Discover Love

Working Weekend

The biggest dilemma of a girl is to decide what to wear. Have you ever had that confusion? Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of dresses, but now I'm not very sure. On one hand, I want to impress Alex but on the other hand, I was unhappy. He almost stole this day from me. I'm sure this would be like one of the meetings where he speaks with the other party and I'll just be listening, not understanding half of their talks.

But a girls' gotta do what a girls' gotta do. I bring out my bright yellow sundress to brighten my mood as well. 'The dress highlights your hair and brings out the color of your eyes' is what Joe once told me. Joe was my boyfriend and is not in San Francisco, so no, Mr. Grumpy wasn't completely incorrect on the 'long-distance love bird' comment. Just that things didn't work out between us and we decided to call it quits. For some time, I had a hope that we will somehow work it out but his Facebook tells me that he's got a new girlfriend. 

So anyway, the yellow sundress it is. I paired it with boot from Steff's collection. I left my hair open and applied a light eyeliner. I was eating my breakfast when the bell rang. Dang! It's only 8:45.

I opened the door to meet Martin, the driver. I know him as he was Ethan's driver too. He had also dropped me a few times at my home.

"Good Morning Ms. Wilson. Mr. Holden is waiting for you in the parking. Please come once ready." He smiled.

"Give me 10 minutes Martin" I was ready but I wanted to finish my breakfast. If I don't eat properly, I get this headache which then requires me to sleep deeply. Steff was still sleeping after her long night club party yesterday. I calmly finished my breakfast, checked myself in the mirror, and applied a bit of lip gloss. I took my sling bag and kept my mobile and other necessary items in it and moved out of the apartment.

A sleek black BMW was waiting in the parking lot. I wasn't sure where would I sit. Martin came out and opened the back door. I peeked inside and Mr. Grumpy was sitting there reading some papers. He looked different today because he was in casuals. His Khaki Chino matched perfectly with his crisp black shirt. His sunglasses were dangling at his shirt's pocket. His hair was not gelled today. I smiled brightly and opened my mouth to wish him.

"You are late Ms. Wilson!" He looked at his watch and nodded at me.

'Wow! So much for sacrificing my day!'

"Good Morning to you too Mr. Holden!" I rolled my eyes and said icily. There goes my day. With such a fantastic start of the day, I do not doubt that it's all going downhill.

"It will take us one hour to reach the property." His voice boomed again.

'Was he talking to me? How about – Did you eat your breakfast? I'm so happy that you could join me or even - It's a wonderful day, isn't it - comment?'

About an hour later, we reached the so-called destination. It was a construction site. Not only was I surprised, but I was also worried about Steff's boot. Didn't he say something about the show around San Francisco? I was hoping for a city tour and now I'm standing near a large dusty site all dug up and filled up with construction equipment.

The construction site was all quiet and I assumed it was because today is a holiday. Lucky are those who get a holiday! We were ushered into the main office which was a large air-conditioned storage container. The engineers sat down with Mr. Grumpy for discussion. I did not take any notes because (a) I had no notebook or pen and (b) He didn't tell me that it was a working weekend. I just sat there with them and soon, I got bored. Half an hour into the meeting I decided to quietly slip out and walk around the site.

Before I could go far, his voice reached me "Be careful Ms. Wilson. This is a construction site, not a theme park."

"Err... Of course, Mr. Holden." I was surprised. I didn't think he was paying attention to me so how did he know that I was moving out?

As I opened the container door, a blast of hot air hit me. The site was huge and being a holiday, it was all quiet. I had already decided that I will not walk far away especially because I have to take care of the boots. Steff and I have this agreement wherein we share our things but that doesn't mean I ruin the things.

At a distance, I could see turquoise blue water. With the earth dug around the water body and few trees lining the water, it was quite a lovely sight. I fished out my mobile for a quick selfie but the water was a bit far away. Carefully walking on the marked areas, I finally reached the location and clicked a few selfies.

I decided to call my Mom now that I have some free time. I had a good twenty minutes chat with her while I updated her about the boss swap, company plans, meetings, etc. She was excited that I'm getting so much to learn but somehow, I couldn't share her enthusiasm. As I disconnected the call and kept my mobile back into my sling bag, I couldn't help but think about my office environment now.

For me, it's very important that the people I work with are comfortable with me and vice versa. When I joined the company, Elsa and I had a bit of tough time but we soon set out the boundaries. It worked out well and we came to good terms. I, in fact, covered for her a couple of times when she was late to office and slowly the ice between us melted. Now I can comfortably call her to watch my back. Things were good with Ethan too. With Alex in the equation, the ease I had in my office was shattered. I guess it's because we started on the wrong foot. The whole reason for accepting this outing was to become a bit more friendly with him. But this one-sided try was not working out. I wondered why he actually invited me today?

"A penny for your thoughts?" I nearly jumped and lost my balance. My boots slipped on the slope and I screamed.

Immediately my hand was grabbed. I was pulled but my boots sunk into the mud. Then, a pair of strong hands grabbed my waist and I was hoisted up like a flower being plucked.

"Are you okay?" I could hear the concern in Alex's voice. He removed my hair from my face.

"Can you not sneak up on people? It's not nice." I was shaking and I was angry. I eventually succeeded in ruining the boots. I was also embarrassed. I hate this damsel in distress situation.

"Good! You are okay then." He was back in his emotionless state. "Mr. Mathew, please show her the washroom." He then turned to me "I did not sneak up on you. You were zoned out. Get cleaned up and I will wait for you in the car." And then he walked away.

Upon closer inspection, the boots were not soiled completely. True that some cleaning was to be done but it was going to survive. The mirror told me that my face looked okay though my hair was not. I decided to just put it all up in a quick messy bun. God knows where all we are going today. 

There! I look a bit presentable now. I squared my shoulders and walked out. Martin was waiting outside the car and he immediately opened the door for me. Mr. Grumpy was already seated and busy with his paperwork. I slumped down on the comfortable plush leather seats.

'God knows where the next stop is!'