Max is. She would fight against him if he were doing something wrong.

"No."

"That's right. So let me lay it out for you. You have a bachelor's degree in hospitality, and based on your transcripts, you graduated top of your class. You did that while being a single mother and working to support your family. That shows me that you are resilient. Resourceful even. That's only the first point in your favor. Then you walk in here and grab the reins of the front desk and lead it like the boss bitch you are."

I gasp at her cursing, but Max laughs, shaking his head.

"You created a new system for the check-in process that has reduced our guest wait time by five point six minutes. Not only that, but we have had fewer complaints about the front desk. Now when people talk about the face of our hotel, they talk about how kind they are. Tristen was only supposed to cover the front desk until you came on. She was meant to go back to being a hostess because she didn't have the skills needed to work the front desk. She was still a bit shy and unsure of herself. Walking people to their tables was about all we could trust her to do. You trained her, and now she has blossomed. I have seen the change in her. She is more outgoing with the guests. She used your training to develop a way of connecting with the guests so that each one feels valuable and unique. That was something we had been missing for far too long. So when we say we want you on as manager, it's because we have seen the skills you have and want to make sure we are utilizing them in the best possible way."

My eyes are a little teary hearing how she views me.

"You really think I'd be a good manager?" I ask her.

"It was my idea to hire you for the position. Not that Max doesn't believe in you too, but I knew he would struggle with the decision knowing how you feel about nepotism. I took it out of his hands. You are an invaluable asset to this hotel, and we don't want to lose you. It would be a huge loss if you ended up at a competitor. That is why we are offering you a higher salary. It's standard practice. You offer the employee what they are worth, not what the market deems them worth."

"Mason has no idea about this?" I aim this question to Max.

He shakes his head once. "None whatsoever. He asked to be left out of any decisions regarding you. He knows he can't be impartial. He cares for you too much. I think he'd give you his CEO position if you asked for it. I figured I would leave it up to you to tell him. Might want to do it sooner rather than later, though. We like to announce when employees are hired or promoted. I mean, assuming you are taking the position," Max says.

There is no doubt in my mind now. This job isn't a charity case thing. It's because my skills are recognized. I would be an idiot to turn it down.

So I do the only thing I can do.

"I accept."

* * *

One of the highlights of my day is spending time with my little girl. If you had asked me six months ago if I would be the dad who left work early to pick up his kid, I would have laughed in your face. Back then, it would have been comical to even think of myself as a dad, but if I did, I would have assumed that was the woman's duty.

Then I met Ari and Olivia, and everything changed. Now I want to spend all the time with Ari that I can. Not only that, but I want to support Olivia. She went into the hotel industry because of our night together, but she's damn good at it. I think she actually likes what she is doing too.

I'd do anything to make sure she keeps doing it. Even if it means having to let her go to a competitor. I would make Max write her the best damn recommendation letter that the world has ever seen. She deserves it.

"How was day care, baby girl?" I ask Ari as I glance at her in the rearview mirror of my car.

"It was good. Randy says that he is going to be a dinosaur when he grows up. I told him that he can't because they aren't real. I made him cry. Ms. Marigold told me to be nice to him, but I don't think I should have to lie to someone to be nice to them."

"I don't think that's what she means, Ari. Did he ask you what you thought about him wanting to be a dinosaur, or did you tell him he couldn't be one without him asking?" I ask.

She thinks about it for a moment. "He didn't ask."

"Okay, so whether he is right or wrong, his wanting to be a dinosaur doesn't hurt anyone. Unless he asks what you think about it, I think we can let him believe he can be a dinosaur. If what he is saying will hurt someone, then you should let someone know so that no one gets hurt. Does that make sense?"

She sighs. "Yes. Although I think when he doesn't become a dinosaur, that would hurt too."

She's not wrong.

"It's okay, honey. Let him figure it out on his own."

My phone starts ringing then. Seeing it's Max, I answer on Bluetooth.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Mother tried to get into the hotel again. This time, she was wearing a disguise. Not a very good one, but still. The discreet security team we have posted inside noticed her and removed her. She's stepping up her game. I think we need to take action before she gets worse."

"What do you propose we do?"

"Schedule a meeting with her. See what she has to say. Tell her to go home."

While the base of the foundation is here, my mother never enjoyed the cold. She set up a satellite office down in Florida. The fact that she has been spending so much time here has been shocking.

"Fine. I'll call her when I get home. You'll come to the meeting too?"

"Of course. I wouldn't make you do this on your own. If we are cutting her off, then we are doing it together."

"Thanks, man. I'll text you the information."

Ari speaks from the back. "I love you, Uncle Max. When are you taking me to see the movie with the mermaid?"

"Next weekend. We can do movies and dinner," Max tells her, affection clear in his voice.

"Ooh, is it a date? I liked the place Daddy took me to on our date."

Max snorts. "Yes, a date. I'll take you somewhere better. I'll talk to you guys later. Love you, Ari."

"Love you too."

"I love you too, Max," I tell him honestly.

We don't say it enough.

"You too, Mase. We will take care of this."

When he hangs up, I smile back at Ari.

She looks so happy. I would do anything for her.

Pulling into the parking lot of Olivia's apartment, I find a close parking spot. I'm antsy now. I don't like this. I wish my mother had just accepted everything. Instead, now I am constantly at war with myself. I don't want to be mean to my mother, but I also have an obligation as a father to protect my child.

It's a shitty situation.

Getting Ari out of her seat, I get us inside safely. Letting her run off to play, I grab my phone. I stare at it for far too long before I suck in a breath and make the call.

She answers right away.

"Finally. What do you think you are doing ignoring your mother? Hunting you down is not part of my job," she huffs.

"No one asked you to hunt me down. Did you not consider that I was not returning your calls because I did not wish to speak to you, Mother?"

"Preposterous. A son always wants to speak with his mother. You were throwing a tantrum. Are you over it now? Can we move on?"

I grit my teeth. I want to read her the riot act, but it will do nothing. She has already proven that. Instead, I take a deep breath.

"I'd like to meet with you. Only you. Six this evening at your hotel room."

"Oh, you mean the one I had to get at another hotel because you refuse to let me inside the one that has my name on the side of it?"

"Yes. That one. See you there?"

"Fine."

She hangs up without another word. My head is starting to hurt, but I need to make another call.

I click the name and wait for them to answer.

"I need a trespass notice along with a restraining order. Figure it out."

"We need a reason for the restraining order, sir," the paralegal tells me.

I look into my daughter's room and see her playing. Anything to protect her.

"Threatening the life of my daughter."

"Who is the name?"

"Gloria Williamson."

There's no going back from this.