The morning had passed quietly.
One family came and made my life impossible when their damned spawns began touching my entire desk. As if it wasn't enough, the parents were insufferable! The husband was screaming at me because he couldn't use a bunch of coupons that had expired five years ago. And they even weren't from our hotel!
Korean Jesus, have mercy!
To make matters worse, the eldest son was whining about the breakfast buffet for not having pineapple pizza and, of course! His mother had to complain to the entire staff, but it seemed that I was the perfect target as soon as she walked out of the restaurant to meet up with her husband. She said she would be suing us if I did not deliver her word to the manager since it was of utmost importance.
Korean Jesus bless the chef's soul that came to the rescue and called Pizza Hut!
And last but not least, the youngest one spilled orange juice on my keyboard! We had to call one of the service boys to clean up the whole mess. I can still feel the stickiness all over the number panel... Unfortunately, my supervisor found out and yelled at me through the phone. It almost left me with a unilateral hearing.
Sometimes, I wonder what the rest of the gods want from me. Am I a joke to them? Is it fun to treat me like an ant and use a magnifying glass to watch me squirm when it burns my arse? I am just a poor receptionist trying to make a living!
I sighed at the misfortunes of my life and began reviewing the profiles of the guests who would come to stay with us in a few hours. They were all a bunch of rich men who had asked for expensive drinks, a pack of golden condoms and other luxuries that I couldn't afford in my miserable existence. I kept checking the long list until a hand rested on my shoulder. I jumped, startled.
"Are you feeling any better?"
"I guess so... The nurse said I had to take a couple of painkillers until the swelling went down. I'm truly sorry for leaving you all the work. You had to wait two hours for someone else to cover my shift, Yong-sun."
"Bah! Don't worry about it," she replied, shrugging. Yong-sun smiled mischievously and added. "On the contrary, I had a great time verifying the information of that handsome man. I wanted to ask him if he was single, just in case."
"Right!" I chirped, remembering the creature who came down from heaven. "What's his name? What's the future surname of my children? Do you know where he is from? Tell me everything!" I shook her with all my might.
"All right, all right," she agreed, adjusting her vest.
She gently pushed me away and went to her computer to type in her username and password. The reservation system Opera maximized itself to the size of the entire screen and opened the list of guests we had. While browsing yesterday's log record, a picture caught our attention.
«Name: LUDWIG SCHWEIGHÖFER»
«Nationality: GERMAN»
«Age: 33 YEARS»
"For a German guy, he spoke Korean very well. A bit of an accent, but it was understandable enough," she mused, inspecting every corner of his profile. "Look, Jae-rim! He's staying in room 812. Do you guys not share the same floor? Until there's a vacancy in the guesthouse, you'll be living in 802, right?"
"This is destiny! My husband has such an elegant name! It doesn't matter if he's much older than I am! When it comes to love, everything is possible," I said, pulling my phone out of one of my front pockets.
I focused the camera on the man who stole my heart and I took a picture of his divine features. I would be touching myself tonight!
"What in the world are you doing! Are you out of your mind? You know it's forbidden to take any data from our guests," she warned and opened her palm. "Give it to me, Jae-rim."
"Why are you being so stingy? It's just a picture. No one has to find out if we don't tell, right?"
Yong-sun tried to grab my mobile, but I was faster than her and clasped it. We were having a minor quarrel, pushing each other back and forth. The second she elbowed me a little bit too hard, I staggered and my phone slipped away from my hands. Horrified, I watched it slide across the neat floor of the lobby and went after it. Someone could step on it and I would be dead meat! I haven't finished paying for it and I couldn't afford another one!
I skirted the reception area and trotted up to it. When I bent down before I could pick it up, another hand with longer fingers than mine did.
"This must be yours." His eyes took a quick glance at the screen.
I wanted to be struck by lightning.
By then, the screensaver had activated itself and was completely black. I wasn't sure if Ludwig was pretending to have senile dementia and had seen his own picture on my cellphone or he just didn't care. He didn't comment on it. He handed it to me and I received it monotonously, blushing more and more. Ludwig did not let go.
"Have you eaten, Jae-rim?"
I had no idea how he knew my name. I remember I managed to take my phone away from his hands and looked away due to the terrible crimson that permeated my cheeks.
"I... I did. Thanks!" I said shyly.
I turned around and ran away, far away.
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