Vanessa’s family did not pay for anything. The credit card of Vanessa’s family has been denied two out of the three attempts to secure a payment. Daniel later paid for the deposit himself, after convincing our father to give him money, with the excuse of “wedding emergencies”.
I was aware of this due to the finance department of the hotel flagging an account for the transaction.
Additionally, Richard Vale pressured my events director multiple times to give him discounts in exchange for potential “partnerships” in the future. Richard also tried to intimidate one of my junior staff into giving him the use of the Grand Suite without making a payment. Patrice had to yell at the hotel’s Housekeeping employees. Vanessa demanded that we replace the two servers because she said they were “too rural in appearance”.
All of the insults that Vanessa made to my staff had been documented in writing, all of the unpaid chargebacks were currently filed in the same location in the hotel.
Everything that happened prior to, during, and after the event was captured on the hotel’s CCTV cameras.
Vanessa made a misstep, which ended up ruining her.
Vanessa snapped her fingers at Maya, one of my top servers, who was a twenty-year-old college student that was working double shifts to pay for her education.
Vanessa said, “Be careful.” while Maya was pouring the red wine. “That bottle there costs more than you pay for rent.”
Maya’s hands were shaking.
Red wine splashed all over Vanessa’s dress, which was white.
The guests in the ballroom gasped.
Vanessa sat straight up and slapped Maya in the face.
The clap from the slap echoed through the ballroom.
My reaction was quicker than anyone else’s.
I stepped in between the two of them, and kindly took the wine bottle from Maya’s shaking hands.
Vanessa was pointing angrily in my direction.”Get that trash outta here! You both smell like you just rolled out of a barn!”
I looked directly at my brother Daniel.
He continued to stare at the floor.
Something deep and tender inside me shattered clean in two.
And Richard charged towards us. “Do you know who I am?”
“I do,” I replied calmly.
Richard scoffed, “You know I can destroy this hotel.”
Calm and perfectly composed, Mr. Harlan appeared behind Richard.
“Actually,” Mr. Harlan said, “that may prove a bit tricky.”
Vanessa turned around. “Who are you?”
“The General Manager.”
“Excellent. Get rid of her.” Vanessa was pointing at me. “And the server too.”
Mr. Harlan looked my way.
“Ms. Avery,” he said in a nice and even voice. “Shall we proceed?”
And the entire room became still.
Vanessa’s smile began to flicker with uncertainty. “Ms. Avery?”
I nodded slightly.
“Proceed.”
For the first time that evening, Vanessa seemed to be unsure of herself.
That did not suit her.
Mr. Harlan calmly walked to the stage and picked up the microphone Vanessa had just dropped seconds before.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he began. “Due to legal and safety reasons, this event is currently in Administrative Review.”
Richard laughed an obnoxious laugh. “Administrative Review? I’ll buy this place by Monday.”
“No,” I said as I walked onto the stage next to him. “You will not.”
All eyes turned toward me.
I first looked at Daniel. “You wanted me here tonight to stand next to you because you thought that perhaps some part of the little boy inside you that loved family more than approval is still here somewhere.”
Daniel opened his mouth.
I would not allow him to speak.
“As soon as I entered, Vanessa began calling me a ‘stinky country girl’. Her mom was teasing me about what I was wearing. Her dad made some really rude comments about my family. Then, Vanessa assaulted one of my employees in my ballroom.”
It was a good story and completed. Thank you.