The New Year Party Ch. 01

I had just finished school and been accepted for university, all was good, I was eighteen and thought the world was my oyster when tragedy struck, grandpa died of a heart attack. He owned the family business which his father had set up seventy years ago; it was the best independent hotel in the city, everything about the hotel was good. My parents had divorced when I was twelve, I had always been closer to mum and since the divorce I'd never spoken to my father, during my teens, grandpa was the father I didn't have. After mum's divorce we all lived together in grandpa's apartment which was on the top floor of the hotel, I loved it as every day I was in the hotel.

I had been working in the hotel since I was eight; I knew every department and how they operated, losing grandpa was an enormous loss as the day to day running of the hotel was down to him, we had excellent staff, but grandpa was the decision maker.

The hotel was in a part of the city that the Council wanted to redevelop, grandpa had just concluded a lucrative deal with the Council where the hotel had to remain open for the next three years. Following grandpa's death, mum was a difficult situation as she had limited knowledge of the day to day running of the hotel, we agreed that my university course had to be put on hold for the next three years and I would run the hotel until the Council paid us, there was a lot of money involved as the hotel was a busy and profitable hotel.

I didn't regret missing out on university as I loved the hotel work, my one regret was it was only going to last three years. Mum really appreciated me doing this for her and we had discussed that she was prepared to invest in a new hotel for us. As grandpa also had an apartment at the coast which was a forty-minute drive away, mum said that we'd use the apartment as a base after we left the hotel.

The three years passed so quickly, I loved every minute of those years; I was running the hotel and running it profitably, mum helped with the accounts. As the hotel would close on the second of January after the New Year festival, our excellent staff were all looking for new jobs.

In the first week of November, I got a call from Harry Dunlop, Harry had been trained by grandpa, he had worked with grandpa for over ten years, before joining a brewery owned hotel group. He was now the Regional Director with over thirty Four-Star hotels under his control, Harry was a powerful man, he was also a regular customer for meals in our hotel as he had so many excellent memories of it.

I invited Harry for lunch the following day; I was looking forward to seeing him as his hotel group had five hotels in the city and hopefully he could take on some of our staff when we closed. Over lunch I mentioned the staff that I had and would be looking for work after we closed, Harry smiled then surprised me when he said, "No problem with your staff Jack, I'm sure we'll be able to find work for them all. Jack, I've got a problem at the Riverside Hotel, we lost the manager there six weeks ago, it's so similar to your hotel though it's bigger, a lot of the clientele use both the Riverside and your hotel, at twenty-one you'd be my youngest General Manager, would you be interested in taking over this position in January?"

The Riverside was a wonderful hotel, a hundred and sixty bedrooms, a four-hundred-seat ballroom, a two hundred seat restaurant and a first-class Spa, every department had its own management. I felt so flattered that Harry had asked me to take over as General Manager, I replied, "Harry, I appreciate you having the confidence to offer me such a prestigious position, I believe my future is now in hotels, I would love to accept the position you're offering me, I think you know that I'll give it my best."

Harry was happy when I said this, we finished lunch, then Harry drove me to the Riverside and showed me all around, it was impressive and so was the salary and bonus Harry offered me. There was also a four-bedroom cottage beside the hotel which would be my accommodation, seeing this made me realise that this could be the time that I moved away from mum, I knew mum was shopping with her friend May today; I had the feeling that I'd better let her know the big news soon.

Harry invited me for a coffee and as we sat in the managers' office, Harry said, "Jack, you don't know how happy I am that you're taking this job, from now to the beginning of January, I'd like you to split your time between here and your own hotel. There are problems here, John, the General Manager who died, hadn't been well for a long time, he had an aggressive cancer and knew he was dying, I don't think he was sober once in the last six months."

"Jack, you started working for me on the 1st of November, if you can spend as much time as you can here, in January we'll start strongly, I'll also tell you, you're in total control, I'll back you to the hilt. You can get the cottage decorated so it's fresh for you in January. Is tomorrow morning at ten suitable for you to have a "heads of department" meeting and I'll be here to introduce you as the new General Manager?"

I smiled and said, "No problem Harry, my hotel runs like clockwork, I'll be able to spend the maximum of time here, if I find something that's not working, I'll make it work, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's meeting, I'll get home now and tell mum I've got myself a dream job."

Harry laughed and said, "How is your mum, please give her my kindest regards? Will your mum retire now, or will she retire gracefully later?"

I thought for a minute and said knowing it would be better to be honest with Harry, "Mum's good Harry, she's interested in buying another hotel I think to ensure that I have a future, I'm thinking that what you've offered me today may change that, I'm looking forward to telling her about today."

Harry then brought out one of his business cards and wrote his mobile number on the back of it, there was only his office number on it and said, "Jack, you're the only one of my managers with my mobile number, if you need me call me, I'm backing you one hundred percent."

I thanked him and left, as I drove home, my mind was trying to absorb all that had happened today, it was as though my future was being decided for me; They had offered me a job that someone twenty years older than me would be happy to have; I wondered how mum would react; I had done my bit; I was there when she needed me.

I got back to the hotel, everything was running smoothly, I went to the apartment, mum wasn't home, I poured myself a glass of wine, I never drank in the hotel when I was working, I messaged mum, "Hi mum, when will you be home? I want to take you out for dinner at the Riverside Hotel, are you free tonight? Jack."

I knew mum would be free, if she wasn't doing the accounts she would spend time with her friend May, who was the same age as mum and they'd gone to school together. Mum had me when she was nineteen and was now forty, May, had also married young but had had no children, her husband was eighteen years older but had died three years ago. May was everything I desired in a woman, tall, voluptuous, good looking and intelligent, during my full time in the hotel, I'd been active sexually, I preferred older women as they could give so much pleasure.

Ten minutes later my phone beeped, mum had replied "Jack, I'm free, I love the restaurant at the Riverside, I'm just leaving May's, we had a great time shopping, I'm looking forward to tonight, this is a real treat for me, I bought a lovely outfit today, I'll wear it tonight, love mum xx."

Mum got home twenty minutes later, I had booked a table for seven-thirty; it was now six, mum had asked me what time we'd to be there at, I told her seven-thirty and because I had had a couple of glasses of wine, we would take a taxi, mum went for a shower. She looked stunning when she came out in her new outfit; we had a glass of wine then left in a taxi.

In the taxi I could see mum was a little nervous, mum's social life comprised of lunch with May every now and again, mum was so similar to May and was a very attractive woman who, as far as I knew, hadn't dated anyone since her divorce nine years ago.

We arrived at the Riverside and went into the cocktail bar which served the restaurant, for a Monday night it was quite busy. We sat at a table, a waitress came and wished us a good evening and what we would like to drink? I asked to see the wine list and ordered a bottle of Chablis. Mum said, "This is so nice Jack, it's like a date for me, you're the first man I've had dinner with since the divorce, ok I know we eat a lot in the hotel together but this is different, now please tell me why we're here?"

As mum said this, a man came to the table and handed mum and I a menu and said, "Good evening, my name is Rocco, I'm the head waiter of the Riverside Restaurant, these are this evening's menus, I'll be back with you shortly to take your order."

As Rocco walked away, mum whispered, "Rocco is drunk, and it's twenty to eight in the evening, that's not good, Jack why are we here?"

As we both studied the menu, I told mum about Harry Dunlop contacting me and asking me if I'd like to be General Manager of the Riverside, mum had an amazed but happy look on her face. Rocco then came back and took our order, we shared a Chateaubriand which we both wanted cooked medium rare, Rocco left us and I continued to tell mum about what Harry and I had discussed. I finished by saying, "Harry has problems here, he wants me to sort them out, he's asked me to start working here tomorrow, although I agreed to this, I'll be splitting myself between here and our hotel for the next two months. Are you comfortable with me doing this or would you prefer me to only spend a couple of hours a day at the Riverside?"

Mum smiled and said, "Jack, I'm so proud of you, this is a marvellous position that Harry has given you, our hotel runs like clockwork, you'll be able to give so many of our staff members jobs here, that was a big worry for me."

The Chateaubriand was served; it melted in the mouth, over dinner mum was asking a lot of questions about the cottage that came with the job, she had met John, the previous General Manager, she had liked him and was sorry to hear he had died in the way he had.

We finished the Chateaubriand, we were both full, we sat chatting and finished our bottle of Chablis, mum said, "Jack, I'm happy you have the cottage, I know I have the property at the coast but I'd prefer to stay in the cottage with you, how do you feel about this?"

"Mum, I've no problem with that, the painters will be in soon, you can tell them what colours you want."

Mum smiled and said, "May has an apartment in Riverside Road, it's a two-minute walk from here, Jack I'm so happy for you and so proud of you, could you show me around the hotel one day as I'm good with little details? You might even give me a part-time job here?"

I smiled and asked the waitress for the bill and if she could organise a taxi for us. Rocco brought the bill a couple of minutes later, his voice was slurred now, he was drunk, I settled the bill in cash and left a sizeable tip, Rocco said, "Thank you so much sir, I look forward to serving you again in the future."

As mum and I left I had one last look at the restaurant, there were too many tables and chairs in it, if it was full you couldn't move comfortably, it would be crammed, I wanted to count the tables and chairs to see how many were there but the waitress came back to say the taxi was there.

We left by a side entrance and walked past the cottage, it had manicured gardens which were used for wedding pictures, the gardens had floodlights and looked impressive, we found the taxi and got into the back, the driver was a talkative man and asked, "Did you enjoy your meal in the restaurant? It's my wife's favourite restaurant, I take her there once a month."

Mum replied, "I can understand why she likes it, the food was delicious, we both enjoyed our meal."

The driver replied, "The old manager wasn't doing his job, he wasn't well, the head waiter was running the restaurant for himself, he put so many extra tables in and took away all the comfort, he wanted more people in because his fiddle was the tips, I heard he keeps the majority and the staff get a small slice, Rocco is bad."

Mum and I didn't reply to him, we arrived outside the hotel, as I paid him, I said, "What's your name? My name is Jack Ryan, I'm the new General Manager of the Riverside and I'd like to have a cup with you one day soon."

The driver gave me his card and said, "I'm Gerry, when you get settled, call me, I'd love to have a coffee with you."

I arrived at the Riverside at nine the next morning and had a quick look in the restaurant, there was seating for two hundred and sixty, in the brochure it stated there was seating for two hundred. I then checked the diary, on Friday there was just under two hundred, Saturday just over two hundred, I marked the diary Fully Booked, the following weekend was ok but I marked two hundred was the maximum.

Harry arrived at twenty to ten, we had a coffee together; I told him about Rocco, Harry told me to give him a final warning. We went to the meeting room, there were ten members of the management team present including Rocco, he took a double look at me and realised I'd been there for dinner last night. As Harry introduced me, I looked around the room; the majority looked as though they were decent people, there were three, including Rocco who looked a little overconfident, I was sure I could work with the others.

As Harry introduced me he then introduced the ten members of the team, it surprised me there were a couple of assistant managers, I was a couple of years younger than them, Harry realised this and said, "Before Jack speaks, you may wonder why a twenty-one-year-old is now General Manager of the Riverside Hotel, don't let his age fool you, he knows this business inside out, he's been at the sharp end of this business all his life, there's no doubt in my mind that this will be one of the best hotels in the group within six months, work with him and you'll learn, I learned this business from Jack's grandfather and he made me what I am today."

My speech didn't last too long, I spoke without a prepared speech emphasising that they would be experiencing change, I also said during the next weeks we'd get to know each other but I was free to be approached at any time, I slipped in that as from today, the maximum number of seats in the restaurant would be two hundred, I got the reaction I expected from Rocco, he put his hand up and said, "This hasn't been discussed with me, this is my department."

I replied, "Rocco, the rest of the management team want to get on with their work, when they go, I'd like a quick word with you."

Harry sat beside me as they left the meeting room, there was now only Harry, Rocco and I in the room, I said, "Rocco, last night you were drunk at seven-thirty in the evening, you'll get a written warning today, if it happens again, it's instant dismissal, do you understand?"

The look on Rocco's face was one of complete surprise, he shouted, "I'm the man that makes this place, I've worked in the Ritz and the Savoy, I'm the man that brings the class to this place, you can stick your job up your ass, I'm out of here."

I replied, "Let's go to your locker to get your personal items, give me your key and you're out of here."

I didn't know where the lockers were, Harry got two of the trainee managers who stood beside me as Rocco emptied his locker. After he had left one trainee said, "Mr Jack, you have done the right thing, he was cheating all the staff out of their tips, I felt so sorry for them but Mr John wasn't around much so he got away with it."

I replied, "Thanks, what's your name and what department are you working in?"

He smiled and said, "I'm Tom and I go where I'm needed."

I replied, "Tom, I would like you to take over the restaurant until we get someone suitable, I want you to get the tips sorted out so it's shared evenly between the waiting staff, kitchen staff and bar staff, it must be fair and divided equally, can you do that for me?"

"Yes sir, I'll talk to everyone involved and get back to you."

That was the start of it, the Food and Beverage manager lasted a week, one of the assistant managers lasted two weeks, by the end of the month it was a much happier place to work. I had given the positions to two of the managers from our hotel; they were both excellent and relieved me of a lot of pressure in the Riverside though I had to spend more time in our hotel.

Mum was helping behind the scenes, she was doing floral displays which were incredible and mostly using flowers from the cottage garden. By the second week in December, they had redecorated the cottage; she moved furniture from the apartment to the cottage. Mum was working between both hotels and things were moving forward. Both hotels had a very busy Christmas with no major problems, which only left the New Year festivals to get through.

Ten years ago, Grandpa had moved the laundry out of the hotel, the space the laundry used gave us another ten bedrooms, he had bought a commercial property which was used as a laundry and wine cellar.

Mum and I had talked about this, a lot of the furniture in our hotel was in excellent condition and we could use this property to store any articles that we wanted to keep, once the hotel closed on the 2nd of January, the rest would go to auction.

I was on duty in our hotel on the night of the 30th of December, tomorrow was the busiest day, mum had done the last washing she would do in the apartment, she'd been sentimental about it, she'd gone upstairs to do some ironing, tomorrow night May was coming to spend New Year with us, there was a dinner dance in the ballroom and it would be the last one held there.

I was about to turn a corner when a waitress with a tray carrying two glasses of red wine bumped into me, my white tuxedo was stained with red wine luckily it was only the jacket, my trousers and shirt were unstained. Bunty, the head receptionist saw what happened and quickly had my jacket off me, she said, "Jack, I'll sort this for you but you won't be able to wear it tonight, put another jacket on and I'll get Tina to cover for you."

She then whispered, "I'd like to see you tonight?"

I told her no problem, then went to the apartment for another jacket. Bunty was a widow and had worked in the hotel for over twenty years, her daughter Tina, was studying accountancy and was the same age as me. Both Bunty and Tina loved my big fat cock and Bunty had just told me she wanted it tonight, Bunty knew I was fucking Tina and Tina knew I was fucking her mother, I was waiting for the opportunity to have a threesome with the two of them.

As I opened the door of the apartment I heard Rod Stewart coming from the lounge, mum always ironed and listened to Rod Stewart, I heard her mobile then mum said, "Hi May, I've been thinking about you, let me put my mobile on speaker then we can chat as I do the ironing, ok how was the date?"

"Jill, it wasn't a date, it was a hook-up, the guy was a married man out for a bit of fun, he was ok but he had a tiny penis."

"I thought he had a monster cock, you showed me his dick pics?"

I heard May laugh, and she said, "I'll tell you what happened, we met for a coffee in a supermarket cafe, he was quite presentable, to be honest I was thinking of his cock, after the coffee he invited me to the Premier Inn, I followed him in my car and went with him to the bedroom, he asked me to get my tits out which I did, I asked him to get his cock out, what a let-down, he asked me to suck him, I was wearing my glasses, he told me I was the first woman wearing glasses to suck his cock, I felt like telling him I was wearing them as it was the only way to see his cock, then he came and I got some fresh cum in my mouth and I know that tomorrow night I'll be getting lots of your lovely fresh cum in my mouth."