A Word of Praise

Frustration seemed to be the only word in Chris's vocabulary that weekend. Sunday had come and gone, and he seemed to have hit all the possible dead ends regarding the damn woman. By Monday, he was beginning to think he would never see her again. It. The ring.

Work was hell. All his associates who didn't come to the party were passing by his office to congratulate him on the promotion, preventing him from getting any actual work done.

To make things worse, he could feel the suppressed hostile glares from a few employees. They clearly resented being overlooked for the promotion for what they saw as nepotism. It wasn't.

It would have killed his mood on a different occasion, but he had too much on his mind already to allow some frustrated old men to get under his skin. He knew his worth within the enterprise but really wanted to create a better environment than the one his father imposed. The harsh dog-eat-dog company culture was probably what he hated the most there.

Unable to get anything done that faithful Monday, he opted instead to pursue the matter that truly occupied his mind. He called the agency a few more times, but they were useless. Asking Michelle for the girl's name was also a fruitless job. How come she hired someone she didn't even know the name of?

His only other option was to go back to his childhood home and try to find the maid who cleaned the room. Maybe she still had the stuff and the thief's phone could be a major source of information. He left work early, earning a few more dirty looks from the employees.

During the twenty-minute drive, he kept wondering how he could avoid the questions his mother would have. The last time he saw her during the party, he was still talking to the Jacksons and their daughter... Florencia? Fernanda? Whatever. And he was sure Mrs. Patricia Wright would have a full interview ready for him.

He planned on getting in through the backdoor and make his way to the kitchen where he could ask Gloria about the room. The chief housekeeper ran the staff with an iron fist and was his best option at the moment. Life didn't smile his way, and the first voice he heard when he got to the kitchen was enough to know his plans would not run smoothly.

"Gloria, the duck was awfully dry today. I hope you have better plans for dinner"

Chris knew the duck must have been spot on, and the only reason his mother was troubling the poor woman was that she was bored. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he opted to fall on his sword for the sake of the old maid. "Mother, so great to see you" She turned around wide-eyed and strolled to him, forgetting all about her previous rampage. Mission accomplished.

"Christopher! What a delightful surprise. Did you decide to leave work early to spend the day with your mother?"

"Slow Monday, you know how it is."

"I do" She didn't. All her Mondays were made of bossing the staff around and restocking her already filled to the brim closet. "Come, make your mother some company over afternoon tea" The figurative sword he fell on twisted inside his guts. "Of course, Mother. Why don't you go ahead and sit? I'll bring it over in a minute"

He watched his mother leave the kitchen and turned to Gloria. He only had a couple of minutes before his mother came back to complain and he planned on leaving the kitchen with the information he came to get.

"Gloria, I need your help. Who cleaned my old room after the party yesterday?"

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"What kind of question is that, young man?" She always had that slightly pissed off tone with him, but it was just a front. Despite having to clean up most of his messes from his childhood years, the woman adored him. She was always the first to provide an excuse to rid him of his parents' scolds.

"I just need to know who cleaned it up."

"Sorry honey, I don't know. Why do you ask? Is there something missing?" She assumed an outraged stance, clearly mad at the prospect of an immoral member among her staff.

"No, nothing like that." Well, it was exactly that, but not in the way she was thinking "The artist from last night. She left her stuff here; I'm trying to find it to give it back to her"

"Oh, why didn't you start with that?" She turned to one of the other girls in the kitchen "Get me Carina, will you?"

Then she turned back to Chris and casually said the words that made his heart speed inside his ribcage.

"The girl just won't shut up about how she's meeting that circus girl today"

An awfully shy girl came into the kitchen, scared to have done anything wrong to earn her a summoning in the middle of the afternoon.

"Carina darling, Mr. Wright is looking for you" He hated being called Mr. Wright, but let it slide to pay attention to the shaking girl in front of him.

"Hi, Carina. Don't worry, I just need your help. Gloria mentioned you'll be meeting the artist from Saturday's party. Can you tell me why?"

"Hi, Mr. Wright. I... I helped her out the night of the party because her sister was ill, and she needed an uber. Then she couldn't get to the room to get her bag because there were people inside and I called the uber and gave her my number and she called"

The girl didn't even catch a breath between sentences, and by the end of her speech, she was sucking in the air as if she just ran a marathon.

"Calm down, beautiful" He flashed that million-dollar smile. He knew it was unfair to charm up the girl, but she had the information he needed and that was just the easiest way to get it. If her widened eyes and crimson blush were any indications, the girl was ready to talk.

"Now, tell me about your plans to meet her"