CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

He finally came to his senses and replied. Thankfully, he focused on the conversation afterwards and kept his eyes to himself. I was relieved when the meeting was finally over.

“Thank you for your time gentlemen,” Mr Jacobs said as they shook hands.

“Why not have a match on the golf course. We should make proper use of our environment after all,” Mr Philip said jovially.

Mr Jacobs agreed to it and went with him. I followed uncertainly behind him. I did not have the slightest idea how to play golf but they probably did not expect me to play.

“Would you like to take a turn?” Mr Philip asked me.

“I... well. No, thank you.”

“Mr Philip, let us have a friendly match. My assistant needs to recuperate." Mr Jacobs gestured for them to get moving.

“Oh, well in that case. You can sit this one out.” Mr Philip said as his eyebrows lowered in disappointment. “I hope you feel better soon.”

“Thank you, sir.”

My gaze wandered over to Mr Jacobs who never even glanced my way once, only for me to drag it away again. When l did, it collided with Mr Philip. I immediately looked away. I did not want to send him the wrong signal. I was used to the occasional look of admiration from men, but his attention rubbed me the wrong way. Besides, he was at least twice my age.

I watched my boss play and though I barely knew a thing about golf other than the goal being to swing the ball into the hole, I was impressed. When the game was over, he headed back with the two men. I stood up as he approached and held out a bottle of water for him. I anticipated some sort of reaction from him, maybe even a ‘thank you’, but all I received was a sharp nod as he collected it.

“So, Miss Fayola, what do you think about the game?” Mr Phillip asked as he moved closer to me with a bright smile.

I moved away from him under the guise of gathering up my boss's golf clubs into their bag.

“It was interesting to watch,” I replied politely.

Although, I would never admit out loud that Mr Jacobs was the only one I paid attention to.

"Well, maybe next time you can join us," he suggested.

I only smiled half-heartedly at that. If it was up to me, there wouldn't be a next time.

“Gentlemen, let's freshen up so we can all take our leave,” the senator said before he turned to me. “You can relax and wait for us in the lounge. I'll get someone to take you there.”

With a wave of his hand, a man walked quickly towards us and waited for instructions from him. Minutes later, I was taken to a comfortable, air-conditioned lounge area which was a welcome change from the sunny golf course.

I sipped a glass of Chapman while I waited and some minutes later, I heard footsteps. I looked back and watched as Mr Philip walked into the lounge. He was alone. I sighed as he scanned the room before his gaze settled on me. He walked with the kind of confidence which seemed to be attributed to extremely wealthy and influential people.

“I thought I should keep you company while the others get ready.” He slid into the seat beside me.

I shifted farther to put some distance between us.

“I sometimes find that my own company is quite sufficient,” I replied with a casual shrug.

He looked taken aback for a second before he composed himself.

“You're very interesting.” He watched me with amusement in his eyes.

I didn’t bother to reply.

“I was wondering, for purely business purposes, I mean your boss is a very busy man to reach. Can I have your number so-”

“Mr Philip! Your father and I wondered where you went off to.”

Mr Jacobs had impeccable timing. Behind him was the senator. I saw the glint of annoyance in Mr Philip’s eyes as he looked at my boss who was cool and calm. He glanced at me briefly with an unreadable expression.

“I decided to relax a bit in the lounge room.”

Sure, with your business partner's assistant.

“We'll be leaving now. It was great meeting you gentlemen." My boss said and signalled for me to follow him.

Mr Philip offered a smile, which this time, I didn't bother to return, while his father shook my hand. I smiled genuinely at the older man.

He seemed quite nice. Too bad his son was smarmy.

Back at the hotel, I wanted to speak to Mr Jacobs, to understand what happened the previous night and apologize for jumping to conclusions. However, he simply walked off without a word. That night I didn't go down to the restaurant for dinner. I didn't want to face him if he was down there too. Much later, when I heard the hotel staff announce room service courtesy of Mr Jacobs, I was beyond shocked.

The lady set the trolley by the small table in the room. This time, there was no note. It was then I realised that some things, you shouldn't take for granted and jumping to conclusions would get you nowhere.