The rest of the trip passed uneventfully and Amy felt that she was finally getting the hang of being a tour manager. The job felt like a mélange of three roles – nanny, logistics manager and a United Nations diplomat.
She and Matt quickly fell into an easy routine with regard to room-sharing. Each night, when they returned to the room, he would take a quick shower while she ran over the transport arrangements of the next day with the bus driver, and confirm the meal reservations with the various restaurants. She found herself talking to Matt about her life as the child of a single parent, and realised to her surprise that he could relate to her situation, as he had also grown up in a single parent household.
At the airport on the last day of the trip, when they were due to fly home, there was a moment of anxiety when Mrs Chua discovered that she had misplaced her diamond earrings (which the silly woman should have left behind at home for safe-keeping, sighed Amy). Kneeling on the airport floor, Matt systematically rifled through the contents of Mrs Chua's four pieces of luggage, while Mrs Chua looked on helplessly.
"Ooh, Matt, you're so naughty. I'm sure my earrings can't be in my lingerie pouch," simpered Mrs Chua when she saw that Matt was about to unzip her underwear pouch.
Concerned that they might miss the flight, Amy apologised to the ground crew and requested for additional time before boarding.
After several minutes of frantic searching, Matt located the earrings, which had been stuffed into a side pocket in one of the pieces of luggage. "Oh now, I remember," exclaimed Mrs Chua. "I was tired last night after the dinner and I just shoved the earrings into the luggage instead of packing them away in my jewellery case."
Getting to his feet slowly, Matt turned to Mrs Chua and said brightly, "Great! Let's get a move on, everyone. We're boarding at Gate 7A." To the tour participants, Matt looked his usual approachable self, but Amy could tell from the minute flare of his nostrils that he was livid.
After they had landed, Amy busied herself with luggage retrieval and that no tour participant was left behind in the baggage claim area. After Matt and Amy had seen off the last tour participant, they spotted Maia seated at a cafe in the arrival hall.
Walking up to Maia, Matt asked in astonishment, "Has the airport become your second home? Why are you here again?"
"Oh, I know there are probably lots of things to carry back to the office, like the first-aid kit and the travel agency flag, and I wasn't sure whether you had plans. So, I'm here to give Amy a hand," Maia said "Besides, it's Sunday evening and the office is locked. Amy doesn't have a key to the office yet."
"Thanks, that's so kind of you, Maia," said Amy. "I had been planning to bring the items home and bring them into the office on Monday. But since you're here, this will save me a trip of lugging everything. I don't know what I'd do without you!" at her words, a radiant smile spread over Maia's face.
"Well, I'll leave the two of you to it. Thanks, Maia and Amy. See you both on Monday," said Matt, leaving the airport.
Between the two of them, Maia and Amy made short work of returning the items to the office.
As Maia was locking up the office, Amy thanked her lucky stars that she had such a good colleague in Maia.
"Okay, I'm done. Go home and get a good rest," advised Maia.
"Thanks, I'll do that. See you tomorrow!" said Amy.
The next morning, when Amy stepped into the office, everyone's eyes swung towards her, or so it seemed. Apprehensively, she crept to her desk. Turning to Jane, she asked, "Is it only my imagination or is everyone looking at me?"
"You're not imagining things," said Jane. "Everyone in the office is abuzz over how Maia sent you off and also picked you up at the airport for this trip."
"Isn't she just being helpful?" asked Amy in bewilderment. "She said she wants to support new young colleagues."
Jane snorted rudely at the notion of Maia being helpful to anyone, colleague or otherwise. "She has never done this for any travel executive before. Support my foot! I'm sure she's got some ulterior motive for doing all this. I just can't figure it out yet," said Jane, furrowing her brows in concentration.
Amy was kept busy that afternoon following up on invoices from the Thailand trip, and was so occupied that she did not have time to think about Jane's comments regarding Maia.
Later that week, Matt requested that Amy develop interesting ideas for tour packages so that there would be product differentiation between their tour packages and those offered by their competitors. "COVID has already killed off countless opportunities for travel, and made many people afraid to travel. We must come up with compelling travel packages that will inspire people to travel safely once again. And we need to do it soon before we're overtaken by our competitors," said Matt. Looking at her boss, Amy could discern his passion for travel, a passion that she shared. "I'll get onto that right away," she promised.
She suited the action to her word, and began conducting desktop research and brainstorming on feasible ideas that would be budget-friendly and yet impactful.
Amy slaved over the proposal for the next few days, burning the midnight oil to continue doing research on innovative travel ideas. Some she rejected outright – such as cooking local dishes. Been there, done that, she thought. How about expanding the idea to include getting the tour participants to harvest the vegetables from an organic farm before cooking local dishes with them? That might work, she thought. She also came up with the notion of getting tour participants to enjoy meals with local underprivileged families. The travel agency would provide the raw ingredients for the meals, and the tour participants would be able to experience life as lived by the locals, with the added benefit that the locals would gain from the free meal.
A week later, Amy approached Matt's desk with trepidation, unsure of his reception to her ideas.
"I've completed the proposal for product differentiation," Amy informed Matt. "I'll email it to you soon but I thought I'd let you know as well."
"I'll take a look at your email when I have time," said Matt dismissively.
"Oh? When you have time? When you briefed me on this last week, I had the impression it was urgent," said Amy.
"Are you questioning my actions? Who's the boss, you or me?" Matt glared at Amy.
"Sorry, my words came out wrong. I'll be grateful for your comments on the proposal when you have had a chance to review it," Amy retreated.
Over lunch, Amy called Ella to vent her frustration. "I'm going to explode, Ella! Matt clearly implied that I need to submit the proposal urgently, which is why I stayed up till 12-plus, 1am for a few nights to complete working on it. And now, he says that he'll take a look at it when he has time!"
Soothing her ruffled feathers, Ella advised, "You've already done your thought in completing the proposal to the best of your abilities. The ball is in his court now. Getting worked up over it isn't going to help."
Taking a deep breath, Amy said, "You're right, Ella, as always. The man can go jump into the lake for all I care. Talk to you another time, I need to return to the office."
After lunch, Matt requested that Amy go over to his desk. To her surprise, he didn't indulge in his customary call of 'uni grad' but pinged her on messenger instead. Amy was also nonplussed to find out that he had spent his lunch hour reviewing her proposal.
However, any faint hope that he would start speaking to her in a civil manner dissipated when his first words to her were, "So, you do have a brain after all."
He went on to commend her for a well thought out plan but suggested that in addition to providing the raw ingredients for the meal, the agency also provide supplementary cutlery and crockery as the local families might not have enough cutlery and crockery for guests. The raw ingredients should also be sourced locally so as to maximise support for the local economy. More importantly, stressed Matt, his eyes shining, the locals must not be made to feel that they were being inspected. The meals should be pitched as culture sharing sessions over meals. Taking notes furiously as Matt spoke, Amy was keenly aware of his desire to help local economies and villagers through sustainable travel.
"Good job overall," said Matt. Goodness, was that really Matt giving a compliment? Amy thought. "Make the changes I spoke about and add in a proposed budget for the ideas. Then, you can submit it to Larry for his review as he needs to give the final approval."
"Thank you for your feedback, Matt. Thanks too for spending your lunch hour reviewing it," Amy said shyly.
"Well, it was a hot day so I wanted to stay in and avoid the sun. I didn't stay in just to read your proposal," clarified Matt.
"Oh, I see. Well, thanks anyway. I'll get started on the changes you mentioned," said Amy.
Amy spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the proposal. She included Matt's suggestions and prepared a draft budget for the proposal. When she finished, she was shocked to see that it was almost 9pm. The office appeared to be deserted and most of the area was dark, except for her desk and a light at Maia's desk.
Amy printed the proposal and prepared to walk to Maia's desk in order to leave it on her desk for her onward submission to Larry for his review.
As she approached, she saw that Maia was at her desk, tapping away on her laptop.
"Hi, Maia! I didn't know you were still around. It's so late already," said Amy, placing her proposal on Maia's desk.
"Oh, I noticed that you were working late so I decided to keep you company," explained Maia. Brushing aside Amy's thanks, she continued, "I really must get you a key to the office, so that you can lock up when you're the last one to leave." Pointing at the file containing the proposal. Maia said, "Thanks for the proposal. I'll see that Larry gets it when he steps in tomorrow."
Getting up from her seat, Maia went over to Amy. Standing behind Amy and placing her hands on Amy's shoulders, she said, "You must be very tired from working on the proposal. I saw that you hardly left your seat after lunch. Let me give you a shoulder massage. People tell me I give good massages."
Amy stiffened in shock. "Err..thank you, but I don't think it's necessary."
"Don't worry, it's just a simple shoulder massage," said Maia, adroitly guiding Amy to her chair. Pushing Amy gently down onto the chair, Maia started giving Amy a relaxing shoulder massage.
Sitting up ramrod straight, Amy was confused. Was this normal behaviour between colleagues? She didn't think so but after dealing with Matt and his supercilious comments, she was more than grateful to meet someone who showered her with care and concern. She gave into the shoulder massage and leaned back and closed her eyes, a soft moan escaping her lips.
At the sound of the moan, a smile curled around Maia's mouth. She congratulated herself on making headway with Amy. Soon, she promised herself, Amy would belong to her.
A few minutes later, Amy sat up abruptly.
"Sorry, Maia, I have to go. My mother's waiting for me to have dinner with her," Amy said uncertainly.
Releasing her hands from Amy's shoulders, Maia said, "I understand. It's late, and you've had a long day. I'll see you in the office tomorrow."
Making her way back to her desk to collect her handbag, Amy thought to herself, What have I got myself into? Does Maia expect us to become more than colleagues? And is this a relationship that I am prepared to develop?
Lost in her thoughts, Amy almost missed her bus stop. Just in time, she saw that she was near her home and disembarked from the bus.
One thing's for sure, Amy thought. I can't let mum know about this. There's no way she'll accept such a relationship.