Ronda lead Daniel and Brie out of the front entrance of Brianna's, happy to notice on her way through reception that Stephanie was checking in a young couple. "When I first came here, I honestly struggled to find the place," she was telling the owners. "The sign you had wasn't visible enough from the road, and even if you did see it, it only had the name Brianna's on it. That's not effective at all. Remember, your sign is also a form of advertising."
As they walked across the parking lot, Brie and Daniel could see that a black velvet cover had been placed over the top of the sign for their hotel, which also appeared to have significantly grown in size. "You got us a new sign," Brie realised, not trying to hide her delight.
"We did," Ronda was happy to confirm. "This, I think you'll agree, is a much better one. Stand in front of it, and I'll unveil it for you," she instructed when they reached the sign.
The two owners did as she had said. Standing beside his wife, Daniel put an arm around her shoulders. He knew that seeing the new sign was likely to make her emotional. He wasn't wrong. Ronda pulled the velvet cover off the sign with a flourish, to reveal a shiny silver sign with dark red writing which read, 'Brianna's Hotel & Restaurant.' There was also a light at the bottom of it to illuminate it when it was dark outside.
"Oh, Daniel, it's wonderful!" Brie exclaimed, the words almost catching in her throat as her eyes filled with tears. She turned in her husband's arms and hugged him. "Thank you, Ronda. I love it," she said, even though she now had her back to her.
"Yes, thank you," Daniel said over his wife's shoulder. "This is definitely a lot better than the old sign."
"You're welcome, guys," Ronda said kindly. "Not only does this sign look a lot better than the previous one in terms of people being able to find where you are, it looks a lot more professional as well. Stephanie was telling me earlier that you've had some business from people who are attending a convention at a place not too far up the road. There's potential for you to get a lot of that kind of business. To do so, it's critical that you convey yourselves as professional in all respects, and that starts with the sign. It's the very first impression people get of your establishment. Then they go into that dingy reception area. I've decided to have something done about that, too. My team are going to come back tonight to redecorate it and brighten it up for you."
"Oh, Ronda," Brie said, wiping her eyes, now facing the hotel inspector again. "I really feel like we're going to make a success of Brianna's, thanks to your help. It was our dream, it turned into a nightmare, now it's becoming a dream again. I'll always be so grateful to you for that."
Ronda walked over and offered a hug of her own, surprised to find herself getting choked up. "Come here, Brie," she said. The women embraced each other, then Ronda promised, "You are going to make this work, I'm sure of that. The foundations are all in place now. I'm going to stay for the dinner service tonight because I think there are a couple of things left to take care of, then I'll be leaving."
"So soon?" Brie asked.
"Like I said, I think we've dealt with the majority of the problems here. It's up to you to maintain the new standards that have been set, not me."
"I guess we should start getting ready for dinner then," Daniel said, under the distinct impression that he was one of the 'couple of things' that she still wanted to deal with. Being under constant scrutiny was really starting to get under his skin.
The kitchen was a hive of activity when Ronda delivered her opening piece to the camera for that night's dinner service. She had made sure to stand off to the side near to the walk in refrigerator to make sure that she didn't get in the way of the three chefs or the wait staff, who were all hard at work. "Dinner service is in progress here at Brianna's," she began, talking loudly so that she could be heard over the chatter and other sounds that came with a busy kitchen. "As you can see, we're busier than ever. The restaurant is full to capacity for the first sitting, and all three chefs are having to be at their best to keep up. The good news so far is that they are keeping up. We got through all of the appetisers without any complaints, which was definitely an encouraging sign."
A loud crash interrupted her as two plates fell to the floor and broke. By the time Ronda walked around the hot plate and looked over to where the sound had come from, whichever member of the wait staff had dropped the plates had managed to pull off a disappearing act. The pieces of plate and what had been two meals now lay on the floor, ruined.
"How did that happen?" Hunter demanded angrily, looking over from behind the line.
"Does it matter?" Ronda shouted back, walking over to see what the meals were that had fallen on the floor. "Looks like a cheeseburger and a lasagna," she advised him.
"That's table eight's order," Hunter said loudly for the benefit of his sous-chefs. "I need it doing again. One cheeseburger, one lasagna, quick as you can!"
"Good," Ronda said to him, admiring his quick and decisive action. Wasting time getting angry about the situation would not change the fact that two meals had been ruined. The problem needed to be solved as fast as possible. But that still left the remains of the two plates and their contents on the floor that someone had chosen to run away from rather than deal with. Daniel chose that moment to come through the door, carrying a tray of dirty glasses and plates on a tray. "Daniel, get someone to clear that mess up, will you?" Ronda instructed.
"Yeah," Daniel replied irritably.
Ronda watched as he deposited his tray by the sink, then walked around to where the cleaning supplies were kept. A moment later, he returned with a sweeping brush and and a dustpan and started to clean up the mess himself.
"Daniel!" Ronda said sternly. "What did I just say to you?"
"You said clean this up," Daniel replied, sweeping away at the mess with his brush. He sounded like he was barely keeping himself under control.
"No!" Ronda yelled, her frustration more than obvious. "I said get someone to clean this up. That doesn't mean do it yourself. You're the restaurant manager for fuck's sake! How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"But I'm almost done," Daniel objected.
"That's not the point," Ronda said, wanting to facepalm so badly. "You're such hard work, you know that? We're talking about delegation here. You are the manager. Delegate to your staff, for God's sake, man."
After being criticised and shouted at so many times, Daniel finally lost his temper with Ronda. He hurled the dustpan to the floor sending bit of plate and food flying all across the floor and yelled, "What the hell do you want from me?"
Unsurprisingly, Ronda fired right back, her face starting to turn red as she screamed, "I want you to run your fucking restaurant! You want me to show you how you delegate? Fine!" She picked up a couple of nearby plates and smashed them on the floor, adding to the mess that was already there. "Watch someone who has a fucking clue!" she roared at Daniel on her way to the door.
Opening the door, Ronda called out, "Melina? Can you come in here?" Several customers had stopped eating, their attention attracted by the raised voices and sounds of crockery being broken. For their part, the chefs had decided to get on with their jobs and stay out of the argument.
The temporary Head Waitress had been standing not too far away from the kitchen. Upon Ronda's summons, she hurriedly walked over. "What's going on in here?" she asked as she entered the kitchen, taking in the state of the floor and the angry looks on both Ronda and Daniel's faces.
"Daniel's still not aware of how to delegate," Ronda said heatedly. "Of all the people in this hotel, he's decided that I'm the one he's going to fucking shout at. So, what I want you to do is show him how a restaurant manager should delegate cleaning up this mess to one of his staff."
Emma walked through the door into the kitchen.
"Emma," Melina said. "Before you do anything else, I need you to clean all of this crap up, okay?"
"Okay," Emma replied. She didn't sound enthusiastic about it, but she had no intention of arguing with the woman who was her boss for the next month.
"Not difficult, is it?" Melina asked pointedly, glaring at Daniel.
"Why is this all about having a go at me?" Daniel asked Ronda, now sounding deflated as his adrenaline rush subsided.
"I'm not having a go at you," Ronda said, speaking calmly now. "I'm trying to get you to run the restaurant. You're not a waiter, you're not a sous-chef, you're the manager. Trying to make you get that into your head is the last problem I have to solve, so I'll tell you what we're going to do. Melina is going to work the rest of the shift as a waitress, and you're going to run the place. Starting right now, you're not going to touch a plate, a broom, anything for the rest of the night. All you're going to do is manage your staff. Understood?"
"Two sirloin steaks in the window!" Hunter called out from behind the line. "Table eighteen!"
Ronda raised her eyebrows at Daniel, daring him to try and pick up the plates himself.
It took the owner a moment to summon the courage, but he was able to say, "Melina, you heard the man. Table eighteen, please."
"Right," Melina acknowledged, happy to go along with Ronda's new idea as long as it worked.
Becky walked into the kitchen a moment later carrying a plate of food that had been rejected by a customer. "Table twelve, smoked salmon is cold," she reported loudly to the chefs.
Ronda had to hold herself back from getting involved. To her immense relief, Daniel actually did something himself. He took the plate from Becky and tested the temperature of the fish with his finger. Turning to face the line, he saw that Bayley was just walking past the hot plate with a stack of clean cutlery. "Bayley," he said firmly, holding the plate out to her. "This salmon went out cold to table twelve. You can't be doing things like that to us, not tonight, okay? Get me another one as quick as you can."
"Okay, sorry," Bayley said, looking a little sheepish.
"What's wrong now?" Hunter asked from the other end of the kitchen where he was working on plating up more steaks.
"We need another salmon for table twelve," Bayley said. "I'll get on it now."
"Come on guys, let's go" Daniel said loudly, geeing them on.
Turning to the camera, Ronda gave a little wink and said, "Fucking finally. I think we might have a manager on our hands."
Later that night, after the restaurant had closed for the night, Ronda stood at the reception desk with her case beside her. She had just checked out of the hotel and was ready to leave. Several of the staff members were there to see her off.
"Thank you, Ronda," Stephanie said when she had completed the check-out process.
"No, thank you, Stephanie," Ronda smiled. "We got off to a rocky start, but I want to say I'm very impressed with what I've seen from you since we moved you out here to reception. Keep it up, yes?"
Stephanie nodded. "Will do."
Ronda turned to face the small group of people who had been waiting behind her. Brie was the first to step forward, offering and getting another hug. "Thank you again, Ronda. You'll never know how much your help means to me. Please come back and see us again?"
"I'll do that," Ronda said. She moved on to Daniel, who offered a handshake.
"Ronda, I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier. I was out of line. I do appreciate you coming and helping us out. I want you to know that."
"You got it," Ronda said graciously, accepting the handshake. "You did a great job tonight, after our little altercation. Melina will continue to work with you until she leaves, but when she does? Remember that you set the tone, okay? You are the manager."
Daniel nodded seriously. "Okay."
Hunter was the last person in line to say goodbye. "Ronda, thanks for helping me to find my love of cooking again. These last few days have given me a real new lease of life, you know?"
"Glad to hear it," Ronda said pleasantly. "You're a very good chef when you try, Hunter. Make sure you keep trying. And most importantly, make sure you nurture Bayley. She's shy and timid, but she's a good chef. You can make her a great chef if you invest your time to teach her. Give her the confidence she needs in her own ability."
"And Sasha too," Hunter agreed. "I'm happy to work with them both. I actually found out that I enjoy it."
"Good man," Ronda said, before addressing the group as a whole. "Goodbye everyone, and good luck."
The camerawoman remained where she was, filming Ronda walking out of the door, pulling her case along behind her, with a chorus of goodbyes following her. "Right," she said to herself with determination once she was out of sight, her voice still being picked up by her microphone. "Where the fuck are we going next?"
As the credits rolled, a short voice-over from Ronda played to update the viewers on what had happened at Brianna's since the filming had taken place. It was accompanied by some photographs of the hotel thriving with happy customers and staff members alike. There was also a shot of the newly decorated reception area, which was now much more light, airy and welcoming to guests. In the background, Stephanie stood behind the desk with a smile on her face.
"Following my visit, Brie and Daniel continued to work hard to maintain the standards that were set while I was there. They now market the hotel towards the business market and have managed to secure themselves a recommendation on the website of the nearby convention centre. Recent customer satisfaction reviews are almost all positive. Hunter, Bayley and Sasha are still working in the kitchen, and the two sous-chefs are progressing well in learning their craft. Under Daniel's management, the restaurant now offers a lunch time discount for the elderly, and by all accounts it's proving to be very popular. For their last quarter, Brianna's recorded a profit in their accounts for the first time."
END