“I’m not the least bit worried about winning over Ms. Kane,” Shane said smugly. “In fact, I am looking forward to the challenge.”
Seven
Danielle had had almost twenty-four hours to think about her brief meeting with Shane Tanner. As she bicycled to work, their exchange of words from the day before looped repetitively around and around through her mind. That smug bastard knows damn well we had a “past encounter”. That’s an understatement! He had to have recognized me dammit…...what a cowardly phony. Her anger was causing her to pedal her bike faster than normal which she knew was a stupid thing to do considering that the oblivious tourists were out in full force on the highway again. And as usual they were causing the same traffic problems. What are they gawking at now? Rainbows? Whales? Pull your head out people! The irony was not lost on Dani and in fact she found it mildly funny that the gawking tourists’ dollars fueled the very industry that employed most of the islanders, including herself.
She was always so glad when she could simply ride in the bike lane and easily cruise past everyone. Dani headed off down a beach access road so she could pedal at a slower more relaxed pace. It was another beautiful Maui morning and she was determined to soak it all in and not let her thoughts of asshole extraordinaire Shane Tanner ruin it. She had ditched her fancy new suit in favor of her comfortable casual hotel uniform; khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.
Biking along Maui’s coastline was like a soothing but energizing meditation for Danielle. Even though she had lived in Hawaii for most of her life, she never took the breathtaking scenery for granted. The island chain had more natural gifts than any other place she knew and as a self-proclaimed tree-hugger she looked for ways to protect it; from easy things like leaving her car in the driveway whenever possible, to more demanding efforts like working on behalf of several environmental organizations.
When she finally arrived at the Kai she coasted into the resort parking lot, hopped off her bike and removed her safety helmet. She didn’t need a mirror to know that helmet hair was not a good look for her. She undid her long braid, flipped her head forward and combed her fingers through her long mane as it hung upside down in front of her face. Then she removed her lunch from the wire basket and secured her ride to the bicycle rack. Before heading inside for the day, she took a couple deep breaths of salty sea air and stared out at the glistening blue horizon. In Hawaii all horizons are the ocean and in her heart Maui no ka oi, meaning Maui was the best.
Once inside the hotel, Dani grabbed a cup of Kona coffee and a poppy seed muffin from the break room and headed for her office. As she scanned her email inbox a new one jumped out at her causing her to freeze on the spot. From Shane Tanner? Shit shit shit! What does he want? I don’t want to read that right now. But she had no choice; she had to open it. Her palms instantly went clammy and she could feel her antiperspirant already failing her underarms when she suddenly noticed it was a group email, addressed to the entire managerial staff.
She breathed a sigh of relief upon finding out that it was an invitation to a Tanner International hosted cocktail party for the hotel employees. It was being held on the hotel’s swanky rooftop lounge Saturday night and everyone was allowed to bring one guest. She chuckled at her initial needless panic.
Dani was painfully aware that she was eventually going to have to have a very uncomfortable and probably confrontational meeting with her new “boss” and she sure wasn’t looking forward to it. At one point she had contemplated initiating it herself just to get it over with, but ultimately she decided she needed him to come to her. He needed to right his wrong not the other way around. She cleared all thoughts of Shane Tanner out of her mind and concentrated on getting some work done.
As the hotel’s marketing director, one of Danielle’s favorite duties was reading the Kaanapali Kai’s customer reviews on not only its own website but also the various travel sites. They were a powerful tool in identifying the Kai’s strengths and weaknesses. Most of them were five-starred and very complimentary, but all complaints no matter how trite or unreasonable were always taken very seriously.
A common complaint that she was starting to see with greater frequency was regarding the hotel’s lack of eco-friendly programs that other island resorts had been implementing for years. The negative comments were starting to rack up from the more contientous visitors. The absence of recycle bind and the dogged determination to be the last hotel still using incandescent lighting instead of LEDs and skylights wasn’t helping with the resort’s image. It made the whole place feel dated. Try as she might she couldn’t get the Artemis Hotel Group to address her concerns. Danielle was hopeful that their new global parent company, Tanner International, would reflect a stronger sense of environmental responsibility.
While Dani was busy scrolling through the many pages of comments she heard a rapping on her office door. It was open as usual so she called out, “Come on in!” without turning around to see who it was. Shane Tanner’s smooth sexy voice sent an immediate rush of adrenaline through her.
“Danielle Kane. Good-morning.” Then she heard the door shut.
Shane Tanner’s large overpowering presence seemed to fill the room behind her. She took a deep breath and a sip of coffee before spinning her chair around to face him.
“Shane Tanner….. Am I allowed to call you by your real name now? Or do I still need to call you Scott Turner?” Dani defiantly folded her arms across her chest and smugly pursed her lips in obvious disapproval of him. Shane strutted toward her and unbuttoned his suit jacket before taking a seat near her desk.
“I’m sensing some sort of past hostility Danielle…..” he said as aloofly as possible. He pondered the name Scott Turner for a second and mentally confirmed it as one he frequently used back in the day.
“Well aren’t you perceptive? Looks like that Ivy League education of yours paid off. What was your first clue Sherlock?” Dani was finding it difficult to keep her sarcasm to a minimum.
Shane was completely aware of the rage that she was no doubt still harboring justifiably toward him. He was also pretty sure he could quell a lot of that anger if he would just level with her about what had actually happened way back then. If he would honestly tell her that his father had demanded the immediate severing of all contact between them, she might actually be able to accept that. But then he would also have to own up to letting his father control him like an obedient, pathetic little boy, and there was no way in hell he would ever admit to being that weak. He decided he’d rather have Dani believe he was an inconsiderate jerk when he was younger rather than think he was afraid of his daddy.
To Dani’s dismay, Shane remained unfazed by her harsh words.
“Quite frankly I’m a bit surprised Danielle. I really am. I find it hard to believe that a refined business woman of your sophistication and stature within the community would still be emotionally preoccupied with something that happened when she was a college girl. Surely I couldn’t have been that hard to get over?”
Danielle felt her rage rising up and tried her best to restrain it. This was hardly the humble apology she imagined. She couldn’t believe his colossal ego but she was determined not to come off as a hysterical woman.