I Dare You

"Phoenix, please come to my office."

My boss, Mr Baldoni buzzed me as I was just preparing to go for my lunch break.

"I will be there in a second sir," I quickly responded as I took my work tablet and headed to his office. I knocked on his door and slowly opened to enter as soon as I heard a strained 'come in' from Mr. Baldoni.

"Yes sir?" I enquired.

"Oh, Phoenix, please" he said as he looked up from his computer and signaled me to take a seat.

"Well, you know Mr Adams?" Mr Baldoni asked.

"Yes sir I do know him." I responded. Mr Adams is my boss’s younger brother and the company’s chief strategist. Very few people in the office know him because he is usually outside the country working on company expansion. I have met him a few times but I have never interacted with him and I am certain he does not know me at all.

"He is coming for a visit from London and will be passing by the office."

"Okay sir, what would you need me to do in preparation for his arrival?" I asked.

"First, he will be in town for a few weeks and he will need a personal assistant. I trust you to take care of him so you will need to hand over your duties here at the office to Meghan. Also, I need you to book him a presidential Suite at the Stanley Hotel and arrange for a driver to pick him at the airport. I want everything to be perfect so you will have to accompany the driver to the airport and make sure my brother checks in to his hotel without a hitch."

"Okay sir, I understand. But why won’t Mr. Adams be staying at his house?” I asked out of curiosity. The boss’s younger has a house next to the Mr. Baldoni’s family house and was curious as to why he has to stay at a hotel.

“He hasn’t been home for a long time and the house needs some repairs which are still not yet done. Contractors can be such a pain at times. I hired him a month ago to look into the house and he is not done yet.”

“Okay sir, when will Mr Adams be arriving?"

"He will land tomorrow at 9 at the JK airport. So be there and please be punctual."

"Yes sir."

"Hand over my schedule to Meghan and take the rest of the day off to make arrangements for my brother’s arrival.”

"Alright sir, thank you." I responded as I finished making entries and setting reminders on my tablet and headed out to do as I was asked. It was easy to handover to Meghan as she already works as my substitute during my off days or when I am unable to come to work. As soon as I was done catching her up on Mr. Baldoni's schedule, I took off to make further arrangements for Mr. Adams arrival. I had not taken lunch yet and it was getting late so I decided to just buy a hotdog from the food truck and eat on my way to the Stanley's Hotel.

It was around 3pm when I made it to the hotel. I took strides towards the reception and I was happy my friend Bethany was on duty at the front desk.

"Hi Beth," I greeted as she looked up from the computer with the most professional smile to cater to a client. On seeing it was me, the smile turned to a grin as she immediately started to ask about my boss. I know that Beth has a huge crush on Mr. Baldoni and it is so funny because he is engaged. I quickly dodged her questions about the boss and asked about any available suites.

"Lemme see what we have. Mmmmh… Sorry Xio, all the suites are booked." She responded as she looked up from the computer.

"What! You have to do something Beth, I can't tell my boss there is no room. He will be furious."

"Who's the room for."

"It's for Mr. Adams"

"Whaaat! The hot younger brother?” She squealed with delight and clapped her hands jumping a little up and down like a little kid. I sighed, her infatuation with my bosses is so annoying at times.

"Yes, Mr. Adams. Beth, you have to do something." I begged.

"Lemme see if I can be able to move some other guest to another room.'' She said. “I certainly cannot let my future husband be mad at my best friend now, can I?”

I shook my head at her words, her crush on my boss can at times come in handy. "Thanks Beth, you are a life saver."

"I know, I know" she responded with a smirk.

I waited for a few minutes as she clicked away on her computer and made some calls. She then turned to me as she gave me a key card, "all done, you have room 945. So how long will you be staying?" She asked as she air quoted the “you” and raised her eyes inquisitively.

I chuckled at her use of air quotes as I understood the joke. I have Mr. Baldoni’s executive secretary for 6 years now and every time an important client is staying at the Stanley’s, Mr. Baldoni trusts me to take care of them. So I am at the hotel for most of the time. I asked her to just keep the room occupied until further notice. I was not sure for how long Mr. Adams would be staying.

I took the key and headed to the elevators. I needed to check if the room is satisfactory. I confirmed that everything is alright and I handled all other requirements for Mr. Adam's arrival. It was around 5 in the evening when I was done. I was happy that I would make it home before dark and called my boyfriend Jack to tell him the good news. He was still at the office and he would be late as there was so much he had to do. I hoped I would get to spend some time with him because I rarely get to be home early but I was certain it would not happen. I hailed a taxi, went home and ordered a pizza and wine as I got comfortable in my pajamas to catch up on the season 2 of my favorite series, Lucifer.