LOVING YOU BENEATH THE SURFACE

INTRUSION

The moment was nothing for me, but I could see the expressions she wore during the incident. Her face went from being shocked to blushing in my arms, but I had to pretend and get rid of unnecessary attentions.

“Oh my! I didn’t mean to fall on you. That was so close, thank you for catching me” she blushed after getting rid of her shock in seconds.

With a straight face, I responded “It’s nothing” and proceeded to drop her off my hand.

“Thank you once again” her tiny voice stressed as her hand ran through her hair she tucked behind her ear.

“Don’t mention it”, I whispered and motioned for her to get on the bus, so I, could also get on the bus.

“But do you work out? Your arms are so strong” she joked and giggled, but I only responded with a smile before I reminded her that we were running late.

“My bad!” she pouted and rushed on the bus, finally letting me get on it too.

The ride was only quiet at my end. Everyone else had company so they were giggling and chatting as loud as they could. Chatting with Kate would have been the best option, but she also went to a meeting with Jean, and it would be impolite to bombard her with unnecessary messages.

After thinking it through, I decided to browse through some learning videos about hotel management since I didn’t have that many hobbies. I was engrossed in the video when I felt someone by my side. With immediate effect, I turned to take a look and was met with Charlotte’s full set of teeth shining at me.

“Are you busy?” she questioned before staring into my phone and suddenly exclaiming “Oh! You are watching hotel videos. As expected of the world's best manager”

“Are you not talking with your friends?”

“Oh! They are all gossiping about work, and I am not interested in that because I am currently on vacation. Work should end in the office” she slammed firmly, and I reasoned with her.

At that moment, I stopped watching the video, and she smiled happily, adjusting her sitting position.

“What is your favorite thing to do when not working?” she suddenly threw at me

“Catching up on sleep” I responded swiftly.

“Don't you go out to the cinema or hang out?”

Tilting my head a bit, “I do that once in a while”

“I am also an indoor person. I guess we click in that aspect” she giggled, but I remained silent.

“The trip will take a while. Do you want to watch a movie with me?” she continued and fished out a mini laptop

I didn’t even give a reply when she passed me the other side of her earphone and I had no choice but to collect it from her. The movie was worth it, and we managed to finish it before we got to our destination, thankfully.

Everyone got down and offloaded their loads before we gathered in front of the vacation home. Standing in front of the building and the mention of a vacation home brought some memories that made me smile. Many things happened, and they were attached to the vacation home.

They had all decided how to pick their rooms and the routines to take and how to take them, but I was busy checking my phone to see if Kate had sent me any messages but nothing was there. I was about to call her when the voice of my assistant brought me back.

“We have decided to pick the rooms by choosing wrapped paper. How about you go first sir?” she said and stretched forth the box of wrapped papers for me to pick one.

Mindlessly, I picked one of the papers and didn’t even open it and went back to trying to call Kate while others did their thing and went to pick their rooms. I just went in to check for the room that was on my paper and settled in while hoping that Kate’s call would come in anytime soon.

Unpacking my bags didn’t take me much time and I moved to join others in the living room where they were busy chattering, although I didn’t know what they planned on doing. As soon as I stepped in, they all chorused “You don’t need to come outside! We will get everything fixed and call you when it’s done”

Taken aback for a bit, I stuttered “Let mee.ee hel..elllp with anything I can help with” but they turned me down firmly “No! Just rest up. You must have been tired from all those meetings”, my assistant insisted, and they gathered to push me back to my room.

By the time I got back to my room, Kate finally called and all the moodiness evaporated in seconds.

“Heyy babe! I am sorry for not texting back since. The meeting took longer than expected” her voice sounded across the phone.

Grinning like a fed lamb, I assured her that it was okay and that I understood even though I had been waiting all day.

“So have you gotten there? How is the place? Hope you are enjoying yourself there with your teammates?” she coughed out a series of questions in a go and that put a smile on my face.

That’s my Kate!

“Everything is going fine on my own end. There’s no need to worry about me. Now, let’s talk about you”, I responded.

We talked for more than two hours and only stopped when a knock landed on my door. Upon opening the door, I was met with a smiling Charlotte.

“Mr. Chris, the food is ready” she announced with a small bounce, her arms swinging by her sides.

“Oh! I will be there in a few seconds”, I told her and closed the door immediately.

I spoke with Kate for a few more minutes and proceeded to join the table. They had prepared various dishes and I couldn’t help but marvel at the delicacies in front of me.

“Thank you so much for working hard everyone”, I greeted them and sat down to devour my portion.

I insisted on cleaning with them after eating, and they finally allowed me after several persuasions. Everyone went to rest after agreeing to gather at the sitting room three hours later. Since Kate had already told me that she would be going shopping and eating out because she was exhausted, I waited for her call patiently instead of bugging her, but I was freaking bored. It was at that moment I knew that I truly didn’t have any other life apart from work and Kate.

My friend, Evans, was miles away, so there was no way we could meet up and catch up on some drinks. I was saved from the clutches of boredom finally when Johnson showed up at my door and suggested that we both play computer games since he was finding it hard to take a nap.

“Of course! That sounds fun”. I jumped at the opportunity, and we went back to the sitting room where we faced off.

I must have overestimated myself or underrated him because it turned out that he was a pro gamer. He mercilessly beat me to defeat in every round, and I was ashamed of myself, but since it was not that deep, I shook off the feeling.

“Did you join a gaming club? You are so good at this” I complimented, as we dropped the console after several rounds.

He only laughed briefly, “My girlfriend is a pro gamer. She taught me all the tricks around games.”

“Oh! I see! That must have been nice”, I remarked, and he scoffed.

“We almost broke up because of this. I couldn’t bring myself to accept that a lady was battering me at games. We argued several times over how she had been learning how to play games from other men, and it felt like I didn’t trust her enough”, he explained, and my mouth parted in shock.

How could he blatantly accuse her of that? What does gaming have to do with men? I just couldn’t wrap my head around the scenario and how the lady must have felt after being accused that way.

“You sure you don’t have insecurity issues?” I found myself asking the next minute, and he shook his head.

“I had too much ego to accept that I wasn’t good enough and, also, I didn’t know that she was a gamer at that time” he replied, and my neck tilted slightly,

That was much weirder. How can one have a girlfriend but doesn’t know what they do?

“I don’t know how that sounds” I sighed and he chuckled.

“Dense, I know” he himself helped me out, and I snapped my fingers to confirm it.

“When she showed me her gaming room after our fight, I asked why she didn’t tell me, and she simply told me that I didn’t ask. There was nothing I could say or do after that line”, he added.

“Well…. I mean she was right”. I shrugged with a soft laugh.

His phone rang at that moment, and it turned out to be his girlfriend. I motioned to him that it was okay to pick the call and went back inside my room to spend the few minutes left before assembling in the living room.

I was about to open my door when the room next to mine opened and Charlotte stepped out with a loud yawn. We both paused and looked at each other in shock before she quickly dropped the hands she raised up for a stretch.

“Oh! How come you are…” I wanted to ask when she grabbed the words out of my mouth

“You didn’t know? I was lucky to pick the room next to yours” she blushed.

I didn’t know what to even reply her with at that moment, because why would she consider picking a room next to mine as being lucky?