Wrong Place, Wrong Time (Part 1)

It’s been a few days since the VIP at Cottage 2 arrived at the inn. Vivi was helping at the cafe when she gave such a long, tired sigh that caught her co-worker’s attention.

“Bad day, Boss?” Selene asked.

“I don’t know if I can take any more of this.”

“How about taking a seat?” Selene offered an empty chair beside her. “Old Boss making you run a lot of errands again?”

“It’s not that, this time. It’s just that Grandma put me in charge of the VIP at Cottage 2.”

“Difficult customer, eh?”

“Not really. But I always get bad luck whenever I get close to him.”

“What do you mean?”

Vivi proceeded to tell her what happened the first time she delivered food to Cottage 2.

Selene gave such an exaggerated gasp that Vivi knew she was getting excited. “So how was he?”

“He was different from what I expected. I thought he would be a lot older since we rarely get younger guests. Turns out he was young, maybe the same age as I am.”

“Aaaand?” 

Selene’s wide eyes carried a lot of expectation that, unfortunately, Vivi met with confusion.

“He was tall, I guess.”

Selene rolled her eyes. “Was it like chiffon that would melt in your mouth? Or…”

“What the heck are you talking about?”

Selene took her arm and shook it. “Was it soft? Firm? Hard?”

“What?”

“I am asking how was he… you know.” She placed her hand in front of her with her palm out and made small circular motions.

“Can you not?” Vivi pulled her arm away, taking the previously offered seat. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t ask me that!”

Their conversation was interrupted by the familiar beep of the CB radio. Then a man’s voice came through the static. It was Phillip from the front desk.

“Boss, Cottage 2 is requesting for some snacks to be brought to the poolside.”

“I’m on break,” Vivi growled angrily. “Have Eduard or Jane do it.”

“No can do, Boss. The Old Boss had put out a memo that all services for Cottage 2 should be done or at least be personally supervised by you.”

Vivi groaned loudly as she rested her forehead on her palm.

Selene gave a quiet laugh, clearly taking pleasure in her boss’ misery.

----------------------------

Vivi dreaded every single step she took as she walked down the path to the poolside with a covered tray in hand. She tries to put the conversation she had with Selene out of her mind but she couldn’t. Now she can’t remove the thought of Cottage 2’s chest out of her mind.

She stopped at the arc that was the entrance to the pool area. Vivi couldn’t get herself to go into that state. She would only be too conscious about it that she would probably end up looking at it.

She took a few deep breaths to calm her down before entering.

There was someone lying half-naked on one of the lounge chairs and she immediately stepped back and hid behind the tall hedge by the arc.

She closed her eyes. ‘Calm down, Vivi. It’s just another guest. Whatever happens, be the bigger person and let it pass.’

She was glancing at the poolside to make sure that he was still there, when she heard a voice by her ear.

“Do you always peek at your guests like this?”

She turned around and there he was, crouching behind her, trying to sneak a glance at the poolside.

“Why are you here?” she stammered.

"I ordered for food to be taken to the poolside so, obviously, I should be here." He smiled widely.

"Weren't you supposed to be…" She pointed at the man sunbathing on the lounge chair.

"So you thought you were peeking at me?"

"N-no, I didn't mean that."

"Miss, your eyesight must be bad. I feel insulted. I clearly have a better body than his."

He emphasized it by opening his shirt.

"Look, my abs are obviously more sculpted-"

Vivi wasn't able to hear the rest as she thrusted the tray of food at him and fled the scene.

The torment, as Vivi would call it, continued in the succeeding days. And much as she hated to admit it, it wasn’t entirely the man’s fault. To put it simply, he just had a knack for always being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or was it the right place at the right time?

Take that incident with the coffee, for example.

She had just gotten back from an errand in town when she met Jane on her way to the living quarters. She was muttering under her breath while holding a cup of coffee.

Thinking that there was something wrong, she asked Jane if there was a problem.

“Boss, Cottage 2 had been complaining about the coffee. He asked me to change it three times already.”

“What’s wrong with the coffee?”

“The guest said there was something wrong with the coffee, but Selene can’t find the reason. She’s already getting angry because she followed the usual procedure for all our coffees and had to brew a new batch twice.”

Vivi took the cup in her hand and placed it near her face, sniffing its aroma. She took a quick sip.

“I drank on the other side of the cup,” a whisper came from her ear.

Startled, Vivi almost dropped the cup, causing its contents to splash onto her shirt. She turned around and gave the man a glare.

He held his hands up in defense. “I was just saying. You know, just in case you’re thinking of indirectly kissing me.”

Jane chuckled, then cleared her throat when Vivi shot her an angry glance.

“Sir, if you don’t like the coffee, you don’t have to drink it. No need to harass my employees.”

“You don’t think there’s anything wrong with the coffee?”

“No.”

He took the cup from her hand and sipped directly from the side that she drank from. “Hmm.. You’re right, it’s much sweeter now.”

Vivi could feel her face start to turn red. She clenched her jaw and with great control muttered, “If there’s nothing else, sir, I’ll be going now.”

“Ah-”

She left without giving him time to say anything else.

Then there was also that time when the old gardener used the grasscutter near the place where they hung the laundry to dry.

Apparently, nobody remembered to take the dried clothes off the line before the gardener was scheduled to cut grass. In other words, it was a simple miscommunication.

Thankfully, Vivi was able to stop him from continuing until she could take the laundry away.

She and Elena checked all the items and saw that the bedsheets were stained and needed another trip to the washer. 

Next, they checked the guests’ laundry.

She took each item of clothing and spread them high with the sun behind her, inspecting them closely before tossing them onto the baskets, which were labelled according to room number.

She was almost done when a face appeared over her shoulder.

“What are you looking for?” asked the voice that had already become familiar to her.

It was then that she realized she was holding up a pair of underwear. 

She didn’t even bother to answer anymore. She simply tossed the offending piece of clothing to the basket and walked away, trying to stop her face from revealing her embarrassment.