Carl & Ashley

Chapter 6

Ashley

Hindi ko alam kung bakit kailangan pa ako sa meeting na ito, para kasing kayang kaya naman na niya ito. Although napaka ganda ng lugar at first time kong makarating dito, eh syempre hindi ko pa rin maiwasan ang magtaka. The fact that I am his personal assistant, I do understand my job description and I was prepared for something like this. But, I clearly see that I am not needed for the meeting. Because I had no choice, here I am with him sitting in the hotel lounge of the country club waiting for the supplier.

"I wonder why you had to bring me here." I asked and he just looked at me. He looks arrogant, which made me roll my eyes internally. I had no intention of getting fired because of my arrogance as well. The Porter group did pay a lot more than other companies I worked for.

"Do you have a date or something that was interrupted by this meeting?" He asked and I wanted to say yes, pero alam ko namang hindi totoo iyon kaya naman hindi ko na siya sinagot pa.

He was sipping on his wine waiting for my answer. "Nothing," sagot ko na din kasi nga, waiting siya, "But I like the thought of sleeping the whole day until tomorrow." dagdag ko pa.

"I hate lazy people, Ash." He said,

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Everything. You are working as my assistant, so it means that you have more work to do than anybody else, so you should get used to working overtime and beyond your job description."

"I am here, right?" I asked. Para lang makita niya na ginagawa ko naman ang trabaho ko.

"But you said you could have been sleeping the whole day until the next."

"You asked me so I replied and I was just simply telling you what I would have been doing now if I was at home." Medyo mahirap ding kausap itong boss ko eh no.

"You like to talk back." sabi niya ulit.

"I always reply whenever I am asked." He still had something to say but the people we were waiting for approached and greeted him.

"Hey man." ang bati sa kanya ng palagay ko ay kaibigan din niya. Napaka casual kasi nito at hindi mukhang tense. Karaniwan, mukhang kabado ang isang taong nakikipagtransaksyon sa kanya dahil malaking deal ito kung sakali.

"Just sit down Tony." He replied and rolled his eyes at him and the guy just laughed at him.

"Is she---" Tony said, but was cut off by my playboy boss.

"Shut up and let's get down to business." He said, and I wondered what he meant.

"You are?" Tony asked, his eyes on me.

"Ashley Ray, Mr. Porter's assistant."

"Anthony Grayson, but you can call me Tony." He introduced himself with a broad smile as he offered me his hand for a shake, which I gladly took.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Grayson."

"I already said, you can call me Tony."

"I didn't want to get ahead of myself, but, Tony, it is." I replied, smiling, and when I looked at my boss, he was already glaring at me and then at Tony.

"Hey, man. You are very lucky to have your assistant. I can tell you that she's very efficient," Tony said, looking at my boss.

"You know what confuses me, Tony?" I asked and both of them were looking at me, "I wonder what I am doing here when I can already see that you two are friends and with Mav, I guess?" Carl's friend laughed and oh my, he was very handsome as well. "And Mr. Porter," tawag ko sa boss ko na nging dahilan ng pagtingin nito sa akin.

"What is it?" he asked na akala mo ay nayayamot.

"Are all your friends as handsome as Mav and Tony here?" he rolled his eyes at me as Tony laughed even louder. Parang gumagaling na akong mambola ng mga kaibigan ng amo ko ah. Pero sa totoo lang naman, gwapo talaga sila. Siguro kung bibigyan ko ng pangalan ang grupo nila ay tatawagin ko silang “The Heartthrobs” Char! Hahaha…

"I like you, among all of his assistants, you're the best," he said, clapping his hands.

"Can we talk business now?"

"My friend here is getting impatient so we might as well get down to business," I agreed, so I took out the files that Carl asked me to print yesterday.

There were some clauses in the contract that Tony didn't agree to but Carl managed to explain to him why he had to add them. It seems that my boss was very careful when dealing with his friends. He didn't want them to have any animosity or misunderstanding towards each other when it comes to money. That's why he always makes it clear to them what he wants and should be bound by a contract to avoid future arguments. He believes that money can destroy everything, even their friendship. And he decided to add some to the clause to protect their friendship.

All in all, Tony agreed with everything and all he had to do was to sign the contract and we were done. When I thought about it, I really couldn't see the reason why he had to bring me here. Simula pa lang ng dumating ako ay iyon na ang tanong ko sa sarili ko, hanggang siguro makauwi na kami ay ganun pa rin.

"Ash, do you want to join us? We're going to have a few drinks with the others." Tony invited me. I looked at Carl and thought whether I would come or not. But because it wasn't him who asked me, I decided not to. He may not like me to come with them.

"Thank you, Tony. But I am not a social person and love to stay in my room."

"Come on, you will be able to meet his other friends." Tony insisted,

"Next time maybe. For now, I really want to be alone."

"Did your boss warn you not to come with us when we invited you? Because I am sure that he knew that I would be inviting you after the meeting."

"Of course not!" Carl exclaimed,

"You're being defensive, man."

"I just didn't want you to get any idea that I am depriving her from enjoying her stay here." he replied,

"Are you afraid that she might like Mathew?"

"Who's Mathew?"

"None of your business, go to your room if you want to rest." Carl said and started to walk away, "Come on Tony," he shouted when he was not moving.

"Coming," he shouted back and looked at me, "Bye, Ashley. See you tomorrow." he said, and followed my boss. I shrugged my shoulders and went to my hotel room. I wanted to tour around but I didn't know if I was allowed to do that. As far as I know, Solitude Country Club was for billionaires only. Well, even millionaires can come here, but they have no chance of getting an estate.

An estate is a house that billionaires stay in whenever they are in Solitude. Guests who want to enjoy its amenities will have to book a room in the hotel. That's where I am staying right now. I don't know if my boss has his own estate here and I didn't want to ask anymore. He was old and could manage himself. But he should have told me where I could go if I wanted to walk around.

I entered my room without thinking and still sulking about how my boss left me. Although I love to stay at home, having a chance to visit this country club is not something anyone could just experience. He should have given me a discount coupon if there was any or give me some advice about how I should treat myself here. Nakakainis talaga!

My eyes widen when I see my room. It was huge and the floor to ceiling glass wall was perfect for the scenery. I could just sit there and take some selfies and that would be enough. I bet that the sunset will be very beautiful as well. The hotel service was the one who sent my bag into this room (at Carl's request), so it was the first time that I got in. If not for my things that were sitting on the couch in the living area, I might think that I had entered the wrong room.

I quickly changed into my comfortable clothes inside my bedroom, which was beautiful and elegant as well. I brought shorts and crop top, hindi naman siguro bawal magsuot ng ganito dito ano? It was just me in this room and it would be really impossible if Carl and I were going to share here, so talagang OK lang. I forget about everything as I position myself to sit by the glass wall. I ordered some food and beer as well. Yung sakto lang para naman makaborloks lang after ng ilang cans. Tsaka baka mamaya ay ginto pala ang halaga ng mga pagkain dito eh paktay na ako.

My eyes were getting heavy after my third can of beer, so I decided to sleep right where I was seated. I looked around and thought that it wasn't messy, so I would just clean up after I woke up so I didn't bother to stop my eyes from shutting. Then poof! Nothing.