chapter 5: His boss had a crush on Anaya

" Good evening madam and welcome to Maya"

The doorman greeted Anaya as she walked in. She gave him a light nod before continuing inside. The lobby was very large and open, unlike what her colleagues had said and Anaya began to regret even showing up at such a place. Not wanting to discriminate too early, she decided to walk over to the receptionist and ask questions.

" Good evening madam"

The receptionist greeted sounding so unconfident that it made Anaya doubt that she would be able to carry out her request.

" Good evening, may I speak with your manager?"

Anaya asked the young woman before her and she tensed up immediately. Anaya thought it was because she suddenly wanted to meet their manager after speaking to so she decided to reassure her that she wasn't the problem.

" There's no reason to be panicked, I'm just a customer that needs to speak with your manager about an observation and also a request I would love to make."

" you're a customer?"

The receptionist whispered with her eyes wide open and Anaya nodded her head slowly in response. Her jaw dropped and she looked around her before finally whispering back to Ana

" Madam, you're not meant to be inside here, the place is currently under inspection and the person who let you in may get into big trouble if the boss found out you entered while he was in."

Anaya was a bit confused about the whole situation but as she looked around, she noticed the place was a bit crowded, and weirdly, all the people inside were dressed in black suits. Anaya wondered if it was some sort of fraternity or mafia and she began to regret even coming there in the first place. As she made to leave she was stopped by one of the men dressed in a black suit.

" Good evening madam, I overheard you ask after the manager."

" For a PRIVATE bar, the interactions in here seem to be very public."

" I'm sorry about that, we're currently working on it."

Another man in a black suit replied. It was the man that had greeted her on her way in.

" Ohh....it's you. I'm glad you're working on it but as for me, if you'll excuse me I'll be taking my leave now."

" You were gonna ask the manager a question."

" Yes, I was but not anymore, I'll just head home."

She replied to him before heading towards the front door but she was stopped once again by the doorman.

" Miss, you were gonna ask the manager a question."

He repeated himself

" And I said I changed my mind. But wait, why are you even so concerned, I thought you were the doorman. not that I'm looking down on you or anything, I'm just curious as to why you're so concerned when it's not in your place to ask"

On hearing her address him as a doorman the people around gagged. They wondered what the little woman before them was saying but it wasn't in their place to correct her.

" Please I would love to listen to your request, it would help with the restructuring of the company."

" Fine but it's only because it's you and also, I have only five minutes of my time to spare."

" Of course, right this way."

The doorman told her as he led her away from the lobby. When the two were out of ear shots, the first man asked the receptionist.

" I hope you weren't rude to her."

" No sir ."

" Good!"

He replied before he made to follow after the people had just walked out.

" Umm... Ex.. excuse me, Manager Wade"

The receptionist called out to the man who was about to walk out.

" What is it again Martha?"

" I want to ask, please why is Assistant Ezekiel so concerned about a random woman he just met."

" Compared to how quiet you were earlier, you seem suddenly outspoken."

The manager Mr wade replied to her and she looked down with her face flushed

" I'm sorry sir "

" Well I don't know what is going on but I do know that the lady that just left is someone that shouldn't be trifled with."

Manager Wade replied before following after the two people who left earlier.

Anaya was led into the elevator by the doorman man. She gave him a rather confused look as to why he was taking her there but he reassured her that all was well with a gentle nod. The two got on the elevator and rode to the second floor. When Anaya got out, she marveled at the view before her. If she had thought that the hall downstairs was the private bar then she was mistaken because what was before her was screaming PRIVATE. From the lighting to the interior decor was perfect. A soft tune was playing in the background and a few people were having drinks while minding their business.

" I thought you were having an inspection, how come they're people up here having drinks."

Anaya asked the doorman as they both continued walking in.

" Good question, well an inspection is ongoing but that has only got to do with the workers on the ground floor."

" Ohhh... that's kinda weird."

" Why do you say so?"

" Well, the hotel belongs to one person right?"

" Yes, it does."

" So why is the inspection divided, personally, if some of the workers in a particular sector are lacking then I would call for a general meeting, address the issue before everyone then punish the defaulters before everyone so that the others can learn."

" Well you're right, but our chairman doesn't work that way, his style is more of the silent kind. You'd never know what hit you. but you'd end up jobless with one to employ you."

" Woah... Now that's just nasty. I'm glad I'm not his employee or at his mercy. How do you cope?"

She asked with a look of sympathy on her face. The young doorman was so nice to her the entire time but here he was suffering under one of the most heartless employers she had ever seen.

" Well it's not as bad as you think, just do the right thing and you'll have a great stay."

" If you ever end up in such a situation, without a job or anywhere to go, I would be glad to be able to assist."

Anaya reassured him as she reached for her business card in her bag and handed it over to him. Ezekiel was amused by her actions and wondered what she would think if she knew who he was.

" Thanks miss, I'll take your offer into consideration if I'm ever faced with such a dilemma."

Anaya was about to reply to him when the man from earlier caught up with them. He was a handsome young man and based on Anaya's assessment, he looked like he was In his mid-thirties.

" Meet Mr. Wade, the manager of the hotel."

" Mr Wade, meet Miss..."

" Anaya, Anaya Otis Freeman."

She concluded that she had not introduced herself to the doorman earlier and he wouldn't have known her name.

" Welcome Miss Anaya"

The manager Mr Wade greeted her while shaking hands with her.

" Thank you, Mr Wade...umm why didn't you speak up earlier? I had wanted to have a word with the manager."

" Well, you met with Ezekiel and he's the best person to make a complaint to so I decided not to interfere any longer."

Mr wade replied while gesturing at the doorman

" I don't get it, you decided not to interfere because I met with the doorman?"

Anaya asked rather confused. Manager Wade was more confused than she was as he didn't understand when assistant Ezekiel had turned into a doorman. He only hoped that she hadn't crossed the line with him because he could be as scary as his boss.

" Well Miss Anaya, let's just say I'm the chairman's doorman."

Ezekiel replied to her with a bright smile. Anaya was even more confused, almost everyone there was acting weirdly and she began to Wonder Why she had followed him in the first place.

" Look, Mr Ezekiel, you don't necessarily have to go through All this stress to ask me a simple question. You can ask me anything right here and I'll answer you sincerely.

" Well Miss Anaya I guessed you would be asking for the private bar when you requested to talk to the manager and that's why I brought you here."

Ezekiel answered rather sincerely.

" Ohhh my... How did you guess?"

" Let's just say I have a way with people."

He replied with a smile on his face and Anaya choked on her spit. Looking at him closely, he was such a breathtakingly handsome man. The kind that would make you feel that nature cheated the rest. He had black hair that contrasted his pale white skin, he was more than a foot taller than she was and well built. Anaya could feel her body humming and she decided that he would spend the night with her.

" Let me buy you a glass of wine as a thank-you gift."

She asked him in a very flirty way and he didn't turn her down. Leaving the very confused Manager Wade behind, he led her to a table that was around the corner. It was a square-shaped table and the two sat facing opposite each other. The waiter came almost immediately to take their order and when he left Ezekiel decided to liven up the place, engaging her in light talks. Their drinks finally came and they kept talking about almost everything. In less than a few minutes, Anaya had gotten to know some things about him, something she usually didn't do with the other men she had slept with. After they were done with two bottles of wine he excused himself as he had work to do. Anaya allowed him to leave because she didn't want him to lose his job, with the way he had described working for the chairman while they were drinking, She noticed that he loved his job and did not want to lose it at all. As Anaya watched him leave, she thought to herself that he reminded her of Dorian, sexy and handsome to others but for some reason, she found his presence like the brotherly kind, instead of sexy she saw him as sweet, gentle, and understanding. Spending time with him made her suddenly miss Dorian and strangely she had opened up to Ezekiel about Dorian. Even though she didn't tell him everything, she had told him more than she had told anyone in the past few years. They had even exchanged numbers and gotten nicknames for themselves. He would call her 'Naya' while she called him 'Zeke'. Their bonding over a few bottles of wine was quite strange but in a good kind of way.

When Ezekiel was sure that he was completely out of her sight, he took out his phone to call someone

" How was it?"

A voice asked from behind him

" I was about to call you ."

Ezekiel replied the voice as he returned his phone to his pocket before adding.

" She's nicer than I expected."

" Is she now ?"

The voice asked in a sarcastic tone before chuckling.

" In a space of some minutes, she was able to make out a nickname for me and also offer me a job in case you ever fired me."

Ezekiel told him with a cryptic smile on his face. As much as he wanted to act unaffected, he kind of felt touched by her actions.

" So you two even have nicknames now"

The man complained he seemed more worried about the nickname than the fact that his best employee was being poached right under his nose.

" yes we do"

Ezekiel answered innocently, not knowing that a certain someone did not like the new development.

" And what does she call you?"

" Zeke, she calls me Zeke."

" It sounds horrible"

He commented before walking out. Ezekiel just remained quiet on his spot as he didn't want to anger the man. Recently, his boss had started behaving weirdly, little things would get him on edge, and at the end of the day, his employees would be the ones to suffer it. They had been in country Y for just a week and already, five employees had been fired for very few mistakes. He couldn't blame him because he figured that he probably couldn't cope with all the emotions so he resorted to anger. Ezekiel had never seen his boss display the kinds of emotions that he had been showing recently, especially today. The bold and proud man he knew was suddenly uncertain and scared, he dreaded to meet the young girl who was seated all alone at the bar and even got jealous because she had given Ezekiel a nickname. Ezekiel had thought maybe the young girl was some sort of terror but based on what he observed, Anaya seemed very cool to him so he concluded that his boss had a crush on Anaya.

Ezekiel wandered off with the thoughts still revolving in his head but something stuck with him,

" how did he know her."