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The Big Announcement
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Stay the Night It's A Date
AstonWe turned our attention back to the TV just as Danny started talking again. “This is an exciting time for the McAllen Group. We urge all our employees to join us in celebrating these new developments and we hope to be seeing you all in a McAllen Hotel someday soon.”When he started taking questions from the reporters at the press conference, Tiffany stuck out her lower lip. “I take back what I said. I wouldn’t sleep with him for all the money he has.”“Really? If Danny McAllen were to walk through our doors right now, you wouldn’t be interested if he offered you say, a million dollars?” My teasing question was out before I could stop it.Horrified to have spoken that way in front of a guest, I turned my head to apologize, but when I saw Blake chuckling into his drink, I decided it was okay to have slipped just this once.Tiffany feigned a shocked expression, letting her mouth hang open and bringing four of her fingers up to cover it.“Me? Sleep with someone for money? Never. I’m
Stay the Night Timing is Everything
BLAKEGoing to dinner with the managers of our hotels was something I did quite often. It was one of the tools I used to gauge how they really felt about the company. But this was the first time I’d found myself trying on my third shirt before heading out.Getting dressed for dinner with Aston felt different than it usually did when I was grabbing dinner with a manager. That felt like work, this felt like a date.One of the girls I’d dated once told me blue shirts made my eyes ‘pop.’ Looking in the full-length mirror in my walk-in closet, I decided I agreed with her. The color of my shirt did bring out my eyes.And you sound like a fucking girl.Fuck it, I decided. I was wearing the shirt. The other two looked just fine too, actually. I didn’t even know why I cared. I shouldn’t have cared.This was a business dinner. Aston was coming to the restaurant after her shift. She might not know it was business for me too, but that hardly mattered. I wasn’t lying to her, and I wasn’t interview
Stay the Night Business or Pleasure?
Blake“I’ve only been in my current position for a few months. I’m doing really well at it, I think. I’m happy and challenged. I don’t know if I’m ready for another change yet,” she admitted. “Enough about me. Tell me about you. Do you enjoy quality assurance and finance?”“Does anyone enjoy finance?” I grinned.She bounced her head from side to side. “Probably not. I enjoy having finances, if that helps.”“That’s the only part anyone enjoys, I think.” I told her honestly. I was good at numbers, I always had been. It didn’t mean I particularly enjoyed them. “The quality assurance part of my job isn’t so bad. I enjoy that.”“Really?” She leaned forward, nodding when a waiter appeared and offered her water. We ordered our drinks and the man left to get them. Scotch for me and white wine for her.When he was gone, she turned her focus back to me. “What exactly does quality assurance entail? I’m sorry if that’s a stupid question, but I just don’t really know. I’ve never met anyone in that
Stay the Night Important Questions
ASTONBlake followed me out the back entrance of the hotel with no questions asked. I appreciated his trust, but I was confused by it. Despite having asked him why he really asked me to dinner, his answer didn’t make sense to me.He just wanted to get to know me? Why?I was hoping that showing him my happy place would make him open up a bit more. Though we talked all through dinner, I got the feeling he hadn’t really wanted to talk about himself. I didn’t get any bad vibes from him and I didn’t think he was lying to me, but I suspected there was more to it than just wanting to get to know a hotel manager in a city he was skipping out of in a couple of days.Traffic was light on this side of town after sunset, but we could hear horns blaring and cars racing by on the main street in front of the hotel. Soundlessly, we made our way up the path that led through the hotel’s gardens and to the trail leading up the hill beside it.The path and trail were lit by domes of light on knee high st
Stay the Night You're My First
Aston“Why not?” He seemed determined to get into my head, to really get to know me. In that moment, under the stars and with the vast ocean spread out in front of us, I wanted him to really know me. So he was a guest, but I could tell him how I felt without unloading. I just had to be honest without sounding whiny.Easy enough, since I didn’t really have anything to whine about. My career was on track and I didn’t think we were really going to get fired just because some people were getting promoted and the company was expanding.“I don’t want to bad mouth the McAllen Group, because I don’t think anything bad about it. The truth is that I love working here. For such a big corporation, it still feels a bit like a family owned business. I guess that’s because it is. Did you know our CEO is still the original McAllen?”Blake kept his eyes on the ocean. “Yeah.”A little thrill of passion made its way up my spine. If Blake knew a bit about the company, maybe he would understand why I felt
Stay the Night Cuts
BLAKE“Yes Dad. I sent those numbers over earlier this morning.” It was only eight and a Saturday, but my father never rested.Looking into his tired eyes through the laptop screen, I decided to point out to him that he probably should rest a little. “This isn’t urgent, why don’t you go back home, get in bed and get some sleep?”He scoffed, shaking his head. “Are you saying I need my beauty sleep? Heads up, son. I’m not tired, I’m getting old.”Chuckling, he rifled through some papers on his desk. “You’re not old, Dad, but we all need sleep sometimes.”“You’re not sleeping,” he said, without looking up from the paperwork. “While I’ve got you, I wanted to talk to you about Danny’s social media campaign.”I bristled, remembering the staff’s reaction to the announcement. “What about it?”“I know you’re not invested in the idea, but I need you to get on board.” He gazed at the screen imploringly. “This is a big move for us, Blake. Your brother thinks it will take the business to the next
Stay the Night Waiting For You
BlakeResigned to the reality that this was happening despite anything I said, I did something I hardly ever did. I conceded the battle to win the war that was coming. “Fine, I’ll play ball but for the record, I don’t think this is going to help us.”“Duly noted,” he said, then made a concession of his own. “No cuts have been made yet, you can rest assured I will evaluate where they will be made very carefully. I’m not going into this blindly. I won’t fire anyone unnecessarily. Our people will be taken care of with good severance packages and references. I would never leave anyone high and dry.”Grudgingly, I had to admit that he sounded like himself again. It wasn’t only Danny’s influence, he really did believe this was necessary and for the best. The way he was talking, I had to respect him again. He hated having to do this, but he also thought he was acting in the best interest of the company.“Okay, we’ll talk when the time comes to start assessing who is staying and who is going.
Stay the Night Something Proper
ASTONSaturday dragged on and on after Blake left the hotel. I kept an eye out for him, but by the time my shift ended I hadn’t seen him again. I’d spent the afternoon struggling to concentrate on work. After only one evening with the guy, I was giddy with excitement to see him again tomorrow night.I’d never been so tempted to abuse my position and skip out on work as I had been when he asked me earlier what I was doing tomorrow, right after telling me had to get away tonight. He didn’t exactly invite me to go with him wherever it was he was going, but if he had I didn’t know that I would have said no.It was a good thing he didn’t though, work had to come first. My real work, not entertaining a guest. Only the one guest in particular, that was.I was in my office finishing up for the day when Tiffany knocked on my open door. “Knock-knock. Are you ready to get out of here yet? We finally get to go home.”Shutting down my computer, I picked up my purse. “Ready if you are.”After makin
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