by Cate Remy
He leaned his head in her line of sight. “All the party guests are gone, I assure you.”
“You caught me.”
He smiled. This one was quiet and sober. “I want to apologize for making you uncomfortable yesterday. My flight was long, so I had a couple drinks to settle my nerves.”
“I can understand.”
“No, I had one too many.”
She agreed, but it’d be rude to say so. “Tell me your name again.”
“I never told you my name. It’s Donovan.”
Donovan. A little old-fashioned, but not unusual. She squeezed between the cart and the wall. The cart held the door open. “I brought your ironed shirt and polished shoes. Sorry for the delay. Here’s your newspaper, itinerary, and list of big name companies in Atlanta. Hope I’m not forget-oh, no. You wanted breakfast from a brunch-themed restaurant.”
“It’s alright. I can eat a danish when I go downstairs.” He removed the dress shirt from the hanger and put it on over his undershirt. He flipped through the list of companies. “This is very detailed, exactly what I was looking for.”
Footsteps approached the door. Shae looked to see the two security guards she met last night. “Your Highness, the accountant is here for the meeting.”
“Your Highness?” Shae exclaimed.
“Here already?” Donovan glanced at the fitness watch on his arm. “We said eight for the meeting. It’s barely seven.”
Shae turned to him. “You’re royalty?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she heard one of the guards behind her. “He’s Donovan Caldwell, Crown Prince of Severn.”
Donovan inclined his head to her. “A pleasure to see you again this morning, Shae.”
Severn was a small island country between England and France. No wonder Shae thought his accent mirrored both. She kept staring at him, half-expecting him to break out a golden crown and set it atop his head. “Why didn’t you say something before?”
“I have to be discreet while I get settled in.” He set the list on the coffee table and reached into his pockets for a pair of silver cuff links. “I completed my guest registration over the phone privately with your hotel manager. Then Giles and Murphy over there accompanied me on the service elevator.”
Now she understood how Donovan checked in without appearing at the front desk. Mr. Hightower, in a rush to see his newborn granddaughter, also forgot to tell her a royal was staying in the royal suite. “Welcome to the Kleghorn. I should let you get ready for your meeting.”
“Shae, one moment.” He put on his suit jacket. “Is your manager here?”
Did she do something wrong? Was he going to report her? She quieted her sudden rush of anxiety in order to answer his question. “I didn’t see Mr. Hightower when I came into work this morning.”
“Hmm. He didn’t answer his cell phone when I called thirty minutes ago. He’s supposed to be at this meeting.”
Shae wondered where the manager could be. Maybe he lost track of time at the hospital. “His wife went into labor yesterday. I can check to see if he’s still coming.”
Donovan’s security guards moved the cart out of her path. “I’ll bring it down later,” said the one with the grey at his temples. She was unsure if he was Giles or Murphy. He looked like a Murphy. Of course, that could be the name of the one with the glasses.
Coffee cup in hand, she rode the guest elevator to the lobby. She finished the rest of it in three gulps while waiting for the front desk clerk to finish checking in a family of four. She gave them a moment to leave the area before she asked about the manager. “Have you gotten a call from Mr. Hightower? He’s supposed to be at a meeting here.”
“No. Should I call him?”
“I’ll do it.” She picked up the hotel landline and dialed the manager’s cell.
She received an automated message. “The cellular phone customer is out of range. Call cannot be completed at this time.”
Shae hung up, a little frustrated and concerned about her manager’s whereabouts.
“No luck?” asked the clerk.
“No, and I don’t know where he is.” This wasn’t like Mr. Hightower to not show up or at least let the staff know his itinerary.
“Well, don’t look now, but here comes Pete Fenway, the CEO of Fenway Accounting. He got here super early for that meeting the manager supposed to be at.”
Shae gripped her empty coffee cup as an older man in his fifties charged up to the front desk. “Is everyone here for the meeting? I specifically told my client and Hightower I’d be here early.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I can’t get a hold of Mr. Hightower, but as far as I know, the meeting is still moving forward.”
Fenway threw up his hands. “Where’s my client? Where’s the meeting room?”
The desk clerk stepped aside so Shae could check the computer to find the reserved conference room. “You’re in conference room B. I’ll take you there.”
She went around the desk and led the way down the hall. The soles of Fenway’s oxfords slapped against the carpeted floor. Once she reached the conference room and used her key card to unlock the door for him, she grabbed the empty beverage tray left overnight from the previous occupants. Someone forgot to tidy up the conference room. How embarrassing. “Can I have the kitchen staff bring you something to drink? Coffee, water, tea?”
“I don’t care. Just bring everyone in so we can get this meeting started.”
“I’ll take tea. English Breakfast.” Donovan entered the conference room. His guards remained outside the door. He beamed a smile at Shae before coming around the table to shake the accountant’s hand. “Mr. Fenway, how nice to make your acquaintance. I’m Donovan Caldwell.”
Shae thought it a little strange Donovan didn’t introduce himself by his full title, but she shrugged it off. What did she know about royal protocol? She plucked an empty glass from a side table to carry it out the room.
“I thought I was meeting with His Majesty, the king of Severn,” Fenway griped.
“My father regrets he couldn’t make it. He had pressing business at home.”
“Doesn’t he own all the Kleghorn Hotels in this country?”
“He passed ownership of them to me.” Donovan sat down across from him. “Now, shall we begin?”
Donovan owned a billion dollar hotel line? Shae reached the door and saw her surprised reflection in the glass. That meant he was her boss, at the very top of the chain. The glass rattled on the tray. She caught it before it could fall.
“Shae?”
She glanced behind when Donovan called her. “Yes?”
“If the hotel manager isn’t coming, I’d like for you to stay for the meeting.”
He couldn’t be serious. “Me?”
“Yes. I’m impressed with the information you gathered on Atlanta businesses. Is that kind of research normally what you do here at the hotel?”
She steadied the beverage tray in her arms. “Sometimes, when we have guests who want an extensive itinerary.”
“Is your background in travel and hospitality?”
“Not exactly. I work here while studying to complete my MBA at Clark.”
“Well, it looks like your studies will help the hotel, too. Join us, please. Give the tray to Giles.”
Shae had no clue what was going on. Neither did Mr. Fenway, but he appeared irritated about it. She carried the tray over to Donovan’s guards. “Giles?”
The one with the glasses turned. She guessed right before after all. “The prince wants me to stay for his meeting,” she informed him.
Giles took the tray without being asked. “I’ll make sure the kitchen staff brings some proper tea.”
Murphy closed the door after him and stood outside. Shae walked to the conference table and sat in the middle chair. Both men sat at the ends of the table. Was Donovan sure about this? She sure wasn’t.
Fenway opened his laptop bag and withdrew a binder. “I’m going to be upfront with you, Your Highness. The two Kleghorn Hotels
in Georgia are losing revenue. You can see the numbers are down this fiscal year.” He slid the binder towards the middle of the table.
Shae passed it along to Donovan. He opened it and read through the report. While he did, Giles returned with the tea. Donovan offered some to Shae first. She declined.
“None for me, either,” said Fenway.
The prince helped himself to a cup. He took a sip and made a funny face. “I can see why the hotel’s having trouble. Forty percent of the guests are international, and this is what’s being served to them as tea?”
Shae wanted to laugh at his comment, though she knew it’d be bad to do so. She reached for her phone in her pocket. “What brand of English Breakfast tea do you like? Maybe the hotel can stock it and tell guests it’s your favorite.”
“Not a bad idea,” said Fenway. “More tea sales from the guests won’t increase these numbers by much, though.”
Donovan put his cup down. “What about more modern amenities? Some fixtures could use an update.”
“Your father preferred an Old World theme for the hotel.”
“It may have to change if we want to draw younger professionals. I stayed in the royal suite last night and couldn’t find a free outlet in the bedroom to charge my phone.”
Shae made a note of that, too.
“Shae, have any guests complained about the appearance or functionality of the hotel?”
She looked up from her phone. “Sometimes, but I’ve heard more complaints about WiFi being limited to the hotel’s business center. We’re working on getting it available for every room.”
“We’ll make that one of the first priorities.” Donovan scanned a few more pages of Fenway’s accounting report.
“Who’s going to pay for all of these updates?” Fenway demanded. “You’re already losing profits.”
Donovan closed the binder. “What about our business partners and investors?”
“Some shareholders backed out when they saw the numbers. You still have a few on the fence.”
“I’ll meet with them in the next few days.”
“Do what you have to do to keep them, but bottom line, you need fresh partnerships.”
“I’ll have to convince companies it benefits them to partner with Kleghorn Hotels.” He held up Shae’s list of companies. “Starting with the ones on this list.”
“I’m an accountant, not a marketing guy.” Fenway zipped up his laptop bag. “I put your budget in the report. If you want to use it to woo your investors and renovate the hotel, it’s up to you, but honestly, Your Highness, you don’t have room to overspend.”
Despite Fenway’s tough assessment, Shae watched Donovan produce a cordial smile. “Understood. Thank you for your time, Mr. Fenway.” He stood and shook the other man’s hand. “Let’s go over numbers again in, say, three months.”
“That’s a very short turnaround time. Do you think you can work that fast with your other obligations as Crown Prince?”
“I’m already working on the details of my business and marketing team.”
Fenway raised an eyebrow at him and Shae, but said nothing. “Alright…. Enjoy your time in Atlanta, Your Highness.” The accountant breezed past them both to get to his next destination.
Donovan glanced at Shae. “Are you ready to get started?”
Chapter Three
Shae was stunned by the invitation to be part of Donovan’s hotel project. “I don’t think I should be on your business and marketing team, Donovan. I mean, Your Highness.”
“Please continue to call me by my first name. I’m only formal with my father’s associates.” He pushed his chair into the table. “And give me one good reason why you shouldn’t be on my team. You know this hotel. You have research skills.”
“I’m just an employee here. Mr. Hightower would be a better help to you.” If we can get a hold of him, she added silently.
“I’m sure your manager is competent in the day-to-day running of the hotel, but you heard what I said to my accountant. We need fresh perspectives like yours, younger professionals who want to invest and modernize the hotel line.”
She was flattered he considered her to be in that group of young professionals, but she didn’t have a career yet or economic power. “I’m just a grad student.”
“I see your potential. At least think about it. In the meantime, I want you to be my personal concierge, if it suits you, of course.”
Rent was about to go up over the summer. She needed to hang onto her job until she could find another one after graduating in the fall. Shae didn’t have a good reason to say no to him.
She couldn’t say no, anyway. Donovan wasn’t just a guest at the hotel. He owned it. Her paycheck depended on any final decisions he made. “My extension is 535 when you call the front desk.”
“I’m afraid my security detail will require something more reliable than an extension line. They’ll provide you with a secure phone where we can all communicate.”
“I would have to tell the manager about it.”
“Certainly.”
“I guess it’s settled then.”
He held out his hand. Was she supposed to shake it like they had a deal? Shae complied. A tiny jolt of energy tingled through her fingers upon contact and spread up her arm. She broke contact and went towards the door. Donovan reached it in two steps and held it open for her.
On the other side, Murphy met her with a frown. “I need to see your phone.” He held out his hand.
“Why?”
“You took it out during the meeting.”
Donovan stopped him. “Relax. Shae only used it to take notes, not sneak a picture of me.”
Murphy dropped his hand to his side.
“Don’t worry about him,” Donovan said. “The latest tabloid royal gossip has him put out. You’ll hear from me soon, Shae.”
She nodded, mumbled something to him about enjoying the rest of his day. She put one foot in front of the other and somehow found her way inside the employee lounge. Several of the staff, including the head chef and two of the housekeepers, chatted in a circle. Shae had never seen so many employees from various departments gathered in the lounge all at once. “Good morning. Is everyone okay?”
“We heard from the manager. He’s still at the hospital,” answered Giraldo, the chef.
“Is his wife still in labor?”
Giraldo shook his head. “The baby was born, but had to be taken into the NICU because of complications.”
“Oh, no.” Shae remembered how excited and joyful the manager was yesterday when he was packing up to leave for the hospital.
“He said he’ll call back when there’s an update,” said Nina, the housekeeper. “But he won’t be in today.”
Shae hoped things turned out positive for the manager and his family. She poured herself a cup of coffee from the carafe and went to help man the front desk.
“Mr. Hightower is still at the hospital with his family,” she told the clerk.
“I heard. Looks like it’ll just be you handling business today.”
“What about the assistant manager?”
“He quit two weeks ago, remember? Hightower hasn’t had time to hire anyone.”
Shae took a sip of the bitter, stale coffee. “It’s just until he gets back, right?” Not so bad. She could manage the affairs of the hotel and the demands of a crown prince for a couple days.
She hoped.
Shae made it through the end of the workday. She was worn out from guest requests and additional managerial duties, but survived relatively unscathed. Before she left the hotel, Giles came into the lobby to issue her a nondescript secure cell phone.
“The prince can call and text you on this phone. Keep it on. Never give the number away. Never use it for anything else. Do you understand?”
“If I have an exam at school, I’m required to turn my phone off.”
Her reply seemed to throw Giles for a loop. “Keep it on when you’re not having school exams then. Are we cle
ar?”
“Crystal.” She slipped the phone in her backpack before heading to her night classes, where the professor did, in fact, decide to spring a surprise quiz on the class. Shae wrote down what she remembered from the previous chapters she read in her business administration textbook. She was fairly certain she bombed the quiz even before turning it in to the professor.
A couple hours later, with sleep and hunger fighting for control of her body, she climbed the stairs to her apartment on the second floor of the apartment building. Shae glanced at the time on her new secure cell phone. 22:03. After ten. At some point, she’d have to ask Giles how to convert the time to standard twelve-hour format.
Bass-heavy music drifted out of the apartment, causing a vibration in the floor. It sounded like Chelsea was getting ready to head out to the clubs this Friday night. Shae turned the key to go inside her apartment.
Her roommate danced in the living room as she used the large mirror over the couch to check her outfit. Shae set her backpack on the floor. Then she located Chelsea’s phone connected to the stereo system and hit the pause button on her music streaming app.
Chelsea stopped in mid-twirl. Her long brown hair continued its flight from one side of her head to the other. “Hey, party pooper, don’t mess with my music.”
“If we get reported for a noise violation, the party will really be over. You know you can’t play loud music in an apartment.”
“It’s no big deal. Everyone else is gone. It’s Friday night, remember, when normal people go out and let loose?”
“Ha ha, you got jokes.” Shae started picking up around the living room. “So where are you going tonight?”
“Ruby Lounge up the street.” Chelsea touched up her red lips. “People say the new DJ from Brooklyn is down here to drop his new beats.”
“Isn’t there a high cover charge?”
“You didn’t get my text this afternoon. I won two tickets on a radio show to see him. Wanna come?”
Shae folded a throw and put it on the sofa. “I’m so behind on my term paper and sleep.”
