‘I wish you’d let my lawyers take a look at this contract; they could blow holes in it so big that—’
‘No, Phil,’ Polly protested. A costly legal battle was the last thing she needed, and despite Phil’s confidence she had an uncomfortable feeling that somehow or other Marcus would find a way to win.
‘Well, at least you’ll be able to spend your time off down here in London setting things up for when you do take over the job,’ Phil informed her.
‘Yes, I’ll come down whenever I can,’ Polly agreed obediently.
But, two weeks later, she was forced to admit that the likelihood of her being able to take any time off whatsoever whilst she worked her six months’ notice was becoming more and more remote.
The hotel was fully booked, and Marcus had stunned her by announcing that he wanted to have the business professionally valued, and not only that but that he had commissioned a firm of management consultants to evaluate the efficiency of the way the hotel was currently being run as well, so that not only was Polly having to cope with a fully booked hotel, but she was also at the beck and call of two different sets of professionals, both of whose teams seemed to want to go through every tiny detail of the way the hotel was run with a fine-tooth comb, presenting her with list after list of questions which it seemed only she was qualified to answer.
The last straw came one busy Thursday morning, which should have been the morning she worked with the chef to get in their last food orders for the following week and the weekend, but she was finding it impossible to do so because the management consultancy team wanted to know not only how much they paid the gardeners who took care of the formal gardens that surrounded the hotel but also why she had elected to have the beds planted with high-maintenance seasonal plants instead of more cost-effective shrubs.
‘The perennial borders were originally planted by my husband’s great-grandmother,’ she told the earnest young woman who was questioning her, through gritted teeth. ‘Our guests like the idea of staying at a hotel that was once a family home: they enjoy reading the history of the house and its gardens, which we commissioned and which we keep in the library, and I don’t think they would be quite so interested or enthusiastic if we replanted the long walk with modern, low-maintenance shrubs.
‘As I said, the whole point of Fraser House is that it was once a home. Our guests expect those touches which make them feel that they are staying in a private house.’
When the girl raised her eyebrows rather disparagingly Polly began to feel her self-control slipping.
‘We are not part of a chain of hotels providing rooms in much the same way as a fast-food chain provides burgers,’ she told her sharply. ‘If we were…’ Taking a deep breath, Polly stopped.
‘I’m only trying to do my job,’ the girl told her defensively.
‘Yes, I appreciate that,’ Polly agreed, before telling her crisply, ‘But, as I’m sure you’ll appreciate, I too have a job to do, and right now I should be sitting with my chef going over the menus for next week, so if you’ll excuse me…’
‘But we still haven’t discussed the cost of having the windows cleaned,’ the girl protested.
Polly had had enough.
‘We haven’t, have we?’ she agreed evenly. ‘Look, why don’t you take that up with Mr Fraser? I’m sure he’d be delighted to help you and to see how painstakingly thorough you are being.’
And with that Polly marched determinedly to her office door, holding it open in such a way that the girl had no option but to leave.
Two hours later, as Polly came away from her meeting with the chef, she saw Marcus walking into the hotel foyer.
‘I want a word with you,’ he told her peremptorily.
‘And I want several words with you,’ Polly responded with asperity.
‘What were you playing at, sending that girl to me to ask about the gardens?’ Marcus demanded shortly.
‘I might ask you exactly the same question,’ Polly pointed out. ‘It’s Thursday, Marcus, and Thursday mornings I spend with the chef, going through the menus and organising the buying in—you know that. It may have escaped your notice but we are fully booked and we also have two members of staff off sick. The last thing I need right now is to have to answer questions about the cost-effectiveness of the gardens.’
Marcus gave a small shrug.
‘You say that, but so far as a potential purchaser is concerned the costs of running this place are going to be of prime importance.’
‘A prospective buyer? What prospective buyer?’ Polly demanded.
‘There isn’t one—as yet,’ Marcus admitted. ‘But, as in all things in life, it pays to be prepared.’