Season 1, Episode 6: Always On Call
1442 Words
SATURDAY
“Kun Iam Tam,” Natalie told the cab driver. Temple of Kun Iam.
She let out a long exhale of relief as the taxi set off from The Vesper, and she leaned her back against the frayed leather seat. Most of the taxi drivers didn’t speak much English around here, so she was able to use her commute to collect her thoughts and reflect on the day.
Fortunately, Natalie did not run into Finnick Belvedere around the hotel for the remainder of the work day, and he didn’t pester her with a single text message or phone call. She kept anxiously checking her phone, hoping that he would leave her alone, but since it was after five o’clock in the afternoon, she figured he wouldn’t need anything this late in the day.
Natalie handed over the cab fare to the driver and stepped out onto the sidewalk. The gentle aroma of incense wafted from the temple as she stood on the sidewalk, waiting to cross the street to her apartment.
Like all locals, she threw her hand out as she stepped into the oncoming traffic, praying to God that they would stop. The stoplights here were very short, so pedestrians just had to take a leap of faith and halt traffic on their own to have any chance of crossing the street. Her heart stopped every time, but she was beginning to grow more confident in her abilities.
She used her key to open the gate of their high-rise apartment building, which was nestled between dozens of similar buildings up and down Avenida do Coronel Mesquita. It was just a steel door that opened into a plain, white lobby with a flickering fluorescent light above. Waving to the security guard at the desk, she wandered past the row of mailboxes toward the elevator, stepping inside and hitting the button for the fourteenth floor.
Connie had told her that it was bad luck to live on the fourteenth floor. Apparently, the word for “four” in Cantonese sounded a lot like the word for “death,” so it was considered an unlucky number in Chinese culture. Natalie didn’t believe her at first, but considering the day she was having, maybe there was some truth behind Connie’s superstition.
She stepped out onto the small landing as the elevator pinged open, and she approached her door in just a couple of quick steps. It was a steel security door that she unlocked first, followed by the wood door that opened up into her apartment.
“I’m home!” she called out to her roommate, locking the doors up behind her. She stepped into their plainly furnished living room and threw her purse onto the coffee table. Sinking onto their futon couch, she stared around blankly at their apartment while she flipped on their small TV.
The parquet wood floor stretched all throughout the apartment, and the walls were a plain shade of white. They had no artwork yet on the walls or rugs on the floor, so it felt very much like a college student’s apartment rather than the home of two grown, adult women. A modest glass dining table sat near the sliding door to their balcony, where Connie had clothes pinned up to dry on a clothesline. Their narrow kitchen didn’t have an oven, but it had all the basic necessities of a stove, a microwave, and a refrigerator. The washing machine was also in the kitchen, which Natalie found odd, but they didn’t have a dryer hookup in the entire two-bedroom apartment.
Connie came out of her bedroom in a long t-shirt that hung down almost to her knees, and her short bob was pinned up into a spiky ponytail.
The knowing expression that Connie gave her made her groan.
“I know, I know!” Natalie huffed, laying her head back on the futon.
“You are finally home,” she giggled, sitting beside her on the futon. “Tell me what happened last night.”
“You’re not going to believe this,” Natalie sighed, looking over at her. “We went back to his suite at The Venetian and slept together.”
“Was he good?” Connie asked, wagging her eyebrows.
“Yes,” Natalie admitted, covering her face.
“Are you going to see him again?”
“Well, I wasn’t planning on it, but…” Natalie’s voice trailed off, unsure how to explain this to her roommate.
“But?”
“I told him I didn’t want to see him and left his room in a hurry this morning,” Natalie continued. “But then he showed up at The Vesper today.”
“He did?!” Connie exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly. “It is destiny!”
“More like my worst nightmare!” Natalie moaned. “It turns out that he’s Finnick Belvedere, you know of the Belvedere Hotel Group. His father is the CEO of the company.”
Connie’s mouth fell open, gaping at her in complete shock and disbelief.
“It gets better,” Natalie continued. “Mr. Ho asked me to be his casino hostess for the duration of his stay, and he’s here for a whole two weeks.”
“What?!” Connie gasped. “What will you do?”
“I don’t know,” Natalie shrugged. “Just do my job and keep things as professional as possible, I guess.”
“Did you see him?”
“Yeah, Mr. Chou introduced Mr. Ho and I to him in the lobby.”
“How did he act?”
“He didn’t say anything, but he definitely recognized me,” Natalie answered. “He clearly thought it was hilarious.”
“Oh, I am so sorry,” Connie sighed.
Before Natalie could reply, her phone began buzzing like crazy, vibrating wildly against the glass coffee table. Connie leaned over, scrunching her nose.
“It does not say who,” Connie said in her accented voice, reaching to grab the phone to pass it to Natalie. Pressing the answer button, she held it up to her ear.
“This is Natalie,” she said wearily, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
“Good afternoon, Natalie,” said the warm, tenor voice on the other end. “Finn Belvedere here.”
Natalie’s eyes widened as she sat up straight on the sofa. Connie gave her a confused look and Natalie pointed at the phone and mouthed, It’s Finnick Belvedere!
“M-Mr. Belvedere,” Natalie stammered, her heart pounding hard in her chest. “How can I help you?”
“I just got back to my room, and I saw the bottle of Macallan and your note waiting for me. What a nice gesture, especially after Mr. Chou had me running all over the hotel today. Thank you.”
“Of course, Mr. Belvedere,” she answered, trying to keep her voice steady.
“Now that I have you on the phone, I wanted to ask if you had any recommendations for dinner?”
“I’d be happy to arrange a reservation at one of Macau’s finest restaurants for you,” replied Natalie quickly. “I know of a three-star Michelin restaurant with the best views of the city. How many guests will be joining you tonight?”
“Let’s set a reservation for two at 7:30.”
“I’ll make the call right now, and I’ll have the front desk arrange a car for you. Will your guest need a separate car, or will they be riding with you?”
“You tell me.”
Natalie paused, unsure of what he meant. Her mind seemed to go blank with total confusion.
“Natalie,” he said, breaking the silence on the phone, “you’re my guest.”
She was about to open her mouth to protest, but dining with her clients was a part of her job.
And judging by his smug tone, he probably knows that, she thought bitterly. She could practically hear his smirk through the phone.
“Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Belvedere,” she said through gritted teeth. “I will meet you at 7:30.”
“Looking forward to it.”
The phone went silent on the other end, and she pulled the phone away from her ear to realize he’d already hung up.
“You are going to see him?” Connie asked. “Is it a date?”
“I have no idea,” Natalie sighed. “It feels like a lot of work on my end for a date. Ugh, I better make some calls.”
- Writer
