03 Reunion

In the mid-year holiday season, hotels in Bali were flooded with tourists, as usual. Grace's HR assistant position that she got after years of working there demanded that she always be busy. Even though she wasn't directly involved in handling the guests, she still had a lot more work to do than usual. Especially along with the hotel growth where new and qualified employees were needed.

Grace's dexterity since her first year of work immediately caught the HRD manager's attention. Before getting the position as his assistant, she was always asked to join Mario in meetings with the General Manager.

According to the schedule, a brief meeting to replace the GM position with the new person was to be held this morning at ten. The aim was to introduce managers, as well as their assistants. So Grace came to fetch Mario at his office.

"You look different, seemingly more beautiful today," said Mario when he saw his assistant.

Wearing a light blue blouse and a black knee-length skirt was nothing new for Grace. She didn't find anything different from her usual appearance. But Nita's words about her boss having feelings for her clarified the reason behind his compliment.

"Oh, thank you." Grace slightly smiled. She tried to show respect even though she wasn't really fond of being praised.

Mario opened his arms as a sign to start walking. Then Grace elegantly walked by his side toward the meeting room. The two ran into several other managers and their assistants on the way and greeted each other.

Although the manager positions were not dominated by a certain gender, their assistants were all women. Each one of them always showed the best performance. They were affixed by branded items from head to toe as much as possible. Grace was the only one who cared the least about it. That's why they talked behind her back.

'Grace, can't you upgrade your look? You look completely out of Mario's league when walking side by side with him.'

'How could Mario choose a girl like her as an assistant?'

'Could it be she has put a spell on Mario?'

Nevertheless, such gossip had become like Grace's daily meal. Her ears had even become numb. After all, she knew exactly that their level of intelligence was way below her.

"Why isn't the AC here cold enough?" A short-haired woman who was a finance manager commented as she entered the room. “Has anyone reported it to the maintenance division? Where's the Chief Engineer?”

No one seemed to care, even their faces showed reluctance to do anything about this. It was something that made Grace sick of them.

Fortunately, Mario was different. He cared quite a bit about such little things, especially since it had to do with employees. Although eventually, there would be new tasks that were handed over to her as an assistant.

"Grace, can you please help me with this?" asked Mario.

Without complaining, Grace got up from her chair and walked out of the room. She stood not far from the door to make a phone call to Chief Engineering, a middle-aged man who behaved most normally on the managerial board. She informed him what happened and finally got a solution to this problem.

When Grace returned to the room, she told Mario the result of the brief call. As a mere assistant, she had no right to speak to the managers. More precisely because she was looked down upon.

"Sirs and Madams, let's move to the next room," said Mario, forwarding Grace's words.

They let out grunts of annoyance. But inevitably they had to move because of the discomfort there.

Mario exchanged glances with Grace with a small smile and a shrug. "We both know how they are," he said.

Grace nodded slowly. She then walked after Mario to the next room.

Everyone took a seat in a place that was convenient for them, which was not close to where the General Manager would sit. They preferred to focus on their own phones. That's why Grace and Mario were sitting right at the very end of the table, near the GM's chair.

"Good morning." The slightly chubby man in a black suit walked briskly into the room, followed by another man who looked younger.

Each of them stood in their place, putting aside their phones. The managers and their assistants were now trying to appear considerate and respectful, as a way to look good in front of the GM.

Grace couldn't look directly at the two men because her back was facing the entrance. But when all the eyes of the ladies turned to the other end of the table astonishingly, she immediately turned her gaze to the source of the astonishment.

Grace almost couldn't believe what she was seeing. The man looked so familiar that her mouth went out of control. “Evan?” she said softly but her voice was audible enough to be heard by several people nearby, including Mario who looked at her in surprise.

Flat. That was the right word to describe the look on Evan's face. He showed no surprise on his face as Grace did. Only a glance was shown to her before he finally turned his gaze to the direction in front of him.

'Huh? Why is he so aloof? Is he really Evan? Or perhaps he is just Evan's look-alike?' Grace was thinking so hard, but at the same time still hoped that he was her best friend.

"Please, have a seat." Roger, the old GM said. He sat next to his successor. “As you all already knew, I have to take over this hotel after the previous owner, my father, passed away two months ago. Therefore, the position of GM here will be replaced by my friend. Please welcome, this is Mr. Evan Williams.”

'Like I said! It’s really Evan.' Grace was glad to find what she guessed was true.

Evan got up from his seat to bow his head as a way to show respect to everyone. Without saying much, he sat back down.

"So every matter you usually report to me, from today onwards will be handled by Mr. Williams," Roger continued, looking at the managers one by one. "Well. I will not linger here. So I’m leaving it to him now." He got up from his chair and tapped Evan on the shoulder.

Evan nodded with a curt nod as the new owner of the company left the room.

“Mr. Evan, what would you like to drink? Let the office boy do it for you.” The finance manager spoke again, acting as if she would do it herself.

Evan's hand was half raised, showing a subtle refusal. "No, thank you. I'll get straight to the point so we can get back to work without lingering here,” he said, showing his firmness from the start.

Everyone was paying close attention even though most were grumbling in their hearts. They definitely complained secretly about such an attitude. Mainly because the new GM was younger than those managers.

“Since Mr. Roger's executive secretary is his own wife, the position of secretary to GM is now vacant. I need this position to be filled immediately. Please help recommend someone you think is the best from each department. They will pass some tests that I’ll make myself. Those who qualify will get this position,” explained Evan.

As the HRD manager, Mario deftly replied, “Okay, sir. We will soon make an announcement regarding this.”

"Thank you. Please also write that all candidates must attach their CVs and send them directly via GM's email as usual," Evan said as he stood up. "Let’s call it a day. Please get back to work.” Without waiting for the others to comment, he walked away from the room.

Grace couldn’t just let Evan get away. She wanted to talk to him. She excused herself to Mario and left the room. Willy-nilly, Mario couldn't help but allow her to go.

She was running after the new GM. "Evan!" cried Grace in a suppressed voice. She tried to reach him as fast as she could. "Evan, please wait for me!"

After walking some distance Evan stopped so suddenly that Grace bumped into him from behind.

"Ouch!" Grace stroked her head, then complained, “Why did you stop walking so suddenly?”

"Excuse me, Miss, I have to cut you. If you're not going to talk about work, please return to your place and don't bother me,” Evan snapped, stopping Grace at once. “And, please call me Mr. Williams. You're just an assistant manager, and I'm the GM here."

Grace frowned in disbelief. She was very surprised at his friend's attitude. There was no way Evan didn't know who she was. There were almost no changes in her appearance. Her simple makeup wouldn’t even completely remake her face like plastic surgery would.

"There is no way you can’t remember who I am, Evan," said Grace confidently. She looked up at the man who was taller than he had been a few years ago.

Evan did not comment on her remark. "Excuse me." That's what he said before he turned away coldly.

"Seriously? What's wrong with him? Amnesia? Concussion? Why, it sounds like that cheap opera thingy," Grace mumbled to herself. "But he mentioned my name. That definitely means he knows who I am." She stared at Evan’s back until he was out of sight.

"Grace!" Mario's voice exclaiming from a distance brought her back to reality. "Let's go back. We have important work from Mr. Evan, right?"

Grace nodded then walked back together with Mario. However, she still continued to dwell on the change in Evan’s attitude that so bothered her mind.

'How can I find out what's wrong with him? There's no way he could suddenly be this cold to me. This isn't like Evan at all. What can I do?'

For the second time, Grace bumped into someone's back. This time it’s her boss’s.

"Oopsie. Apologies," Grace said curtly without really feeling sorry.

Mario raised an eyebrow, wondering why his assistant was acting that way. He refrained from asking, however. "Grace, please make an announcement about Mr. Williams' request in the global department forum. It should be published as soon as possible." That's what finally came out of his mouth.

As if there was a lightbulb beside her head along with a 'ding!' sound effect in the background, Grace's eyes opened wide. "Ah! Yeah, that's right." Matter-of-factly, her response was not to Mario's request but a plan she was about to take regarding Evan. "See you later!"

Seeing his assistant's wacky behavior, Mario shook his head and smiled before entering his office.

Meanwhile, Grace moved as fast as lightning to her desk. She immediately typed the requested announcement in the forum. About ten minutes later the announcement was uploaded.

Determined to apply for the executive secretary position to GM, Grace sent her CV and other information to the aforementioned email address. She was so excited and even felt sure that Evan would choose her.

Nonetheless, what happened next was very unexpected. An email reply from the GM made her hit the ceiling.

[Dear Miss Grace Melody. I regret to tell you that I cannot accept your application. This vacancy is not reserved for assistant managers. Regards, Evan Williams.]

"Ah!" Negligently Grace cried out in a groan, making her colleagues goggle-eyed her. "Sorry. Don't mind me." Then she sat back down.

Coming out of nowhere, Nita sat next to Grace. "Are you sick?" asked she.

Grace took her ID card from her purse and gave it to Nita. "Nita, try to compare my face over there with the one you see now. Is it so different that you won't recognize me?" She asked her back, ignoring his former colleague's rhetorical question.

After carefully taking turns looking at Grace's old photo ID with her current face, Nita suddenly burst into laughter.

"Eh? Do you have a problem? What's wrong with my face?" Grace patted Nita's arm, annoyed.

"You look really geeky here," said Nita mockingly. She imitated his friend's flat expression as seen on her ID card.

Grace tilted her head slightly. "So you're saying that the current me is very different from the one on the ID card?" She concluded.

Nita nodded. "You look like you've undergone plastic surgery," she answered, then continued laughing.

"Don’t be extra. There must be some resemblance, right?” Grace was not taken in by her friend's jokes. She knew that the only thing that distinguished her old face on the ID from how she looked the way she was now was her light makeup.

Nita let out a sigh. She noticed the seriousness on Grace's face. "Yes. You didn’t change that much. I might need some time to figure out that it’s you for a while at the beginning," she said. "Why’d you ask that, anyway?"

“You won’t believe what I say.”

“Try me.”

“He finally returned.”

“He, who?”

Grace took out the photo of Evan that she always carried with her and showed it to Nita. "This guy," she said.

Suddenly, Nita's eyes pressed forward, showing her disbelief. "Are you serious?"

Grace nodded weakly with pouty lips on her face. "Yes. The new GM."

"WHAT?"

"But there is something strange about him. His nature changed. He is not like the way he used to be," Grace explained. "And I have to look into this matter."

Nita chuckled in surprise. "Ugh. The thing between you and him is too complicated. He’s gone for a long time, but once he returned, he changed. I’m not sure I can comprehend this," she said. "But then what would you do about it?"

A small smile tugged at the corner of Grace's lips. "You'll see. I'll definitely turn him back into the old Evan," she said.

[ABY]