Nine of Cups

by Michael Monn

  I bumped into HIM at the coffee break station. He was filling a five gallon thermos with filter coffee.

  "Another off-site catering?" I asked

  He was openly glad to see me, but kept his hands to himself. "I am just helping out Keith. I'll be in the hotel till late tonight."

  There wasn't much either of us could do about that, so I wished him luck and went back to my boring day.

  They let us all go early, so they could cross out some accumulated overtime. Since HE was stuck in the hotel, I decided to go home and give Vanessa a long call. She had been out of the loop for awhile and she was almost coming. Was I ready to introduce her to HIM?

  When I got home, Agnes came running. She expected a full debrief. Luckily it was early enough to repeat parts of the story to Vanessa. It occurred to me that sharing with Agnes had now become easier than with my sister.

  I didn't make it past eleven. I was so tired from not getting any sleep the night before, that I passed out with my phone in my hand.

  ***

  Our schedules were not compatible for yet another week. He was coming in late and staying till the early hours. When he was off, I wasn't. Twice I suggested that we chill and watch an episode of Khaleesi, but he told me that he couldn't. He didn't give any details which I found odd.

  I was enjoying a quiet evening alone when the doorbell rang. The girls didn't come home early, did they? I looked through the peephole and saw nothing. I was about to go back to my room, when the bell rang again. What the hell! Was someone fucking with me? Someone that knew I didn't like scary movies? Then my phone vibrated in my hand. I almost jumped out of my skin.

  A message. "Are you going to let me in?"

  Idiot! I was looking through the peephole, but the bell was being rung from downstairs. I pressed the buzzer and let HIM in.

  "What are you doing here? Didn't you have an open bar tonight?"

  "Miguel offered to close for me, so we could spend some time together." He walked into the apartment quietly. "Sorry for showing up so late. I just really wanted to see you."

  He hesitated for a moment. "Are you alone?"

  "No one is home, you can give me my kiss."

  "Good!" He said shortly, before grabbing me.

  Just as we sat down on my bed, Sebastian walked in. He looked surprised, he clearly hadn't expected to see anyone but me. Had he not heard the doorbell?

  He recovered quickly. "You must be Jean Pierre. I have heard alot about you. Only good things, of course." He laughed awkwardly.

  What the fuck had he heard about JP? Had Agnes been blabbing? If so, why with this one? She wasn't dating him was she? Oh, fuck. I didn't know the answer to that question. I was such a horrible friend! She knew everything about me and I had asked nothing about her in return.

  "Nice to meet you too!" Jean Pierre had jumped off the bed and was shaking his hand enthusiastically. "If you do hear anything bad, I'd like to hear about it over a beer."

  Ok. Enough of this bullshit. "Can I help you, Sebastian?" I asked shortly.

  "Ehh. Do you have a spare set of earphones? I am about to go into a raid and my headphones fizzled."

  I had no idea what he was on about, but I desperately wanted to get rid of him. I gave him the earphones from my old phone and looked at him with my best "bugger off" look.

  "Good luck with the raid," JP called after him. "For the Horde!" he yelled, holding up a fist. Sebastian returned the gesture with a wide grin.

  "What the hell was that?" I asked, astonished that HE had caught on to Sebastian's nonsense.

  "World of Warcraft!" Jean Pierre grinned. "I was addicted when we were living in Cameroon. Not much else to do there."

  A computer game! He liked those? Yuck! The fact that Sebastian was at home and that he knew we were both in my room, made me very uncomfortable. I was OK to snuggle a bit, but nothing more. JP got the hint.

  "I have a very important question for you!" he stated with one of his winning smiles. My silence motivated him to continue.

  He grabbed both my hands and looked me deep in the eyes, "Caleb. Would you do me the honour of being my plus one to the Employee Summer Ball?"

  Man, he was good. I knew the Ball was coming, but we were both going anyway. I didn't want to do anything that would make him uncomfortable in the hotel, so it hadn't occurred to me to ask him. Now he was asking me! It was like one of those American High School Prom movies. I loved it!

  "Jean Pierre. I can think of nothing I would rather want." I replied in an equally dramatic tone. I got a kiss and whispered suggestions of other things I might "rather" want. I could not be swayed however. We were going to the Ball! Everyone in the hotel would officially know about us! Oh, my god. All the other interns would know. One of them went to my school! There would be no turning back for either of us. I decided not to dwell on that too much. Agnes was going to have a fit. I would need to look phenomenal, if I was going to stand out next to him.

  We were both very tired and ended up falling asleep in our clothes on top of the bed. I woke up to drunk whispers in the hallway. It was six in the morning and the girls had just come home!

  "Caleb!" Agnes whispered through my door. "Are you awoke yep?" She had clearly had a lot to drink. To my horror, I saw the door open slightly. A face with the ghastly remnants of party makeup peeked in. When she saw HIM, she gasped and started jumping up and down. She covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling. She did not succeed.

  Jean Pierre carefully opened his eyes. He recoiled at the sight of her. Agnes in her drunken state saw his awakening as an invitation to enter. She excitedly tiptoed in and sat on the edge of the bed. I was so utterly shocked at her audacity, that I glared at her in disbelief. I didn't know what to do. Why the fuck was everyone barging into my room?

  "... am Agnes." She said, swallowing a hiccup. "I am sooo happy to now met you. Caleb always talking about you, but he never brings you home!" Agnes's brain was no longer capable of rendering her normal fluent English. She couldn't focus for a second as she slowly spun on her own axis. What had she been drinking? Maybe it was more than just alcohol.

  Then it hit me! Had she just said, "Caleb always talks about you" to HIM? I was gonna kill her! I desperately needed to get rid of her, before she opened her mouth again.

  I grabbed her tightly by the arm and escorted her out. Jean Pierre was trying not to laugh. "Nice to met you too!" He waved at a smiling Agnes. I lay her down on the sofa in the living room, where she passed out immediately.

  Since we were already awake, we sneaked out and had breakfast in the Patisserie downstairs.

  Nine

  HE finally delivered on his promise to assist me with my work out. He showed me his exercise routine and how he could adapt it for me. It looked terribly boring. I humoured him for two complete sessions, which made my whole body hurt like hell.

  I invited him for lunch and broke the news that I would prefer to continue with just my treadmill. He found that amusing for some reason.

  During the two weeks leading up to the Employee Party, it was impossible to spend time with him in the evening. I checked his schedule when visiting Merce for more billing issues. Though he only had Sunday off, it didn't seem like he was going to work late on Tuesday and Thursday.

  "Frenchie! When are you going to cook me dinner?" I messaged. He despised being called Frenchie, as he didn't really consider himself French. I found this rather curious, considering all people from France were very proud of their heritage. I presumed the provocation would get me a prompt answer.

  "Not this week. Sorry. ☹️" The reply came much later than I had anticipated. What was he doing with his free evenings?

  "Can I take you for brunch at the Mandarin Oriental on Sunday?" a second message bleeped in.

  I wasn't going to pass on brunch at the Mandarin, but I still felt uneasy about him avoiding the evenings. There had to be a way to find out what he was up to? He wasn't cheating, was he? No. I had to put that possibility out of my mind. That was a slip
pery slope. I had witnessed first hand how Vanessa had completely destroyed her relationship with the love of her life. In the end, all her suspicions had been unfounded.

  "I'll see you there at twelve!" Luckily a text message could hide emotion.

  ***

  Even though it was brunch, I didn't want to drink. Like a true Englishman, I sat and had Darjeeling tea with my egg white and spinach omelette. Jean Pierre was very quiet and seemed distracted. Was he being self-conscious again?

  "Are you alright?" I asked, grabbing his hand. I wanted to see if he would pull away. He didn't.

  "Yes, yes," he replied with a forced smile. It still had the same effect on me.

  "Is it about tomorrow? We can always go to the party separately, if you aren't ready." I was covering all bases. I didn't recognise this behaviour from him and wanted to get to the bottom of it.

  He immediately snapped out of his bubble. "Oh, please don't think that. Of course, I want to go with you. It's just that..." He took a sip of his Laurent Perrier. Damn! He almost blabbed. I was burning with curiosity, but didn't want to think of worst case scenarios.

  "Why don't we go to the cinema tonight? It will distract you from whatever is bothering you," I suggested brightly.

  He grimaced. "I am really sorry, but I can't. Not tonight."

  What the fuck! What else did he have planned? I didn't want to be possessive, but all this vagueness was driving me wild.

  "Why? Do you have a date with someone else?" I blurted out, once again having lost my cool. He gave me a contemplative look, but didn't answer immediately.

  "I would never do that to you!" He said shortly. How was he always able to maintain composure? We finished our eggs in silence. He paid and walked me to the main entrance.

  "You need to learn how to trust me, Caleb." he said, before giving me a chaste kiss. "I will pick you up tomorrow at seven. The pre-dinner cocktail starts at six thirty, but I don't feel like mingling."

  Where was he going now? I wanted to scream. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he hadn't done anything to break my trust so far. Did I doubt him, because I still felt like I wasn't good enough?

  Ten

  Agnes had felt so guilty over her reckless behaviour that she had begged for my forgiveness. I could only stay angry for so long and grudgingly let her off the hook. She also swore that she hadn't spoken to Sebastian about JP. So who the hell had? Monique seemed thoroughly oblivious. I eventually let it go for the sake of more important pursuits.

  The theme of the Ball was Black/White & Spice. JP had pulled rank and claimed White, so I needed to dominate in Black. Agnes had found a black dress shirt in a shop on Aragó, which matched perfectly with my slim fit jeans. I wore a black tie and belt, but the highlight was a pair of signature red Carolina Herrera step-in shoes. I truly thought I had outdone HIM, but I was wrong.

  I buzzed him into the building and waited patiently at the door. Agnes was allowed to watch from a safe distance after promising not to speak.

  Sir bloody Galahad stepped out of the lift. He wore pressed trousers over squeaky white tennis shoes with a golden stripe. The white shirt didn't look expensive, but the way his body filled it left little to the imagination. His touch of spice was a shocking pink tie, held in place with a golden tie clip. It looked old, perhaps an heirloom?

  His hair was slicked back with wet-look styling gel. He looked thoroughly edible. Agnes drew a sharp breathe, but kept her vow of silence. She waved at him sheepishly from the sofa.

  "Hello, Agnes." He flashed her a grin, before returning his gaze to me. "You look amazing!" he breathed. "Shall we skip the party and go straight to my place?"

  "I don't think so, Mister." I quickly moved us out into the hall, pulling the door closed behind me. I grabbed him by his thick arms and pushed him up against the wall. I snogged him like a schoolgirl, until he gently pushed me away.

  "I am wearing white and this wall is filthy," he chuckled. I frowned at him darkly before bullying him back into the lift. I still hadn't made my peace with his secrecy and wanted to punish him somehow.

  It was strange to enter the hotel through the main entrance. Most of the employees had already arrived and the cocktail was nearly done. The casual staff that I had worked with during my stint in Banquets were whispering behind their hands, as they saw me walk in with Jean Pierre. He noticed and grabbed my hand for support. Some gave us nasty looks, whereas others were clearly jealous. I had hooked the biggest catch in the hotel, even though HE wasn't aware of it.

  I was extremely self conscious as we nodded at the people we knew. Merce stopped us to give us kisses. "Qué guapos!" she said in awe. Sylvia brought us each a glass of Cava and commented on how we made a lovely couple.

  Costas strode over and introduced me to his wife. She was very sweet and spoke hesitant English in a soft voice. Miguel had apparently not succeeded in finding himself a date and had brought his brother along instead. He gave us an appraising look before shaking our hands enthusiastically. "He doesn't know," Miguel whispered behind his brother's back.

  Jean Pierre walked me to an empty cocktail table and grabbed a handful of frutos secos. "Do you see that lady over there?" he asked casually.

  I looked inconspicuously in the direction he was indicating. I saw a woman older than my mother in a black pantsuit with long dark hair. She was smiling at a lady in a white chiffon dress with a short blond bob. I couldn't see her face, but she had an amazing figure.

  "That is Erica Vilaró; the owner of the hotel and one of the wealthiest women in Europe," he clarified.

  Wow. I didn't expect her to be here tonight. Everyone in the hotel knew her name, but I had never bothered looking her up.

  "The woman standing next to her is Natalie Robin."

  The Natalie Robin? Wasn't she the lead in that Netflix show everybody loved?

  "So, Miss Vilaró likes to keep famous company?" I asked naively.

  He looked at me in surprise. "I guess you could say that. They have been happily married for the last six years."

  Fuck! Erica Vilaró was married to a woman! ... and not just any woman, Natalie was a Hollywood A-lister. This put everything into a whole new perspective. I instantly felt more at ease. Is that why he had mentioned it?

  Keith's disembodied voice announced that everyone was kindly invited to take their seats. I felt bad that he had to work, whilst everyone else was having fun. Jean Pierre explained that Sylvia had it covered. She rotated the Supervisors for every Employee event. All those working tonight would get the following three consecutive days off.

  There was no fixed seating and mingling was strongly encouraged. Jean Pierre and I were joined by Lydia and her boyfriend, the Director of Housekeeping and his wife, as well as Karen; the Room Service intern. She had brought a mousy little flatmate, who kept deadly quiet during the entire evening.

  We were treated like royalty. Dinner started with the Brasserie Chef's signature gazpacho with handmade grissinis. The main course was a cod steak served with julienne vegetables and wafer thin baked potatoes. All wines were sponsored by the hotel's exclusive suppliers and dessert consisted of peppermint sorbet served in a spun sugar bowl.

  The evening was so enjoyable, it flew by. Jean Pierre made polite conversation with everyone at our table, except for Karen. She had spent the entire night staring at her phone. Our small talk was mainly focused on what people were wearing and who was doing who. I learned more about my colleagues in one evening, than during my entire internship sofar.

  Once dessert had been cleared the hotel manager took to the stage and thanked everyone in English and Spanish for their commitment to excellence. He gave a couple of anecdotes of how people had made an impact on our guests over the last few months. To my surprise, Karen was mentioned in one of his examples. She had only looked up to see what was going on, because her friend had elbowed her hard in the side. She grinned blandly at the boss for a moment and then disappeared back into her phone.

  "Ladies and
Gentlemen. I have been looking forward to this moment all evening. It is with great pleasure that I give the stage to our very own Lydia and Jean Pierre!"

  What the fuck! He was going to perform? Lydia moved behind a piano that I hadn't even noticed before. JP walked up to the microphone and winked at me.

  "Good evening everyone," he said carefully. I could tell he was nervous. "This song is for you!" He could have meant the entire audience, but he was looking straight at me! Mercifully, they didn't put me under a fucking spotlight.

  He shuffled abit to prepare and when Lydia started playing, those lips parted and he SANG! It was absolutely mesmerizing. I held my breath for fear of missing a note. When the song ended, the entire room erupted into a standing ovation. I lept to my feet and clapped till my hands burned.

  "Pretty good, no?" Lydia's boyfriend spoke close to my ear. "They have been practicing in our house for weeks. They were both nervous to perform in front of Mrs. Vilaró, but he cared mostly about what you would think."

  Oh, no! So that's why he couldn't meet in the evenings. He had been practicing with Lydia! I was such a fucking idiot! I can't believe I accused him of cheating. He should just dump me now and marry a film star, like Erica had.