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“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.
