Escape With Me (Love With Me 1)

“That bitch,” Cassie whispered as she read the article. Lorna painted herself as the love of Wyatt's life until Cassie the homewrecker came in and swooped him up. It was Cassie's fault that Lorna was heartbroken, but she was willing to forgive Wyatt and let him come back to her.

“We don't use that kind of language here,” Lenny chastised.

“This isn't true.” Cassie pointed to the computer. “Not a single word of it. You know me, Lenny. Does this sound at all like something I would do?”

“No,” Lenny admitted, sounding a little bashful. “But that's not what Corporate is worried about.”

“What is Corporate worried about then?” Cassie asked, suddenly exhausted.

“This isn't good for the hotel's image,” Lenny told her. “And as you know, our image is a top priority. Guests stay here because of our image. The image is a number one priority.”

Along with cleanliness, politeness, and a good experience. Everything was a number one priority for StarTree Corporate.

“And?” Cassie asked, already fearing the worst. This wasn't something Corporate was going to let slide. This wasn't putting her notebook in the wrong place or having extra oranges out in the morning buffet.

Lenny shifted. “Corporate understands that this isn't a normal situation. They appreciate your years of excellent service and the excellent rating the hotel has earned in the city. However, the recent press creates a problem.” Lenny spoke as if reading from a script. Most likely he was. Corporate had scripts for everything.

“And?” she asked again. “Cut to the chase, Lenny.”

“You are asked to relocate to another manager position in a different city.”

Cassie sat back in her chair, the wind knocked out of her.

She was basically being fired. She was no longer going to be the manager of the Phoenix StarTree hotel. They would put her in a different state. She would be hidden from view until this blew over, but she had a feeling she would have a black mark on her file for the rest of her days. StarTree never forgot anything. That was also a number one priority for them.

“And if I don't want that?” she asked weakly.

Lenny shifted his feet again. “I am authorized to give you a generous severance package if you resign voluntarily. StarTree would like to avoid any more negative press.”

Cassie nodded. She was glad she was sitting down because it felt like the floor was falling out from under her.

This hotel was her life, yet she was no longer welcome here. This wasn't an option anymore.

“Give me a little bit to think about it,” Cassie said softly.

“Of course. I'll give you to the end of the day.” Lenny went to the door. He narrowed his eyes, still not trusting her despite the fact the gossip article wasn't true.“Don't touch anything in here. Please take your photos and go out the back when you leave.”

He shut the door, and Cassie promptly made sure to touch everything on the desk. She touched the stapler twice just because she could.

What was she going to do? This job was her life. She'd sacrificed years to get here. This job had been the only thing that kept her going after her divorce. Would she be happy working in a different state? A different hotel?

She looked around the office, seeing how little her presence had mattered here.

She went to a shelf and picked up the lone photo of her and her friends. It was the only thing in the entire room that was

truly hers. The awards were all in the hotel's name. The books were all hotel manuals and policies. There was nothing except one picture in the entire room that was a reflection of Cassie.

Was this what she wanted? She had to admit, the past couple of weeks being free had felt wonderful. She no longer dreamed of following rules. She hadn't read the StarTree Manual since before the trip, and she found that she didn't really want to reread it.

She didn't care about her job as much as she thought she did. She didn't care how many oranges should be in the breakfast display. Or what the correct scripting for greeting a customer should be. She liked not having to ask everyone if they wanted a credit card offer.

The past week had changed her. Wyatt had changed her.

It was a little shocking, but she didn't want this job anymore. She loved managing a hotel, but she didn't enjoy managing a StarTree hotel. She liked the work, but not the rules. In fact, she was happiest when she had to work around the rules and do what needed to be done for the guests.

She liked the safety and stability of her life with this job. It was predictable and safe, but she realized she wasn't truly alive. She was just going through the motions. It wasn't StarTree that she loved. It was this hotel, its staff, and its guests. If she couldn't have this hotel, she didn't want to work for the company anymore.

She turned on the computer and found the StarTree template for a resignation. She filled in her name and the appropriate words into the premade letter and printed it out.