Page 392 of Seasons of Love
I liked that approach, which was why I’d spent so many summers working in each of my uncle’s resorts. I wanted to understand what made them different from each other, but also what made Silver Resorts the place to bring your family on vacation.
“Hey, Jake, do you have a second?” Hailey said, placing a glass of freshly squeezed juice in front of me.
I chuckled. “Take a seat. Is that for me?”
“Yes…consider it a bribe,” she said, pulling a chair from a nearby desk.
The juice was delicious and fresh. Also, it was my favorite: mango and passionfruit.
“Hmm, it’s nice, but not bribe-worthy. Now, if you’d added a poppy seed bagel from El Pancito…just sayin’.”
“I’ll make a note of that,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Good. Now, how can I help?”
“Mal mentioned you’re working on our branding, what brings us together as a team and sets us apart from the other resorts, especially Silver Palms since it’s our closest competitor,” she said.
I wouldn’t say they were a competitor as such since, at the end of the day, both resorts were Silver, but I understood what Hailey meant. She wanted our resort to succeed and not just be the poor relative to the glamor and luxury of LA’s best resort.
“Yes, that’s right.”
When Mal had proposed that I work on a project rather than take on a role, it confused the hell out of me.
One thing I’d been adamant about when we’d talked about my work at the resort was that I didn’t want to be here as a favor to my uncle. I wanted to be here because I had the experience and education to back it up.
I wasn’t sure what to make of his decision, but he was my boss now, and since I reported directly to him, there was nothing I could do.
Regardless of Mal’s plan, I was going to kick the hell out of this project and show him I deserved a place at the resort.
“Jake, we have a bunch of new hires this year. I love Pete, but I could kill him right now. Each contract states we hired them to do a specific job, except I need them to be flexible, and many of them don’t want to.”
“Because it’s not in their contract or skill set,” I added.
“Precisely, and that leaves us short in some areas and overstaffed in others. I understand that a fully flexible team isn’t possible. It takes time to clean a room as fast as the maids do, and someone from another area might slow them down. But there must be a middle ground.”
I thought about my experience in the other resorts, especially the one in LA. In my view, the issue hadn’t been called out because they had a much bigger staffing budget and could afford to hire people that focused on a single job.
“It’s interesting you should say that because I’ve seen the same problem in other resorts. I’m not sure how soon I could have a solution for you, but I can tell you it’s part of what I’m looking at.”
Hailey looked so relieved that I couldn’t keep myself from joking.
“See? You didn’t even need to bring me a bagel. But I’ll just put it out there, you could have.”
She laughed and got up to return the chair to its desk. There was no one else in the office, which was a rarity.
“Hailey?”
“Yes?”
“Can I ask you something personal?”
“Sure.”
I’d known Hailey for years, even before she’d met Pete, so I knew if there was someone I could ask this question to, it was her.
“How do you do it? You and Pete working together and then going home.”
She tilted her head before she winked and smiled.
