seat, got out, promised BB she’d let him out again soon, slammed the door and looked around.
What on earth had Nigel and Molly been thinking about? The photos they’d shown her hadn’t looked like this. The place was so run-down, it was a joke. Like most campsites in France, Camping dans La Fôret had closed over the winter – if indeed it had even been open last summer. Looking at the sorry state of things, Belinda doubted that there had been many customers even if it had been open. She sighed. Without even having seen the complete site yet, she doubted that June next year was a realistic date, let alone June this year – a mere twelve weeks away.
She opened the laptop bag and pulled out the folder Nigel had given her with the details, plans and a few out-of-focus pictures that she’d slipped inside. With no website to study, the folder contained minimal information. Alain Salvin, would be there to greet her when she arrived Nigel had said and he would give her all the information and help she needed.
Presumably the old 2CV was his car and the light was on in reception. Surely he must have heard her arrive? Why hadn’t he appeared to greet her? It wasn’t as if there were hordes of cars or people descending on the place. It would have been good manners for him to come out and greet her. They were, after all, going to be working together. It was hardly the most promising of starts and Alain Salvin had lost a number of brownie points, as far as she was concerned.
Belinda took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, pulled her five foot three inch body up to its full height and climbed the steps to the reception. She didn’t bother to knock before she opened the door and walked in. ‘Bonjour.’
A large ginger cat curled up on the desk asleep opened its eyes briefly and looked at her, but the man concentrating on the computer screen in front of it didn’t even deign to look up before saying, ‘I’ll be with you in a moment.’
Belinda, recognising Alain Salvin from the brief look she’d had of him the night of the supposed video call, could feel her anger rising as he continued to ignore her. A course in front-of-house etiquette wouldn’t go amiss. Belinda tapped her foot, decided to count to ten slowly and then, if he was still engrossed on his computer, she’d leave and start to explore outside by herself.
She’d reached nine and was about to turn and leave when the man looked up and stared at her for several seconds with an unfathomable expression on his face. When he finally spoke, his voice was hard.
‘Bonjour. I don’t say welcome to Camping dans La Fôret because I sure as ’ell don’t need or want a troubleshooter ’ere.’
His rudeness took her breath away. Talk about a frosty reception. Belinda took a deep breath. ‘Well, Mr Salvin, that makes two of us then. Because, to quote you, I sure as hell don’t want to be here,’ and Belinda glared at him before turning on her heels, marching out and slamming the door as hard as she could behind her.
Shaking, she got in the car and sat with her bowed head resting on the centre of the steering wheel for a moment, trying to pull herself together. BB, sensing she was upset, gave her a gentle nudge with his nose, while guilt crowded in on Belinda. She shouldn’t have reacted like that. Totally unprofessional of her. But who exactly did Alain Salvin think he was? Nigel had never said a word about the manager being a man with a serious attitude problem. And how exactly was she going to deal with him?
Sitting there Belinda inwardly berated herself. ‘You’re here to do a job. A job you know you’re good at. Take notes, make plans and draw up a working campaign and then get Nigel to employ someone else to see it all to fruition.’
Before that happened though, she’d talk to Nigel and tell him exactly what she thought of his new manager. Monsieur Salvin had shown her he was the sort of person who couldn’t deal with authority and to whom compromise was a dirty word. The hospitality industry didn’t need rude employees like him and the quicker Nigel sacked him, the better.
5
Sitting in the car, Belinda struggled to stop her hands shaking as she took her mobile out of her bag