“You look mighty proud of yourself,” a voice quipped from the door.
Christian swung round and came face-to-face with Kelly. He grinned at her.
“It was a particularly difficult problem,” Christian responded. But the truth was, he was proud of himself. It had been a long time since he’d felt so useful.
Kelly looked at him pensively.
“Would you say that you’re gifted at solving problems?” she said in a soft voice as she rested her lovely body against the door frame. Then she ran her hand through her hair and cocked her head at him.
The atmosphere became charged with tension and Christian, who considered himself good at reading women, noticed the difference immediately. Kelly was flirting with him. The arch of her body told him so, as did the soft look on her face. She was a pretty girl, and perhaps another time, he would have been interested, but the last thing he wished to do was to wound her feelings.
“I got the job didn’t I?” Christian said in a light, business-like tone. He turned away from her deliberately and started packing up his tools.
He observed the disappointment in Kelly. She stood up straighter and took on a more professional demeanor.
“That’s great. By the way, Room 83 was not on your worksheet but the toilet has some kind of problem. It’s not flushing properly.”
“I’ll take a look at it; it’s probably clogged up,” Christian said, grateful she had taken the hint.
She left soon after, with a last regretful look at him. He hoped that would be the end of that. He had noticed her interest in him and pretended not to, with the hope that she would get over it.
He also knew the reason for his disinterest; it was Raina. He felt fascinated by her.
However, Raina had been completely professional with him. She hadn’t shown the slightest romantic interest, which he found slightly vexing; he was used to women flirting with him and trying to get his attention. But she treated him as one would any colleague—friendly but with a touch of reserve.
He wondered briefly if she was involved with someone else. He hadn’t noticed a ring, but that type of thing didn’t mean much these days. He consoled his wounded ego with the thought it was likely she had a boyfriend, but at the same time reminded himself he couldn’t be getting involved with an employee—especially while he was undercover! There were a million fish in the sea—he just had to go out and find one.
But none of them are like Raina, the traitorous voice inside his head whispered.
When she had crashed into him and his arms had wrapped instinctively to protect her, she had fit against him perfectly. For a brief moment the sweet, summery scent of her, the curves of her figure, the way she melted into him, had been overpowering. It was a moment and a feeling he had replayed in his mind for days, and one he just couldn’t shake.
Christian worked for the next four hours, getting a sense of accomplishment as he ticked off every room that he had fixed. As he worked he kept one ear always on the chatter in the hallways and in the rooms coming from the maids and busboys and other service staff. It would have been easy to lose himself in his work and forget why he was there, but he needed to recall the important task at hand—getting information.
The last room that Kelly had told him to look into was his final one for the day. His shift that day was supposed to have ended at two in the afternoon, but an hour later, Christian was still fiddling with the toilet in frustration.
Finally, he returned to the maintenance office to check out the manuals on the shelf, to see if there was a book that could give him any clues as to what was wrong with the damn toilet, since googling hadn’t yielded anything. Nothing appeared to be broken, but it wouldn’t flush. In the corridor that led to the offices, Christian froze and his step faltered when he spied his Uncle Roger striding down the hallway.
Christian’s legs moved forward stiffly and he kept his gaze focused to the floor on his right. A few more steps and the two men walked past each other. Christian heaved a sigh of relief. He grinned to himself. His uncle had not recognized him; in fact, he had not given him a second glance. It was funny how little attention people paid to you when you became a different person. Especially when you became a nobody.
He was beginning to enjoy being undercover. Christian was used to people hovering around him and trying to speak to him. To counter this, he had learned to walk in fast, long strides so that only the most persistent person would keep up with him. It was not that he did not enjoy speaking to his staff, because he did. The problem was that the managers who hovered around him usually had nothing important to discuss; it was more about sucking up, which Christian detested. Can I get you anything Mr. Del Mar? Are you comfortable Mr. Del Mar? It was exhausting.
If there had been a computer in the maint
enance office, it would have been easier to look up the problem on a larger computer screen than on his phone. He thought of borrowing Raina’s computer, then quickly dismissed that idea. A maintenance man would not ask the hotel manager if he could borrow her computer. Besides, she would know that he had been researching a repair problem that he ought to know how to fix.
It would also appear too forward. Christian deposited his tool box on the desk and went to the shelf high on the wall. He picked out what appeared to be a manual and hoped it would have the information he required.
Half an hour later, with the information logged in his brain, Christian returned to Room 83, confident that he knew what the problem was. Time was running out and he took long strides, crossing his fingers that no guests had checked in. He knocked slightly on the door just in case and pushed it open when there was no response.
He worked fast, placing the cistern cover on the floor and proceeding to disassemble the toilet flushing mechanism. Just as he finished and replaced the cistern, Christian heard muffled voices. He quickly repacked his tools and left the bedroom.
The middle-aged couple standing in the middle of their room jumped back when they saw him.
“Good afternoon Sir, Madam. I’m very sorry about that, I must have frightened you,” Christian said smoothly.
The lady, who had greying hair, laughed nervously.
“That’s alright. Is there a problem in the bathroom?” she said.