46 Jealousy

Catherine received a call from Jerome. He just came back from a two-week vacation from their hometown.

"Let see each other Catherine! I miss you so much! I will fetch you later from the hotel at 5:30 PM, is it okay with you?"

Catherine can't say no to Jerome. "Okay, I will wait for you outside the hotel's entrance. See you later."

"Okay, see you soon!" he said in an excited voice.

Catherine ended his call.

She sighed. Jerome has not learned of her impending wedding yet. She will break the news to him later when they see each other. She knew he will be broken hearted but she and Jerome were not really meant for each other. He was such a nice guy he deserves to find a woman that will cherish and value his love.

Sherry walked towards her and motioned her to follow her in the corner of the hallway.

When they reached the corner. Sherry tilted her head towards the direction of the Presidential Suite #3.

"Somebody saw you get inside the car of Sir Mike yesterday, where the two of you have gone to---?"

Catherine sighed. She doesn't want to elaborate to her friend about what happened between her and Mike yesterday. Until now, she was still bothered by his outrageous crazy wedding proposal. He never courted her in the first place. How come he will just decide to offer marriage to her on the spot out of whim? The thing that really bothered her was that he was totally serious when he proposed to her in the middle of the living room. Until now it never fails to shocked her!

"He just thinks that it's fun to kidnap one of the hotel's employee and bring her into his house. Actually, he just brought a new house in the neighborhood. So, he brought me there just to brag it on my face," she said.

Sherry frowned. "Really? That's odd! How come a client invite someone who is never close to him to see his newly purchased house? Unless...he had taken a liking on you? That is why he wanted to show off his new property."

Catherine avoided Sherry's intent scrutiny on her face. "Believe me, nothing special happened yesterday. We just took a bit of touring of his house and he brought me back here in the hotel."

"Did Maam Reba knew about it?" she asked with fear and worry in her eyes.

Sherry shook her head. "No. Because if she did found about it, you will be called into her office for a sermon. But until now she hasn't called yet, so you are safe don't worry about it! But my advice to you my friend, next time it's better that you meet Sir Mike in secret outside the hotel, just to be on the safe side, okay?"

She nodded.

Catherine felt relieved even though she doesn't like the suggestive tone of her friend, she didn't reply anymore.

Until now she hasn't told Sherry about her up-coming civil wedding. She hasn't told anyone in the hotel yet about her impending wedding. She will just invite Sherry on her church wedding later on.

"Come on now. Let's go back to our work station," said Sherry.

They both went to their separate ways.

...

Four hours later...

In the cafeteria, Sherry and Catherine were eating their lunch together. They saw Maam Reba talking to someone on her cell phone, while she was at it, she kept glancing at Catherine while she was talking. Reba was on the other end of the cafeteria.

Catherine stopped looking at Reba and continues eating her lunch. She no longer paid her any attention.

...

On the other end of the cafeteria...

Reba pressed her cell phone to her ear.

"What? Catherine gets inside on one of your male client's car yesterday...!?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Where did they go?"

"I dunno Sir. You want me to ask her? She is eating her lunch right now in the cafeteria, right across me."

John was inside his office, he was crumpling the Letter Of Intent To Marry that he just printed, his knuckles were turning white, his face looks menacing.

"Who is this male client?"

"He is our loyal client here in the hotel, Sir."

"How many times did it happened that they got inside his car together and go for a ride?"

"Only once Sir, that was yesterday only."

"Where is this client now?"

"He already checked out yesterday, Sir."

"How long they stayed outside?"

"More or less one hour and thirty minutes, Sir, that is according to the guard's estimates."

John paused a bit. A lot of things can happen in just one hour. Where did they go? What did they do during the entire hour? A lot of questions was swirling in his mind. Negative thoughts began taking shapes in his brain. His entire being was already clouded with extreme jealousy.

"Okay, thanks for all the information, Reba. Keep watching her moves and report to me anything and everything!"

"Copy Sir!"

John ended his call to Reba. He looked at the crumpled letter in his hands and was shocked to see that he just crumpled the letter of intent to marry that he printed just a minute ago. He was just angry and feeling jealous, it was a spur of the moment feelings and he was just was carried away by negative emotion...sighing...John printed another two copies and put it carefully in front of him in the table.

He runs his fingers through his hair.

He has to call Catherine, he wants to see her tonight. He was a bit worried about her.

He pressed call on Catherine's number.

She answered right away. "John..."

"Catherine, I wanna see you tonight. I'll have Ramon pick you up there in the hotel after your shift, at 5:30 PM."

"Hmmm, not tonight John. I will be meeting Jerome tonight. I will see you tomorrow," she said.

What John heard from her didn't sit well on his ears. "Huh? You rather want to see that guy first than your husband?" his voice a bit hard.

Catherine laughed at the other end. "Hey don't be silly and don't get jealous at him. He is a friend of mine. I will just meet him tonight and tell him that I will be marrying you. He deserves to know the truth."

He kept silent for a while. But he was not really liking the fact that she was going to meet her another suitor! He was going to meet another guy! Dammit! He gritted his teeth to keep his anger in check.

"Okay. So where you two will talk?"

"In the Plaza."

"Just be quick with him okay?" he said, his voice already softened a little.

"Yes and thank you for your being understanding John, you're the best! That's why I love you! mwuaahhh!" she playfully blew him a kiss over the phone.

"I will have Ramon ready on standby mode, after you talk with Jerome, get inside the car. I wanna see you tonight!" he demanded again in a hard voice.

"Okay fine. See you later...I love you!" she said.

"I love you more, Catherine!"

Their call ended.

John stared at his cell phone for a long time. The rage and jealousy inside him still bothering him. He went out of his mini-office and strolled directly towards the kitchen. He took his favorite wine out of the cupboard. He poured red wine into the glass and drink it in one go. Then he adds another...

And another more...

In his mind, he was already thinking of many ways how to punish Catherine for making him jealous today.