Page 134 of Tasty Cherry
The call comes four days later, on a Sunday. Mila and I are sitting on the back deck in the afternoon sun when Havannah’s name pops up on my cell phone.
I put it on speaker. “New mom! How are mother and baby?”
“We’re all right. She’s still in the sleepy stage.”
“I have Mila here with me.”
“Good. That saves me a call. Hello, Mila.”
“What did you name her?” Mila asks.
“Serenity.”
Mila and I glance at each other. Havannah’s child names are always unusual.
“Rebel and Serenity,” I say. “You’re going for yin and yang.”
“I’m hoping for yin and yang,” Havannah says. “Rebel is a tyrant.”
I’m fully aware, having seen the kid race around the hotel all the years I’ve worked there.
“I hear you two have been at my deli.”
“I went for the party,” I say. “But Mila was sent there to work.”
“Well, this conversation is coming after several others,” Havannah says. “I spoke with Jessie and Raya this morning, then just Jessie. I hate to say it, but as of two hours ago, Raya is no longer with the Castle Hotel.”
Mila and I exchange another glance.
“What prompted this decision?” I ask.
“Abuse of authority. Big time. Jessie hasn’t wanted to bother me, and was trying to stem the damage. Raya fired Maverick, Chef Monique, Hank, and a third of laundry. Jessie has been in contact with all of them to let them know Raya’s decision wasn’t final and they would be paid for the days of leave.”
Holy shit.
“What was she trying to do?”
“According to her, we had a cancer in the hotel — her words, not mine. She was going to cut it out and I would return to a healthier, more streamlined business.”
“Why Hank? He didn’t do anything.”
“She was sure he had security footage of everyone’s evil doings and was deleting it.”
I reach for Mila’s hand. “I have zero access to the hotel. And if she cut out Hank, she had all the authorization.”
“Now I have it. I’ll have Hank back tomorrow. And you? I presume? You’re not too angry that this coup was attempted and you were caught up in it?”
“No, of course not.”
“And Mila, I hear you were a delight at my deli, but I assume you want to return to the hotel.”
“It was a fun break,” she says. “But yes, I’d love to go back.”
“I figured.” Havannah sighs. “I’ll do everything I can from here. For the moment, I have given Jessie my authorization power so she can restore you and Hank and whoever else Raya tampered with. I have a tech guy going through the logs.”
“Is Jessie going to start the search for a new assistant manager?”
“Maybe. We might hire from within. I was looking at Sasha. You and I can talk about that in a couple of weeks. She will be acting assistant manager in the interim. Think about who might move into an acting front desk lead position. We have several possibilities, right?”