Chapter 11: Too Close for Comfort

I didn’t know what to expect when I entered the room.

I took a heavy breath before opening the door. As soon as I reached for the handle, it flung open and revealed an electrician on the other side. I stepped aside to make room for him to come out. What was he doing in there?

“Joe!” I yelled out loud, searching for him in the room. My eyes scanned the room to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. I can still smell a faint burning smell inside but I can’t put my finger on where it’s located.

“Hey, Sandra. What is it?” Joe jogged up to me. I gave him a perplexed look. He seemed fine compared to what I was expecting. He gave me a sheepish smile as he waited for my answer.

“Well, Charlotte told me there was something in the lights room. She looked very worried and I thought it might be that bad.” I explained to him, making me turn around to check the room again. “Also, where is that burnt smell coming from” I added, still getting a whiff of that putrid odor.

“Oh that, I’m sorry it’s just that one of the bulbs here short-circuited and exploded.” I gasped in surprise after he finished telling me what happened. I feel like all the blood from my face disappeared and a cold sweat was trickling down from my forehead.

“Oh my god! That could have led to a fire.” I pointed out as my heartbeat quickened and my palms started sweating with nervousness. “Where is the light bulb now?” I hurriedly asked him to show me which is it that could have caused massive damage to the property.

“Sandra, it’s okay now. I already had it under control. I already called the electrician to replace the light bulb.” He assured me as he patted my back to calm me down. I sighed in relief to hear that everything has already been taken care of but I still felt a pang of guilt as I hadn’t been able to supervise everything which led to this unfortunate event.

“I’m sorry.” I looked down, unable to look at Joe who might have been mad at me because of what happened. I can’t shake off this uneasy feeling that I have. It’s my fault. Being so distracted by Kevin made me lose track of my tasks for this event.

“It’s okay. As long as nobody’s hurt.” He tried to cheer me up by gripping my shoulder. “I’ll take care of everything here, you go out there.” He nudged me a bit, making me exhale heavily.

As I walked back to the event hall, I scanned the room to check the program and the guests. Everything seems to be running smoothly. It was then Kevin caught my eye.

My heart sank in the pit of my stomach as I watched him laugh with his friends. Even though I know that he’s probably not talking about me, it felt like he was laughing at me. I clenched my teeth as I balled my hands into tight fists. I grimaced at the sound of his laughter. I hated how his eyes lit up with happiness and amusement, despite the things he has done to me and several other girls. His lack of remorse repulsed me and his ability to get away with such inappropriate actions made me worry for the other naive and desperate girls like me before.

I let out a deep sigh as my eyes fell to the ground. I guess this is just the reality of things that people like me have to deal with.

“Okay, now for our final speaker…” The voice of the host interrupted my thoughts. I glanced up to see the speaker walking up the stage. I took a deep breath as I ran a hand through my hair. The show must go on.

Thank God not much has happened until the program ended. I looked around the room as the staff was cleaning up the event’s place to see where I can help. I saw one staff member trying to arrange the chairs in place so I also did the same. As I was trying to fix back the seats, my eyes met with Arthur as he was walking towards me. I felt my heart skip a beat as he flashed his handsome smile.

“You did great today.” He patted my shoulder as he approached me. “Everything went smoothly, good job.” He complimented, making me look down shyly as I remember what happened in the lights room.

“Thank you, Mr. Williams.” I meekly replied as a blush escaped my cheeks.

“Please call me Arthur instead when it’s just us two.” He said, his tone was playful and kind. His grin widened, making my heart flutter with joy.

“Thank you, Arthur.” I repeated awkwardly, receiving a satisfied look from him. I returned back to my tasks and was shocked to see him helping me. “It’s okay, I can do this on my own.” I told him, feeling embarrassed that my boss is helping me do my job.

“No, it’s fine. I also help out during the cleanup.” He spoke nonchalantly, still focused on arranging the chairs. I just stood there and gaped at him, amazed that even though he’s already at the top he still managed to do these small insignificant things. It made my heart swell at his actions. Realizing that I was just gawking at him, he turned to me and arched an eyebrow at me.

“Ms. Bailey, these chairs are not gonna organize themselves.” He stated sternly, making me jerk my head and quickly return to my tasks. He just laughed before continuing.

“If you’re going to let me call you Arthur, then you should call me Sandra too.” I stated matter-of-factly as I carried three chairs that were stacked on top of each other and placed them to the side.

“Okay then, Sandra.” He said cheekily. A shiver ran down my spine once I heard him say my name like that again. A wave of memories washed over me as I recalled the moment we spent together that night. I bit my lower lip, trying to suppress the smile that was threatening to form as I cheerfully continued with my work.

“So what brought you here?” I asked, trying to make small talks in between our work. He shifted his attention to me after he’s done with his last chair.

“Well, I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done.” He looked at me sincerely. “Besides, I heard from Charlotte what happened in the lights room earlier.” He added seriously, staring deeply into my eyes. I shivered at his intense look. It was as if he was looking into my soul. I couldn’t quite decipher what his eyes told me. Was he mad at me because of what happened?

“I’m sorry about that, Arthur. I swear I’ll do better next time.” Looking down at my hands, feeling ashamed that I let something like that possibly ruin this event.

“It’s good that nothing bad happened to you.” His voice was calm, making me glance into his eyes. I saw them full of worry, making me feel happy that he thought about my welfare. I held his gaze for a long time, feeling as if the time stopped. We just stood there for a while, feeling the heavy tension between us. It seemed like his face was inching close to mine. I stifled a gasp, feeling my heart about to explode from the nervousness. Feeling his hot breath looming over my lips, I closed my eyes anticipating his next move.

“Sandra, come here!” I heard Joe called out to me from afar, making me open my eyes abruptly and pull away from him. I saw him move back and busied himself checking the chairs as if he was doing that the whole time. I felt my face hot from our almost kiss. I checked my appearance on my phone to see that I was red as a tomato. I immediately fanned myself while walking towards Joe to even out the color of my face before reaching him. “Are you good? You look flustered. Did Mr. William scold you?” He asked consecutively, making me feel overwhelmed.

“Not really.” I answered timidly, still thinking about what happened. I looked back at him to see what he was doing but only to see his back retreating away. What would’ve happened if Joe didn’t call out to me? Would he really kiss? Or was he just teasing me? All these questions are running in my head, making me a bit dizzy.

A thought suddenly popped into my head making me dread going to work tomorrow.

How would I be able to face him after our little moment earlier? Then it dawned on me, will I still have a job tomorrow?