Sweetest Kisses - Ella Goode Page 0,1

with them. Dressing in the hotel uniform usually puts people on edge. I want our guests to feel at ease when I listen to their concerns. The only thing that gives away that I am part of the staff is the small name tag that reads Selena.

I head out of my office and spot the two older women. They are currently laughing loudly. I have to fight a smile at them bickering like the oldest of friends and laughing while they do it. I take off on a run when I see the one woman start teetering. I barely make it in time before she hits the ground. The other woman grabs her in time with me and we right her in her chair. Yeah, it is cut-off time. I hate to do it but I need to. They’ll be thankful in the morning. I just want to make them thankful now.

“You ladies doing all right?” I ask with a smile on my face.

“Aren't you a pretty thing?” the one that almost face-planted into the cement says to me. She looks to be in her sixties. “I bet the boys are all over you. Remember those days?” She squeezes the arm of her friend who is sitting next to her.

“They’re still all over me. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she throws back. This time I’m the one laughing.

“I don’t know about you two but I’m not looking for boys,” I tease. I’ve seen enough boys in my time. The college ones can be the hardest to deal with. “But I do know I have one cabana left for tomorrow. I’m thinking it’s got your names all over it.” I always keep spare cabanas. Those things can get any guest under control. They aren't cheap and they’re always booked out. I always keep two for my bidding.

They both perk up at that. “I’m going to have Violet here escort you to your room to fill out the forms.” Violet pops up out of thin air. That’s her talent and I freaking love it. She doesn't miss a thing and is always there when I need her. She’s always lurking somewhere in the shadows when I’m dealing with guests. We work well as a team.

I help one of the ladies out of her chair. Violet helps the other. “You ladies get some shut eye so you can be up bright and early for that cabana. I’m going to send breakfast over.”

“That’s so lovely, dear,” one of the women says. She leans in and I know she wants a hug. The tipsy drunk people always do. I give her a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before Violet heads off with them. That was easy enough. They can sleep it off. They also don’t realize that I pretty much sent them to bed but in a smooth way, as everyone else would call it. That is the key to this entire job. People have to feel as if they are making the decision for themselves.

“They’re checking in.”

I give Nate a nod. I’ll let them start to get settled in before I go up to check on everyone. I make my rounds, stopping into a few of the bars and saying hi to random people I’ve met since they arrived. I stay a little longer in one of them and even get pulled into doing a karaoke song before I can once again slip off.

It’s my job to make people feel welcome. To make sure that they are having a good time. They spend their hard earned money to be here and I want to make sure everyone is getting what they paid for. I want them to want to visit us again in the future. With a review-driven business, customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance. This resort might not be mine but I take great pride in it. People come to places like this to make memories and I am determined to make them good ones.

Over the past year I’ve received many recognitions and awards testifying to my hard work. If only my mother could see me now. I bet she wouldn’t say that I’ll never make it without her. So many times she has uttered those words to me. I used to believe her when I was younger. She was the reason I learned how to get out of sticky situations to begin with. Her moods were volatile at times and I learned at an early age