Chapter 55: Chapter 55

I wear my best comfortable clothes for today because I want to represent myself not only as Dmitri’s guest but a respected feature writer of Manhattan Heights.

I wear red high-waist bell-bottom pants, and a sexy white bralette with a zigzag string pattern at the back, and I finish it up with a brown leather turtleneck cut-out long sleeve that only covers my neck, shoulder, and arms.

Lastly, I use gladiator black sandal heels. Then I bring my best weapon in feature writing, a polaroid camera, and a brooch pen recorder.

Dmitri arranges the schedule, and by ten in the morning, someone will pick me up from my room. Not even a second late, the doorbell rings at exactly ten in the morning.

Jeff’s face is the first thing I see upon opening the door. His eyes lavish in my wardrobe and get stuck a little bit on my face.

So I start with a jest, “Jeff, you may want to close your mouth, or else you can’t stop it from drooling.”

The woman beside her laughs at my joke, while Jeff turns red.

“Well, all men will have the same reaction as he did, a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Anderson, I will be your tour guide for today,” she warmly smiles at me without any hint of jealousy.

Then she extends her right hand to properly meet me, “You can call me Cheska, I am the Hotel Manager, Mr. Sullivan asks us to completely take care of you.”

Finally, someone with a caliber of professionalism shows up in front of me, and treated me as me, and not just any Dmitri’s woman.

So I reach for her hand and shake it, “Pleasure’s mine, you can call me Avery from Manhattan Heights.”

“Shall we ladies?” Jeff butts in trying to recover from his admiration.

***

Our first destination is the different types of rooms.

“As you can see, we have different kinds of rooms and the most expensive ones are these. We only have two Poseidon’s suites on each side end of the hotel,” Cheska explains in detail.

When I look inside, it is exactly the same as the room I am currently staying in. I guess Dmitri indeed honored my condition.

“So, what made it so special compared to other rooms here,” I begin to ask like a pro.

“Good question. Ms. Anderson, when you were in your room, what was the wall and ceiling like?” she asks me in return.

“Well, all three sides and the ceiling, are glass and clear, so the outside underwater environment is visible from the inside,” I answer.

“Exactly, it gives revitalization being one with nature. It gives you a refreshing sensation when you see the fish swimming around. Only two rooms have that kind of effect. The others, they only have one glass wall, a very small portion to find relaxation.”

She confidently gives away the trivia. This is something to consider when you want to get the best room.

We all go to different places, and it seems, most facilities are the same as other hotels, well, except for the fact that it is indeed underwater.

Now, Cheska says that the last stop would be the most magical place in their hotels.

We go down using a glass elevator and then walk towards the leftmost part of the building.

And there I see what magic she truly means. They recreated a magical forest inside a big aquarium where people can enjoy its majestic view.

Last but not the least, is the water bridge they made in the middle of the place, wherein they make an illusion that you are standing in the gushing flow of water bridge with rainbow colors.

I suddenly remember a prenup pictorial featured in our magazine once, now I know where they took it.

So I take this opportunity to stand on that magical water bridge.

“Uh, would you mind?” I hand the polaroid camera to Cheska and shamelessly ask her to do me a favor. And I stand in the middle of the bridge and pose like a model.

While I’m at the bridge I see Jeff talking to Cheska, and that gives me an idea. I wave at Jeff and ask him to come over to me.

Jeff immediately runs towards me at the bottom of the bridge.

“Hurry, come up here,” I excitedly command him.

“Huh? Why?” Jeff frowns a bit but follows immediately.

Then I signal Cheska to take two shots of us. I cling my arms towards Jeff.

“Come on, just smile,” I threaten him with a giggle.

“I don’t like taking pictures,” he says.

“You’ll regret it if you don’t,” I warn him.

Cheska prepares for the second shot, and I am shocked by what Jeff has done.

He holds my back and suddenly pulls me closer while our lips are just inches apart.

When I look at his eyes, I see his honesty as a man. And I admit, I must have been charmed by his sweetness and gentleness.

When Cheska comes over to us, she yells that it is done, Jeff gently puts me down and smiles at me, “I would have kissed you, if not for that picture.”

I feel that my cheeks blush all of a sudden. Jeffs comes down off the bridge, and I take my time catching my breath.

Cheska is mumbling something, but I can’t hear her clearly because my heartbeat is far louder than her voice.

“Oh, my gosh, Avery. Are you attracted to Jeff?” I ask my delusional self.

I shake the thought immediately and compose myself, then I slowly walk towards them.

“Ms. Anderson, you are a natural,” says Cheska with her British accent, “You look like a model,” then she excitedly shows my solo pictures.

“And the two of you look great together,” she even adds.

I shyly peek at the picture and somehow, I totally agree with him. Jeff is indeed good-looking, and his height is suitable for a tall girl like me. He also looks ravishing in his suit.

I clear my throat, and snatch one of our pictures that look like we are almost kissing, “I’m going to keep this, you keep that one,” I demand.

Jeff shyly accepts it, “Oh, my pleasure,” he answers shortly and I see him stare at the picture and smile at it.

Then Cheska calls out both our attention, “So my dear guests, it is almost lunchtime, and I’m sure Mr. Sullivan doesn’t want to get you hungry, Ms. Avery, so let’s now go and fill your flat stomach.”

I like Cheska’s humor. She balances her elegance and humor, indeed a perfect personality of a manager.

We follow her quietly. I can see Jeff has become stiffer, and a little bit aloof.

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he doesn’t like me and me being too comfortable with him makes him a bit uncomfortable with me.

Just the thought saddens me, so I try to be a little quieter.

Cheska leads us to our spot at this fine-dine restaurant, and when Jeff notices my sudden mood change, he asks, “Hey, Ava, are you alright? You seem to be quiet.”

So I blatantly answer his question, “Well, I thought my chattiness makes you a little bit uncomfortable, that’s why.”

“No, no, why do you say so? Ava, I like everything about you,” he tries to persuade me.

“But you became quieter after the picture, so I thought you-”, I am about to explain when he holds my hand, so I stop talking and look at him.

“Ava, I like you a lot, and if only you aren’t my boss’s woman, I would have already kissed you. I’ve fallen for you the moment I saw you.”

His sweet words resonate in my ears and touch my heart. Although, it is different how Dmitri moves me.

“Which one is love?”, I ask my already confused mind.