Free The CEO Gets Her Man by Anne Ashby

ago and let rip. Chef is spitting. I thought he might burst he’s so mad.” More food jammed into his mouth even as he scraped back his chair. “I gotta get back. I’m not giving Chef any excuse to take out his anger on me.”
    “What was that all about?” Debra was forced to ask when it became obvious Cathy’s lips were glued shut on the matter.
    Cathy’s normal cheerful chatter had disappeared. She shrugged and murmured, “It’s nothing to do with us. We’re dining room staff.”
    “Who, or what, is Mercury?”
    “Shh, keep your voice down.”
    Debra leaned over the table and whispered in Cathy’s face, “Well?”
    “Our general manager.”
    “Mercury?” Debra had read Madeline Murphy’s resume before leaving Wellington. She couldn’t recall seeing such a word.
    Cathy gave an embarrassed laugh. “One of the porters christened her months ago.”
    Disconcerted, Debra queried with a frown. “Why Mercury? I don’t get it. What’s the catch?”
    Cathy leaned in, her voice very low. “I never told you this.” She wouldn’t continue until Debra nodded acceptance. “Because Madeline Murphy’s pure poison and you never know which way she’s going to flow.”
    Cathy’s words slammed Debra back in her seat. Pumping Cathy further gained nothing. The girl became impervious to Debra’s questions.
    Debra’s frown deepened. Her suspicions had centred on Jase McEwan as being the cause of the hotel’s non-profitability. Had she been mistaken?
    Loath to admit it, she’d made a hasty judgement before even meeting the man. Debra now accepted her need to focus elsewhere. Jase’s name was bandied about with respect and affection among the staff. George and Linda held him in high regard, too.
    In contrast, the impact Madeline Murphy had on the kitchen this afternoon—and Cathy’s insightful comment about her nickname—now gave Debra cause to look a little closer at the general manager.
    ****
    Jase stormed into his office, only just resisting the urge to slam the door. This was becoming impossible. Glaring out the window he tried to make sense of his boss’s actions.
    Complaining about the staff’s lack of respect was one thing, but losing her temper and issuing a written warning to the head chef? Jase himself had lured Philippe away from a top hotel in Queenstown with, among other things, the promise of complete control in his kitchen. Jase cringed. Madeline had refused to listen to reason or accept any wrongdoing.
    Smoothing George’s ruffled feathers when he’d stormed into Jase’s office earlier had been hard enough. He’d been justifiably angry at Madeline’s actions of criticising his staff without him being present. The written warning to his head chef had infuriated him. Jase’s promise to sort out the problem had been premature. He was fast losing the ability to smooth over his boss’s nonsensical dictums.
    ****
    As soon as she was able to, Debra slipped into George’s office after a quick tap on the door. Extreme anger emanated from George’s face.
    “Jase said he’ll sort this out.” He rubbed a clenched fist across his forehead, “But I can’t see what he’s going to do. She’s gone too far this time.”
    What appeared to be confirmation of Madeline Murphy’s involvement in a staff breakdown did not necessarily prove any wrongdoing in the overall running of the resort. “What exactly happened?”
    George showed no reluctance. “The general manager accused our head chef of wastage and demanded he cut his budget by thirty-five percent.”
    He thrust back his chair and stood to confront her. “That probably sounds an acceptable request to you considering what I can only assume is our overall lack of profit?”
    Debra schooled her face not to divulge her agreement with his statement. She wasn’t about to enter into discussions about the viability of the resort with anyone but top management. And she wasn’t ready to approach them yet. Not until she had more arrows in her