Is this destiny?

~ San Antonio, the Opulence hotel ~

Ron and Zula are in the restaurant on the third floor. They are sharing a chocolate milkshake with extra whip cream and sprinkles (just how Zula likes it). With the two of them sipping out of the two straws sticking from the oversized glass container filled with icy-sweet-goodness while holding hands under the table, Ron and Zula are a perfect image of teenagers in love.

Both of Ron and Zula got messages on their lenses: 'We are inspecting suites and security. Until we are back, you two are in charge. Sarah & Aiden'

Ron grinned. He wants to be in charge for some time now, but with Jesse and Haru in front of him in seniority, he is not getting many chances. To make things worse, sometimes Nala and Oni are in front of him for leadership tasks as well! But now it's different.

He winked at Zula. "The game is on!"

Zula laughed at his enthusiasm. "There is not much to do."

Ron seriously nodded. "True. And we should keep it that way."

Allen and Julius got text messages on their phones that Sarah and Aiden will be temporary 'offline' and that Ron and Zula will be their contacts if they need assistance.

Allen and Julius they are not generals, so they don't have lenses with Eve-vision. Sarah is conservative in who and when gets Eve-connected equipment to use. It's not that she does not trust Allen and Julius, but she wants them to learn to rely on their own capabilities, and to develop them before using Eve-technology.

…

Penny was busy with her meetings. Bridgette was right by her side, assisting and taking notes. Ben was working on his laptop clearing tasks for White corp. He is not in the office, but he felt that it's irresponsible just to take time off.

Jesse and Oni are present by Penny's side, acting as security.

"This was the last one. Now only meeting with the general manager, Mrs. Swalwell is left.", Bridgette informed Penny.

"Let's make that a lunch meeting.", Penny suggested. "I want to talk to her in an environment where other employees will see us."

"You don't trust her?", Bridgette asked Penny with a small smirk.

Bridgette likes that Penny is so professional right from the start and is not carried away by the elation of the first day many newbies experience. It seems that running a business and managing people is in her blood.

Penny thought for some time before answering: "I'm not sure yet. But something is off. I noticed that she didn't introduce Marcy and she downplayed how long Marcy is working for her. If she is mistreating her personal assistant, I am curious to see what other employees think about her. When they see us having a meeting in a restaurant, they will be talking among themselves and the security we installed will capture it."

Bridgette agreed. "Marcy has degrees in business management and in hospitality… In terms of education, she could manage a hotel. Mrs. Swalwell should not treat her poorly..."

…

For the lunch, Penny gestured to Jesse and Oni to get a table of their own.

"Please, order whatever you feel like it…", Penny told Jesse and Oni and then turned to the server and instructed: "I will cover their bill."

Ben and Bridgette joined Penny and Mrs. Swalwell at the table.

The four of them ordered food.

"Where is Marcy?", Penny asked Mrs. Swalwell while handing the menu back to the server.

"She takes care of her own lunch.", Mrs. Swalwell responded.

"I see…", Penny smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, I'm used to having lunch with my assistant, so I'm finding your dynamic… unusual."

Mrs. Swalwell had her polite smile on through the lunch.

Penny achieved what she wanted.

Later they watched security footage from the back room and heard staff discuss who is the person who had lunch with their general manager. One man said that she is the new owner.

"How do you know that?"

"Aren't we getting warnings since last week to be professional and to keep our mouths shut because new owner might come anytime?"

"I saw them at the entrance this morning. Mrs. Swalwell was never so polite to anyone other than to Morgans…"

"Yeah, I saw that also. Just based on the amount of smiles Mrs. Swalwell has and that she is not treating Marcy like a dog, I can confirm that the young lady is the new owner and Mrs. Swalwell is trying to leave a good impression."

"Oh, do you know that the owner lady paid lunch for all the people who came with her?"

"And not just her assistant, but other two as well, who had their meal at the separate table…"

The topic attracted few more staff members and it quickly turned into gossip.

"Yeah, this owner feeds her people, she told them to order whatever they want… while Marcy has a sandwich in the backroom…"

"Do you think she will treat us so well also?"

"Don't count on that. Even if this new owner is nice, she is nice to her people…"

"But, aren't we her people?"

"Who are we? We are just bottom feeders, getting crumbs that are left after the big fish."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, Mr. Panetta who gets to cater all his family functions out of our kitchen is the one who gets to sell the story to the new owner how we are wasting food when we put too much in the plate."

"And don't forget Mrs. Eshoo who booked our largest event hall for her daughter's tenth birthday party and got us to work overtime without getting paid. Do you think that she paid for the venue and food, or was that somehow absorbed in the hotel's expenses? …"

"Oh, and Mr. Kirk…"

Later that afternoon, in the presidential suite…

Penny is frowning while looking at the list of managers and their misdeeds which they found out from the staff's gossip-session.

While they watched the security footage, Bridgette was taking notes.

Sarah placed few printouts on the desk and told Penny: "This is the paper trail that was left by the offenses from your people. We started from the ones mentioned in the video and we are finding more…" Sarah glanced at Aiden who is going through the data and finding an additional evidence. She loves to watch him when he is seriously immersed in his work. Very attractive.

As if he can feel her gaze, Aiden lifted his sight from the laptop screen and his eyes locked with Sarah's. He smiled and slowly lowered his gaze back toward the screen. He loves when she looks at him like that, like he is the best man in the world, the only man for her.

Bridgette examined the printouts Sarah placed on the desk and nodded. "This is good. With this, we have the evidence to support why you will fire them."

"Fire them?", Penny asked weakly.

Bridgette frowned slightly. "You should not keep them. They did all this while under the experienced management. With you as the newly appointed owner, they will do much more."

Penny sighed. "I know, but if I fire all of them, who will be left?"

"Jeff can help. Anna as well.", Bridgette assured Penny. "They will find you temporary staff until you fill in the gaps. Also, there might be someone from existing staff who is a good candidate for a promotion."

"The general manager has the most dirt.", Bridgette continued. "If you replace her, that will be your help to fill in other positions."

Penny thought for some time and then got an idea. "Marcy. I want to talk to her." She looked at Sarah: "Can I meet with her without Mrs. Swalwell's knowledge?"

Sarah confirmed. "That can be arranged."

"You think that she can be the next general manager?", Bridgette guessed.

Penny didn't deny it. "Maybe. She has the education and is familiar with the hotel. Depending on her personality and attitude, she might be the perfect candidate…"

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