“Oh, good,” the woman says, smiling at me. She’s all sunshine, and I’m the storm about to rain on her good day. She glances me up and down again. “The service here is lacking if you ask me. I had to wait twenty minutes to get into the right line for check-in.”
“Did you follow the yellow arrows on the floor?” I growl as my hands bunch into fists at my sides.
“What arrows?” She shrugs, not having noticed the bright yellow and orange writing on the floor that pointed in the direction ofguest check-in.
“Some people can’t read,” I mutter.
How is that my fault? If you can’t follow instructions and it takes you twice as long, that’s on you.
She glances at the next rack, with long-sleeved base layer tops for women. “Seventy dollars?” She scoffs at the price tag. “It’s worth thirty.”
“Have you ever been to a skiresort?” I ask, emphasizing the part where this is a vacation destination for folks who like snow. People fly in from all over the world. At least, that’s the hope. “What did you expect for clothes at a place like this to cost you?” I bite, my tone sharper than I intend.
“Oh, I don’t know. I never really do ski resorts. It’s usually beach vacations and whatnot. I’m an influencer.”
“An influencer? Who the hell are you influencing, teens, on that clock app?” I huff, annoyed. This woman is wasting my time.
She purses her lips. “What I do is more like vlogging. But I’ve been known to dabble.”
“Of course you have,” I mutter. What the hell is vlogging? I need to get back to work. I turn and head out of the store without so much as a goodbye or farewell.
“Dad!” Julianna calls for me, coming out from behind the counter.
I pause and turn around, waiting for my daughter to catch up. Dare I even ask what it is?
“Is that Cali Sinclair?” Julianna asks, her eyes wide.
“I don’t know. Is she a celebrity or something?” I’ve never heard of the woman Julianna is asking me about.
“Cali Sinclair is a vacation blogger. She reviews the next top destination spot. It’s like whatever she posts always goes viral. The places are sold out for months if it's a good review. If it’s bad, she destroys you.”
I don’t believe she has that kind of power. She’s a woman with a phone, maybe a computer.
“I’m going to find out, Dad. We need the best publicity we can get!” Julianna squeals and hurries across the hallway. I grab her arm to stop her, but she slips by and rushes toward the woman.
I can’t watch. I head back to my office. I have more important matters to attend to that need my intention, and trying to impress some girl who likes to make dancing videos isn’t going to help me turn a profit.
* * *
I never did grab that bottle of water.
My office is chilly; the vents are open, and the heat is cranked up. The rest of the lodge is plenty warm, which means the heat isn’t filtering in properly to the office.
Something I’ll deal with another day.
I stalk out of the room, heading toward the lounge for a coffee.
The brunette from earlier is seated near the coffee machine, her leg up with a bag of ice melting faster than a popsicle.
She must have injured herself while out on the slopes.
“Hey, I didn’t catch your name,” the woman says as I stalk past her.
I should have grabbed a coffee from the pot in the back room, where I wouldn’t have to interact with guests. My mistake.
But the coffee in the lounge is a million times better. I punch in the code for the coffee I want and then the admin code so I don’t have to pay five dollars for a basic cup of coffee. It lets me bypass putting cash into the machine.
I grab the piping-hot cup and glance at the brunette. “I didn’t give it,” I say. She’s cute, but there’s only so much room for one grump in this lodge. I’d sooner throw myself down the black diamond slopes than spend five more minutes listening to her rant.