Mahalia in Cape Town

FIRST DAY

CHAPTER 11

First Day

His eyes glued right on Mahalia’s face and found her beauty quite impressive but dismissed that thought instantly out from his head. Since Mahalia has expressive eyes and eyebrows, he can easily tell that she’s nervous and looks like she is at fault.

She is, he thought to himself.

His eyes and the way he stares at her as if he is about to eat her alive, makes her stiff like a board as she stands in front of him wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist. Casey’s unbothered about the fact that he’s almost close to nothing because having him wear his towel is his sort of test to his new applicants for the vacancy.

He wants to see how women would react to seeing him almost buck naked and since he is used to wearing briefs in photo shoots and runways in his previous years, this is no sweat for him. With this test, he can see how uncomfortable, weird and naughty the woman would get as soon as he is exposing his hard rock abs, muscularly toned biceps and intentionally lowering his towel a little to show his dented v-lines on his torso.

“It’s good that your tardy ass is here.” He speaks as he walks away from the door.

He instantly knew that she was flustered upon seeing him by the door and he could tell that her eyes widened in shock as soon as she laid them on his godlike body.

Mahalia instantly thinks that he wanted to follow him inside and so she shyly did without saying a word after what she has said to him earlier. She didn’t regret answering him back and defending herself but she knows too damn well that he can fire him easily.

She starts to feel more nervous compared to earlier as her eyes scan all over the suite that Casey is staying in. She’s amazed seeing such a wonderful and luxurious hotel room because fancy things always astonish her especially when she’s not used to seeing stuff like these. She knows that this is something she won’t see everyday and in the back of her head she wishes that someday she can take her family here for a vacation.

She feels sad knowing that it is impossible to happen knowing how tight she needs to save her money for her mother’s treatment.

“Before you do anything crazy…” His voice surprises her. “And cause another scene, I want you to sit down.” He points on the couch, as if he is instructing a dog.

She nods as she shyly glances at Casey who is now grabbing his robe. “Name?” He calls out.

“Mahalia, sir.”

“Full name.” He tilts his head, still holding his robe as he tries to distract her with his abs.

She stares at his eyes instead of his abs, “Mahalia Santiago.”

His brows knitting in the middle of his forehead as he hangs his robe over his shoulder while he pours himself something to drink. “Where are you from?” He asks coldly.

“The Philippines, sir.”

“Where in the Philippines?” His voice is monotonous, which makes Mahalia feel more frightened.

“Cebu, sir.”

He nods before he takes the glass into his mouth and drinks from it. He keeps his eyes on Mahalia and tries to study her action while he is intentionally flexing his body. He isn’t doing it to show off but he is doing it to see how this woman would react since most women he has interviewed had always preached his body and even seduced him back by showing off their cleavage.

But this woman is different, she is only staring at his eyes, sometimes on her feet or hands, sits their like an obedient dog and barks only when she’s told to.

“Age?” He finally ends the silence between them.

“Twenty-eight, sir.” She answers right away.

He stares at her longer as she takes a stolen glance at him from under his lashes but she was caught. She looks away instantly and complains, “I don’t want to be rude sir but could you please put something on if you are going to have an interview.”

His brows raise the next second because no one has ever told him to put on something while having his little test. Most women would just sit there stupefied and drooling over his body but this woman says something different and acts otherwise.

“Are my abs too distracting?” He questions, cheekily.

“No sir. I don’t think they are even wonderful.” Her words are pangs, something he is unfamiliar with hearing.

What’s wrong with this woman? He thought.

“It’s not even a sight to see.” She adds. “It’s just very unsuitable, improper and disrespectful for me as a woman.” She answers straightforwardly. “Wouldn’t you think it is disdainful to dress like that in your own hotel room while I am sitting here formally introducing myself?” She corrects.

Her chin is up as she sounds like a lawyer about to win the case in the court.

“Why would you boss me around my own suite?” He hollers.

“I am not bossing you around, sir. I just want you to dress, at least, appropriately if you’re going to ask me questions about myself.” Her eyes travelled back straight to his eyes. “With all due respect, who conducts an interview half naked?”

There is silence.

“No one.” She answers her own question.

He blinks his eyes at her and finds this strong-willed and brave Filipina woman a little bit more interesting than he thought for being brutally honest. Finally, Casey grabs the robe and decides to put it on him and wrap the ribbon securely around his waist before he looks back at her with his hands gesturing, “Better?”

She stiffened and quickly travelled her eyes to the wall even though she was already caught staring at him, “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

His eyes still fixated on her as he walks towards the opposite couch across Mahalia and takes a seat. He studies the shy and awkward woman who has pointed a knife at him, answered him back on her first day of work and had embarrassed him in front of the photo shoot team. He remembers her well, aside from those instances, he had seen her the night before inside Michele’s restaurant when she was talking with his cousin.

“You’re brave after pulling a knife at me that night.” He speaks.

She awkwardly clears her throat as he hits a bleeding wound. “In my defense, I didn’t know who you were and I had no idea you were a supermodel because of the way you dressed that night.”

He hits the jackpot, she really does not know who he was and it was amusing to him after the kind of attention he keeps getting wherever he goes. “So it was my fault?” He arches a brow.

She swallows hard, “To be honest, yes sir. You should not have entered a place you are not allowed to. Not especially late at night dressing suspiciously and barefoot.”

“Aren’t you a little bit judgemental about your style of clothing?” He asks her monotonously.

“That time sir, my mind was everywhere because I was scared knowing that I was alone with a man and no one to help me. Women are not as strong as men in the upper bodies because men are more muscular than women.”

“So you’re classifying women as weak?”

Her brows raised, “I beg your pardon?”

“You just said it yourself.”

“Let me clarify. Women are just over half as strong as men in their upper bodies and about two-thirds as strong in their lower bodies but women are much stronger in all other aspects. What I did was self defense just in case something happens.” She takes a pause before she continues, “I assumed that you were going to rob the restaurant.”

“Is it because I am a man?”

“No sir, it is because of how you presented yourself.”

“In what other aspects are women far more superior?” He questions. “Enlighten me, Miss…?”

“Santiago.” She answers.

He gestures his hand, “Continue.”

“Mentally, women are far superior.” She speaks proudly. “The best example for that is motivating through transformation, which means that women are more likely to lead through inspiration, transforming people’s attitudes and beliefs and aligning people with meaning and purpose rather than through carrots and sticks, than men are.”

Sounds definitely like mom. He thought.

“Transformational leadership of women is highly linked to higher levels of team engagement, performance and productivity.” She adds.

“So you’re saying men are zero in that aspect?”

She shakes her head politely, “No sir, it is not what I meant but men can try harder to compete. If men spent more time trying to win people’s hearts and souls, leading with both EQ and IQ, as opposed to leaning more on the latter, and nurturing a change in beliefs rather than behaviors, they would be better leaders.”

Definitely like mom. He thought.

“Aside from that, there are facts that shows a variety of women’s strength which are, conceiving a growing child in her stomach for nine months, bleeding monthly without dying from it, giving birth to a child coming out from her va*ina or in cesarean without dying and I could say more.”

She sounded proud of her answer as she added, “That’s women’s strength.”

“Talker.” He commented. “Such a talker.”

“You asked me sir, I only answered.” She responds.

He seems amused with her bravery and confidence in responding. He’s amazed with her wit and ability to defend herself. “Very well then, actually we are not here to debate about women versus men. Do you even know why you are here?” He questions authoritatively.

“N-No, sir.” Mahalia answers.

“Where did that confident and strong-willed woman from earlier go?” He mocked as he tilted his head to the side and continued to study him.

Mahalia avoids his stare as she feels secluded from everyone because she is sitting in this room with him.

He chuckles dryly under his throat, “Michele instructed you to come here without even telling you what you needed to do?”

She nods.

“So you’re saying it’s Michele’s fault?” He questions.

She gapes, “N-No. I guess Mickey and I didn’t…” She trails as she looks for the correct words to defend herself. “We didn’t really had the clear discussion about what he was actually intending for me to do in this location. He only told me to be here and nothing else.”

He nods a little, “Why do you need this job?”

He’s asked this same question to the other applicants who wanted this job so bad and they all answered almost the same thing. He’s fed up hearing them say, “It would be an honor to work with you”, “It would be a wonderful experience to serve you” or “I would want to be in the same field as you because you’re my idol” and the most awkward ones were “Aside from the free travels, I wanted to be with you all the time.” He knows well that most of the women who work as his personal assistant only want the job because they have the chance to be with him but they are not even doing their jobs efficiently which leads him to firing them even with just one mistake.

“I need the money.” She answers straight to the point as she stares intently at him without having any intentions of hiding anything from him. “It may sound selfish and straightforward but that’s really the main reason why I badly need this job.”

He stares back at her longer and gets surprised by her answer and in the back of his head he knew that it was her first instinct since she didn’t take a pause in thinking about a reason, she just said it directly. The first time they met, he instantly had a hunch that she didn’t know who he was because she was not screaming or anything and he was surprised because he’s always used to having people’s attention without even trying.

He seemed fascinated by the fact that there’s one person who does not know who he is and had actually thought of it as something worth the experience. It made him realize that he kind of misses not being the center of attention whenever he enters a place nor he misses the fact that no one knows who he is and he can do anything he wants.

“What do you need it for?” He asks.

Mahalia glances at her hands before looking back at Casey who is still super-gluing his eyes on her with his knitted brows. She cannot explain the way he is looking at her and she does not know if he is angry with her answer but then she does not want to lie about her reason.

“I just need it.” She answers firmly, hiding her reason why she needed the money because she didn’t want this man to think that she is getting sympathy from him.

On the contrary, Casey knows why she needs the money after hearing her conversation with Mickey that night in his restaurant but still wanted to see if she would act the way she did that night. He is stunned that she didn’t confess about her real reason but then he didn’t want to sound too invasive of her privacy.

“Do you even have any idea what your job is?” He questions.

“At first, I was not sure because Mickey didn’t really say it clearly, but then I guess I have to work as your personal assistant after what I witnessed earlier.” She answers.

“Personal assistant, that’s right.” He agrees as he tilts his head forward, “That means you don’t answer back to what I say and you don’t question what I do or speak.”

“At least I have to defend myself when I am being wronged.” She answers.

He breathes and stands on his feet, “I’m Casey Stefano, if you still have no idea, and you’re only allowed to address me as sir or Mr. Stefano.”

She nods obediently.

“Why were you late?” He questions.

She presses her lips, “I had to send money to my family back in the Philippines.”

“How do you address me?” He’s strict.

She sighs inwardly. “Mr. Stefano.”

“Say it again.”

What a narcissist. She thought to herself. “Mr. Stef--”

“The entire sentence.” He cuts off.

“I had to send money to my family back in the Philippines, Mr. Stefano.” She corrects, trying to keep her composure and annoyance.

“Well, I don’t like people who are late.” He reminds,

She nods again. “I’m sorry.” She took a pause and remembered, “Mr. Stefano.”

“Ah, you’re sorry? So you know how to say those after that scene you did in there.” He mocks.

She lowers her head, “I’m sorry, I just don’t want people belittling me and speaking for me Mr. Stefano.”

He glances at her, “You’re actually fired.”

Her eyes widened in shock as she pulled her head up right away, “Huh? Pardon?”

He blinks his eyes at her as he stares into her devastated expression on her face. He knows well that she needs the job so badly and the look on her eyes have engraved in his head even from last night when he saw her drinking alcohol on that beach. He witnessed how she’s struggling in Cape Town and how ready she was to sell her body just for her family.

Brave but stupid. He thought.

“If you’ll be late again, you’re fired.” He clarifies.

Her heart quickly felt relieved as soon as he clarified those words to her. She thought that her world had split into pieces when she heard that she was fired right on her first day. She knows how much patience she needs for this job and has mentally promised herself to be on her best behavior after what she has done.

“Thank you. Thank you so much Mr, Stefano.” She subtly weeps in happiness,

He walks towards his bedroom. “Do you have a passport?”

She nods.

“Good. We have a plane to catch.” He adds. “While you’re at it, pack my stuff in order.”

She watches him disappear to the bedroom and she thinks to herself, “In what order?”