The Condition He Demanded

“You looked like you’ve seen a ghost”

Blaire absentmindedly looked at Lester upon hearing him speak.

“Is there something wrong?” he asks, concerning about Blaire’s paleness.

Blaire pursed her lips, and she flashes a worried face as she looks back at Lester. “I need to speak to Miss Margaret. Could you inform her, please?”

Lester immediately notified all the staff through the walkie-talkie to call for the attention of Margaret. Luckily, Margaret is in the lobby and the one at the front desk. Upon hearing the request, she did not ask further and went into the elevator.

“Why? What’s the matter?” Margaret asked as soon as she reached the front desk on the 8th floor. Lester and Blaire stood up, the former looking at the person beside him.

“I think I made a mistake,” Blaire started. “I accidentally bumped into the client while I was cleaning the closet.”

Margaret became more serious upon hearing Blaire. One thing that’s scary about her is that she doesn’t want the clients to have a negative experience while staying at the inn. It is no doubt that many have been laid off the job because of recklessness. “Elaborate what happened.”

And so Blaire stated what happened. Margaret sighed after hearing the story and told her, “I thought it was something serious. If he walked up into the closet earlier than your scheduled cleaning, it’s not your fault. However, you should know that every time the client wants to avail of the housekeeping service while they’re inside the room, you must, first and foremost, clean the closet. It’s to avoid any unnecessary interaction between the lodging inn staff and the client. Understood?”

“Yes, Miss Margaret. I’m so sorry.” Blaire said while bowing her head.

Lester also sighed upon hearing the story and smiled at Blaire while Margaret was talking to her. ‘What a poor innocent girl,’ he said in his mind.

“Come, let’s visit the client once more and tell him you’re sorry. I’ll come with you.” Margaret said, and Blaire followed.

After three knocks, the door opened and a man who hadn’t finished dressing up faced them. He had his trousers on, but his polo’s still unbuttoned, revealing his toned-skin body. His hair’s messy, while he’s still wearing a slipper that was provided by the inn.

“Yes?” He answered.

Blaire widened her eyes upon seeing the man and immediately lowered her head to avoid looking at him. Margaret, on the other hand, is still directly looking at him, looking unimpressed with the man in front of them.

“Mr. Axel Sebastian, the incident that happened a while ago was reported to me by my staff, and we would like to deeply apologize for that. Here’s Blaire, the one who bumped you, to formally express her apology”

Blaire then looked at him directly. “I’m… I’m deeply sorry for what happened earlier. It is my mistake to not be aware of my surroundings. I hope you could forgive me, sir.”

The man stared at her which produced an awkward atmosphere among the three. “You’re the one cleaning the room a while ago?” he asked.

“Y-Yes, sir,” Blaire answered.

“Please address me by my name, Miss Blaire.” He stated while making a serious face. This made Blaire somewhat more afraid.

“Y-Yes, Sir Axel. Forgive me.” She answered.

“Now, regarding what happened earlier, I want you to make up for it.” Axel looked at Margaret. “I assume you’re the head of the housekeeping staff?”

“I am, Mister Sebastian,” Margaret confirmed.

“With what happened earlier, I want you to make Miss Blaire my housekeeping staff during my stay here.”

Both Margaret and Blaire were taken back. Margaret was the first to compose herself and agreeing to the condition of Mr. Sebastian.

“So that settles it.” Mr. Sebastian said while smiling. The two ladies bid their goodbyes and went back to the front desk. Margaret told Lester the result and obviously, Blaire could say that Margaret is somewhat annoyed while speaking.

“Then why are you annoyed, Miss Marge? It’s not like he’s going to leave a bad review nor making it a big deal?” Lester asks.

Margaret sighed in annoyance. “I don’t know. I was annoyed with the way he greeted us there. It’s like he didn’t bother making himself presentable. Did he expect us to gawk at him and give him praises when he showed himself? And what’s with the condition? It’s not like he’s bothered by it. Blaire has some other things to do aside from working here.”

“I’m… I’m so sorry, Miss Margaret. This… wouldn’t have resulted into this if I wasn’t careless.” Blaire said.

“Don’t worry, Blaire. I don’t blame you at all. If you got a problem with him, tell me and I will handle it.”

“Yes, Miss Margaret.”

“Call me if there’s anything you need. Okay?”

Both Lester and Blaire answered nod their heads. It was then Margaret decided to return to the lobby on the ground floor. After some minutes, Blaire’s smartwatch flashed a yellow light. Looking at it, a notification informing her that she will be the assigned staff at room 8102 for three days. Unfortunately, this is the first day that Mr. Sebastian checked in so she will be serving for 3 days on the 8th floor.

“Lester, may I ask you something?”

“What is it, Blaire?”

“Why does it seem like a big deal to Miss Margaret that I would be the assigned personal housekeeping staff of Mr. Axel?”

“It is a big deal, Blaire. Mr. Axel is going to stay here for three days and since he requested you to be his service personnel, you won’t be following your shift and must be available any time of the day. Which means you’re going to stay here for three days.”

Blaire froze in her place. Yeah, it really IS a big deal.

“Since Mr. Sebastian is the only lodger we have on this floor, you will be the only housekeeping staff who’ll stay here for 3 days. You will only meet me during my night shifts, but during the days, Leah will be with you. Don’t worry, she’s one of the nicest staff here at the inn. You’ll surely like her since she badly wants to meet you.”

Blaire flashed a smile.

Her smartwatch beeped, flashing red light, indicating that room 8102 is requesting a housekeeping service. After knocking and announcing housekeeping service, Blaire opened the door and saw Axel watching tv. He looked at her and she bowed her head, her simple way of greeting him. She then pushed her cleaning cart inside the room and started cleaning the closet.

Luckily, the newly put trash bin didn’t have any trash yet so she proceeded to the toilet room. She was returning the bin inside when Axel entered and locked the door, locking her and himself inside.

Being locked in a room with someone disturbed Blaire. No matter how big or small space is, she hates being locked. Her hands began shaking terribly but she tried to control them by hiding them at her back.

Axel leans on her, causing her to step back. He continued leaning until Blaire was leaning her back on the wall. He then put both of his hands on her sides, trapping her in place. Blaire became wary of the tiny amount of space between them so she avoided looking up to his gaze so no unnecessary movement will be done.

“Strip.”

She widened her eyes upon hearing it. as she looked up, Axel took the chance to close the distance between them and kissed her lips. This shocked Blaire, causing her to be unable to move.

“You have soft lips. It might get me addicted,” he said before winking. Blaire instantly widens her eyes, causing him to snicker.

“You seem to have a hobby of widening your eyes. Looks cute on you. But don’t worry, I was just kidding about getting addicted to your lips. Since you bumped into me earlier, this is my way of returning the action you did.”

Axel straighten up his posture and bowed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to kiss you, it was an accident.”

“S-Sir, you’re sick,” was all that Blaire managed to say. He laughed and opened the door. “You know what, I kind of like you. Come, I have something to say to you.”

Even with weakened legs, Blaire tried her best to act normally. Thankfully, Axel allowed her to sit on the couch where he was sitting before.

“I was actually not serious earlier about you being my housekeeper while staying here. I mean, of course, I was just joking, but now I’m going to keep that demand. Because I’m just here for a business trip, I usually am not around in the morning. I arrive at this place usually after dinner, so I wanted you to only do the cleaning every morning. Is that okay?”

Blaire nodded.

“However, I want you to be the one delivering all my requests on this inn. Any time of the day, I could be requesting something so you must be the one to deliver it, otherwise, I will report you to your manager. Got that?”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

“Good. You’re now dismissed. I just called you to tell you that matter. You can now leave and have a rest. I’ll be resting now too. See you tomorrow, Blaire.”

Blaire stood up and bowed at him before leaving the room.

She sighed.