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“Hi, Sara. What’s your role here?” I ask, taking a mouthful of eggs on freshly baked bread.
Do we have our own bakers here? This tastes amazing.
“I’m the winery customer service manager and lead of customer experiences,” she replies.
I raise my eyebrows, surprised we had a big presence in the customer department.
“And my wife,” Juan Carlos says with pride in his eyes.
“That’s great. What does your day-to-day look like?” I ask with genuine curiosity.
The table goes silent, everyone waiting for Sara’s response. She releases a deep breath and chuckles nervously.
“Nothing like being put on the spot by the boss,” she jokes, but I can see she’s nervous. Luckily, everyone laughs, effectively breaking the tension. “During summer and harvest season, I spend most of my time in the tasting room, working directly with visitors and making sure their experience at Hacienda Carmen is what they dreamed it’d be.”
“My sister is very humble, Mr. Godoy,” Alicia, her twin, chimes in. “She’s the one who trained Luca and Karina in customer experience before they opened their vineyard.” Her admiration for her sister is evident.
“Oh, so you gave our secrets to the competition,” I say sarcastically, but the room falls silent.
Tight jaws, lowered gazes—I guess I screwed this up.
Sara mutters, “Snitch,” to Alicia, whose cheeks grow impossibly red.
“Oh, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I was merely saying how good my sister is at her job,” Alicia stammers.
“Oh please, I was being sarcastic,” I say with a chuckle, but everyone remains silent, tense.
I take a deep breath and address the room, meeting as many eyes as possible.
“I know you all have an amazing relationship with my father, and to you, I’m just the son who will inherit all of this without having worked a day in my life to deserve it.
“I might not know the daily operations of this place like my father does. I don’t know if you’re married, have kids, or are helping your parents financially. But never doubt for a second that I’m here because I want to see if I can run this place at least half as well as my father.
“I might have degrees from big universities that say I’m capable of running this winery, but none of that means jack shit if I can’t build a relationship with you all.
“I’m way out of my comfort zone. But dammit, I’m really trying.”
I get up from the table and take my plate to the kitchen. I didn’t realize dealing with over a hundred employees every day was going to be so damn hard. My father makes it look like child’s play.
I didn’t plan to give them an open-hearted speech, nor did I realize that’s what I was carrying deep inside. But, oh well—there goes trying to be a more approachable boss. It sounded a lot easier when Camila suggested it.
Chapter 8
Camila Flores
I’ve been working nonstop all week to be able to take this Friday afternoon off. I already cleared it with my manager, but I haven’t been able to bring it up with Mr. Godoy.
Ever since I told him what I thought about handling the vineyard employees, he became more of a dick—if that’s even possible. I thought I was helping him, but clearly I crossed a line.
Too bad.
The more time I spend in this job, the more I learn the ropes, and the more I enjoy it.
“Hello, this is Camila speaking. How may I help you?” I say, taking a call on Mr. Godoy’s direct line. It must be one of his friends.
“Hi, this is Owen Clarke. I’m trying to reach Vic, but his mobile seems to be turned off,” the man says with a very thick London accent.
I freeze.