French Cup: A Neighborhood Story

Chapter 39: -Gyeong-Wan- Forevermore

My legs automatically were taking me around the corner away from my hotel. It was dark, and I'd done some more work after I'd clocked out for the day. I'd done it willingly, trying to prep the next shift for the group coming in tomorrow. We'd be getting a large group of lawyers, some kind of convention or big meeting held nearby. It would be held for a couple of weeks, and we needed our prepping to be perfect. They were bringing in a lot of revenue, and my general manager had met with me today to discuss it. 

"Matsuda-san is the leader of the group. He'll be the one that is the point of contact. He's bringing his family, kind of a work vacation. A vacation for them, but work for him. There will be about twenty people staying with us. The rest of the group is in surrounding hotels. We need to make a good impression, so that they'll book with us exclusively next time. Show that they can trust us. Please prepare your staff for this. Go through the rundown of the requests, make their keys in advance. We should be saying the names as much as possible so that they feel that they belong here."

I still wanted to make a good impression on my boss. I hadn't forgotten about his offer to speak with me about next year's 5K run event. However, I had mixed feelings now. The smiling and delighted children from our event stayed with me, but the hurt and crying faces of those on my side disturbed me. It made part of me not want to participate in next year's 5K event at all, but I had no choice as a manager. 

I'd wanted to speak to him about what happened yesterday. Try to get his take on it, how he felt. Did he fully believe what our guests had said? What the news was saying? Did he believe that it was their fault, and not our guests? If so, was there anything I could say to the contrary to make him understand?

As I walked over to French Cup, finally seeing its cheerful and much needed Christmas lights, I shook my head, trying to make this feeling go away. This awful knowing, that no matter what I said, my boss would take our guests' side. He was the general manager. Even if he had a different opinion, he'd never tell it to me. He was too professional, the face of our hotel. It was ridiculous to think that he'd ever say anything that wasn't on their side. 

But, even so, I wanted to tell him about it. Try to make it so that those guests had consequences. Cancel the 5K event for next year, so that they couldn't come back. If that was the only consequence they could have, I wanted it done. I wanted it done more than anything. Because, that meant that if they couldn't come back, then they couldn't attack anyone else. They couldn't hurt anyone else. 

My hand went on the knob, and through the clear glass of the door I saw that no one was inside. It must have been past closing time. I checked my watch at I opened the door. Sure enough, it was past seven. If we were going to make it to a movie, we'd have to go fast. The movie previews would have started already. 

Last night, Kazuya had perked up during the movie. He'd squirmed in his seat, gasped at the action, cringed. He'd forgotten all about the sadness we'd experienced. He was absorbed in the movie, even though he didn't speak the language. He was reading the subtitles, trying hard to understand. It meant a lot to me on many levels, him watching a movie from Korea and loving it. Him watching it, and forgetting that he was sad. 

I wanted to emulate that. We were both upset about yesterday. I wanted him to have fun and forget. I hadn't had time to check what the movie theater was showing today, but we'd enjoy whatever it was. It was a portal into their world, and I wanted to take that ride no matter what. 

The coffee shop was too silent as I made my way behind the counter. I was comfortable now going back there. It was almost casual, compared to how I'd gone back there yesterday. Too quiet. Seeing the shop from this angle was surreal, surely how he must see it every day. My hand went on the kitchen door, and it swung open on its hinges.