Chapter 6 - Rumours

I immediately tried to pick everything up.

"Ouch." I bit my lip when I accidentally touched a broken glass.

What a great time to look so bad!

"Olivia," he walked towards me. "Let the janitor fix that."

I looked at him before glancing at Cindy. She covered her mouth like she's trying to hold back her laugh.

What's so funny about dropping something?

"Are you okay? Let me see," he reached for my hand but I immediately hid it behind me.

"I'm fine, sir. I'm sorry," I said.

I hope I won't be laid off after this.

"Are you sure?" He asked one more time. "Maybe you need to see a doctor-"

"No, sir," I cut him off. "I'm okay. It's just a small cut."

I looked at Cindy again and she looks so disappointed with me.

"Excuse me, sir." I went out to call the maintenance personnel.

Luckily, I always bring a bandage with me just in case something like this happens.

I wiped the blood first with a clean tissue before wrapping the bandage around my finger. It stings a bit but it's nothing compared to any other wound.

As soon as the janitor went inside, Cindy suddenly came out and stood in front of me.

"Next time, be extra careful. Okay? Also, knock before you enter," she sarcastically said before vanishing.

I froze from where I'm standing at. I'm still in shock at what I just did. Maybe she's right, I should've knocked first. What did was a little inappropriate. I should apologize.

I thanked the janitor as soon as he came out before going inside his office.

He looked at me with a confused face. Maybe he's wondering why I went inside although he didn't call me.

I walked towards him until I'm already in front of his desk.

"Sir, I'm very sorry. It won't happen again, I promise." I tried not to stutter.

He leaned against his chair. "It's fine. It was an accident."

I sighed in relief when I heard him say that.

"You won't fire me?"

I didn't know why I said that but I asked anyway.

He looked confused again before laughing.

"No, Olivia. I won't," he said with a smile while playing the pen on his other hand. "Get yourself ready for the meeting. I need you to keep minutes."

I nodded before getting out.

What a relief!

…

We're now at his business meeting and I'm sitting beside him while his business partner is discussing something in front. It looks like they're planning to build a hotel resort in New Jersey for the next two years.

The meeting wasn't so long and it was dismissed before 11:30 PM.

I immediately called Rowan, Mr. Parker's driver, to get the car ready as soon as the meeting was dismissed.

I was walking with him when he suddenly called me.

"Olivia," he called so I looked at him.

"Yes, sir?" I responded.

"Would you like to have lunch with me?" He asked then he put his hands inside his pockets.

"Uhm." I didn't know how to answer.

"I mean, have lunch with me. That's an order," he insisted.

"Sure, sir." I didn't have the chance to object.

Emily never mentioned that she's having lunch with her boss sometimes.

He asked Rowan to take us to one of his favorite restaurants in Brooklyn.

After a few minutes, we already arrived.

I immediately got out of the car to open his door but he just opened it himself.

"What are you doing?" He asked when he saw me holding the door.

"I was just opening the door for-"

"That's not your job, Olivia. I'm not a kid." He sounded a little annoyed. He closed the door and went inside the restaurant.

I bit my lip before following him inside.

Damn, Liv. He's not a kid.

Mr. Parker already reserved a table and I feel bad that he did it himself. I should've made that one for him.

We sat down and ordered our lunch.

'What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, sir," I replied.

I made my body straight when I realized I was slouching a little.

"Listen, what happened earlier, you don't need to worry about it. I understand if you were shocked when you saw us-"

"Oh no, sir," I faked my laugh. "I'm not surprised at all. My hands just get greasy sometimes."

"You're not surprised?" He arched a brow with a smirk.

"No, sir. I mean…" I couldn't finish my sentence and he was just waiting for my answer. "I uhm, I just don't find it surprising, sir." I awkwardly laughed to avoid his stare.

He shook his head when I said that. I don't know why.

We just waited for our food to be served. I badly wanted to check my phone to avoid having eye contact with him.

Even his smirk makes me feel so intimidated.

After a few minutes, our food is already served.

I just ordered an Italian pasta because it's an Italian restaurant. It tastes so good, no wonder why he likes it here.

"The food is great, right?" He suddenly said.

"Yes, sir. It's delicious." I smiled.

We had a little chat about the meeting earlier. He was happy to hear that I took some notes during the discussion.

We went back straight to the hotel after we finished eating our lunch. I never got the chance to say thank you because I think it's a very awkward thing to say.

He went back inside his office and so I went back also to my cabin. I opened the computer to continue working on my report which Mr. Parker told me to pass tomorrow early in the morning. I was nearly done when the telephone rang. I stopped typing to answer it.

"Hello, this is Parker Hotel. And you've reached Mr. Parker's office, how may I help you?" I politely asked.

"I'm Mr. Parker's corporate lawyer. He made a call yesterday," he responded.

"Yes, sir. I'll forward your call, just a second." I forwarded the call to Mr. Parker's office before continuing with my report.

…

I'm in the car with Alice and we're heading home. I told her about what happened earlier.

"Seriously? You dropped the tray?" She said with laughter while her eyes are on the road.

"I didn't mean. I was just shocked," I explained before crossing my arms.

"You shouldn't be. That's not the last time you'll see him making out with someone," she said.

"What do you mean?" My eyebrows furrowed.

"Don't you get it? Your boss is a playboy. But he doesn't make out with someone just like that."

I mean, of course, he's a rich man. He must be picky.

"How do you know all of that?" I was starting to get curious.

Alice sounds like she knows everything about Mr. Whitmore and Mr. Parker.

"He's so much like my boss. I can tell that by their attitudes," she answered.

…

The next day, I passed my report to Mr. Parker after I showed him his schedule.

"I'll check this right away," he said while looking inside the folder. "I'll call you later about it."

"Yes, sir." I went out of his office.

Today, I'm assigned to make a form for the interview next month. The Hotel needs more employees because a lot of events will be held soon.

I opened my computer to start making the form. I got so busy and I didn't even realize that it's already 12 NN.

Mr. Parker went out and stood in front of my cabin. He's probably going to grab his lunch.

"Why are you still here? It's already your break time," he said as he looks in his wristwatch.

I stood up. "I'm just finishing something, sir."

He nodded before walking away.

I sat down to continue. I'm not that hungry anyway.

While I was working on it, two of my colleagues went to me.

"Hi," she greeted. "I'm Laura."

"I'm Elle," she waved at me.

"I'm Liv," I said with a smile.

"Yes, we know you. You're Mr. Parker's new secretary." Laura seems so nice.

"Uhm, yeah. Can I help you with something?" I asked politely.

"We're here to ask if you wanna join us for lunch. You know, to get to know each other," Elle said.

I haven't met any of my colleagues personally because I was so busy learning everything with Emily for the past week. Maybe it's a good idea to get to know them since I'll be working with them for a long time, I hope.

"Sure. I'll go with you," I answered. "Give me a minute."

I saved the file before turning the computer off.

We went into a small Japanese restaurant. It was just a block away from the hotel so we didn't need to take a cab.

I'm not familiar with Japanese food. But thankfully, they're here with me.

"We're very happy that you came here with us," Laura said as we sat down.

"It's nothing," I replied with a smile.

"Sorry for introducing ourselves to you a little late." Elle laughed.

"There's no too late for that. We're all busy with our work," I answered.

They were sitting together and I was in front of them.

"We wanted to ask you a couple of times but you're with Emily," Elle said.

I furrowed my eyebrows. What about Emily?

"Uhm, yeah. I'm with her. Is there something wrong?" I asked nicely.

"Everything's wrong with her," Laura said.