Til You Come Back to Me Again - A Love Story

Chap - 1

One

A Moment in the Elevator

One year later

The morning had been filled with one long meeting after another. The first had been with the management staff, during which we'd discussed the hotel and employees. Fortunately, there were no major problems and things were running smoothly as usual. The other had been with my accountants. Going over financial reports was oftentimes a little tedious, but knowing that books were balanced and profits and investments were still holding firm always brought a feeling of satisfaction that could not be measured. I walked away from each monthly meeting with the inner thought of, I hope I'm making you proud, Papa. I kept the same meeting schedule my father had always used–management meeting weekly and accountants meeting monthly–because it was familiar and it worked for everyone.

"Have a good afternoon, Mr. De Luca," Meg, the receptionist said with a smile as I exited the conference room.

"Thank you." Meg had been with us since my father opened the hotel. A few years younger than my father would be, she was married to one of the housekeeping managers. They were the parents of five and grandparents of two. "Have you given yourself another raise yet, Meg?"

"Of course," she joked. "That extra zero is gonna look good, as soon as the ink dries."

I chuckled. Her answer was always the same. "Ciao, Meg."

"Ciao."

Waiting for the elevator, I pulled out my phone to check for messages. There was a message from the man coming to tune my piano. He was scheduled to come at two, but had to cancel because of a family emergency. My father had bought the baby grand when I was sixteen and paid for me to take lessons. I still played every now and then, and I usually had it tuned three times a year.

There was a text from my good friend, Lee. We'd known each other since junior high and he was the first real friend I'd made when we moved to Florida. Lee, his wife, Kate, and I usually fished together twice a month. I took up the hobby right after Papa died and grew to love it. It was a time to relax and forget about the world, though Kate always spent a bit of it grilling me on my social life and begging me to let her set me up with one of her friends. I always said the same thing–I would think about it. Lee's text was a reminder for fishing on Saturday.

As I started to text a reply, the elevator doors opened.

And I saw her.

She was wearing one of the hotel housekeeping uniforms. Tall and leggy with platinum blond hair tied back in a ponytail, sea-green eyes, and a perfect face and form, the woman was absolutely lovely. She smiled and I smiled back, glancing at her name tag as I entered the elevator. She must have been a recent hire because I'd never seen her before. Her hands rested on the handle of one of the smaller cleaning carts, her nails neatly manicured.

"How are you, Suzanne?" I asked. Judging by the look on her face, my greeting had taken her by surprise. Her quick smile tuned into a wide grin that was completely adorable.

"I'm great, how are you?"

"I am well, thank you."

We stood silently looking at each other for a moment. "Are you enjoying working here?"

She gave me a peculiar look and it dawned on me that she had no idea who I was and probably found it a strange question.

"Yes. It's a great job, for now."

"Oh? Is this a temporary position for you?"

"Until I finish school."

"What are you . . ." I paused as the elevator door opened and Sylvia, one of the front desk clerks–and my good friend–entered. She had also been a good friend to Papa.