A Third Chance In Love

CHAPTER 4 - She Vowed To Know Him

“Alexus,” Aloida whispered as her eyes shone brightly while glaring at him. She moved to touch his hand to check if indeed he was alive and existing and not just an apparition, but the man immediately avoided her hand and looked at her with a furrowed forehead.

“Is there any damage to your car?” he asked in his baritone voice. A voice Aloida could never forget. For five years, that voice haunted her in her sleep.

She continued looking at him, no words were able to come out of her mouth.

“Miss, is there any damage to your car?” with a raised eyebrow, the man asked her again.

“Ohh, don’t …don’t mind it. There is none, I believe,” stammering, she replied. Her cheeks grew red out of embarrassment.

“I see. Anyway, give me a call if in case you see damage later on.” He handed her a calling card, which she accepted readily.

“Yes… I mean, I will, and thank you,” she responded after getting the business card. He nodded and, without uttering further words, he turned his back and got inside his luxurious car again.

Aloida stood still on her spot as if she froze for a while. She watched as his car sped off until it disappeared from her sight. She then looked at the calling card she was holding and checked what had been written thereon.

Tears in her eyes suddenly rolled down when she read the name written thereon. The man was not Alexus, but someone named Lexandro Montaro, who worked at Black Hotels Corporation, one of the most prestigious hotels in the country. There was no position or designation stated on the calling card. Only his name and the company. Aloida furrowed while tears still fell from her eyes.

“Mommy, where are you?!” Aalyna’s calling, made Aloida wipe her tears and walk immediately to her car. She noticed that there were a few motorists already passing by and looking at her parked car in the middle of the road.

She got inside the car and sat on the passenger seat before looking at her daughter. She smiled at her daughter. “Just solved some sort of a little mishap, Sweety, but nothing serious. We will continue our travel now,” she said. She then drove the car after her daughter nodded and smiled back.

While driving, Aloida could feel a mixture of emotions. She felt disappointed and sad, and then a sudden longing hit her heart. She missed Alexus. There was no day that she did not think about Alexus, although she knew before that it was a form of cheating on her marriage to Señor Agustus. She could not help to think about Alexus, much more, to love him continuously, even if she knew, she would not see him again.

“Alexus,” she thought, with tears falling again from her eyes, which she immediately wiped away. She then vowed to know, who is indeed Lexandro Montaro, whatever it takes.

...

A few days passed, Aloida decided to look for a job. Although she still has money that she received from Señor Agustus after the divorce, it will not last a lifetime. The continued financial support of Señor Augustus is only for their daughter and does not include her. So, before she runs out of funds, she needs to find a job.

She checked some job ads online and her attention was caught by the job ads posted by the HR Staff of the Black Hotels Corporation. It was stated in the said job ads that the Company needs an Executive Assistant. As to whose executive assistant, it was not mentioned in the job ads. Her heart palpitated as excitement overwhelmed her whole senses. She will apply for the job.

“Yes, Miss, you are applying for what position?” the polite voice of the receptionist of the main office of the Black Hotel Corporation awakened the wandering soul of Aloida. She was already at the reception area of the company, determined to take the spot of that Executive Assistant position.

Aloida smiled sweetly at the Receptionist before she spoke. “Good morning. I would like to apply for the position of Executive Assistant that your Company listed in this job ad,” she said, and showed the woman her mobile phone where she saved the job ads posted online.

“Oh, I see. You are the third applicant, Miss…”

“Miss Aloida Jeansen,” she said in reply to the receptionist.

“Miss Jeansen, please have a seat. The interview is just about to start,” the receptionist smiled and motioned for her to sit on the couch nearby where the other two applicants were already seated.

After thanking the receptionist, Aloida sat on the couch silently and then smiled at the two co-applicants, which was not similarly reciprocated by the two ladies. They just looked at her with raised eyebrows.

Not minding them, Aloida sat silently until the first applicant had been called for the interview. She waited for her turn, quitely.

“Miss Aloida Jeansen, it is your turn. Please get inside and when you see the third door on the left side as you enter, knock on the door first before entering.” The receptionist was again smiling and polite.

“Thank you, Miss, “ Aloida smiled back before she entered the door, going to the main office hall. She followed the instructions of the receptionist.

After knocking, Aloida opened the door and entered the room. An elderly woman was sitting at the oblong table in the middle of the interview room and another young woman was beside her. She concluded that they might be from the human resources department of the company.

She greeted them and smiled, while still standing.

“Please have a seat and give me your resume.” It was the elderly woman who said.

She got her resume from the brown envelope in her hand and handed it to the elderly woman. The elderly woman looked at it and as she went on reading her resume, her forehead started to furrow.

“Ms. Jeansen, you had just a year of experience working as a secretary and not even as an executive assistant, and then you stopped working for almost eight years. We are actually looking for a well-experienced executive assistant,” the elderly woman then said while looking at Aloida with a sad look.

Aloida already expected this kind of reaction from the interviewer as she knew the content of her resume was not really that interesting at all, but she also had a ready speech in reply to this.

“Oh, yes, it is true, because I got married and then had my first daughter. However, my role to my husband then, who also owns several hotels not only in this city but also some outside, was not only as a wife but also as his assistant, and secretary. My former husband was also the CEO of his company. I can attest that I knew the job well, and I am very flexible, open-minded, and always willing to learn just in case some things are new to me,” she said as she tried to convince the two HR staff of the Black Hotels Corporation.

The elderly woman furrowed again. “May I know who your former husband was? I saw in your resume that you are already divorced. Is that right?”

“Yes, we just recently had our divorce. His name is Agustus Romano, the owner of the Augustus Imperial Hotels.” She smiled with confidence. At this point, she wanted to thank her former husband for having a good reputation as a hotel magnate.

“Oh, it is the great Agustus Romano.” The woman’s tone was with surprise as she threw a quick glance at Aloida and then looked at the young staff beside her. “Well then, Ms. Jeansen, we will call you for the final interview just in case, you will be chosen to be included in the final list of applicants. Thank you for coming.” The elderly woman stood up and smiled, followed by her staff.

Aloida smiled back at them and stood up too.

“Do the honor to walk out of the door first, Miss Jeansen. And oh, by the way, I am sorry for your divorce,” the elderly woman said while looking at Aloida with an unfathomable expression.

Aloida shook her head and smiled. “It was fine with me, Madam. It was the best day of my life,” she replied with a sheepish smile on her lips.

“That is what you call woman power! Congratulations, then, Miss Jeansen for your divorce,” the elderly woman was chuckling this time and a smile crossed her lips.

“Thank you, Madam. By the way, mind if I ask to whom the executive assistant you are looking for would serve?” Aloida said and bravely asked.

The elderly woman smiled again. “To the Chairman of the Black Hotels Corporation.”