Page 32 of Things We Need to Say (Second Chance Love Stories #2)

Emma felt groggy as she made her way into work the next morning.

She’d slept badly and wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

It was her first day working properly in housekeeping, alongside the head of department, so this was the last thing she wanted.

She’d need her wits about her if she was going to make a good first impression.

When she’d filled in cleaning rooms previously, Mrs Henderson, the head housekeeper, had been on holiday, so she hadn’t met her yet, but Emma knew she was a stickler for detail and didn’t suffer fools gladly.

In an attempt to wake herself up earlier, Emma had turned the shower to as cold as she could bear it, and now she was sipping a takeaway espresso.

She’d enjoyed her time on Reception and felt she’d learned a great deal, but she was keen to see how things worked on the other side.

Although Heather’s two weeks off had long passed, her former line manager had still not returned to work, much to Emma’s relief.

Faye was turning out to be the perfect line manager and had given her good feedback on her time on Reception.

Now she just had to do the same in housekeeping.

Her nerves were jittering as she took the lift up to the housekeeping department.

Not all department heads liked having management trainees shadowing them — not only did it take up their time, but they weren’t keen on the scrutiny.

Mrs Henderson in particular liked to run things her own way and Emma knew she’d have to be diplomatic to get her on side.

She took a deep breath as she knocked on the open door to the manager’s office.

Mrs Henderson barely looked up from the paperwork she was frowning over. ‘Take a seat, Miss Taylor.’

‘Emma, please.’

‘Emma,’ Mrs Henderson said. Emma noticed that she didn’t offer her own first name in return. ‘I understand you’re going to be with us for four weeks, shadowing every aspect of the department.’

‘That’s correct, yes.’

‘Okay, so, every morning, Reception sends over a spreadsheet of all the guests who are leaving and whether the rooms have been reallocated.’

‘Yes, I’m familiar with that. I’ve just finished four weeks on Reception.’

‘Right.’ Mrs Henderson pursed her lips. It seemed that Emma might be wise not to interrupt her new boss in the future.

‘I usually print them off and then allocate them to my housekeeping staff. Ideally each member of staff will be able to do a full turnaround of ten rooms per shift, but when we’re short-staffed we have to allocate more.

It’s certainly not ideal and is, in fact, our biggest challenge.

And I’m afraid that’s the case this morning.

I’m just about to do a briefing and my staff are not going to be happy bunnies. ’

‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ Emma asked.

‘With the briefing?’

‘No, with the rooms.’

‘You’re offering to clean rooms?’

‘Well, yes.’ Emma wondered why the head housekeeper looked so perplexed.

‘You’re management.’

‘But surely the best way to learn everything you need to manage is to start at the bottom and learn from the ground up.’

‘Well, there is that, but I don’t really have the spare staff to train you up today.’

‘I did do some stand-in days a few months ago.’

‘Really? Must have been when I was away. That’s not how I run things.’

‘Maybe you can put me with an experienced staff member and we can work the rooms together. That way we can get through the work quicker, especially if we make the beds together.’

‘That might work. You could help Adejo. But your clothes?’ Mrs Henderson pointed to Emma’s best work suit.

She had a point. It would be difficult to work in this suit, especially as the skirt was narrowly fitted.

Then she remembered her spare clothes. ‘I’ve got my gym kit in my locker.

I was going to do a work-out when I finished, but, after a day in housekeeping, I guess I won’t need to.

If you can lend me a tabard, I’ll fit in with everyone else. ’

For the first time since she’d entered the office, Mrs Henderson smiled.

‘Do you know, Emma, I think we’re going to get on just fine. I’m Jane, by the way.’

* * *

Emma was delighted that she seemed to have won over Mrs Henderson. But judging by the look on Adejo’s face when she learned that Emma was going to be working with her, she knew she had another hurdle to climb.

‘Follow me,’ Adejo said when the briefing was over.

She walked away and left no room for Emma to make conversation.

Adejo pushed the trolley with the fresh linen while Emma steered one containing everything else that was necessary to replenish the rooms. While they waited for the lift, Emma smiled at her colleague.

‘Have you worked here long, Adejo?’

‘About ten years.’

‘That’s a long time. You must like it here.’

Adejo glanced at her. ‘I do it for the money.’

Emma nodded. She was afraid to make another comment and say the wrong thing. Adejo was obviously not the kind of person to be won over by mere conversation. She would just have to prove that she was capable of hard work. It was probably the only way to gain her respect.

The silence in the lift was tense and Emma was glad when they reached the first bedroom. Adejo swiped her card to open the door.

‘What would you like me to do first?’ Emma asked.

Adejo shrugged. ‘You’re the boss.’

‘Not today I’m not. I’m here to work for you and lighten your load.’

Adejo frowned as if the concept was unfamiliar.

‘Okay,’ she said slowly. ‘First thing is to strip the bedding and put it in the basket in the trolley outside. Then all the surfaces need to be cleaned and polished. The teas, coffees, milk and sugar need replacing. There’s a list on the trolley. I’ll make a start on the bathroom.’

Emma nodded and got down to work. She was already sweating by the time she’d stripped the bed. It was so large she could see how difficult it would be for one person to remake it.

She was just about finished when Adejo came out from the bathroom to collect the towels. She looked around the bedroom and gave a nod of approval. Emma sighed with relief at the thought that she had done a good job.

While Adejo was putting the towels in the bathroom, Emma collected the linen, ready to make the bed.

When Adejo came back, Emma had spread the bottom sheet across the bed.

Adejo took one side of the bed while Emma took the other and together it was an easier job.

When it was done, Adejo looked at the bed, and then at Emma, and nodded in satisfaction.

‘That was easier with two of us. Now you hoover in here and lock the door afterwards. I’ll make a start on six-one-eight. Meet me in there.’

When Emma had finished, she took out her phone and noted down the time it had taken for the two of them to complete the room. Then she made her way to the next room.

Adejo had just finished stripping the bed when Emma joined her.

‘Do you want me to do the bathroom this time?’ she asked.

Adejo frowned again. ‘I like to do it a certain way.’

‘Okay, well, shall we do it together? You can show me how you do it and I can do it the same way as you?’

Adejo nodded and Emma made sure she mirrored everything Adejo did. When the room was complete, she got out her phone and noted the time it had taken them.

‘You got somewhere else to go?’ Adejo asked.

‘No,’ Emma said. ‘I was just checking how long it takes to do each room.’

‘Are you timing me?’

‘Not you, no.’ The frown had reappeared on Adejo’s face and Emma realised that she needed to tread carefully. ‘I was just wondering how much quicker it is with two people working on each room together.’

‘What? So you can report it back to management?’

‘It’s just an idea I had—’ Emma was about to explain when Adejo interrupted her.

‘I do a good job here and I don’t like being spied on.’

‘I’m not spying on you, I just...’ But Adejo had stomped off to the next room.

They cleaned the next two rooms in a strained silence. Emma was wondering how she could explain when Adejo abruptly spoke.

‘Tea break. Let’s go.’

Emma followed Adejo to the staffroom. When they both had drinks and had sat down at a table in the far corner of the room, Adejo turned to her. ‘I have a saying — “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”’

Emma nodded. ‘I’m not saying anything is broken.’ She sighed. ‘You think I’m a newbie, straight out of college, wanting to change things I don’t know anything about.’

Adejo nodded. ‘Something like that. I’ve been doing this job for ten years and I think by now I should know what I’m doing.’

‘You do, and you do your job really well. I don’t think Mrs Henderson would’ve asked me to work with you if she didn’t value you.’

‘Thank you,’ Adejo said. ‘So why the criticism?’

‘I’m not criticising you. You’re right. I am a newbie and when I was stripping that first bed I wondered how on earth anyone could manage that on their own, room after room. It must kill your back.’

‘Yes, it does. Sometimes it aches so badly the first thing I have to do when I go home is to put a hot water bottle on it. And lots of people call in sick with back problems.’

‘And you said yourself that it was much easier with two.’

‘I did and it was.’

Thinking she was making some headway, Emma rushed on. ‘So I thought that if it was easier working in pairs, and I could prove it saved time as well, then I could do something that would make life easier for you all.’

Adejo nodded. ‘You’re right about the beds, but that’s not the whole picture.’

‘Then tell me. I’m not here to see things from a management perspective. I want to hear from the people who do the job, day in, day out. You’re the ones who know what you’re talking about, certainly more than someone who sits at a desk.’