Fate

“There is no reason you should feel timid with all this talent, Ariel.” Blaine was watching me as he spoke. 

I smiled softly and turned to look away, but he placed a finger on my chin and turned my face back to look at him.

“No, don’t do that,” he said, his eyes pinned on mine. “I like you confident. There is no reason you shouldn’t be. You are smart.” He inched a finger up, and I felt him gently running it under my lashline, “have eyelashes I have only ever seen on a camel once.”

I choked on my laughter, and bent over coughing as he patted my back. 

Then I progressively went from giggling to laughing. 

Blaine soon began to chuckle softly beside me, a hint of surprise in his eyes that I would find those words so funny.

I did not lean back against the couch after that, but stood up instead. 

I felt all these butterflies in my belly and knew this softness in his eyes could only lead me to one place.

“You’re leaving?” His voice sounded sad as he looked up at me. I nodded, pressing my lips together.

But I did not walk away. Not immediately. 

We stared at each other and I knew he would have preferred me to stay longer.

“There’s a strip party upstairs. All your friends will be there.” I blurted out. 

I had no idea why I had said that, and a terrible blush began to spread up my face as he watched me with one eyebrow slightly raised.

Then he smiled slowly, seemingly amused at my naïveté. 

I pressed my lips and turned to gather the empty dishes before I embarrassed myself any further. 

I hurried out of the bedroom and handed the tray to the first kitchen assistant I saw, and hurried up to my suite.

There I stood in front of the mirror and stared at myself. 

What could a company manager possibly have seen here to like me? 

It was not about my face, or even curves; he had not looked down at those once. I wondered if he had ever noticed that.

He had to have, if his awful friend would not stop pointing it out the other day.

But it was none of that. He seemed to enjoy my company. 

I stepped back, frowning in confusion. 

Or was he simply pretending? 

Was this just another male trick to get a woman in their bed? Be kind and act like they wanted nothing, so she feels relaxed and they strike.

I had done a good job staying away from men till now, seeing how they had ruined my mother’s reputation and even life. 

My mother looked like a queen. She had the kind of beauty that was reserved for wives of kings and emperors. But somehow, her relationships with tricky men had cost her dignity and reputation.

They showed up singing love songs only to be fakes in the end, who just wanted her body. 

I did not want that life. I never wanted it.

So I did the right thing, stayed completely away from men.

It was not difficult to do that because men were awful, and disgustingly selfish. Even their seemingly kind acts were fleeting, and with ulterior motives. 

But this man. 

I looked back up at the mirror, staring at my reflection. Can he be trusted? 

It was the second day since he had been extremely kind to me, but he still treated me with respect and had not made a single comment about my body.

A smile began to stretch my lips till I found myself laughing. He complimented my eyelashes though. 

Of all things, my eyelashes. I covered my mouth laughing.

But he said I was smart too. Everyone told me that, but from him, it felt special. 

Just like the second day, I did not see him throughout the morning and afternoon of the third day.

I was not surprised. Today was the actual wedding day, and I also thought it was for the best that he stayed away anyway. 

This was our last day here and we most likely would never cross paths again. He was part of the wealthy; I was not.

Better not to start anything we can not handle. 

So, I simply watched the wedding procession in the lavishly decorated garden from my bedroom window since I was no longer a general waitstaff, and had nothing else to do with my time.

The garden was too far from here though to make out the faces, so I was not sure which one of the men in similar-colored suits was Blaine. I watched till I dozed off in exhaustion.

When I woke up, it was early evening. 

I jumped up, startled. I had not served his lunch. 

Why did my supervisor not come banging at the door as she most definitely would love to do in such a situation where any of us were slacking off?

Or had Blaine told her not to. 

I quickly tapped the screen of our work tablet, and logged into the project management app. To my surprise, there was no message for me. 

I zoomed in to look properly, and then looked up at the wall opposite me in confusion.

Was he avoiding me? Did he suddenly not want to see me? 

Or did he finally realize I was nowhere near the same tax bracket as he, and hated himself for getting so close to me when we ate from the same dish yesterday.

I dropped the tablet on the table and sank tiredly to the bed. 

I could just imagine how all my colleagues must be laughing in the kitchen and all the mean things they must be saying about me.

I had heard their whispers, seen their looks of envy and even hate in some cases, wondering how I got to be his favorite. They must be getting a kick out of this.

This was doing something terrible to my already low self-esteem. 

By evening there was still no message in the app and I had been checking every quarter of an hour. 

The more I checked, the hotter my chest felt.

Why do I care? 

Another person would go to sleep, happy to be making free money. 

By 8pm, with still no message, I decided to take tea up to his room regardless.

Now that I look back, that was the most foolish decision I ever made. Second, of course, to not packing my bags and leaving as soon as he made my supervisor move me to this luxury room and serve just him.