High stakes - part 3

ACT 1 - four.

"Are you gonna take Jace with you today?" I asked while putting my heels on.
I was wearing my dress, my hair was straightened and I was ready to go to my Monaco hotel.

It was time for the monthly business meeting.

"I can't, I have to fly to Barcelona, we have to test the car" Lando said. We were both looking at each other for a while.

We definitely needed to sync our calendars better, if that was even possible.

"I can't take him either. I have a meeting with the shareholders and they will eat me alive if they find out I took my child"

Lando was biting the inside of his cheek. "Sorry baby but I really can't take him to Barcelona with me"

"Fine" I groaned. "I will fix something"

What on earth did we expect? We weren't ready to be parents at all.
We were both thinking the same thing, but neither of us said so.

Neither of us wanted to admit it.

One of us had to give up their job and we both also knew who it was gonna be.

It was gonna be me.

"Will you come to Barcelona with Jace after?" He asked as if it was only normal that I had to fix it. "I don't know yet babe, I'll text you" I answered.

I was definitely gonna try to go, maybe I could even combine it with visiting my Barcelona hotel.

But first, I had to convince everyone that I was still doing a good job managing the hotels.

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"Where's little J?" Juliette asked as we were walking together to the meeting room.

I was early, mainly because I wanted to prepare everything before they would arrive.

"He's with Charlotte. Lando had to go to Barcelona so she's babysitting"

I was actually so grateful for her, she immediately agreed to it and she was someone I could trust.

"You really need a nanny for him, you both are way too busy" Juliette confirmed what Lando and I already agreed on.

"We're even too busy to find a nanny" I chuckled but it was true. I didn't even know where I should start. "Then I'll set up a meeting with possible nannies and you've to pick one" Juliette looked excited.

"That's actually not too bad of an idea"

That's exactly why she was my right hand. I didn't know what I would do without her.

"Let me take care of everything, you only have to worry about this meeting for now" she said and I could feel the nerves again.

I had tons of meetings, but this one was the one I hated the most. It never seemed good enough. The hotels were making billions and they still complained.

I put my laptop down and connected it to the big screen, like I did so many times before.

I smiled at everyone as they were walking in, one by one.

I presented them the numbers of last month, together with the grow we made.

The Hilton was doing better than ever. We implemented Juliette's idea of giving the people a better experience.

Monaco was luxury, so that's how we improved the hotel. We gave the guests two pools, a spa, three restaurants, a lounge bar and even more.

A big investment, but it definitely paid off.

The hotel was booming and more popular than ever.

"The numbers look good, can't complain about that" one of the suits said. "How's your baby, Rae?"

I titled my head. "What does that has to do with any of this?"

"How are you gonna take care of a child when you have to manage all that?" He pointed at the screen.

"Did you ask my dad the same question when he got my sister and me?" I put my hands on the table and looked at straight at him.

He didn't respond, which said enough.

He didn't ask him, because he was a man. He asked me, because he expected me to take a step down.

They all walked out after that, except for Juliette. "You better fix me that nanny soon" I looked at her.

"On it" she chuckled and got up.

I wasn't gonna take a step down, not for now at least.