Chapter 7
Katherine arrived early at the hotel, dressed in her blue-grey uniform. Her wavy brown hair rolled in a donut with a strand of hair beside her ears. A lovely crystal stud earring occupied the piercing on her ears.
She liked how she felt this morning, and she could pay millions to maintain this feeling till clocking off.
She wouldn't let anything disrupt her peaceful life—the life she had finally gathered together again after years of failure, falling, and doubt.
But—her heels clicking after her as she walked through the familiar hallway to her office—she had to pass through the suite elevator. And her thoughts automatically drifted to him.
No!
She shook her head. Don't think anything! Past needed to stay past. Past was past for a reason—it couldn't be undone. She told herself and picked up the pace, yet barely breathing.
What if the elevator door opened and he came out?
No! Katherine, stop it! Remember the bubbling feeling in you this morning. Don't let him affect you! He has moved on.
Seeing her office door, Katherine rushed to it, her hands trembling as she unlocked the door. Slamming the door behind her, she slumped against it.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
You are doing okay.
She closed her eyes momentarily, picked herself up, dusting her skirt. She smiled, getting into professional mode.
And as a cue, her office door was knocked and one of the old attendants walked in with slumped shoulders.
"The VIP suite looks hard to please," the old attendant—Mia—said, walking to the empty couch and jumping on it.
Katherine smiled and walked to her desk, wiping any particles off her desk and seat before sitting.
"What happened?"
"Just this morning, they called thrice."
"Oh, what's the issue?"
"I don't even understand," Mia responded.
"Send in another person to attend to them. You can take a break," Katherine said and opened her laptop to start attending to her workload.
"Thank you, Kathy. You are a lifesaver," Mia beamed.
Katherine chuckled in response. "Send another experienced person. I don't want the issue of a new attendant making a mistake."
"Aye, captain." Mia saluted as she walked out of the office, leaving Katherine alone.
Katherine rubbed her temple. Why was he making it hard for her people? But instead of showing herself—even though it was her job to serve the VIP suite till next satisfaction—she would repeatedly throw other people at him.
Katherine buried herself in work to take her thoughts away from him. Checking the schedule, assigning suites to VIP guests, and so on.
After working for hours, she checked the time and stood up. Her kids would soon be back from school. She stretched her stiff muscles, moaning out as she felt the crack sound of her joints giving her joy—her neck joint, arm joint, back joint, leg joint, and finger joints.
Katherine headed to the back corridor to wait for the school bus to arrive. She might use this opportunity to catch a break and fresh air until she heard something—faint notes of a piano being played in the lounge.
She smiled. The piano was just for decency, and some guests played it to pass time. But the melody coming out made her smile vanish and her body stiffen.
That familiar melody. It can't be!
Katherine followed the sound as if she were hypnotized, her heart throbbing and her eyes glistening with unshed tears as another wave of memory washed over her.
A young Aaron, seated at the old school piano, staring at her as he played the song on her 18th birthday. The joy she felt then—to be the only one that could see Aaron Knight like this. Her crush. His crush.
She knew Aaron liked her, but their social status was a barricade for her. Yet she couldn't stop coveting him.
She rushed to him and asked, "What's the name of this piece?"
Aaron rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "I've not thought of a title yet. Maybe Katherine's Song?"
Katherine laughed out at the awkwardness. "What type of title is that?" she hit his shoulder a little, then stopped seeing his confused look. He was so cute.
"Thank you. This is the best birthday ever," Katherine said and lounged herself on him.
As if the enchantment was over, when the melody changed to a sadder tone, Katherine paused and stormed back to her office, forgetting about picking up her children.
For a moment, she almost walked toward the sound. She almost reached out to him—even if he didn't change the song. She wiped a tear off her face harshly and threw herself into checking the submitted documents on her table.
Katherine wanted to hate herself for being weak.
"Are you okay?"
She wiped her head up to see Mia looking at her concernedly.
Katherine flinched. She didn't know when she came in. "When did you come?"
"I came in since you've been staring at the same page."
Katherine sighed, dropping the paper as she rubbed her forehead.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Katherine responded with a smile. "What are you doing here?"
"Well," she grinned, "I don't have anything to do, so I came here."
"Haha, enjoyment galore," Katherine said. "Do your best not to distract me because I still have many unfinished works to do."
"Aye, captain."
…
At home.
"And they lived happily ever after."
Katherine closed the fairytale book, placed it on the bedside as both of them were already yawning. She gently tucked Jasmine and Hanith into bed.
She kissed both of their foreheads.
"Nighty, Mommy."
"Night, buds. Sweet dreams."
As she turned to leave, Jasmine held her hand, and Katherine smiled, rubbing her hair.
"What's up, bud?" she asked softly.
"Mommy, that uncle that plays piano looks sad," Jasmine muttered, a yawn passing her lips.
Katherine paused, her hands clenched—did they also hear him play at the hallway today? Her heart skipped. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know. He just looks like he wants to cry. I think he misses someone." Jasmine yawned again, her eyes closing.
Hanith murmured, "He was really nice."
Katherine smiled a little, pulling the blanket and kissing their foreheads again.
"I and Hanith will dream and save the uncle from evil."
"Do well to save him," Katherine said grimly, turning off the bed lamp.
Katherine stepped into the bathroom, closed the door, and stared at herself in the mirror.
With a shaky voice, she whispered to no one, "Why did you come back, Aaron?"
And a single tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it and straightened up.