A Sulawesi Romance

Chapter 33

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Gun's POV

I spent a sleepless night in my usual bed at the employees' quarters.

I looked at the empty bed on the other side of the room where Berkah used to sleep. I wondered how Berkah was doing.

I looked at the time in my phone screen. It was half past midnight. Too late to call Berkah.

I could not decide whether to stay on here at the villa or to go back to my mom's house and face Boat's rejection. And then again for as long as I was there Boat would probably not want to live there with me.

I still could not find any good reason for the sudden change in Mark's attitude towards me. Unless ...... ohmyfuckinggahd ... did he overhear my confession to Boat??? But what if he did? Why would it affect him to the point of leaving me? He had been so supportive of me during my bereavement period, why couldn't he support me now in my miserable situation of being outright rejected by Boat??? Wait ... he had said that he did not want the headache of Boat coming over to create a scandal and dragging me back to Bangkok. But then again if he had overheard Boat's rejection then why would Boat come over to force me to go back to Bangkok? There was something wrong in the way Mark's brain was working. I just could not find any logic in his statement.

I was starting to get a headache from all the thoughts circling my brain.

I finally dosed off just when the sun was starting to peep through the tiny space between the curtains of the window.

I was rudely awakened by my phone's alarm. Shit, I didn't get enough sleep last night but I have to shower and get into my work clothes quickly if I didn't want to be late to work.

As soon as I finished my shower and had put on my clothes, I rushed out to clock in by one corner of the lobby close to the reception desk. There was a couple, obviously honeymooners, who were checking in at the villa.

"When is the vending machine getting replenished?" I heard a client complaining to the receptionist. "It has totally run out of beverages."

"I will call the assistant manager to take care of it," I heard the receptionist telling the complainant. Oh shit, the assistant manager was Mark.

"No need to call Mark," I rushed forward to the reception desk. "I will take care of it right now."

"Oh okay, thank you," the receptionist said to me.

I half walked half ran to the Supplies Room and loaded a trolley with a whole case of assorted cans of soda. Then I quickly pushed the trolley towards the corner of the lobby where the vending machine was. I tried to pull open the front of the vending machine and realized that I had not brought the key for it. 

I turned to the receptionist.

"Hey, Julie, would you please be an angel and watch this trolley while I run to fetch the key to the vending machine?" I asked.

"Sure," Julie the receptionist replied. "But make it quick cuz if a customer comes up to me I will have to give my full attention to the customer."

"I'll be back in a flash," I promised, already running back to the Supplies Room.

The key to the vending machine was not in the drawer where Berkah and I usually kept it.

Shit, I would have to call either Mark or his father to ask where it was. During my absence one of them could have taken it to refill the vending machine and then did not return it to this drawer.

I decided to call Mr. Siwat first. It was more likely that he was the one who took it during Mark's and my absence.

"Yes, Gun, what is it," Mr. Siwat said on the villa internal phone. The equipment had a small screen on the top that showed who was calling and it must have said 'Supplies Room' on Mr. Siwat's internal phone screen.

"I'm sorry to bother you, sir," I said, "but would you happen to have the key to the vending machine? I need to refill it with soda but the key is not here in the usual drawer."

"Yes, Gun, it's here with me," Mr. Siwat replied. "I had asked one of the housekeepers to refill the vending machine the other day and after he returned the key to me I forgot to bring it back to the Supplies Room. Please come over and pick it up."

"Yes, sir, I will," I said.

I was running towards Mr. Siwat's office at the exact same time that I saw Mark running towards his father's office as well.

I reached Mr. Siwat's office office first and knocked on the door.

From the corner of my eye I saw Mark turn and walk away. It made me really sad and anxious that he was avoiding me. For some inexplicable reason, I felt so alone and abandoned. I must touch base with Berkah and see how he's doing.