“Get it together, Chasez.” The words reverberated in JC’s head over and over again on Sunday as he made his way into the hotel. He hadn’t slept the night before because he’d had yet another flashback before he’d gone to sleep having to do with his mother. Then, he’d dreamt about meeting up with her again and woke himself up crying. Crying. He didn’t cry. Ever. Hell, he didn’t even feel anymore.

He bumped into Delaney on the way into his office. She smiled at him with that annoying, pleasant smile she always had plastered on her face and JC only tightened his lips together in response. Delaney ignored him as usual and kept on walking.

He entered his office and set his briefcase down, settling in behind his desk. He took out his phone and scrolled through a few unanswered text messages, seeing five from Morgan.

“God.” JC muttered and rolled his eyes. For someone who had pretended not to give two shits as to whether or not he called her, she sure was insistent. He’d already written her off. It was too messy with her living with Andrea and after what had transpired two nights ago, he just wasn’t as into her anymore.

He deleted her texts and opened his laptop to check his work email. A confirmation had appeared letting him know that he was all set for the IHRC convention in two weeks. It also confirmed that Delaney Nixon and Chris Kirkpatrick would be in his party. JC had to chuckle. JC already knew Chris was bringing Ashley and the three of them – Chris, Ashley, and Delaney- would form their own party without him. It was fine. He was their boss. He was sure he’d find entertainment of his own. Last year he’d managed to hook up with two bartenders after hours. He was sure he could pull it off again this year, no problem.

A reminder popped up in the left hand corner of his screen letting him know he needed to book his flight to Ocho Rios for the convention. This was when he wished  HR had let him hire an assistant for him as opposed to another hotel manager. He huffed loudly and began to search for flights.

His phone buzzed and he looked down seeing yet another text from Morgan. It was a picture of her in nothing but a pair of thongs. JC wanted to move past this one. But she was going to make it difficult.

He texted her back.

Ten minutes later, she was at his office door.

“You’re an insistent little thing.” He greeted her and Morgan walked in, immediately undressing for him.

She turned around and faced him. “I just want you, boss.” Her uniform was in a puddle around her feet and she stepped out of it, walking toward him. Her bra was lacy and red and it matched her lipstick.

“You know the rules.” JC moved away from her. He wasn’t going to make this easy.

“I’m following them.” Morgan stood in front of him and reached behind her, slowly unclasping her bra. Her full breasts were all he could focus on now and she knew it.

“You can’t text me so much.” He grabbed her and forcefully pushed her against his desk. His mouth sucked on her neck. “But I’ll let that go for now.”

Morgan sucked in a breath and leaned back onto the desk, pulling him on top of her.

“I’ll be good from now on.” Morgan whispered.

JC shimmied out of his pants and pushed a stack of papers onto the floor.

“Delaney, have you seen Mr. Chasez?” Joey asked, popping his head into her office.

Delaney had been busy responding to guest emails and looking over comments about the hotel on TripAdvisor when she looked up and saw Joey at her door.

“Oh, hey! Yeah, he was headed into his office about twenty minutes ago. Why?” She pushed her laptop to the side.

“He was supposed to meet with the bartenders about a half hour ago and we can’t get a hold of him.” Joey looked behind him towards JC’s office. “And you know how weird he is about us low life’s going into his office.”

Delaney stood up. “Come with me, then. I’m sure he’s in there.” She was a little concerned at the fact that JC had missed a meeting. He was normally the one who was all about people being on time and prompt. Lately, she’d noticed he’d become somewhat of a slacker in that area.

“It’s weird, Joey.” Delaney told him as they walked towards JC’s office. “He’s usually so on top of things like this that-“ Delaney and Joey stopped dead in their tracks. She’d opened the door only to find JC and Morgan having sex on his desk.

“Looks like he’s found something else to be on top of.” Joey couldn’t help but crack a joke, even as awkward as the situation was.

“Shit! Fuck!” JC fell over Morgan and onto the floor and when he tried to get up, tripped over his feet and fell flat on his face. Morgan sat up in shock and tried to cover herself but it was no use. “Get out!” He yelled at Delaney and Joey.

“Your door was open, Chasez. If you’re going to be doing stuff like this, you should probably lock it.” Delaney was beyond caring at all how she came across. She looked at Morgan. “I think you need to gather your clothes and get back to work.”

“Oh my god am I gonna be fired? Ms. Nixon, please, I swear this is the only time this has happened and-“

Delaney frowned at Morgan. “I swear I think you’re lying. Get back to work.”

Joey still stood at the door and gawked until JC was on his feet and swearing at him to get out of his office.

“Look, boss, you had a meeting with the bartenders a half hour ago. That’s all we were trying to do. Come find you and see what had happened.” Joey turned to leave. “I’ll tell them we’ll reschedule.”

“Yeah, fine, whatever.” JC grumbled and finished getting dressed again. Morgan had snuck out before she had a chance to say anything else. It was just Delaney and JC in the office.

“I could report you.” Delaney quietly said and watched as JC cleaned up the mess on his desk.

“Yeah, I bet you could.” JC didn’t look at her.

“Look, you’re good at what you do. You’re a pain in my ass most of the time, but you’ve got this hotel running on five stars and that’s hard to do. I don’t know what’s going on with you lately, but you know stuff like this has to stop. Everyone knows you’re sleeping with Morgan and we all know about your history with the employees.” Delaney waited for him to interrupt her but he still refused to acknowledge her. “I’m just saying to be careful. That’s all.” She turned to leave and then looked back once more. “Also, if you want me to, I can book your flight when I book mine with Chris and Ashley’s.”

“I’ll book my own flight.” JC was sharp and cold. “Now get out.”

“Fine. Have it your way, then.” Delaney left and closed the door behind her. She shivered at what she’d just witnessed. JC came across so suave in front of everyone but what she’d just experienced showed her that even the most put together men were still sleazy underneath it all.

Joey’s brisk walk down the hallway had turned into a run by the time he entered the lobby. He slowed down, trying to look as professional as possible in front of the guests. Inside, he was about to explode and he had to tell somebody. The problem was, he needed to be extremely careful with who he told and he knew it. Todd was still in the Keys with the Concierge entourage and there were only a select group of bartenders that he trusted after that.

He was so deep in thought that he nearly bumped into Ashley, who was making her way from the lobby back to the spa.

“Whoa!” Ashley put up her hand in effort to stop him. “Easy, Joe. Where are you going in such a hurry?”

Joey looked at Ashley and it dawned on him that he had to find Chris. Now.

“Oh, hey, um, where’s Chris?” He continued to speed walk as he spoke and Ashley was doing her best to keep up with him.

“He’s in his office, I think. Why? Is something wrong?” Ashley asked and they headed out the large double doors to the outside courtyard across from the spa. That’s when Joey stopped in his tracks and looked to his left and then his right before he spoke again.

“Text him. Tell him to meet you in the corridor by the gym.” Joey’s voice was so low that Ashley could barely hear him and had to listen close just to understand what he was saying.

“What’s going on?” She pulled away and eyed him with a suspicious look.

“Just text Chris!” Joey was insistent and he was rather proud of himself that he hadn’t spilled the news already to Ashley.

“Okay. I will.” Ashley pulled her phone out of her pocket and quickly texted her fiancé. Within seconds he’d replied, letting her know he’d be there in two minutes.

Joey and Ashley made there way over to the gym, which was right across from the spa and overlooked the ocean.

“What’s he doing here?” Chris asked when he’d met up with Joey and Ashley.

“I told you Joey asked us to meet him here!” Ashley answered.

“Oh. I didn’t see that part. I just saw something about meeting you in the corridor. I thought you wanted to do something kinky.” Chris raised his eyebrows playfully at her and Ashley rolled her eyes. Joey couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Well, apparently kinky is on the brain of a lot of people here,” he said.

“Spill it.” Ashley shook her head at him. “You’ve obviously got to tell us something. And from what you just said I’m only more intrigued.”

“I walked into his office and Mr. Chasez and that girl from the coffee bar were fucking. On his desk. Like going hard and everything.” Joey waited for their response but all Ashley and Chris could manage to do was stand there, mouths open and eyes wide.

“Holy shit, dude.” Chris finally said. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious. Delaney and I were trying to find him because he had a meeting with the bartenders that he missed. Walked right into his office and his ass was the first thing that greeted us.” Joey was trying to talk as softly as possible but was also gesturing with his hands as he told his story.

“So what happened? Did you leave or-“ Chris started to ask but Joey cut him off.

“Hell no we didn’t leave. He heard the door and got all pissed with us and the girl was all apologetic, telling Delaney this had never happened before and begging her not to get fired.” He shook his head. “That girl’s a fucking liar. She’s got that look, you know? She’s dirty.”

“Well, Mr. Chasez’s not exactly pure. I mean, what, two weeks ago wasn’t he doing that lobby greeter? And I told you guys I heard them talking about hooking up last week.” Ashley sighed. “This place amazes me. To be so proper and five star on the outside, we’ve got a guy who should just go manage a roach motel.”

“What did Delaney do after all that?” Chris asked.

“No clue. I busted ass to get out of there as quick as I could. I’m sure they had it out and Delaney gave him hell, as she should have.” Joey felt his phone buzz in his pocket. “Oh shit, guys I gotta go. I completely left the other guys back at the bar and I need to get back there and let them know the meeting is off.  See you at happy hour?” Joey asked as he backed away from Ashley and Chris.

“Absolutely.” Ashley nodded. “I can’t wait to see if anything happens from now until then.”

“See ya.” Chris waved Joey off and then looked at Ashley. “Let’s go get coffee.”

Ashley burst out laughing. “You mean from The Cup? Are you kidding me? I can’t walk in there and look at that girl now! And you know you’ll just say something smart to her.”

“We’ll make it a game.” He pulled Ashley’s arm toward him. “Whoever bursts out laughing first loses.”

“No!” Ashley was still giggling as Chris tugged at her to follow him. “Chris, I need to get back to the spa and you should probably get back to work, too.”

“Fine.” Chris let her go and quickly kissed her lips. “I’ll see you at five.”

“Bye, baby.” Ashley walked away and headed back to the spa.

The ocean was calm that evening in the Keys. Todd had made a bonfire and everyone was gathered around drinking beer and watching the sunset. Andrea had been off in her own world for most of the trip and Todd had noticed it. Even though earlier that day she’d enjoyed paddle boarding with him and a game of beach volleyball, she wasn’t her normal, happy self.

By now, Andrea had been drinking for a good two hours straight and was feeling the buzz from her head to her toes. She hadn’t said much to anyone and was taking everything in, dreading the next day when she’d have to go back to her apartment and face Morgan.

“You okay?” Todd asked, sitting down next to her. “You’re not so much yourself this weekend.”

“I got fucked over.” Andrea had hardly said a curse word in her entire life but she was so gone by now that she didn’t care. “By my roommate. That fucking bitch Morgan.”

“What did Morgan do?” Todd moved closer to her and put his arm around her shoulder.

Andrea immediately burst into tears and cupped her face in her hands. Nobody else seemed to notice but Todd managed to pull her away from the crowd just in case. She stumbled a bit as she followed him away from the bonfire and to a secluded part of the beach.

“What did Morgan do?” Todd repeated the question and let Andrea cry into his shoulder before she was able to answer him.

“Todd, I’m stupid. I’m so fucking stupid.” Andrea looked up at him, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

Todd cringed inside and knew what she was talking about. It was exactly what Joey had told him weeks ago. Andrea had slept with Mr. Chasez. She didn’t have to tell him, he could put the pieces of the puzzle together easily. Still, he wanted to give her a chance and was silent as she spoke again.

“I slept with JC. I mean, Mr. Chasez. And I thought he liked me because….because he was my first and he kept calling me and…and I made myself start to believe that he was into me, you know?” Andrea sniffed and the tears began to fall once more. “But he didn’t. He was sleeping with Morgan the whole time he was with me.”

Todd knew that Joey loved to be right about everything. And he was absolutely, without a doubt, right on what he’d said about JC sleeping with Andrea. And the girl from the front desk. And now Morgan.

“He’s disgusting, Andrea.” Todd finally said, just above a whisper. “You didn’t know. Don’t blame yourself, okay?” He looked at Andrea who was still a sobbing mess. “Mr. Chasez is a disgusting excuse for a man. You’re not the first woman he’s done this to.”

“Obviously, because Morgan-“

“Morgan is a slut. I had her pegged the first day I met her. I can guarantee that JC meant nothing to her and she meant nothing to him. They were both using each other.” Todd stroked Andrea’s hair and soon her crying ceased.

“I don’t want to go back to that apartment.” Andrea finally spoke up and lifted her head from Todd’s shoulder. She wiped her face on the sleeve of the long-sleeved t-shirt that covered her bathing suit.

Todd wanted to make it better for her but he knew offering to let her stay with him when he was so crazy about her was dangerous.

“I’ll go back with you to the apartment tomorrow. We’ll figure something out for you.”

Andrea looked up at him and smiled. “You’re so great, Todd. Thanks.”

Todd locked eyes with her and couldn’t help himself from leaning down and kissing her. In her drunken state, she didn’t push him away.

When Delaney entered Chancey’s that evening, she was greeted by a very enthusiastic Chris and Ashley, who’d saved her usual spot next to them. Ashley was almost giddy as she patted the bar stool next to her, urging Delaney over to her.

“Hey.” Delaney looked at Ashley warily. “What is up with you tonight?”

“Omigod, Delaney, you have to tell us what happened today!” Ashley couldn’t contain herself any longer.

Delaney looked over at Joey, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Really? You know you shouldn’t be telling people!”

“Fire me.” Joey shrugged and then immediately, realizing what he’d said, took it back. “I mean, don’t fire me. Suspend me for a day. Or something like that that’s not as bad as firing me!”

Delaney laughed at him. “Whatever. It’s bound to get out anyway. If not from you, from Morgan.”

“You should fire her,” said Ashley, taking her drink in her hand. “That chick has had it coming from day one.”

“I can’t fire her. Only JC has that power. And he can’t really fire her without getting himself in trouble. And since he’s the GM, that’s kind of impossible.” Delaney sighed and shook her head, then raised an eyebrow. “Although…” She trailed off and looked from Chris to Ashley to Joey. “Although, there’s that rich family over in Tennessee that has some sort of ownership to this place. Their great-great-grandfather built The Chancellor after Henry Flagler built The Breakers. They come down every so often to stay here and check out everything. Crap, I can’t remember their names.”

“What, do they have power over Chasez or something?” Chris asked.

“Sort of.” Delaney nodded. “Technically, they own the property. And they’re pretty particular about who runs everything.”

“Wait a minute.” Chris snapped his fingers and nodded quickly. “When we were teenagers valeting out here, their grandson came out for a summer and worked with us. He was a snotty little punk ass because he kept dropping his name around and saying his dad could fire anyone he didn’t like. He got really close with JC.”

“Of course he did.” Joey rolled his eyes. “JC’s gonna kiss anyone’s ass who can get him ahead.”

“Shit, what was his name?” Chris looked down at the bar as if it had the answer scribbled on it. “Something Timber. Timberwood? Timberland? Timberlake! Timberlake, that’s it! Justin Timberlake was the grandson. I think he was here a year or so ago with his wife and kids.”

“I’ll do some research,” said Delaney, strumming her fingers on the bar. “I don’t know protocol for this because I’ve never been put in a position like it before. But perhaps if I made a phone call to Mr. Timberlake and told him he needed to come down here, maybe he could talk to JC or something.”

“Get him fired.” Joey muttered.

“He’s a good GM.” Delaney couldn’t believe she was defending JC. “He just needs accountability of some sort.” She hopped off the barstool.

“Where are you going? You didn’t finish your drink.” Ashley pointed out.

“I’m going to make some phone calls. The sooner Mr. Timberlake gets here, the better it is for all of us.”