by Mia Caldwell
It was his own randy school-boy-like reaction that puzzled him. He had felt strong attraction to women before, but this had hit him like a ton of bricks. He had observed her from the lobby as she walked ahead of him and loved the curves that flowed from her small waist. She was not model-thin as most women imagined men liked; instead she had a womanly figure that made his blood race.
Cleary, he thought wryly, he needed to date more. That was probably it. He hadn’t had a girlfriend since before he’d taken his sabbatical, and he wasn’t one for casual dating or flings. For one thing, he was never quite sure if the women liked him for himself—or for what his bank account could buy them. It always took him awhile to open up to someone and trust them. In the meantime, Mrs. Thumb and her four friends had been taking care of business. His body was clearly having ideas of its own though.
“Right, ready for the tour?” she said and smiled again.
Christian smiled back at her and nodded. By instinct he started to offer her his arm, but he quickly pulled it back as he remembered his place. She looked up at him and smiled curiously.
They walked out together and she gave him the grand tour as soon as they left the office. It was odd to meet people who worked for him along the corridors. Most gave him a cursory look and moved on. They stopped in the housekeeping office, where Raina introduced him to a sweet and bubbly young woman, who turned out to be the head housekeeper, by the name of Kelly.
He did not miss the wink that Kelly gave Raina before they walked out. As Raina spoke and gave him the tour, he nodded responses to Raina’s information. They walked through the hallways of the guest rooms, taking an elevator onto each of the floors. Raina pulled out her keycard and took him into one room, empty of guests.
Christian noted the well-made king-size bed, with the sheets pulled tightly and the pillows fluffed up and arranged neatly. He liked that the standards of the rooms had been maintained. He ran his finger along the edge of the television, noting approvingly that it was free of dust.
“The bathroom is through here,” Raina said.
The bathroom was covered in marble and hand-crafted Italian tiles. The center piece was a Jacuzzi tub, with dozens of jets and a series of seats and water-proof pillows. Jacuzzis had never interested Christian in the past, but at that moment, he ached to hold Raina and settle into the warm water with her. He could imagine her snuggled up in his arms, her body lying on top of him.
Goddamn it, I need to get laid. His body grew warm and he shifted about uncomfortably.
“Is everything alright? Does the size of the hotel worry you? It is a large property. Don’t worry; we plan on hiring another maintenance man soon.”
Christian smiled to show her that he was okay. He reminded himself to be careful. Raina had a sharp eye and was looking at him to weigh his reactions. He didn’t want to lose his job even before he had started.
Finally, they rode the elevator to his favorite spot in all the Del Mar hotels—the rooftop terrace. The blue clouds reflected on the water of the pool, and further out to the ocean, casting shadowed tints on the surface of the water. The terrace was like a play area for the guests, with a running track and a year-round garden.
“I could stay here all day,” Christian said.
“I know the feeling.” She looked at him and whispered conspiratorially, “Sometimes I like to come up here after midnight, when the terrace has been locked to guests, and just look at the stars and listen to the water. Well—.” She hesitated, then added, “I used to like to do that. I haven’t done that in a long time.” He noted the sadness in her voice and wondered about it briefly. “Come on; let’s go back down. Time for us mere mortals to return to work,” Raina said, her brown eyes twinkling.
Christian could have immersed himself in them. They walked convivially together and back into the elevator. Only the two of them were inside and he could smell her perfume, a sweet flowery fragrance that played with his senses.
This is ridiculous, Christian thought. She was his “boss” to begin with and he had no intention of getting fired his first day on the job. Secondly, the last thing he needed was an entanglement with someone who—whether she knew it or not—was actually his employee. They rode silently back to the ground floor, and parted ways amicably in the lobby.
“Be early tomorrow. We’re a stickler for punctuality here,” Raina said. She smiled at him and again he found himself mesmerized watching her lips part. She licked them and he almost heard himself groan audibly.
He took a deep breath. “Yes, ma’am. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
She gave him a wave and he lingered a little longer just so he could watch her walk away.
Staying on schedule was not an issue for Christian. Besides, he intended to spend as much time as possible in the hotel. As he walked under the crystal and gold chandelier hanging from the middle of the lobby, his mind was at work, weighing what he had seen today. The standards of the hotel were on par with the strict standards of the rest of the resorts and the staff appeared happy enough.
Christian strode in long steps, unaware of the figure he cut with his easy confidence and quiet magnetism. Despite the clothes, people were drawn to him and turned to stare as he walked by. It felt good to be out of the hotel and himself again. He would feel better once he was out of the uncomfortable shirt and cap.
He spied his black Bugatti waiting for him, parked three blocks away, with his driver—who was also his bodyguard—behind the wheel. Before he slid in, Christian looked behind him to make sure that no one who worked at the hotel was behind him. The chances were slim, but it had never hurt him in the past to be careful.
“Hello Jim.”
“Hey boss,” Jim said with a wide grin. “If I hadn’t seen you two hours ago, I wouldn’t have recognized you.”
“I don’t recognize myself either,” Christian said and grinned back at his long time employee.
Jim eased the car out of the parking lot and headed toward the main drag. Thirty minutes later Christian hopped out at the entrance of his condo building, and, with a wave to the doorman, took the elevator up to the fifteenth floor. Though he didn’t live there, the entire building belonged to him. The penthouse apartment had been vacant and he thought it a convenient place to set himself up for the next few months.
As soon as he walked through the front door to his expansive living room, Christian began shedding off his disguise. He tossed away the cap first and placed it on a glass table as he walked across the living room to his bedroom.
He had gotten the cap from Jim, who asked no questions. Christian liked his driver for his discretion. Jim knew that if Christian wanted him to know something, he would tell him, thus Jim never asked a thing, which suited Christian just fine.
Next, Christian went to the adjoining bathroom and slipped off his contact lenses and stripped out of the clothes. Only after he had taken a shower did Christian feel at ease and like himself again. His hair still looked terrible, but he could find someone to fix that in a few months.
He sank into a deep, comfortable chair and looked around approvingly. His assistant had done a good job furnishing the place on such short notice.
His mind drifted to his interview with Raina. One thing was for sure; despite his irritation at Roger for bungling the management of his properties, the next month or two would be interesting. He wondered how he would keep his desire for her in check as they worked together.
Fortunately, it was likely their paths would not cross too often.
Or is that “Unfortunately”? His subconscious chided him.
Christian surprised himself with that thought. His last relationship had ended so poorly he had sworn off relationships completely. The last thing he needed was to start wanting to get close to a woman.
Women invariably disappointed him. Most wanted him for his money and the power his name held. After the last girlfriend, who’d turned out to be just another gold-digger, he had given up on finding a woman who would like him for h
imself.
He couldn’t blame them though, he acknowledged wryly. His name opened up doors to all the swankiest parties of the year. But women often got a shock when Christian refused to attend those types of events, preferring to spend the evening ordering in, or at a quaint private restaurant. All his relationships—if you could call them that, ended when both parties realized that they could not get what they wanted from the other.
Women wanted a prize and Christian wanted honesty.
While Christian was generous with his money, he was less so with his time, and he couldn’t be bothered to deal with the trivial frivolity and trappings that came with wealth, which appealed strongly to most women.
Or, at least the women I’ve met. The thought appeared out of nowhere. He wondered if that type of life would appeal to Raina. For some reason, he doubted it.
He realized fleetingly that his position as a maintenance man would give him a chance to meet normal, women like Raina and Kelly. Women who, like himself, had charted their own paths in life and worked for everything they had.
Yes, Christian thought with a rueful smile, he would enjoy getting to know Ms. Raina McMillan.
3
Raina’s brow was creased in concentration. Absentmindedly, she ran her fingers through her hair. She glanced at the two files in front of her. There were two new suppliers with whom she was not familiar, but she knew that before a company supplied the hotel, they were vigorously vetted, with information such as their business licenses and sales tax numbers recorded.
Besides, the list of approved suppliers came from the highest levels of the company. She just gave a cursory glance at the supplier names, signed at the bottom, and added them to the pile behind her. She pulled out another supplier’s record and started running through the numbers.
The phone by her side rang and Raina, lost deep in thought, jumped. She glared at it, deciding not to answer. It was half an hour past her scheduled working hours, but she was working late again as usual. Whoever it was could just leave a message.
She turned her attention back to the papers in front of her. Something was not right with the figures. The actual delivery schedule of supplies had decreased, yet the files showed that the soaps they were already running out of should have lasted for another two months. Raina sighed. A computer system would have sorted out all these problems, yet, every time she pointed this to Roger, he just waved her concerns away and said it would cost too much to implement something like that.
The pone kept ringing, making it unable for her to concentrate. With a sigh, she grabbed it. “Hello,” she said onto the phone distractedly.
Raina murmured in response, and then ended the conversation, approving the Human Resources Manager’s decision to put Christopher’s office in a small room, off the housekeeping department. She had forgotten all about Christopher, with so much on her mind. She hadn’t seen him in the last couple of days—she probably ought to check up on him and see how he was getting on with things.
Returning to scrutinizing the documents, Raina looked up abruptly, after an eerie feeling that someone was watching her. Hers was an open door policy and she did her best to adhere to that at all times. Her mouth went dry when she saw Roger Del Mar, leaning against the frame, staring at her intently.
How long had he been there?
Disconcerted, Raina stood up and unconsciously smoothed down her skirt. She saw Roger’s eyes roam over her curves with a leer and she snatched her hands away from her legs.
“Hello Mr. Del Mar?” Raina said.
“Roger. How many times must I remind you, my dear Raina?” Roger said smoothly.
Raina preferred to use his surname as a reminder that theirs was strictly a business relationship, not that Roger paid any notice.
“Roger,” she said curtly, turning away from him. “I’m quite backlogged here, I’m afraid I—.” But he cut her off.
“That’s better,” he said as he marched into the room and walked towards her, stopping so close to her that she could smell his vile cologne and rancid cigar breathe.
Roger had not aged well, Raina thought, looking at the premature creases on the side of his mouth and forehead. He must be what, in his mid-fifties? But he looked nearly seventy. She swallowed hard and forced her breath to slow down. The last thing she wanted was Pervy Roger to know how uncomfortable he made her.
“You look beautiful, as always,” he whispered.
He then did something he had never dared to do before. He placed a hand on her hip. Raina jumped back as though she had been burnt by a searing hot poker. Roger’s response was to laugh, exposing his straight but stained teeth.
“Why do you resist me Raina? You know I could make life very pleasant for you,” Roger said. He leaned a little closer to her and whispered in her ear, “And I could make life very unpleasant as well …”
The threat lingered there between them, hanging heavy in the air.
Raina pulled back from him as she felt the contents of her last meal threatening to escape from her stomach. She looked at his oily grey-brown hair and leering mouth, and she swallowed the disgust that rose up her throat. Raina thought of her mortgage and the children. She had to be very careful. If she wounded his pride, he would fire her without a single thought. She had seen it happen to others too many times.
“You’re a very handsome man and any woman would be honored to date you,” Raina said, a fake smile plastered on her face.
Roger’s eyes darted around and then settled on the glass wall by his side. Raina watched him as he inspected his face and straighten his mustache hairs. God, the man was vain!
“But Roger, I don’t mix work with pleasure. I value you too much as a colleague to want to jeopardize our working relationship, however tempting it is.” Raina had to choke out the last sentence.
He screwed his eyes until they appeared as two slits.
“So you’d rather resign so that we can date, is that what you’re saying? If that’s the case—“
“No, that’s not what I mean,” Raina said in panic. “Oh, and before I forget, there’s something I want to talk about.”
She fled behind her desk and proceeded to show Roger the discrepancies with the supplies and the invoices. He showed little interest and used the time to scrutinize her from across the desk instead.
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about that; I’ll take care of it.” Roger said.
Raina had no choice but to let it go, but she couldn’t stand a minute longer in the office. The air was stifling and she felt as though Roger had taken up all her space with his presence.
“I have to run; you know how it is. So much to do!” Raina said with a smile. She kept her voice light and cheerful. “So glad you stopped by, Roger.…”
She fled as fast as she could without also being insulting. Her walk was clipped and she took sharp turns through the tight service hallways to try and lose Roger.
She heard him yelling behind her, “We’re not done yet—"
Roger’s voice trailed off, but Raina pretended not to hear what he had said. The implication was clear, and she was tired of it.
Her hands clenched tightly into a fist. If she did not need her job so much, she would have walked right out and never returned. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes as she walked/ran through the corridors. She was so lost in her thoughts, that she only realized that she had bumped into someone when she felt strong arms wrap around her.
“Hey there, where’s the fire?” Christopher said. He caught her with an “Ooof,” and let her fall into him.
Raina buried her face into his chest without thinking about it. Her hands briefly clutched his shirt and his smell—clean and woodsy—filled her nostrils. It was barely more than a few seconds, but in those short moments Raina felt safe.
When she came to her senses, she jumped back. Her eyes were filled with tears and she kept her head averted so that he wouldn’t see them. She laughed shakily.
“Sorry about that. I’m in a bit
of a rush; I want to catch some guests before they check out.” Raina said and fled without a single glance at Christopher’s face. She could feel his stare as she rushed down the hallway. She felt a twinge of remorse at having dismissed him so quickly. She would apologize later. Right now she needed to get some space between her and—well, everyone.
Once in the open lobby, she felt her breathing slow down and she reduced down her pace. She marched to the reception desk and intercepted two guests, welcoming the distraction that giving good customer service provided her.
“Hi, I’m Raina, the manager.” Raina said. “Did you enjoy your stay with us?”
The next morning when Raina got to the hotel, she started her usual rounds. This involved visiting most of the areas of the hotel, especially those frequented by the guests. She circled the ground floor, noting the expensive chrome-plated fixtures were perfectly polished, artfully arranging magazines on tables and straightening vases overflowing with fragrant flowers.
When she was done, Raina took the huge elevator to the lower level and reveled in the silence there. Some days it seemed she barely had a chance to breathe. In the polished reflection of the elevator doors she noted her crisp, professional-looking suit approvingly and tucked a stray curl back in place. Her makeup highlighted her best features—her wide brown eyes, her full lips—but was subtle and elegant. She looked both “no-nonsense,” but also approachable and friendly. It was, she thought as she smiled wryly at her reflection, a hard balance to pull off.
As the elevator doors opened, she took a deep breath to steel herself for the day. She exchanged curt greetings with a few housekeepers who were cleaning the rooms which had recently been vacated. She took a peek at another room with the door ajar and to her pleasant surprise she spied Christopher atop a ladder fixing a bulb in the chandelier.
“Hello there,” she called out.
“Hey yourself; feeling better?” Christopher said, without taking his eyes away from the chandelier.