Perception

Priorities

Kathleen is not a morning person, although she loves the idea of getting up early and eating breakfast with her husband, Allen.  Only in the first part of their marriage did she actually manage to get up in time to have a bite to eat and a cup of coffee with him.  Eventually, her natural desire to sleep in overtook any aspiration of continuing to rise before eight a.m. 

Allen bends down and kisses the only part of her that is exposed, her eyebrow. "Goodbye, love."

"What?  Wait, I'll get up. Gimme . . . minute. . .   sorry." she mumbles from underneath the covers.

He walks toward the bedroom door and quietly says, "I know, I know.  I'll see you tonight."

As sleep had reclaimed Kathleen, she is unaware of Allen standing motionless watching her. He studies how when she sleeps she takes in such shallow breaths that one might think she were dead.   His head is slightly tilted to one side as if he were contemplating an anomaly. After a long time, he leaves to begin his commute to work. 

Allen is a Chief Engineer at a 5 star hotel, The Palladium.  His reputation is impeccable as is his expertise in his field.  He is of the top 5 per cent who make over 100 grand a year.  He's used to people responding to his directives. If you mess up, it's common knowledge that if he doesn't out right fire you, you'll get a dressing down that you won't soon forget.  You have to be quick on your feet and able to problem solve.  One thing Allen hates is to be bothered with lazy questions that someone could have figured out on their own.

He might be a hard ass, but people love Allen.  Staff, customers, everyone at the top of the chain, even the vendors.  He is charming and personable.  The Palladium has received the prestigious Gold Award the last four years running, and the Platinum Award during Allen's first three years with the company.  Keeping them at the top of this highly competitive field is his priority.  Everyone knows  that if he's intense, it's because he wants The Palladium and it's employees to be the best.  

After he parked in his reserved spot he took a moment to appreciate the hotel's silhouette against the morning light before heading in. He comes into work by five so that he has an hour to assess the overnight activity and have the opportunity to speak to any employee in regards to an incident.  He thrives at problem solving.  The engineer inside him loves the challenge and when a situation or piece of equipment is resolved or fixed he couldn't be more satisfied.  Here at work he is the conductor, his sense accomplishment is high, and he is well respected.  At home, he feels unappreciated. He can't direct his wife or sons like he does with the hundreds of people he deals with on a daily basis at the hotel. He feels like an outsider to them, he doesn't understand the way they operate.

A knock on his office door interrupts his thoughts. "Enter."

"Good morning, Boss." Joseph the floor manager came walking in with two cups of coffee. They have a standing daily meeting to go over the day to day operations of the hotel.

"Good morning, Joseph.  You know you're adding up points with me by bringing coffee with you every morning!  Here, take a look at this.  I was just going over the stats on our bookings."

Exchanging coffee cup for the paperwork Joseph began to scan the sheets.  "Our bookings are still good pretty good, and we haven't had a month yet where we are at fifty percent or below.  We've still been booking at right around seventy-five to eighty per cent capacity."

"What I'm  concerned about is where those ten to twenty-five per cent are going,  If they're not here, then they're booking somewhere else."

"Alright, you want to boost our ads?  We could get Sheila and her team working on that right away, or do you have something else in mind?"  Joseph was used to the way Allen's brain worked, that's why their hotel was rated so high. "I could contact that marketing company we used to analyze our market stats."

"No, let's let Sheila and her team run with it. We'll get together later on this week, and see what her department can come up with. I'd like you to meet with her today."  Allen said.

Joseph entered a reminder on his iPad. "Alright, Boss, I'll make that happen.  What's next?"

They went over each piece of the hotel's management prioritizing every aspect until Allen was satisfied.  Then, Joseph went back to his office to prepare for his own morning meeting with his staff.  Next, Allen would meet with his maintenance workers,  the landscaping team, and .  He liked this hotel to run like a well oiled machine.  After looking at his watch, he picked up his phone to call Kathleen before he headed over to Sam's office.  Sam had only recently been promoted as lead over maintenance.   

Kathleen would be working on her articles for those stupid internet websites.  They weren't real news, just something to make her feel like she had a job.  He tolerated her hobby only because it added to her already busy life.  He liked her mental state stressed, overworked, and tired.  This was part of a well orchestrated plan conceived almost from the moment he ever laid eyes on her. Making her fall for him was easy, that part always is.  Once they were married he began to use their mutual friends as his informers. They were eager informats. Where she was at any given moment, who she met with and talked to, every little piece delivered to him on a platter.  

He was a spinner of reality, he always had been.  He learned from the best, his dad. His dad learned from his dad.  Generational manipulation and messing with others perception of reality. He charmed and blamed his way out of situations.  

They have plans to go away this weekend,  just the two of them.  Allen loved to mull over the possibilities.  He knew Kathleen would have silly romantic notions that could easily be played out if he wanted.  There were so many variations to think about.  His mind was constantly working, it never rested. He got such a buzz off the game.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading.  I will be working and publishing parts as fast as I can.  Sometimes my writing pulls me in several times a day, so at that rate I should be able to get them out relatively quick.  Please feel free to comment and give your opinion.  Thank you! Martin Abbotsford