Jillian Chantal

This week, the writers of Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt cold. I am finishing up the book of short stories to come out this fall. This will be the last post (maybe) of this anthology. This is the story with the PR heroine who is trying to transform a hotel.

Check out the other tales here.

Excited to finalize the plans for the photo shoot, I made some calls and was able to land one of my favorite photographers for the next day as he’d had a cancellation.

This made me even more excited. Couldn’t ask for a better omen than Gregory being idle and available. He was the perfect choice. His use of light was absolute genius. Perfect.

The afternoon and evening went by quickly as I worked on the website leaving spots to insert the anticipated photos. I met with each of the maids to discuss what they envisioned for their page on the website and what they suggested for props for their part. It was a nice collaboration and I was happy with everyone’s input. The only one who didn’t meet with me was Tricia. She still seemed a bit cold toward me and I was determined not to let it bother me.

Even Miguel seemed on board for the whole thing. I wasn’t sure if one of the family had discussed with him the necessity of cooperating but I was glad he no longer seemed angry as he had during the meeting. Turns out, he actually was a certified dive instructor and so was Lacey. They’d both team up for those lessons.

I had a chicken salad sandwich for dinner as I worked at the desk in my room. I almost went down to the restaurant but decided to get as much done as I could before the photo shoot since I didn’t want to give Mr. Matthews a chance to change his mind. Slotting in the photos to completed web pages was the best way to go live quickly and see if bookings went up. Please let that happen. Please.

The next morning, after staying up way too late, I was almost ready with the website.

Downstairs, I ran into a few of the maids dressed in their jeans and khaki colored shirts. They had the bandannas knotted at their throats. They looked super cute.

My stomach was in knots though. This was nothing new. I was always like this before things started moving. I’d be fine as soon as Gregory arrived and got started.