It is just another day in the office.
The receptionist Ella ignored Carmen as usual, dipping her head low pretending that she did not see the assistant manager walk in, the air still smells obnoxiously clean, Jeremy ran through the office like a headless chicken, trying to rectify whatever problem he had created. Eva grinned happily at her boyfriend's picture in between typing in her report.
Mr. Santorria crossed Carmen as she made her way to her office, and she could swear that she heard him snort "Bootlicker" at her. She decided that she should ignore one of the most senior, and definitely one of the most stressed out member of F&B.
Yeap… This was just another day in the office.
Or not?
She walked passed Dana's desk, but instead of greeting Carmen cheerily like every other day, Dana simply nodded and turned back to stare at her screen. Carmen wanted to say hi, and ask how she was, but the look on Dana's face told her everything she needed to know. And she really should stay out of it until Dana was ready to talk.
Carmen entered her office and sighed. After falling asleep on the couch last night, she woke up on the bed. Obviously, Shane had moved her. She wanted to at least kiss her goodbye this morning, having denied her girlfriend the previous night. But as usual, she slept, dead to the world. And Shane left in the morning before she woke up again, probably hours earlier.
Carmen made a mental note. Kiss girlfriend tonight.
The girlfriend wasn't having a good time either.
Shane, like everyone else in the kitchen, were trying to block out the huge mournful sighs emerging from the corner of the room.
From Alice, who with every stir to the dough mix, sighed, each sigh longer and more sorrowful than the one before. Shane, feeling somewhat responsible, and also as the head of the department, felt that she should go have a talk with Alice.
Again.
For the 4th time this morning.
"Can you please just talk to me?"
Sigh. All she got was a sigh.
"Alice… please… Do you need the day off?"
Alice looked up with tired eyes. And shook her head. With a sigh. "No… I'm fine Shane."
"No you're not. Not when sighing is synonymous with breathing. At least tell me what's troubling you?"
"Trust me… you don't want me to say it in front of everyone." Alice said seriously, and turned back to the dough mix in her hand.
"Oooookay." Shane backed away. As she walk passed Lacey, she leaned in and whispered. "Hey, can you take care of Alice for me? I'm heading to the meeting."
"No worries, boss." Lacey chirped. "Was gonna do that even if you didn't ask."
"Appreciated." Shane smiled, "And stop calling me boss."
"Okay Boss."
Carmen knocked softly on the door and entered the room cautiously.
"You sent for me, Miss Peabody?"
Helena Peabody's office was huge. A conference table for eight at one side of the room, a bar that looked like it have many expensive bottles and a huge table which Helena Peabody is currently occupying. Behind Helena Peabody was a beautiful painting that Carmen found familiar. And she couldn't help but stare at it.
Helena looked behind her to see what was holding Carmen's attention and smiled when she realized what it was.
"Is that Kandinsky's work?" Carmen asked, very interested in the painting.
"Yes, indeed it is…"
"I have never seen this work before… it's…?"
"Composition No. V. Or as I personally called it, Angels with Trumpets." Helena smiled again, seeming quite pleased at Carmen's appreciation for her taste in art.
"It's beautiful." Carmen swoon, her gaze still stuck on the painting.
Helena allowed Carmen a moment more to appreciate the painting before clearing her throat. "Ehem… While I love to discuss art with you, that is not the purpose of this meeting."
Carmen flustered and immediately took a seat in front of Helena Peabody's grand marble table. "Sorry…"
"It's okay dear. Now let's get to the order of business today."
"So the hotel has came up with Asian theme for october, and we need to decide on the menu for business in that entire week." Kit said, reading of a little memo that she was holding. "Tina mentioned that she wants it to be about 4 different countries, at least one country a week, and she has also proposed that we go with as diverse a menu as possible.
They were sitting at the open café adjacent to the lobby, two chefs in white sipping coffee in plain view.
"That sounds good." Shane nodded. She was taking notes as her mind was spinning with ideas. "Instead of a country, let's do a theme. Indian cuisine one week, Chinese cuisine one week, then Japanese and Korean the next, and Southeast Asian after that, I think that would be a lot more attractive."
"It's a good idea… I don't know if we can produce that kind of menu though." Kit pondered. "And we are also working with the other departments for the different themes."
"I see…"
"By the way, do you need any specialist chefs for the deserts?"
Shane thought about it, "I'm not sure, I've gotta research this a bit. Depending on the kind of…"
Shane stopped mid sentence as her eyes travelled to the lobby. A plump lady wobbled breathlessly across the grand space towards the concierge. Shane immediately ducked under the table, her eyes gleaming with fear and recognition.
"What's wrong Shane?"
"Nothing… nothing…" Shane whispered, as if afraid to be seen or heard. "Listen Kit. I'll go research on the deserts for the 4 countries chosen, and give you an answer about whether we need specialized chefs for them or not."
"Okay…" Kit raised an eyebrow, a little mystified by Shane's sudden sneakiness. She watched as Shane crept her way away from the lobby, not understanding who she was avoiding. She looked around at the lobby and couldn't see anyone worth avoiding.
"So Carmen, you are avoiding my question. Have you decided to accept the promotion yet?" Helena Peabody clapped her spread fingers lightly together. "I've gone through the terms of the contract and the salary raise. What else are you not satisfied with?"
"It's not… I…" Carmen was interrupted by her phone ringing.
Helena leaned back into her posh leather armchair and pressed her lips together, clearly annoyed. Carmen gave an embarrassed smile before reaching hastily into her pocket to try to silence the loud phone. The call was from Shane, and Carmen was irritated at Shane's ability to call at the most inappropriate of times.
As she was about to start talking again, her phone started to beep again. And Helena gave an exasperated sigh. "I'll let you think about it. You have three days to decide if you are going to accept the terms. But don't take too long. Because I cannot let this post stay open for too long."
"I understand. I'm sorry Miss Peabody."
"Go take your phone call. It sounds urgent."
Carmen apologized again before exiting the room.
"Damnit Carmen." Shane paced around in the kitchen, sparking the interest of her staff members, including the depressed Alice. She couldn't help but steal glances at the sliding door, fully expecting someone to burst through at any moment.
Finally snapping out of her own head, now that her nosy nature got the better of her, Alice came over and asked, "What's up?"
"Nothing…" Shane said, stealing another glance at the door.
"Okay… what else have you been keeping from me?"
"I…" Shane began to say, but glanced around the room at her crew. They were all pretending to be busy baking, but Shane could tell that they were trying to eavesdrop by the way their bodies were leaning to their sides, at Shane's direction. "I'll tell you later okay Alice…"
Alice glanced around the room as well, understanding Shane's apprehension. "Fine. That's the least you can do."
"Yeah yeah… Good to see you out of your misery."
Alice groaned. "Do you have to remind me? Besides, I'm not one to wallow."
"Really?" Shane raised an eyebrow, "I could have been fooled by the way you were sighing the entire morning."
That comment received a slap on the arm from Alice.
Carmen walked through the corridor towards her office, she was about to dial Shane's number when Jeremy called out to her.
"Hey Miss Morales. There's a lady looking for you, she's waiting at the lobby."
"Thanks Jeremy."
Carmen changed direction and headed towards the elevators. Shane would have to wait now. She decided, while waiting for the elevator, to send Shane a nice little text message.
Baby, I miss you too, but I cannot talk now… Someone's waiting for me at the lobby. Need to go settle that first. Love you.
With a loving grin, Carmen enters the lift and headed down.
The minute Shane read the text message, she groaned. That's not what I want to talk to you about, she thought. She quickly sent a text back, hoping to warn Carmen in time.
Carmen walked from the elevator to the lobby, her phone beeped as a message was received. She continued walking while checking her phone. The minute she read the message, her eyes widen.
But it was too late.
"Carmencita!"
"Mama."
Mercedes Morales stood up from her chair and wobbled towards Carmen and grabbed her in a bear hug.