C2 WELCOMING THE MAN

The dashing looking man settled in the upholstered wingback chair. A pineapple punch made with a twist by another associate who was dressed in a long loose collarless shirt with a half coat and cotton trouser-like bottoms. The tray that he offered to him had the cooling towel that was folded and rolled in style along with the glass of welcome drink.

In the meantime that he was relishing the drink, it had come to my mind to check for the packages with the receptionist so that I could offer him the latest one with the correct rate as the rates had been recently changed as the demand in the market had increased.

It was a great museum with the associates wearing different dresses from around the world every day. Only the interns had to be in black trousers and white shirts, and there were the ones who had to be on their toes and always did the running around.

That was such a fun time when I learned so many things, but sadly, I don’t miss it because I am very happy to be where I am right now. And that is the car as I am going back home from the hospital after the last appointment with my doctors. Even though I am not perfectly fine, let’s say that I am growing old with one thing after the other in my body acting up.

Initially, I had thought of checking up with the doctor for the persistent back pain that I have been having for a while, and since I was anyway going to come to the hospital for my appointment with the orthopedic doctor, I also thought of getting a full-body check-up done. I have been putting up with PCOD since my late teenage years and have had a constant complaint of delayed periods almost always with very little bleeding.

Now that I am fed up of getting myself checked back and forth, a well-deserved break is much needed keeping in mind my husband’s busy schedule as well. Of late he rarely gets enough time for himself, and that is why he is irritated most of the times. I am aware that a new project that he has been planning is finally going to come to life this year, but he must maintain a work-life balance.

This takes me back to the time when he disappeared from the museum’s waiting area while I was checking up on the ongoing rates of the packages at the reception area. I went looking for him, and I saw he was about to open the staff door. I ran at full speed to stop him from doing that.

On reaching a little closer to him, I said, “Sir,” a little loudly to stop him from opening the door. He stopped and turned around to wait for me to get closer to him. His smile lurked on his very handsome face.

“You can’t go there, Sir,” I obstructed.

He took a deep breath that looked like he was calming himself down. But I didn’t say anything at which he should be getting angry. I had pointed out a basic rule to him that was guests were not allowed in the staff area and the door that he was opening was leading to the staff area. So, I stood over there as I smiled a little for him to know that I didn’t mean to offend him if by any means he felt like that.

“My dear, I can go anywhere I want. I am the new owner of this place,” he responded.

I didn’t know how to react to that as I was obviously feeling stupid. Neither did the two associates, one at the desk and the other one who served him the drink, tell me about him being the owner. I wanted to clear the air, so I simply apologized, “I am very sorry, Sir. My bad that I wasn’t aware. Please forgive me.”

“Only on one condition,” he said and looked at my name batch to check my name. He focused on it a little too long, and because it was resting on my breast, it made me feel a little uncomfortable. Maybe it took him time to get the pronunciation of my name as most of the people have a problem with that.

He continued as soon as he wanted to possibly give it a shot. He looked up at me as soon as he asked, “Olivia?”

I nodded my head and replied, “Yes, sir.”

It felt a little nice to me on hearing my name correctly from a guest. Oops! From the owner of the museum that I was working for. He was the only person in the past three days to have pronounced my name absolutely right.

Once he had my approval on the way he said my name, he added, “Only on one condition, Olivia. You will have to take me around the property.”

Denying such a request from the owner of the place where I worked was impossible. I agreed to show him around as I answered, “It will be my pleasure, sir.”

We both smiled at each other, and as I held the door for him to enter the staff entrance of the lobby, he walked in and complimented, “Nice name, by the way!”

Being complimented by the owner in such a nice way by his very sexy voice made me feel electrified.

Now when I remember it, I can easily say that it didn’t feel as it should have felt. It somehow ignited a spark between both of us, and his smile could clearly tell me that. I showed him around the back-side of the museum, and before he departed from the museum, he handed me a chit as we shook hands to bid goodbye to each other.