11

The Wisteria Inn was a forty room hotel with sprawling picture perfect gardens. Within walking distance to the lake, the inn was full year round. A popular destination for weddings and anniversaries, it had been featured in travel magazines and named one of Michigan's top ten places to stay. During peak season, staff numbers topped out at 150, although because of the growing popularity that number may need to increase.

Built in the 1920s, it was reminiscent of a southern plantation, with large columns and a porch that wrapped around three-quarters of the building. The whole thing was white making the bright flowers pop in the flower boxes hanging off the porch rail. The parking lot was paved with cobblestone and a wide red brick pathway led to the inn. I seriously questioned my choice of footwear. May need to switch to wedges.

A doorman at the front greeted me as I walked up the wide front steps and my heart began to race in anticipation. Inside, the lobby was tight but furnished accordingly. Built-in benches for seating ran along each window. The front desk was to the right, the concierge desk to the left. Both were at the end of a staircase that came down from the second floor. A red carpet, about eight feet wide, muffled my steps when I entered. It appeared to run from the door straight to the back of the building. When I stepped off the carpet, the click of my heels caught the attention of the two front desk agents, who had been previously engrossed on something on one of their screens. They both wore black bottoms and white short sleeve button down shirts. Their silver name tags read 'Kelsey' and 'Jules.' Front Desk Supervisor was printed under Jules' name.

"Good morning! Welcome to the Wisteria Inn. How may we help you?" Jules greeted me, her tone very pleasant. Her auburn hair was pulled into a low bun and she wore the prettiest shade of purple lipstick. So far, she looked and acted the part of a supervisor.

"Good morning. My name is Sara Diaz. I was told that Victor Nugent would be meeting me here this morning." Jules' face lit up and Kelsey's eyes widened.

"Yes of course. He let us know you were coming. We're so happy to have you here." Her enthusiasm was adorable and I couldn't help but smile. "One moment and I'll let him know you've arrived." I nodded and she picked up the phone. After a quick conversation, she hung up. "He'll be right down. Can I get you anything? We have coffee and water set up next to the concierge desk but I'm able to make a latte or mocha if you'd like."

"A mocha would be wonderful."

She turned to the coffee machine set up on the counter behind the front desk. A push of a few buttons later and I had a pretty good mocha in my hands, complete with travel cup.

"Your machine is dialed in. It's no Beans but pretty good."

"Oh good. We've only had it for a couple of months and it was definitely trial and error." Jules had a pleased look on her face. "I mean, nothing beats Beans, but it's nice to have something extra to offer guests during the day."

"I've definitely had drinks from these machines that taste like car oil, so I'm glad that isn't the case here."

"Good morning, Sara!" a voice called. I turned to see Victor Nugent, the VP of Nugent Hospitality, the parent company that owned the Wisteria. He looked exactly as he did in our web meetings. Grey hair cut close to the scalp, black wire-rimmed glasses, and a big smile made me feel like I was talking to a favorite uncle rather than the man who held my career in his hands. "It is so nice to finally meet you," he gushed pumping my hand in an exuberant handshake.

"It's so nice to meet you too. Thank you so much for this opportunity," I replied, slightly worried I'd tear my rotator cuff from the vigorous motion.

"Well, with your skills and experience, you made the choice easy," he chuckled. "Now, I have a whole list of things, which I know you saw in my email, but this is going to be your operation, so you tell me. Where would you like to start?"

"You mentioned being issued company equipment, so why don't we start there. That way I can have that up and running for my meetings later today," I suggested.

"Perfect. Let's head to the office then. Thanks ladies," he said to Jules and Kelsey and started to walk away.

"Thank you for the coffee. I look forward to seeing you both again." I turned and followed Victor.

Victor was a typical hospitality executive. Outgoing, friendly, never met a stranger. He greeted everyone that passed us, didn't matter if they were staff or guests. It was clear he lived by the 'service with a smile' motto.

Under the stairs that ended at the concierge desk was a mahogany door with a silver plaque that read "Private." Victor waved his access card in front of the card reader and opened the door. We stepped into a sitting area consisting of two leather sofas and a leather love seat. To the left was a bar area with an industrial coffeemaker and an espresso machine like the one at the front desk. Under the bar top were two beverage fridges holding bottled water, juice, and tea. There were also several wire baskets holding different types of fruit, granola bars, beef jerky, and other snack foods.

"That's a nice setup," I commented.

"We try to avoid hangry employees," Victor explained with a laugh. "Cuts down on negative reviews."

We went through the seating area and turned right, walking passed a couple of sets of cubicles set up in quads. On the left were doors that let to office suites. The final one read 'Executive Operations'.

"This is us," Victor said holding the door open for me. Another leather couch was up against the wall as we entered and to the right was a reception desk. From the door, I could see two rooms beyond the little sitting area. The one on the left looked like it might be a conference room, while the one of the right looked like an actual office. My heart soared when I realized it was probably my office.

Behind the reception desk sat a guy, probably a few years younger than me. He stood when we entered and I saw his name tag said 'Riley, Administrative Assistant.' I recognized the name from the endless emails requesting information likes times for scheduling, office supply preferences, signed contracts, everything except whether the curtain matched drapes. I got the impression he was very thorough. His black hair was neatly combed to the side with gel and he wore dark blue fitted dress pants with a white button down shirt and tie that matched his pants.

"Riley, this is our new GM, Sara. Sara, this is your assistant, Riley," Victor introduced.

"It's really great to finally meet you," Riley said enthusiastically, gently shaking my hand.

"Same. It's nice to finally have a face with a name."

"Did IT drop off the laptop and iPad?" Victor asked and Riley nodded.

"They're in on the desk. I have the password information for both and I was told to destroy this by any means necessary once you have the logins memorized," Riley said handing me a pink sticky note with a username and password on it.

"Do you have a preferred method of destruction?" I inquired.

"I got a paper cut on my tongue the last time I ate it, so they prefer I just shred things now." He said it with such a straight face that I couldn't help but burst out into laughter. Victor rolled his eyes.

"Less paperwork," I replied.

"Exactly," he said with a nod. This kid.

"Ready to see your office?" Victor interrupted, motioning to the space I had assumed was my office. I nodded and went in. Painted a pretty cream color, it was pretty sparse. To my right sat a modern glass top desk with a plush looking desk chair behind it. Two small leather chairs sat on the other side of the desk, facing it. Along the left wall were three mostly empty floor to ceiling bookshelves. A giant window that looked out onto one of the gardens took up the entirety of another wall. The wall separating my office from the reception area was glass with built in shades that could be closed for privacy.

"Please feel free to decorate however you like. We can order furniture, change the paint color, whatever you need to make it your own," Victor told me.

"That's very generous. I will probably take awhile to settle in here since I want to spend most of my time out there." Victor nodded in understanding. I placed my things on the ground next to the desk chair and then worked on logging into my electronics. Once I was in, I turned to Victor.

"I see we have the morning meeting in an hour. How about a tour until then?" I asked. Victor nodded enthusiastically. With my iPad and stylus in hand for note taking, I started my first rounds as General Manager of Wisteria Inn.