He was calling me!" I shouted. Almost all passengers in the bus instantly looked in my direction but I pretended nothing happened. Why didn't I save his phone number last night? I lost the chance of talking to him, of listening to his voice and thanking him personally! I dialed his phone number right away, hoping he would pick it up.
"What's happening?" Annie asked. "You are making me worried. Did something happen?"
"The number is now unattended!" Did he turn it off? Did he get mad at me? I dialed his phone number again but I heard the same statement on the other line, "The number is now unattended."
I can feel my heartbeat racing. I opened the message box right away and started typing. "Sorry, I wasn't able to answer your call. Please call me back once you read my message. I would be very happy to finally talk to you. Please call me."
End of message.
"Are you okay? I am really worried now. Are your parents okay? Talk to me." Annie begged.
"I am so stupid. He was calling me a while ago. I forgot to save his phone number last night and he was calling me twice. I didn't answer his calls because I thought it was a spam call."
Annie slapped my head but not that strong. "Why didn't you save his phone number? You already had a chance to talk to him. Sometimes, we can imagine someone's appearance through his voice. You lost your chance. Call him now. Then put it in loudspeaker. I am also curious how he looks like or what his voice sounds like. I bet he is already too old." Annie said looking very excited.
"I dialed his phone number, but I think it is unavailable, so I just sent him a message. Do you think he will call again? What if he got mad at me? Maybe he thought I don't know how to show appreciation to everything he did. What if he withdraws his company's deal with us?"
"Stop being paranoid. And don't talk like your Genie and the CEO of Liberty Group are the same person. Don't set your expectations too high. Don't tell me you're imagining that this guy likes you romantically. We're not even sure about his identity. It was just a missed call. I'm sure he will call soon."
We are now walking towards the seafood restaurant which Alice reserved for our company.
"How about we search the internet on how the CEO looks like? If you suspect he is also your Genie, then we can already know his appearance. Nowadays, all the information you need is on the Internet. I'm sure someone took a picture of him secretly like a paparazzi. Wait!" She added.
I didn't stop her from searching. Actually, I never thought about that. I should have done it myself in the office. My brain doesn't work well these days. This experience is making me stupid, I guess.
"Negative. No results found. Not even his name. How can he keep his identity secret despite the success of his business? You cannot even see any details about him like his age or height or anything. This is hopeless. I also can't wait to know who he is or what he looks like." Annie sounding so irritated. "Let's just forget about him! We should enjoy this night since we can have a free meal, okay? Stop thinking. He will give you a call. I'm sure he knows we have a company dinner, so he won't try disturbing you. Besides, he might also be busy."
"Okay." I said forcing a smile.
Annie is right. There is no point worrying. I'm sure he is not childish to hate me just because I wasn't able to answer his calls.
We reached the restaurant already packed with some of our colleagues. Some people started eating while some were just chatting. Mr. Smith is seated and stood up right away when he saw me and Annie or should I say when he saw me. I'm sure I'm the apple of his eyes tonight since he thinks we were able to close the deal because of me.
"Come here, Jessica. You have to sit here." He gestured the chair next to him.
As much as I want to decline, I couldn't. I just walked towards the table where he is. Annie on the other hand chose to sit in the next table even though I insisted that she follow me.
As soon as I sat on my chair, Mr. Smith took a glass filled with beer and asked everyone to have a toast. "Here is to the success of Pines Advertising and the appointment of Miss Myers as the new leader of Liberty Advertising Campaign team. This is just the beginning of more projects we will be having in the future."
Everyone got a glass, some were empty glasses, raise it on top and said "Cheers!"
Since it's a buffet restaurant, employees lined up one by one to the dish table to get their food. I decided to get up as well since Mr. Smith is still sitting on his chair. I got my phone with me, expecting a call from my Genie. I have to make sure that I won't miss his call this time.
We enjoyed shrimp, crabs, salmon and other kinds of fish, scallops and other shellfish. They also served lobster but only in a limited amount which I think is understandable since it is too expensive. The restaurant owner served a bottle of beer to everyone for free to show his appreciation for choosing his restaurant.
"After eating, you can order any drinks you want. You can have alcohol, wine, cocktail, juice, whatever you want! It's all on me." Mr. Smith announced.
Everyone cheered after his announcement and started calling the waiting staff for their orders. Most women ordered red wine while men ordered hard liquor. I ordered beer to help me calm down. It has been two hours since I sent him a message and no sign of him yet until now. I feel like I want to get drunk tonight. The feeling of worry is starting to change to being annoyed. How can't he even spend a minute to reply to my message?
Mr. Smith keeps talking about different topics. He is sitting beside me but actually I don't understand anything he says. I was thinking about my Genie, the wasted opportunity for us to talk and the possibility of him feeling anger towards me. I kept ordering beer and I lost count how many bottles I had.
It is almost twelve midnight and I feel a bit tipsy, no I'm not just tipsy. I'm drunk. And I actually don't know what's happening. I feel so sleepy. The bed in front of me looks very comfortable. I might as well take a nap, just a short nap.
…
I woke up the next day having a throbbing headache. The light was so bright, and I find it irritating. I got up from my bed to get water. I feel so thirsty. When I got up, I realized something is strange. This place, this is not my room.
I look around me and try to recall what happened. Where am I? This room seems familiar, but I can't remember where I saw it. Only one side of the curtain is open. There is a chair next to it and a table. There is a TV mounted on the wall opposite the bed.
My gosh! I am in Liberty Hotel!!
How did I get here? I am wearing the same clothes I was wearing yesterday. I looked for my bag to check my phone. It is already 10 am! I am already late from work.
I opened the call history to call Annie and was more surprised to what I saw. I tried calling my Genie more than 20 times! I checked the message box immediately. I have a bad feeling about it. This was the first time I got so drunk. I don't know whether I have any drinking habit. I opened the message with the name "My Genie". It's the end of me.
I scrolled many times and I don't know how many messages I sent him. I read one of them. It says: "Hey! Do you know it is rude to ignore someone's message? Do you know how rude you are?"
I can feel my knees weakened. I want to disappear. I hope this is just a dream and I have to wake up now. I slapped my check strongly, hoping it will wake me up but all I could feel is the pain from my check and my head. This is real!
I cannot read the other messages anymore. Actually, I don't want to read them. I'm sure the other messages are more embarrassing. I can't remember anything that happened last night. What's worse, I can't remember how I got here. What should I do now?