10. Mr. Cummings

On that moment, on the 33rd floor of Golddenn hotel, the general manager, Finlay Barnes, stood in front of a man who looked to be around 30 years old.

The man sat in the president's chair with his legs propped up on the office table.

He was the president of Golddenn hotel and the largest shareholder of the hotel, Brian Cummings.

"How has the hotel been doing, Finlay?" Brian asked.

He was in Kuastead for some work and decided to drop by. This was out of the norm as he typically only came once or twice in a year.

"Mr. Cummings, everything is good hotel, and business has been rising steadily, compared to the same quarter last year, we have an increase of 20 percent," Finlay reported.

"Not bad, Finlay. Good job. You year-end bonus will be double. And, increase the bonus for the rest of the employees by 50 percent."

"Thank you, Mr. Cummings." Finlay exclaimed respectfully.

"Alright, you can leave if there's nothing else to report. I'm just here to take a look and will be leaving soon." Said Brian casually.

Finlay pondered for a bit before telling him. "Mr. Cummings, there's one more thing. A guest sign up for a membership yesterday and topped up 100 million into the card."

It was enough to pique Brian's interest. "Oh? Was it under his name or company?"

"Under his name. And he spent 1.5 million just for a meal and ask us to prepare his meal daily with the best ingredients we have. If he had not turned up, we might have thrown the ingredients away."

"He sounds like new money. How old is he?"

"It says here he's 21 years old. Seems like he's a student from Rochdale University."

"21 years old? A student? And he spent 100 million just to eat? Have you seen this person?"

"I've not seen him yet, Mr. Cummings. He was welcomed by the duty manager, Lydia."

"Get Lydia here."

"Yes, Mr. Cummings."

Finlay spoke into the walkie-talkie. "Is Lydia there? Please reply if you hear me."

Soon a voice come through and answered. "Mr. Barnes, she went out earlier this morning and has not returned."

Finlay glance at Brian and ask into the walkie-talkie, "does anyone know where she went?"

"We don't know. She didn't tell us."

He stopped asking and looked at Brian. "I'll give her a call right now, Mr. Cummings."

Brian said with a deadpan look, "It's okay. We'll just wait here and see when she returns, Finlay. She left the office during working hours without telling anyone. Is this how you manage the people here?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cummings. This is my fault, and I'll be sure to strengthen the management of the hotel." Finlay carefully answered.

He was furious. What was the deal with Lydia? She usually performed well, so how could she do something like this at an important time and put him on the spot?

The two men stopped talking as Brian looked down at his phone, while Finlay stood like a statue. His only wish was for Lydia to return quickly.

.....

After they returned to the hotel, Dalton entered the restaurants reserved private room while Lydia dashed to Finlay's office. Someone at the reception told her that he was looking for her.

Realizing that he wasn't in general manager office, Lydia took out the walkie-talkie and asked, "Hi, Mr. Barnes. I'm Lydia. I'm right in front of your office. Where are you?"

Finlay's leg were going numb while he stood beside the president when Lydia's voice finnally came through the walkie-talkie.

Thus, he replied. "Lydia, come to the president's office."

She was surprised to hear him asking to com to the president's office especially since he didn't sound too happily.

She was sure that the president is here if he had asked her to go to the the office. Brian was always mysterious, and she had only seen him during the annual dinner during the three years she worked there. However, he wanted to see her so suddenly when she was not at the hotel during working hours.

If she didn't handle this well,she could likely lose her job. She had not gotten a tight hold on Dalton yet. If she lose this job, then it would be troublesome.

With that, Lydia rushed to the president's office.

After a few minutes, she arrived at the door of the president's office.

Knock, knock.

Lydia knocked on the door.

"Come in." A deep voice rang from behind the door.

She pushed open the door to see Finlay standing and Brian sitting opposite him.

"Mr. Cummings. Mr. Barnes. Hello, I'm Lydia." She shut the door and walked over as she spoke with a tremble in her voice.

Brian had been observing her as soon as she came in and introduced herself. She was pretty and has a nice figure, especially with the office wear she had on that enhanced her charm. He didn't know the hotel had such an outstanding female employee, and being a mere duty manager seems inferior to Lydia.

"Miss Zeal, you left your workstation during working hours without even notifying us. How did you you become a duty manager?" Brian question sternly.

Hearing his sudden question, Lydia was nervous. The domeneering aura he emanated was overpowering, but she still tried to explain. "I'm sorry, Mr. Cummings, I left without saying anything to accompany a guest."

"Accompany a guest? Since when does a hotel's duty manager need to do that for a guest? Is that a need the hotel, or was it your personal agenda?" Brian commented sharply.

He knew the type of woman who dreamed of becoming a white swan and would do anything to reach her goal. It was apparent he thought Lydia was that type of woman.

At first, he had a good impression of her when she entered. However, he assumed she was that type of woman when she mentioned she had been accompanying a guest, for these woman usually accompanied guest by eating, drinking, or even sleeping with them.

"Mr. Cummings. You can punish me or fire me, but please do not insult me. Mr. Liddle wanted to buy a car today and drove a different car there. This, he needed someone to drive his car back. He's an esteemed guest of the hotel, so I went with him." Lydia explained angrily.

She felt wrong because Brian saw her as a wench who would sleep with anyone rich. She could not accept that because she was still untouched.

She was 27 now. In this society filled with temptation, it was not easy for a beautiful woman like her to resist until now.

"Who is Mr. Liddle?" Brian questioned.

"He should be the guest that topped up 100 million yesterday." This time, Finlay could answer him.

"Where is he now?"

"Mr. Liddle is eating in the third private room." Lydia told him.

"Let's meet this guest and see if Miss Zeal is telling the truth." Brian ordered as he got up and walked out of the office with Finlay and Lydia railing behind him.