Undercover Boss (closed)

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The producer’s office was far from what Lydia had expected. She looked slowly around the room, noticing a wall covered in awards and piles of scripts on the desk. She wondered how such an untidy office had given rise to some of the most popular TV shows. The click of the door opening snapped her back into the room, composing herself ready to discuss the terms of the offer she was sure he would be making. Her eyes fell on the tall man that entered, smartly dressed, well presented, he obviously had money to spend on keeping himself looking good.

He slowly took his seat, sizing Lydia. He smiled, building her hopes even higher, toying with her as he spoke confidently, and dropping hints of what could be. Just as he had her ready to sign the paperwork without question he took a deep breath and then dealt the crushing blow, “I’m not sure you have what it takes…” he didn’t need to say anything else. The words stung. How could she have misread the situation so badly?

Lydia, who was usually a strong woman felt crushed. Her hotel chain was going through a rough patch, she had taken over the business a few years back when it had been a booming success, now it was a mess. Lydia didn’t know the first thing about running a business let alone a chain of hotels. She had hoped the TV exposure would boost the company, putting them back on the map as a chain to be reckoned with.

Maintaining her composure she stood, politely shook his hand, thanked him for his time and left. She took the long way home wondering how she could tell John.

John, Lydia’s partner, had been adamant she wouldn’t be invited onto the show. He had tried from the outset to convince her that it was a bad idea and that no publicity from the show would be good publicity. In his mind the chain needed to be sold or at least handed over to someone who knew what they were doing. She wasn’t prepared to let him know he was right, after 6 years together she had never let him think he had won and wasn’t about to start now.

Lydia arrived home to an empty house, she let out a huge sigh of relief. She could continue to set the wheels in motion for pulling off her own undercover plan. She had already made a few calls on the long drive home contacting a trusted colleague she had made arrangements to begin her undercover investigation into her own company.


The front door slammed shut as Lydia stood in the kitchen sipping a freshly brewed coffee.

John could hardly believe his eyes, he had had to take a second and third glance to recognise her. Lydia grinned, if John had needed to really look her employees would have no chance, after all the majority had been hired by her managers and her face wasn’t well known..

The next morning Lydia arrived at reception as directed assuming her new identity as she approached the desk, apprehensive as she spoke to the receptionist.

“Hello, I’m Lynda… I believe I’m expected.”

The receptionist, looked up, she looked puzzled at first. Lydia’s heart beat faster, had she been found out already. Then without a second glance the penny seemed to drop,
“Ahh, yes, one second” she replied as she picked up the phone calling the duty manager.

“Lynda is here,” she announced before asking her to take a seat whilst the manager came through.

Will Jackson had been the manager of the Hillcrest Lodge for three years. It was a sixty
room upscale resort located 40 miles north of the city where the average stay was four
days. During ski season and summer the room rates were upwards of $300 per night but
in the spring and early fall traffic fell dramatically. He worked a six day week and had an
assistant plus a supervisor of staff. He took the call and immediately headed for the front desk.
He was quite used to being on his feet and moving most of the day.

"Ah, Lynda, right on time. I am Will Jackson. Welcome to Hillcrest Lodge." He presented
his usual smile and offered his handshake. Will had become a good judge of character and
considered Lynda had a good grasp of the hotel business.

"Please, let's go here to the office and get you started."

Will worked hard to make his presentation appear fresh and inspiring but the hotel business
had a large turnover in staff and interviewing new people had become incredibly routine.
Lynda had been sent central administration and was on a career path so he was way
faster at describing her new duties. She would be the Staff Supervisor in charge of
new hires, training and evaluating the 35 full and part-time employees.

"Yes, we just now moving into the busy summer season. Occupancy is 85% and we look
to be fully booked by mid May. Now, I can give you a tour of the place and your office
is right next door. Here is your ID tag, and this is your deck of business cards already
printed up."

Will smiled once again and took in her first few questions.

Will appeared cheerful as he gave Lynda a warm greeting before getting right into the
important business of running the resort. He was quite sure she understood the fast
pace of the hotel industry. They moved down the hall passing the dining room and into
the kitchen where a few people were preparing food for the lunch hour.

"This is our food prep area. We have seven full time chefs and a dozen part time waiters.
It is probably our biggest turn over. "

"Do you keep of list of prospective applicants?"

"Oh yes! You will be seeing soon."

Lynda walked around the hotel, this was one of the newer additions to the chain, yet it already seemed tired and dated. She spotted several members of staff working, noting that some didn't have the company uniform and whilst most had a professional appearence the lack of corporate identity concerned her.

The tour continued and whilst she was relieved that she hadn't seen anyone she knew, that also alarmed her, their newest hotel and not one member of staff had actually been appointed by her. Had she really lost touch with the buisness? Was it the fact that it had grown too quickly and had lost the family touch?

The questions churned in her mind as Will concluded the tour arriving back at her office.

"OK, I took the liberty of putting a full list of current employees on your desk. We have three
new people, the rest have been on staff for over three months. We trust them but as you know
theft and drug use are the biggest problems. The list spells out their age, job and salary, so
keep it secure."

Will watched as she sat her new desk looking quite comfortable and slowly made his way to the
door.

"If you have questions just ask. My cellphone number is on that list, call me even if it's at
night. Let's talk again in about an hour."

Will returned to the lobby which was still quiet. Libby, the desk manager, caught his attention
and they chatted quietly about the new supervisor. She thought Lynda looked like the strict
type who would run a tight ship. Will only smiled thinking that would be great if it proved to
be true. The hotel industry could be a real hassle unless things were well in place. He moved
to his office, turned on the weather channel and went to work on the inventory sheets. Will
had began stocking up supplies for the spring season.

Will ordered large numbers of supplies knowing that the season would be big based on the
advanced reservation. He was barely into the second page when he felt his focus slip to
where he was thinking about Lynda's slender ass. He paused to enjoy the moment.