Second Hand Waitress

“So, you’re basically telling me to keep quiet,” she said.

“If that’s how you want to see it, then yes,” he replied.

He bent down to grab her phone, clearly signaling the conversation was over. He glanced at the screen before handing it back to her.

“This isn’t exactly what I would call professional behavior,” he said, eyeing the silly pouting photo of her on the phone.

Feeling embarrassed, she quickly looked down, realizing how out of place she felt.

“It was supposed to be a joke,” she tried to explain, even though she knew he wouldn’t understand the humor.

“I hope you’ll act more professionally at the meeting,” he said.

Frustrated with herself for messing up, Kira quickly tried to regain her composure.

“Yes, sir. I apologize for my earlier behavior,” she said, trying to sound serious, though sarcasm still slipped through in her tone. He raised an eyebrow, clearly noticing the sarcasm, then looked her up and down.

“You might want to fix your hair,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain. “Maybe reapply your lipstick too. Oh, and you should adjust your skirt and button your blouse before we get there.”

She scooted back to the other side of the seat, trying to adjust her skirt and fix her blouse. She blushed when she realized her black bra was showing. She quickly checked her hair and makeup, realizing her lipstick was smudged. How had she managed to mess that up while picking up her phone? This day just kept getting worse. She reapplied the lipstick and turned her back to him, staring out the window.

She wasn’t going to let him ruin her excitement about being in the biggest city of Medina, and if this was all she got to see, then she was going to enjoy it while she could. She heard him snort behind her, but ignored it, hoping he’d go back to his important work. He only needed her to take notes, write emails, and handle the menial tasks that required little thought.

 @@novelbin@@

She knew Megan, his executive assistant, had a much more interesting job, handling projects, running the office, and doing important work. But from the look of things it was clear Tesah didn’t trust kira to handle anything remotely as important. In the past hours she had been with him, she was given basic secretarial duties while the more significant tasks were emailed to others. Even the little she did was often checked by Tesah himself.

The other assistants were already busy with their own tasks and resented Kira for not doing her job properly. She had heard one of the assistants complaining early that morning in the break room before she reported in Tesah's suite.

They knew Geo, kira's manager had mentioned her connection to the former store keeper, Tesah's mother close friend, and it had led to rumors that she got the job because of her late mother. No one would dare accuse Tesah of favoritism to his face, but Kira became the target of their resentment just in a few hours. For damn sake she was just a simple waitress at Median city

She told herself to be more cautious about whom she spoke to at work in the next four days she was going to work directly under her Boss Tesah Clover after that incident in the morning.

Luckily to her, there were some people who didn’t believe the rumors, like Fiona, the friendly tea lady; Ryan, the cheerful driver who picked her from Median city and brought her to Medina city to work with Tesah Clover; and some of the junior staff who weren’t burdened with extra tasks. Despite her short hours at the biggest hotel, Kira had managed to make a few friends.

But the most ironic thing was that Kira hadn’t realized that the Tesah Clover of Clover groups of hotels, was the same “Tes” her late mother occasionally mentioned. Her mother and Tesah's mother had been friends since the Clover's first hotel was opened, but they weren’t close enough to invite each other to family events, so Kira had never met him. She had been too absorbed in her own life and baking to care about her mother and her friends. It was a shock when she realized that her mother's “Tes” was actually the powerful Tesah Clover behind the famous Clover's International hotel chain.

It wasn’t until her mother became serious and disapproving when she'd reported to her that she'd gotten a waitress job at Clover hotel, telling her she probably got the job because of her friend, that Kira finally understood. She realized she probably got hired because of the connection, a favor neither her mother nor she had asked for. By that point, it was too late to back out since her mother was too weak and sick, and Kira had decided to make the best of the opportunity. If she had met Tesah's mother during the interview, she probably would’ve turned down the job. But the interviews had been done by the Clover's staff, and Tesah's mother had supposedly made his decision after watching the recordings.

Kira didn’t know what she expected from Clover's hotel, but from the first day, she had made it clear to herself to stay away from the owners just as her mother had instructed. But three months after her mother's death, she was summoned by her manager Geo, to come over at the biggest hotel it was like Tesah Clover was now making it clear he only tolerated her presence because of her mother. Less than half an hour into her first hour at work, after asking her to make coffee, photocopy documents, send two emails (one of which she messed up by missing a zero in a big number), and water his plant, he had sent her downstairs to a junior executive. That assistant had sent her to a desk, told her to answer the phone if it rang, and then disappeared to help Tesah.

The memory still made Kira angry, even four hours later. She clenched her teeth whenever she thought about how, after that first encounter, things had continued in the same frustrating pattern. Every minute she started in Tesah's hotel suite, but within thirty minutes, after making his coffee, watering his annoying ficus, or sending out those cringe-worthy notes, she was sent to another executive. Luckily, the other executives stopped giving her trivial tasks, and she began to enjoy the little breaks away from Tesah's office. Still, the first half-hour in the mornings was unbearable. Tesah was harsh, bluntly dismissing her skills, and incredibly rude. He never greeted her, never used basic manners like "please" or "thank you," and Kira was certain that a smile would crack his perfect face until the late midnight.

Tesah remained focused on his iPad while Kira tried to focus on the passing scenery, hoping to remember as much as possible. She was fascinated by the blend of old and new architecture. The wooden buildings looked ancient, tucked away in alleys, overshadowed by modern skyscrapers. She mentally noted everything, eager to research the places later. All this helped distract her from Tesah's unnerving presence.

They were now in their second meeting, a conference meeting. The first meeting had gone absolutely smooth about Tesah's new house. Tesah hadn't spoken much again to her, he only told her, "behave yourself." When they were about to enter the meeting room.

Kira had no choice but to act like the personal assistant that Tesah had wanted her to be, not like her usual waitress character.

Finally! After hours of hell hunger they had doughnuts! Kira was so hungry she felt lightheaded, and a doughnut was exactly what she needed to make everything feel right again. She barely noticed the bowing and talking around her, her attention fixed on the tempting spread of pastries and coffee. The formal greetings dragged on, but kira was already planning how she would sneak over to the table. She was just about to grab a chocolate-glazed doughnut when a firm hand gripped her elbow. Her stomach sank, and she looked up at Tesah with a pleading expression. He didn’t give in. His jaw was tight, and Kira knew she wasn’t going to get her doughnut. He led her to a seat at the conference table, cruelly placing her right next to the food she couldn't have.

“Try to focus,” he muttered in her ear as he sat her down, making sure the table of goodies was within easy reach.

The next three hours were the most boring of kira's life. The meeting was in Medina, a language she didn’t understand, but Tesah did, and he spoke it fluently. She had no idea why she was there in the first place, he was recording the meeting, so she didn’t even need to take notes. All she could do was stare at the doughnuts, imagining how good they would taste. At one point, a fly landed on her doughnut, and she had to fight the urge to jump up and swat it away. Instead, she watched in disgust as it crawled all over her beautiful doughnut. Frustrated, she turned to a different doughnut, only to have the same fly land on it. She slumped in her chair, defeated, and looked down at her empty notebook.

She picked up her pen and started to doodle, hoping to at least look busy. She wrote some bad words, trying to pass the time:

About Tesah:

Hard abs, sure, he’s nice

Looks good, but what a jerk, though

My God, he’s a dick

Okay, maybe that last line was a little unclear, was it a compliment or an insult? Even Kirk wasn’t sure.

After a few more terrible lines, Kira gave up on that and began to doodle instead. She occasionally looked up, nodding to make it seem like she was following the meeting. Glancing at Tesah, she was amused to see him wearing his dark-rimmed glasses perched on the tip of his nose. They made him look nerdy in a sexy way, which was a flaw she could definitely appreciate.

The only other woman in the room, Ms Marita, kept casting sneaky glances at Tesah and smiling demurely whenever he spoke to her. If not for the calculating look in her eyes, Kira might have thought the woman was sweet, but she could tell there was more to her than that. She was clearly trying to seduce Tesah.

Well, Tesah didn’t care. All she wanted was a doughnut. Maybe that caramel one, which the fly hadn’t landed on yet, except that, of course, the fly chose that moment to land on it too. By the time the meeting was over, the fly would have,

“Miss Samia?” Kira snapped out of her thoughts, realizing Tesah was trying to get her attention.

“Uh… yes?”

“I asked if you got that?”

Got what? Had they said something in English that she missed? Great.