ADAM
"Welcome back, son." My mother sang on the call. I laughed."Thank you, Mum," I said, forcing a smile. I leaned on the back seat as the driver brought the car to life."I know you are happy to be back." She said. I could sense her smiling from the other side of the call.I wasn't happy to be back, I didn't want to return. I didn't miss anything here, but I had to return — for the hotel, and her. Now I had arrived, I was latently regretting it."Of course I am, I can't wait to see you, mum." I gritted my teeth."You can come over to my place now, you can tell me all about your girlfriend, and how your 5-year stay in Turkey was. I want to hear all about it. I want to hear how you met your girlfriend too, oh I can't wait!" She blabbed on and on.I slapped my hand on my face.Shit.I forgot that the lie I told her about having a girlfriend."We broke up Mum." I fibbed."No, no, don't tell me that. You told me that you were going to get married to her, you said she was the love of your life. In fact, in your words, you called her the one." She said.I almost threw up, I called her the one. I really did take this lie to the next level."Well, she is no longer the one. We broke up."I said, trying so hard to sound honest."I don't believe you, you love playing tricks with me. You told me that you both were going to return to America together, remember?"I really should be taking notes of the lies I tell this woman because I couldn't recall all these, it occurred 2 years ago for crying out loud, how come she remembered??"Mum…""You promised me, you promised me that you'd bring someone for me this time around. Do you remember that?" She interrupted."Yes, I do." I sighed, looking out the window, and observing the moving cars."So?"I was still looking outside. I didn't know what to say, I didn't think that was the first thing she was going to ask. I was torn between saying "Mum, I was just playing tricks with you" and "Mum, I don't want to get married"I didn't know what to do.How could I tell her that I wasn't interested in love, neither did I believe in it?How could I tell her that the marriage between her and my estranged dad was what made me promise myself not to get married?He got up and left us when I was only 18, he turned me into this cold-hearted and wicked person that was incapable of falling in love or even being loved.How could I tell her all this?"Adam?" She called, bringing me out of my thoughts."Mum?""I'm waiting for your answer?"I bit my lip hard, I couldn't say anything, at least not yet. I thought hard about what to say next."Mum, I'll see you soon, okay? The general manager is calling me." I quickly said before she could say Jack and disconnected the call. I sighed deeply."I wish I didn't return," I muttered.***"Take my things to my house, I'll be there very soon," I said to the driver before coming down."Sure thing, boss." He said, driving off.I turned to look at the hotel. I looked up at the building sign which read, "THE LUSH HOTEL" in white bold letters; they were also cursive, it looked so beautiful. I smiled.I was waiting for the manager to come outside, I called him when I got here. I was getting impatient because the sun was scorching. Then, the door slid and he ran out."I'm so sorry boss, welcome back." He displayed a wide-toothed smile. I noticed that he was holding a cup.I nodded in acknowledgment, "What's that?" I pointed at it."Oh," He gestured it towards me, "It is yours.""What is inside?" I asked."Iced mocha, your favorite." He replied.I shook my head disappointedly, "Wrong. My favorite is an iced latte.""Oh..I…I'm so.. sorry." He pleaded."And you call yourself a diligent worker," I said, grabbing the cup from him and walking inside. He followed behind.When I entered the reception, I scanned around. Things changed, the pieces of furniture, the paintings on the walls, and even the tiles. It looked better. I was impressed. I was about to turn to ask Ben a question when…"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry." A female voice said.I was confused when someone hit me, I didn't notice she was there, I didn't even notice why she was apologizing until I felt something cold around my shirt. I looked at it. The sparkling white shirt had a big brown stain. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I turned to my side and studied the stain. I looked at her, she was standing in front of me."Are you truly sorry?" I asked, I was livid. "Yes, I am. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to step on you." She said with a shaky voice. I noticed that she was wearing a badge that read, "Receptionist" above and "Nicole" beneath. She knew exactly who I was.I didn't understand what she meant concerning my shoes until I looked down at them. I bit my lip hard and looked at her, couldn't she tell that she spilled coffee on me too??"You also spilled my coffee on my suit too," I said, pursing my lips.She looked at my shirt and gasped, "I'm sorry about that too."She looked so short, so I leaned forward, "Would sorry clean my shoes and suit though? Would it?"She shook her head slowly."Would you be able to afford them even?" I asked and she froze. I could sense that she was scared. Which meant she could tell how expensive my outfit was.That's right."I…I'm sorry." She reiterated. She looked scared, that was exactly how she should feel. I decided to have a bit of fun. After all, I was the hotelier.I stood upright, "If you are, clean my shoe." I commanded.I noticed that she and Ben exchanged looks."What are you waiting for? Hm?" I asked."Let me help you, Sir." I heard Ben say before bending."No," I commanded. "She caused this, so she is going to do it," I added."Do you derive joy in doing things like these?" I heard a voice say. I traced the voice and saw this beautiful-looking innocent lady behind the reception desk. Once we met eyes, I could notice a change in her body language. She liked what she saw. I liked what I saw too. I smirked, "Are you talking to me?" I pointed a finger at myself."Yes," She started. "You don't talk to people that way, that is wrong."I scoffed. I couldn't believe this. I turned to Ben, "Who is this?"He was about to reply but she interrupted "I'm standing in front of you, and I'm not deaf."Wow, this lady has got some nerve."Stop talking!" Ben warned."Why? He was being rude, and we don't condone things like that.""He..he is an exception." The lady beside me stammered.She tilted her head towards her, "And why is that?" She asked. The lady didn't answer. She looked at Ben too, who didn't say a word. I was staring at her, I couldn't help it, she looked so good. I wished I could move closer to get a better look of her face."Well, someone should say something. Tell me why he is an exception." She said. She didn't know who I was, and that was why she sounded so confident, I was so excited to watch her melt once I tell her who I am. I laughed dryly and walked forward slowly, just to study her face clearly. I felt my trouser tighten. She was beautiful. She was perfect. She was wearing these huge geeky glasses which I could tell were recommended but that didn't stop me from noticing her beautiful grey-colored siren eyes. Her face was round and her lips were slightly thin but perfect, and her hair was dark, just like mine. Damn. I could stare at this all day.Leaning my hands on the desk, I enunciated, "I am Adam Lawrence." and watched her face. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened a little. Dirty thoughts came into my mind when I looked at her mouth but I shook it immediately."Ring a bell?" I sneered.She couldn't speak. I loved that. I loved seeing her grow scared."I'm so sorry about this boss, she is a new worker. She started working here 2 weeks after you left for Turkey." Ben said, running towards me."Ah, I see," I said, nodding my head. I leaned forward, looking at her badge. I heard her inhale sharply and held my smile."See you around, Miss. Valeria." I said soothingly then looked at her face again before walking away.I've seen a lot of pretty ladies to last me for a lifetime, hell, I've slept with multiple ones but that face? That face was impeccable.It was one of a kind.VALERIAI was pacing, I couldn't stop. I was still in shock. I couldn't believe what happened. What a way to make a first impression, V.I screamed for the umpteenth time."It wasn't so bad," Nicole repeated for the 7th time. She was leaning on the toilet door to avoid anyone from coming in. "It was! It was!" I shouted. "I almost lost my job. If not for Mr. Ben, I would have lost my job. How would I have paid for Nessa's treatments?" I started breathing heavily, my heart was pounding in my chest. I leaned on the sink and looked at myself in the mirror. This was really messed up. Nicole walked towards me and rubbed my shoulders which really seemed to help in that situation. "Relax, babe. You didn't lose your job; you are fine." "Yeah, for now. What if he fires me tomorrow?" She laughed, "He isn't going to do that. Mr. Ben explained, remember? You said that yourself.""Still," I whined. "I'm so scared."She turned me to face her, "Don't be, you're fine," She paused. "Thank you for
VALERIAThe road back to the hotel was a long one. I was seated at the back seat of a luxurious bus, which was sort of hidden so crying more was very much easy. 50,000 dollars to 70,000 dollars? Where was I going to get that kind of money? Hell, I didn't even have up to 2,000 dollars in my name. If I decide to save right now, Nessa would be long gone. What am I going to do? Get a new job? Where? How? How can I juggle a 9 to 5 with other jobs?Are there online jobs now? What can I do?What can I possibly do to obtain quick cash?I bit my bottom lip so hard to push back a new round of tears; I bit it so hard that I could taste blood.What the hell was I going to do??I stood in front of the building and thought to myself about how life decided to make me feel extra shitty today when I saw a car drive past me slowly. I studied the black captivating Mercedes Benz closely, the glasses were tinted so I couldn't see anything but it felt like a pair of eyes were watching me. As soon as th
ADAM"So, how was the meeting with Madeline?" Michael asked as he handed me a glass; we were seated by poolside.As soon as I left my mother's, I went to Michael's place. Okay, not his place, his father's. Michael's father owned a billion dollar company and he had done a hell of a job keeping the company in vogue. I admired his dad a lot; he was wealthy, accommodating, nice, and most of all, faithful, unlike you know who. One thing I've noticed about being rich, most of the people you are close to, are also rich. It's automated. I didn't understand why it was that way.“Oh you know, the usual." I responded after taking a sip."Mothers." He chuckled. "I'm not prepared for that conversation right now, so let's hope your mum doesn't put that in my mum's head.""Yeah, we can only hope." "She feels I haven't been in a serious relationship because of what my dad did to her.""Is that the case?" He asked. I shrugged, "I have no idea, honestly." "That may be the reason, you change women e
ADAM“You’re done for the day; I’m going to spend the night in one of the hotel rooms.” I stated this to the driver while getting down. “Okay, boss, have a nice night.” He said as he drove away.“Yeah, you too.” I muttered as I made my way into the hotel. I checked the time: 10 p.m., I had a few things to cover up, and I was extremely exhausted. I needed something to keep me awake. Food. I hadn’t had a meal since I arrived due to obvious reasons, so I decided to stop at the kitchen first. I mean, I haven’t even had the time to meet my employees. As I walked into the building, the thought of that lady ran through my head. Why was I thinking of her? I had no freaking idea. As amusing as it was, I found myself in front of the front desk, stylishly looking for her. I only saw one person, a man, and felt this slight wave of disappointment. As soon as he saw me, he sprung up.“Good evening, Sir,” he said. enthusiastically. “I am so sorry I wasn’t able to see you earlier today; I’m on
ADAMI furrowed my brows upon meeting the door open. It was strange.Who could possibly be on the rooftop at this time of the night?I walked in and looked around. I hadn’t been there in a while, so everything looked new. I’m sure my mom had some things changed here, but it looked extremely new to me. As I walked towards the seating area, I saw someone and halted. I tiptoed backwards quietly and began observing the person. I wasn't surprised that my footsteps weren’t heard because the person didn’t see me. Thankfully, the lights were sort of bright, so I could tell it was a lady.Wait a damn minute. I knew who the person was.Valeria? What were the odds?And why was she there instead of her work station??I observed her more; she looked like she was crying because I watched her clean her face angrily. To my amazement, she started weeping, but she was quiet about it; she didn’t want anyone to hear her. I don’t know why I suddenly felt bad for her. I didn’t know what to do; I couldn’
VALERIAI was having the worst hangover ever. I can’t recall the last time I took alcohol; this one really messed me up. As I stirred in my bed, I tried to prepare myself mentally for the day and how I would handle this hangover because I could tell that it was going to last for an entire day. With my eyes still closed, I stretched my hands as far as they could and opened my eyes.Wait a damn minute.I was staring at the ceiling, and it didn’t look like the one I had at home; it looked different. I felt the bedsheets.What in the world was going on??Where was I?? I sat up and screamed when I met a man sitting by the couch, looking at his phone with his legs crossed. It was my boss!!!!!!!!I suddenly regretted screaming because it affected my head pretty bad. “You shouldn’t scream when you have a hangover; it makes things worse.” He mentioned while his eyes were still on his phone. I was still trying to assimilate what was going on.Where was I, and why was he there?? What the hel
VALERIA“I’ve been trying to reach you!! Victor said you left. What happened??” Nicole shouted over the phone. Once I was done taking a shower, I checked my phone and saw missed calls from Nicole and Terrence. I had to give Nicole a call because she had left me multiple texts.“I had to go home because I felt so sick, babe.” I responded, sitting on the large bed. “Really? I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to you taking my shift.” “It wasn’t your fault, babe; besides, I’m better now.” I said, forcing myself to let out a little laugh. “Are you sure?” She asked. “Of course I am.” I responded. “Okay, are you still home? Are you on your way out?” She asked.I swallowed hard. “Yeah, I’m home. I’m preparing for work.” The lie was so easy to tell.“Okay, don’t come. I’m going to take your shift.” “Nikki, you don’t have to do that. I’m okay now.” “No, I insist. Take care of yourself, go out, or something. Besides, Victor seems to take a little too much pleasure in his work, so I could get h
ADAMYes, I thought hard about everything. I saw it as a win. Valeria was going to get what she wanted as well as mine.I don’t want to see it as me using her sister’s sickness as an advantage, but this was the best opportunity I had to get my mother out of my back for a while, at least, till I returned to Turkey.You did not anticipate that I would remain here permanently, after all. Or did you?Do you know how tough it was to keep a good image in this country?? Since your mother owns one of the largest hotels in the nation, you are well-known from the moment you were born.That wasn’t how it felt in Turkey; I could do whatever and whomever I wanted without finding myself on the news.My club days are still vivid here. I remember leaving one of the clubs at five in the morning to see this disgusting headline on the news at eight: “One of America’s finest bachelors, seeking a wife at the club.”What the hell was that??Being popular was extremely frustrating and tiring. It was also di