Chapter 7
As I watch Jessica walk away, her steps hurried and her cheeks flushed, I can’t help but feel a twinge of regret mingled with desire. What just happened between us was unexpected, but it ignited a spark that I can’t seem to ignore.
I let out a harsh breath as I look around, trying to figure out the reason I came down in the first place. My brain seems to have suddenly gone foggy.
I see one of the maintenance guys. “Come here,” I order, now feeling angry at their negligence.
I can see the fear in his eyes as he walks up to me. Yeah, be scared because you might be kissing your job goodbye. I know most of my employees label me as being borderline cruel, but I’m only trying to keep them from running down my business.
If they want to work somewhere their ego will be pampered, then they should find a job in a massage parlor.
“Why did the elevator get stuck for a whole ten minutes? And why did it take you guys so long to respond?” I bark at him, causing him to shrink back a little.
“I…”
“Weren’t you guys supposed to have carried out a routine maintenance check two days ago? How did you miss what could have caused that malfunction?”
“We haven’t taken care of the maintenance yet, sir,” he responds in a fearful tone, looking at his shoes.
“What?! What do you mean? You…” I pause when I realize that I’m barking up the wrong tree. The right person to get my answer from is Lysa; she was the one handling that department.
“I’m about to take the elevator back to my office. You better make sure it doesn’t get stuck again, or you and all that are in that crew will be kissing your jobs goodbye.”
The fear written on his face is palpable, but I don’t care. They should have heard the panic in Jessica’s voice. She was so scared it did something to my inside that I’m partly to blame for.
With how sharp her tongue is, I had no idea that she was afraid of a closed space. Hearing her vulnerable made me want to protect her. I still do. I want to shield her from anything that will cause her pain.
A smile curls up my lips as I bring my finger to my nose and smell her. It feels like a part of her is still with me, even though she isn’t here right now.
Maybe it wasn’t so bad that you both got stuck together in the elevator.
I shouldn’t be thinking this way, but I can’t seem to control it. My smile grows wider as I remember the soft moans that escaped her lips as I finger fucked her to orgasm.
I’m glad I was there to help her get through her fears. And even brought her pleasure in the process.
Call me a jerk, but a part of me was a little disappointed when we started moving again. I can’t tell what it is, but there’s something about her that makes me want to spend more time with her.
Ever since that night at the bar, I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried.
And it frustrates me that she has been avoiding me. Well, until tonight. Women don”t usually ignore me after a night together in the sheets. They are always the ones coming back and begging for more.
I’ve always been the one to break things off with ladies and not the other way around.
Taking a deep breath, I pull my fingers through my hair as I think of a way to make it up to our guests. Surely we”re not the only ones who got trapped in an elevator during the shortage.
I reach for the telephone on my desk and call the assistant manager of the hotel.
“What is being done about the guests who were stuck in the elevator a while ago?” I ask the moment he answers the phone.
“We already apologized to them, sir,” he responds.
“Just that?” I groan out, hating that I have to think for them all the time. Don’t these guys have brains?
“Y…yes, sir.”
“If I was a guest at a hotel and I got stuck in an elevator for a whole ten minutes, and then the management only apologizes in words, I sure wouldn’t go back there next time I’m in town. So, we have to do more than that.”
“We can give them a complimentary breakfast,” he quickly says.
“Throw in a free massage.”
“Okay, sir.”
After I end the call, I try reaching Lysa on the phone, but to no avail. Glancing at my wristwatch, it’s past nine. Maybe she already left for the night.
I send her a text asking her why the routine maintenance was not done, and that I need an explanation.
A text from my best friend pops up on my screen.
Drake: Where are you, man? Everyone is here.
We were all supposed to meet up and have drinks at our hangout spot. It’s one of Drake’s exclusive clubs.
We haven’t seen each other in weeks, as we’ve all been busy, and the plan was to unwind at the club tonight, but I don’t seem enthusiastic like I used to be about such hangouts.
I get pulled out of my thoughts when my door opens and Amy walks in. “When will you learn to knock?” I murmur, surprised to see her.
“Good evening to you too,” she grumbles as she takes a seat on the couch in a corner of my office.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at a friend’s birthday party?” I ask.
She opens her purse and pulls out a pack of face wipes; taking out a few, she starts wiping her makeup.
“It was a total disaster. The celebrant had a huge fight with one of the girls.” Amy pauses, giving me a look.
“What?” I say, wondering what I must have suddenly done wrong.
“Aren’t you going to ask what caused the fight?”
“Do I want to know?”
“It’s because she was sent a picture of her friend with her man—together in bed.”
I shake my head as I type an email to Lysa and tell her to report to my office first thing on Monday with an explanation for why the maintenance wasn’t carried out. The text I sent earlier was informal, so I figured I would make it official; this way, she will understand how serious this is.
“Are you even listening to what I’m saying?” Amy pouts.
“I think you should change your friends. You girls are always fighting over one thing or the other. Doesn’t it get tiring for you?”
She lets out a slow breath. “It is, actually, but that’s what makes it fun.” There’s a devious grin on her face as she winks at me. “Do you think I can get a job here? Or maybe at one of the hotels or something?”
I look away from my computer screen, giving her my attention. “What happened to you wanting to take time to yourself and not working?” That was what she said after she graduated from the university last year.
She shrugs. “I guess it’s boring. I want to work. Think I can get a managerial position?”
I chuckle, shaking my head.
“What is funny?”
“Amy, you’ve never worked a day in your life, and you want your first role to be a manager?”
“Why not? Need I remind you that I studied business management just like you did?”
“I’m not arguing that, but practical knowledge is different. You don’t have that yet.”
“And how am I supposed to get ‘practical knowledge’ if I don’t work?”
“We can start with a smaller job…”
“You are such a bully. I’m going to tell Mom.”
“Mom doesn’t run the company. I do.”
“Yeah, right.” She rolls her eyes as she discards the used face wipes in a nearby trash can and gets on her feet.
“I see my visit here is unfruitful.”
“So, you left your party and came here to ask to manage one of the hotels? What is really going on with you?”
She shrugs. “Nothing. I just had an epiphany and decided to come here, but I can see that you’re not going to give me what I want. At least I tried.”
With that said, she struts out of my office, making me wonder what”s happening with her. She has been acting a little strange since she came back from Miami.
Another text comes from Drake asking me to come down to the club, or they are going to bring the party to wherever I am.
I send him a reply, letting him know that I’m on my way. Pushing back my chair, I pick up my jacket and call my driver, telling him to bring the car around as I walk out of my office.
As I walk by the reception, I notice Jessy behind the desk attending to a guest. I can’t seem to look away, even though it seems clearly obvious that I’m staring. The way her small lips move as she speaks and the way her lashes flutter as she looks at her computer screen.
As if aware that I’m looking at her, she raises her head and looks in my direction, and the moment our eyes meet, she quickly looks away.
I want to walk over and talk to her, but I decide against it. She won’t avoid me forever. I will make sure of that.
When I walk into Drake’s club, I’m welcomed by loud music blaring through the speakers. The dance floor is filled with people sweating it out with their partners.
A waitress dressed in a bra and panties walked past me, carrying trays filled with drinks. I pluck one off a tray, and that’s when I see Drake walking up to me.
“And he finally shows up,” he says, a fat stick of cigar hanging loosely around his mouth. Two ladies wearing see-through dresses by his sides; one of them winks at me, but I couldn’t be more appalled.
“What is going on, man? Were you planning on bailing on us?” Drake comes over and gives me a hug, patting my back.
“I was busy with work.”
He shoots me a serious look. “Always the workaholic. It’s a good thing you took the advice and decided to come and let loose a little.”
“Where are Dan and Ben?”
“They are upstairs. I need to handle a situation with one of the customers quickly.” He turns to look at the women by his side. “Hey ladies, how about you keep Ethan happy, huh?”
“I’m good. Thank you.” I raise my hand, stopping the seemingly escorts from coming any closer.
“If you say so.”
As Drake walks away with them, I get a tap on my shoulders, and when I turn around, I’m faced with a somewhat familiar face.
“Hi Ethan, it’s been a while,” she says in a sultry tone, batting her eyelids at me.
“Hey…” I try to recall her name.
“It’s Missy,” she offers as she notices my struggle. “I’ve been trying to reach you, but it seems like you’ve been avoiding me.”
“I’ve been busy,” I reply, my tone curt.
She raises an eyebrow, a hint of amusement playing at the corners of her lips. “Busy or screening my calls?”
“Take your pick,” I say, unable to keep the bitterness from creeping into my voice as I now remember her. She was a one-night stand and refused to get the memo.
“Ethan, I miss…”
“Hey, Missy, it is, right?”
She nods.
“What we had was a one-time thing, so stop trying to reach me. Okay?”
I can see the hurt in her eyes as I walk away, but I couldn’t care less. We hooked up months ago. And when we did, I made it clear to her that I was not the long-term type, and she had agreed.
Under different circumstances, I would have taken up her offer to hook up again. But now Jessica is all I can think about. Being with another woman already feels like a betrayal. Even though we are not dating yet.
Oh, I’m pussy whipped!