Undercover Lover

By Kelly Papyrus

A few days before the wedding of his friends Lauren and Isaac, visionary architect and hotelier Constantine returns to the hotel Ebloui in Las Vegas to pose undercover as a regular employee and savor the feeling of being normal one last time. When he meets makeup artist Gabriella, he's instantly taken by her socialist views and lack of interest in material things. She shows him the joys of living simply and making the best of what you have, and Constantine quickly finds himself falling in love. But when he reveals the truth about his life to her, will she leave his life forever?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Shorts
• Release date: Feb 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781094422329

Kelly Papyrus

Kelly Papyrus is a writer whose stories feature diverse characters and people of color. She loves learning about new cultures and writing about them. She lives in Florida and loves dogs.

Book preview

Chapter One

We’re going to get our butts handed to us, Aspen said, turning the paper so that I could see what she had typed up. I could tell she’d used a large font and tried to use as many extra words as she could, but there was still embarrassingly little on the page. Raffle. Facebook contest. Long weekend sale. Nothing new, but how could they blame us? There wasn’t much to work with when it came to Hotel Reyes.

It’s not our fault, I pointed out, but Aspen shook her head. My words did little to help calm her down. Her face stayed in the same panic, eyebrows hiked up and nostrils flared. She was still beautiful, with sleek brown hair that fell in waves down her back and wide green eyes, but it was obvious she was upset. We both loved our jobs, but I knew that, since she had a family to support with her paycheck, things were a little more serious for her than for me. Working for a big hotel chain, improving the worst-performing hotels and addressing the negative reviews to make them better, was stressful, but it paid well and came with a lot of perks if you loved to travel, like I did.

They know it isn’t our fault, and they don’t care, she said. She was right about that, too. In some cases, we could fix the issues with extra staff training or more lifeguards at the hotel pool, but if the complaints related to a structural problem that needed an expensive renovation to address, we couldn’t do much. Our bosses expected the same positive results in every case, no matter how few resources we had to work with, but Hotel Reyes stumped us month after month.

We have to explain it to them in a way they can understand, make them care. How can they expect us to draw people into a three-star resort with five-star prices on an island barely anyone has heard of? The question had haunted us both since we’d been assigned Hotel Reyes a year before. We’d done well with every other property we’d been assigned, but this one was getting to us, especially as the months wore on and we had to keep reporting to these meetings with no increase in occupancy rates to show the board.

I hate the third Wednesday of the month, she said as Ingrid came out of the double doors and waved us into the conference room.

Good morning, Gabby, Aspen. They’re ready for you, she said, and I tried to concentrate on what we were going to say and not crashing into the doorframe out of sheer nervousness instead of the questions that were inevitably coming about our biggest failure to date.

Section Break

Ladies, I’m not going to lie to you. This progress across the board is great, but we still need to know why Hotel Reyes is still underperforming, Abe said. The board has identified it as a major priority, but these issues persist, and you’ve found no way to solve them.

There’s nothing new to report on that front, Aspen said, her tone bright and her face unaccepting of any arguments. She was trying to stonewall him and see if he’d let it go, since the meeting was already running long. It wouldn’t work, and we both knew it, but I admired her for trying.

We’ve explained the problems and why we can’t resolve them with simple marketing campaigns or easy fixes. The hotel needs a hands-on manager who can correct the issues with the service and staff, plus upgrades to the outside and better incentives for the workers to stay, and the board refuses to invest in that, I added.

Gabby, I think we’ve been over this. We refuse to invest in it because we don’t have the money to commit. The funds simply aren’t there, Abe said.

Fair enough, but we can’t be expected to overcome these serious problems on our own. Reyes Island hasn’t been a popular destination for visitors since the 1970s, when hippies went to get off the beaten path, Aspen said, the same defense we always put up. I was so annoyed with the circular argument that we kept getting into. Aspen kept trying to defend us, but as she did, an idea popped into my head. I hated it and knew it was a winner, something that could stop this argument in its tracks for good, in the same instant.

There is one idea we came up with that we haven’t mentioned yet, I said, avoiding eye contact with Aspen because I already knew she’d be staring at me confused. It’s a long shot, which is why we didn’t bring it up before now. Remember that TV show, the one Martin was on?

Obviously, Abe said. Martin, the CEO of the company, had appeared on the reality show Boardroom to Bottom of the Heap, working as a concierge at the Las Vegas property, Ebloui. During his time working with the staff, not only had he made adjustments that made them much happier, he had also played a part in a love story that resonated with people at home, leading the episode to get a lot of views. Ebloui had seen a huge increase in bookings after the show aired and a big social media surge.

Well, what if we had them shoot a new episode at the Reyes? They could kick in some renovation money, and we’d get free advertising out of it, I said. The rest of the board members looked impressed enough with the idea, but Abe shook his head.

We’ve asked the production company already; they can’t. Everyone who works for the parent company has seen it, or at least clips from the episode, so they won’t shoot with Martin again. You know everyone saw those clips online, from the people working the front desk to the hotel general managers — literally everyone. It would be too easy for the other participants to figure out who he is, especially with his accent, he said. I should have thought of that. Of course, with no surprise factor, there was little point to the show. The twist ending, where the corporate higher-up was revealed to the people they’d worked with all week, was the best part of the show.

What if we sent another person to do the filming? A vice president, someone else from the C-suite. I’ve seen the show; they don’t always have a CEO participating. I realized I was babbling, but it was hard to stop when I knew that as soon as I did, we were going to get chewed out some more.

I don’t know if they’d go for that, but it’s worth asking, one of the suits said, and Abe nodded.

It’s not bad. I’ll get in touch with the production people, see what they have to say. In the meantime, see what else you can come up with. We really need something that’s going to knock it out of the park on this, Abe said, dismissing us with the wave of a hand. Aspen shot me a grateful look as we scurried out towards the elevator, safe for another month.

Section Break

I’d made myself a cup of decaf coffee with extra sugar and gotten through the bulk of my emails by the time Aspen knocked on my door.

He wants us in his office in the next ten minutes, she said.

Fuck. I’ve done as much as I’m going to get through. Let’s just go, I said, getting up to walk to the elevator with her. What do you think he’s going to say?

Maybe they said yes, Aspen said, but she didn’t look very convinced.

We can hope, I said as we rounded the corner to Abe’s office door and knocked on it. We waited for the familiar grunt, and then I pressed the door open and we walked in.

Great, you’re here. I have news, Abe said, gesturing for us to sit down. I spoke to the production company, and they like your idea. They think the Reyes is a great place to film, and they’re running out of companies who are willing to participate in the show.

Really? I tried to keep the excitement from my voice as I glanced over at Aspen. This was too good to be true. The press and attention that came along with just one episode of the show was much more than we could afford in advertising, plus they’d take care of some of the renovations and management issues.

Yes, they’re excited about it. There’s just one thing, he said.

What?

We’re going to need one of you two to participate in the filming, he said.

What do you mean?

We’re going to have one of you be the undercover participant. You work in the head office. That’s good enough for them, he said.

"Uh. This is great news, but it’s not like Hotel Reyes is down the street. How are we supposed to handle our jobs and filming?" Part of the issue with trying to make improvements to the Reyes was its remote location. Set on a small island in the Caribbean, it took a boat ride, small jet, or helicopter to get there. Commercial airlines didn’t bother going there, and I wasn’t sure if they even had an airport that operated regularly.

It’s only a couple of weeks, and whoever stays behind can cover the work until the other one gets back, he said. It’s a paid vacation, really. Filming will probably take a day or two, maximum, then you relax by the pool until it’s time to come back home. This could be exactly what we need to turn things around at the hotel, and your department would get all the credit.

Which one of us are you asking to go? I asked. The idea of visiting a remote tropical island was appealing, but the reviews of the Reyes suggested that it wouldn’t be the most luxurious stay. The building was old and the air conditioning system ancient, leading it to be less than comfortable in the summer months.

That’s up to you, Abe said, shrugging. I don’t really care as long as I have a name to give production by tomorrow morning.

Abe, you know Aspen can’t go. She has a family, I said. Aspen would never bring it up for fear that she would be passed over for promotions, but she spent way too much time at work and not enough with baby Tanner.

She’s also got a husband and a whole village around her. She can figure it out, and if she can’t, then you’ll go. I thought you girls would be happier about this. The whole thing was your idea, Abe said, looking confused as he glanced back and forth