Love at your service

Chapter 6

Jess was still asleep Monday morning, when the phone in the living room rang. She hurried out of bed to answer it.

\"Good morning, this is Jess\". She sounded a little out of breath and groggy from just waking up.

\"Good morning, Miss Van Zant, this is Todd Levinson speaking. We met last Friday for a job interview\".

Instantly Jess\' heart started beating faster and she could hear the beating in her ears, almost deafening her. Man, this was the roaring sound of her future coming through a phone wire. Why did he call so soon? Was that good or bad? She almost felt sick to her stomach, thinking of the possibilities...

\"Of course I do Mr. Levinson. How are you?\"

\"I\'m fine thank you, And yourself Jess, can I call you Jess?\"

\"I am just great, thank you! And ofcourse you can call me Jess\".

And I would be even better if you would tell me that I got the job, she thought. She was surprised that he called so soon, because they had said that they would make a decision by the end of this week. Well, it was all or nothing!

\"Good because, Jess, I am pleased to tell you that we would like to offer you the job, if you are still interested?\".

For a moment Jess didn\'t know what to say. Her hopes had come true and now a whole new future was laid out in front of her. This was everything she had dreamed of and in reality it was even better.

\"I, I, that\'s wonderful. Of course I am still interested and I gladly accept!\"

\"That\'s great. My secretary will send you the contract a.s.a.p. together with some background information on Las Vegas, the address to your apartment etc.\"

Then Mr. Levinson named a salary and asked if Jess could agree with that number. It was a higher amount than she had expected, so she had no problem going along with it. It would mean financial independence and would still leave room for putting something aside for that well-known rainy day.

\"Furthermore, it would be nice if you could arrange to be in Vegas, say at the beginning of next week. You will need a uniform fitted and you can familiarize yourself with the hotel and the other members of the management team as well as your Front Desk staff\".

\"That\'s no problem, Mr. Levinson, I will be there next Monday\".

As soon as Jess had started working for Edna, she had told her that it would only be temporary until she had found something else. Edna had just been grateful with the extra help and had agreed with these terms. She also knew about the job interview, so she was already prepared.

\"Good, well Jess, it will be great having you on my team. I\'ll see you next week. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Julie Inglewood at the Head Office in New York\".

\"I will do. And thank you for this opportunity.\"

They said goodbye and hung up. Jess was still dazed after she had put the phone down. All of a sudden her mind seemed to overcharge due to all of the thoughts and information going through her head at lightning speed. There was so much that needed to be done and very little time do it in. God, could she get it all sorted? Wait a minute, ofcourse she could, they didn’t hire her for nothing! She had damn good organizational skills and she had better start organizing straight away!

First she would call Rita to tell her the great news, then Edna to tell her she wouldn\'t be there from next week, she would have to terminate the lease to her apartment, she would have to pack, make travel arrangements......


Jess looked around the lobby of the hotel that was filled with guests in evening dress. It was the night of the great opening and the turn-up was great! Todd had told her that there were a lot of regular \"Carter guests\" present and he had introduced her to some of them. She had hoped to finally meet Mr Carter, but he had not been able to make it to the opening. Apparently his sister had gotten married this same day and he had chosen to be with his family instead of here. Jess thought it was just sweet that he chose his sister over his business. She was more eager than ever to meet her new boss. She was sure she could learn a lot from him. Him being so succesfull at a young age. Well, the meeting would have to wait.

She had started work just 5 days ago and so far she had loved every minute of it. Her Front Desk staff were mainly young people that were eager to learn from her. She had 2 experienced Supervisors assisting her. Today was the big day and it had started off with a small disaster when the computer system had crashed first thing this morning. Jess had been on the phone to the help desk all morning to get it sorted. By lunch time it had been back in business and from that time on the phone hadn’t stopped ringing. They had gotten an impressive amount of reservation calls already and lots of enquiries.

For now Jess had been working with her team on the basic knowledge of the reservation system, the shift checklists, answering the telephone, getting her desk staff to get acquainted with the hotel facilities and learning them the importance of proper guest relations. After that they would start focusing on the smooth running of the shifts and making their targets.

Jess looked at her watch, it was 1 am and the band had just called their last number of the evening. Most of the guests were returning to their rooms and before the end of the song, the lobby and restaurant were empty. Thank goodness, she felt exhausted. The Night Duty manager Juan Morales and his team had replaced the late shift 2 hours ago. It was time for her to get back home as well. She was off tomorrow, but she had already decided that she would be there in the morning to make sure that the first busy check-out ran smoothly. She turned to Juan to say goodbye.

\"Good night Jess, get some sleep and do not let me catch you here tomorrow morning\". He replied, his finger held out in the air as a warning. Juan was in his late fifties and from the start he had taken on a sort of fatherly role towards Jess. It hadn’t taken him long to recognize Jess\' workaholic tendencies. She appreciated his concern and put up her hand as she left the office, just as she bumped into Todd.

\"Hey, Jess, I am glad I caught you. Will you join me for a drink somewhere? It has been such a great evening and there\'s nobody that I would like to finish it with more than you!\' He smiled at her when he said this.

Jess really liked Todd, but she had noticed that his interest in her seemed to go a bit further than just platonic. He had asked her out twice since she had arrived, but she had managed to come up with an excuse both times. She really did like him, but she wasn\'t attracted to him.

“I am sorry, Todd, but I don\'t think that it\'s a very good idea to go out together. Unless it\'s just business of course. I mean, I really do like you and I feel like we could be really good friends and all, but..\". Jess didn’t know how to explain it to Todd without hurting his feelings or alienating him. The Ray Winfield fiasco was still fresh in her memories.

Todd, looking very attractive in his tuxedo, swallowed hard and said:
\"Jess, I think you are beautiful and a wonderful woman and I would really like to know you better. But if you don\'t feel the same about me, that\'s fine and we can just stay friends\".

She sighed with relief, she sure hadn\'t wanted to lose Todd as a friend.
\"Thank you, Todd. I appreciate your honesty and I am grateful for your friendship. I had better go home now, because I am due back in the morning\".
She kissed him on the cheek and they held each other for a moment, before saying goodbye.


\"Rafaella, can you get me those reports a.s.a.p.! I am late for my meeting already and I still have to see the Bergdorfs as well!\" The pretty brunette, who was one of her 2 supervisors, looked at Jess and smiled.

\"They are on your desk and the Bergdorfs are waiting for you in the bistro\".

\"Thanks, I am on my way\", Jess said as she grabbed the reports while rushing out the back office.

Fifteen minutes and an extensive personal thank-you from Mr & Mrs Bergdorf later, she was still rushing to make it to the staff meeting. The first one since the hotel had opened two and a half months ago and she was late! And exactly when she was supposed to meet Mr Carter for the first time!. It had been crazy at the desk all morning because of heavy check-out and then the Bergdorfs had arrived and complained about the room that they had been allocated. It had taken Jess a tour of 6 different rooms, before they found the \"perfect room\" and now they were over the moon. But because of all that she was now twenty minutes late for her meeting with the rest of the management staff and also the owner, Mr. Carter! Well, she would make a great impression, not!

While passing a mirror, she quickly looked at herself in her royal blue pantsuit and rearranged her hair. She had put it up in a ponytail this morning, so it would look good all day. But somewhere along the line, some curls had escaped the band that was supposed to keep it together. Well, it would have to do, she was late enough as it is. She had called Todd to tell him she would be a little late, but still it wouldn\'t look good! Her heart was racing as she knocked on the door to the boardroom.

\"Come in!\" The voice that answered sounded annoyed, great!

Jess quickly opened the door and entered the meeting room. All of her management colleagues were seated around the oval table, Todd facing her at the far end, smiling at her.
A broad shouldered man, younger than she had expected, sat with his back to the entrance. She couldn\'t yet see his face, but his hair was a beautiful black and reminded her of somebody that she had been trying to forget about for weeks.

\"Good afternoon, Jess, come on in!\" At least Todd sounded pleased to see her! Since she had turned him down, they had become close friends.

The man in front of her slowly stood up from his chair, he was tall and slim and for some reason Jess started to feel nauseous. It couldn\'t be!
But when he turned around and raised his hand to shake hers, she saw that she was right. It was Just Ben staring at her with his blue eyes filled with anger! A very different emotion than she had last seen in those unforgettable eyes!

\"Good afternoon, Mìss Van Zant. I believe we haven\'t met. My name is Ben Carter\". His voice was cold and it hurt Jess. It wasn\'t like she had planned this meeting. They weren\'t supposed to meet each other ever again! How was she supposed to know that he was her boss!

\"No,no, we haven\'t. It\'s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Carter\". She managed to sound indifferent.

All of these months she had been dreaming about him, hoping to meet him again. And now this! He obviously didn\'t share her feelings. That was one of the coldest receptions she had ever received, coming in only second after her first meeting with her ex-mother-in-law!!. She walked to the only available chair left and poured herself a glass of water.

\"Fine, now that we are all here, let\'s start\".

Did he have to emphasize that, Jess thought. Smiling to everybody in the room, except when he met Jess\' eyes, he welcomed everybody and then started with the agenda. When it was time for Jess to present her results, she did so without showing any nerves. She was proud of her results, they showed an occupancy level of over 90% and guest satisfaction was rated high. Ben nodded and thanked her and her team for the good work.

\"However I expect to see at least a 95% occupancy within the next quarter\". He turned to Les Rogers, the F&B manager, who was sitting to her right and went through his results.

Jess was stunned at his last remark and noticed that she was the only one given such a target. When the meeting was finished, she looked straight at Ben, her lips pressed together tightly.

\"If you will excuse me, Mr. Carter, I have work to do\".
Without waiting for an answer she strode to the door, opened it and left.

Ever since Todd had told him that Jess Van Zant, the Front Desk Manager, was delayed for the meeting, he had been sure it was her. For once, he had thought that he had met a woman with integrity and it turned out that he had been used once again! It didn\'t matter anymore that she had been in his thoughts ever since they met and that he had longed for her all those lonely nights since then. By the time she had walked into the room, he had been furious and that was the reason that he had been so hard on her! Especially after she had been sitting there so calm and collected as if nothing had ever happened between them.

She was as beautiful as he had remembered her and now she turned out to be very professional and good at her job. Her results had been outstanding, considering they had only been open for 3 months. And yet he had hit her with that impossible target! No wonder she had left the room the moment she could, looking at him as if she couldn\'t stand being in the same room with him! He felt Todd’s eyes gazing at him questioningly and he quickly excused himself to the rest of the staff and followed Jess out the door.

With his big steps, he had caught up with her in no time and he roughly grabbed her by her arm, forcing her to stop.

\"Miss Van Zant, who would have thought that we would meet again and especially under these circumstances? You working for me!\"

The words came out in a hissing sound. Despite his anger, her smell made him weak. She was probably the only woman that could turn him on by just being near him.

All though he scared her with his rough behavior, she couldn\'t help but notice that he was the most attractive man that she had ever met. And how much she had missed him, more than she ever would have admitted to herself. She could almost feel his arms around her again. But one look at his eyes, filled with accusations and contempt, and she was right back on earth. No more Mr. Nice Guy I guess.

\"Well. Mr. Carter as I remember you were the one that failed to mention your full name under the guise of mystery! I was just playing along! If you had come straight out with your true identity, we probably wouldn’t be standing here right now!\"
Jess was out of breath from anger.

\"All the more convenient for you, I guess, since you already knew who I was! I suppose you thought it would be an easy way to get the job, huh!\"

Jess felt as if all the air had been blown out of her and she started to feel nauseous again. How could he think that of her! It reminded her of the incident with Ray and before she knew it, she had raised her hand and had hit him across the face. She held her breath from shock.

Ben felt the sting of where her hand had slapped his face. Well, the conniving little cheat, he thought. Ben came towards her and grabbed her. But instead of shaking her, he surprised both of them and pulled her close, pressing his mouth to hers. He kissed her hard and unforgiving. She wanted to get away, but she couldn\'t. All she could do was wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him back. Raw emotions were whirling through her body and mind, shaking her to the core and at the same time she could hear and feel his laboured breathing, felt his arousal pressed against her. Their embrace seemed to last forever, until Ben cut it short. Suddenly he pushed her away from him and with eyes blazing at her as if she were the lowest form of life on this planet, he turned around and stalked off.

Jess felt the tears running down her face and the bile rise up in her throat. She quickly turned around and headed for the nearest bathroom where she barely made it in time to throw up in the ladies toilet. When she was finished emptying her stomach, Jess rested her head against the cool tiles of the bathroom wall. God, what was happening to her. She was an emotional wreck these days, she got sick at the oddest of hours for no apparent reason and felt dead-tired most of the time. All of a sudden it dawned on her. Oh my god, oh no, please!

Frantically, Jess tried to recall when she had her last period and for the life of her she could not remember!! Think, Jess, think for godssake. No, it can’t be, the last person she had slept with had been Ben and they had used protection, right? There was no way that she was pregnant with his child, no possible way. She was probably just tired with her new job, moving house to a new city and now the stressfull meeting with Ben Carter. Hell, all the stress of the last couple of months would have caused any woman to miss a period, surely? That had to be it.

Jess dragged herself up off the floor and checked herself in the mirror. Jeez, she looked horrendous. Her face looked drawn, ashen almost and there were dark bags under her eyes. Wow, Jess, you finally meet the most interesting and memorable men you have ever met for the second time, and you look like shit! Well, she thought, while smoothing her clothes with her hands, love was overrated and she did not need Ben Carter in her life, hell, she didn\'t need any man in her life!