Chapter 5 ALEXANDER RESIGNS

California, USA.

Christopher stood on the spot, his right hand still on his cheek as he watched the retreating figure of the woman who had just slapped him.

Emotions rushed through him at the moment, but what topped it all was shock. He was shocked that a mere lady could dare to stand up to him and slap him in front of people. No one has ever dared to slap him, most of his workers cannot even look him in the eyes, talkless of raising their hands on him. He scoffed as he watched her leave.

When he finally got a grip of himself and was restored from the shock, he noticed everyone in the café were still gathered around staring at him. Some even went as far as makig videos with their phones.

"What are you all staring at?!" He shouted at the top of his voice as he glared at them. Almost immediately, everyone turned around, almost at the same time and in unison, and they all looked away.

"And make sure those videos you made do not get out. If you want to keep your jobs, you had better delete them before I get my hands on you!" He added. Now, he was back to his normal self as he was stern in his speech. He looked angry as he watched everyone walk to their various tables and began to eat in silence.

"Did you make a scene again? Or why is everyone quiet?" Alexander asked, standing behind Chris, who had not noticed his arrival. Chris turned to look at him with deadly eyes, but Alexander avoided his gaze instead, acting like he didn't know he was being stared at. Instead, he looked at the chair he was seated on before and noticed Scarlet was not there. Her bag and phone were gone too.

"Uh, where did she go?" He asked himself, but it was loud enough for Christopher to hear. Christopher scoffed immediately he heard him speak.

"You were the one seating here with the lady I fired?" He asked with raised eyebrows. Alexander smelt trouble as Chris spoke. He then realized that Chris had probably met her there and asked her what she was doing in the hotel after he had fired her.

"What did you do this time, Chris?" He said to him, a serious look on his face. He made sure not to raise his voice at him to avoid causing a scene or making unnecessary rumours in the hotel.

"Maybe you could ask your date what she was doing in my hotel after I specifically told her not to return here." Chris replied before turning to walk away, but Alexander was quick to hold his wrist. Chris jerked Alexander's hand off his wrist as he turned to face him.

"What is it this time?"

"What did you do to her?" Alexander asked in a stern manner. It was obvious that he was not here to play at all. Chris scoffed and replied, raising his voice a bit.

"That lady slapped me and walked out on me and what you're asking me is what I did to her? Aren't you supposed to ask her what she did and punish her for it?!" Hearing what he just said, Alexander burst into laughter.

"Did… did you just say she slapped you?" He asked between laughs. "My goodness," he added as he kept on laughing. This annoyed Chris a lot, but he knew he could not do anything to him. He was one of the most important supervisors in the hotel and he could not just give him any judgement as he pleased.

"I want you to know that she would definitely regret this. Relay my message to her that if she ever sets foot into this hotel again, she would be dealt with."

"Did you hear her side of the story?" Alexander asked as soon as he was fine laughing. This time, a look of seriousness was back on his face as he stared intently at Chris, who also stared back at him.

"Besides, when you met her here, what did you say to her. I am quite sure she would not just slap you without you doing anything to her first. Her slap was probably in self defense." Alexander countered, supporting Scarlet in her absence.

"Whatever you say, I don't care. She remains fired and have my words, she must not step into this hotel again." Chris turned around and began to walk out of the café. He was at the entrance of the café, about to exit it when he heard Alexander speak aloud from where he was standing.

"If you won't take her back, then I am ready to resign from my job as a supervisor in your mother fucking hotel." Alexander spoke aloud, loud enough for everyone in the café to hear. The attention of the workers in the café was on both of them as there were gasps here and there. Chris chuckled and without turning back, he replied, facing the exit door of the café.

"If you choose to leave, that's on you. Don't think I would ever beg anyone to work with me. Others are dying to work in my hotel, so it's your choice if you resign. Make sure you drop your resignation letter on my table though, or I'll take it that you just made a cowardly statement." That said, he didn't wait for a reply before walking out of the café.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Paris, France.

"Are you done with it?" A woman who looked like she was in her early fifties asked, adjusting her eyeglasses as she stared at the tablet computer she was holding. She adjusted herself on her office chair, as her facial expression changed from being calm to furious, which made her slightly wrinkled face even look more wrinkled.

"Yes ma'am. I also gave the—"

"What is wrong with Christopher?!" She suddenly exclaimed, breaking the sentence of her assistant that stood in front of her. The young lady just stood there staring at her boss, her hands behind her.

"What is wrong with this boy? My goodness," she said and dropped the tablet on the table in front of her. She removed her glasses and dropped it on the table also.

"Is everything okay, ma'am?" Her assistant asked, a look of worry on her face.

"Madam?" She called again when she didn't get a reply the first time. Still not getting any reply, she cleared her throat and called her for the third time. This time, she included her name. "Madam Louise?"

"I'm okay. Just excuse me for a while." The woman, whose name is Louise, finally replied.

"You can take your leave. We'll discuss about the project later on."

"Yes ma'am." The lady bowed her head in respect before walking out of the office, closing the door behind her.

"What is wrong with this boy?" Louise asked herself between gritted teeth as soon as her assistant walked out of her office.

"He takes matters into his hands and acts stupidly!" She said and hissed unconsciously. Immediately, she picked up her phone on the table and dialed a number under her call log. It was saved with the name Christopher. After the first ring, the receiver picked up the call and spoke.

"Hello?"

"Good day to you too, Chris." Louise replied, a serious look appearing on her face in the process. With the way she looked serious, one would think the person she was talking to was right in front of her.

"Mother, how have you been?" Christopher asked from the other side of the phone. His voice sounded like he was a bit surprised. He was not expecting his mother's call. He knew his mother only called when she had something to tell him about the hotel, or something pertaining to a business. She never called to check up on him or for personal reasons. Even if she were to travel home, she never told Chris until she got home and he sees her by himself. She always says she wanted to come as a surprise to him everytime she does something like that.

"I am trying to be fine, but it seems you do not want me to be." Louise replied with a strong, yet tiny voice. As much as her voice sounded serious and a little scary, it still had the feminine tone in it. One could here Chris sigh from the other side of the phone before replying.

"Uhm, mother. Did I do something wrong?"

"You never do anything right, Chris. You never do. The question you should ask now is that what did you do wrong again?" Louise replied before hissing again, then she rolled her eyes as if Chris was present at her office.

"The scandal got out, and I saw videos of how you fired one of the most important supervisors in the hotel, Alexander Ryan." Chris' scoffed loud and clear, as Louise could hear him from the other side of the phone.

"So, that is what this is about? About Alexander?"

"Why did you fire him? How dare you!" She said, raising her voice a little. "Do you know how important he is to the hotel and its shares as a whole?"

"I didn't fire him, mum. He resigned. It was his choice, not mine. I think you're calling the wrong person right now. You should call him instead and speak to him, if you so badly want him to remain in the hotel."

"And how dare you speak to me in that manner, Chris!" Louise finally lost control as she raised her voice at him as if he was standing right in front of her. She glared her eyes as her nose scrunched up in anger, her round wrinkled face looking a bit unattractive. Silence followed immediately, before Chris finally replied.

"I apologize, mother."

"Employ him back to the company right away, and make sure he doesn't submit the resignation letter. If it means that you have to apologize to him for him to stay, do so." She commanded. Chris scoffed before replying.

"I will do no such things, mother. Do you even hear how ridiculous that sounds? Why do you make it seem like the hotel cannot flourish without him being one of the supervisors? Mother, please. Do you even have an idea what he did to humiliate me?"

"I don't want to know, Chris. But many of Alexander's clever ideas at the meetings together with yours, made the hotel what it is today. And you think firing him is the right way to repay such act of goodness?"

"Once again, mother, I didn't fire him. He resigned at his own will. And besides, he did so because I fired a mere female bartender who hurt one of our shareholders. He is in support of this lady because he feels something for her. Think about it, mother? Who is to blame now? If he doesn't want to return, that's on him. But I'll not persuade him to return to the hotel. It's his choice." Chris said. Seeing that his mother didn't say any word after, he added.

"If you may excuse me, I'll call you later, mother." That said, he hung up. Louise stared at nothing in particular, as her mind was on what her son just said.

"He resigned because of a mere bartender?" She muttered to herself and scoffed.

"I need to get to the end of this before I call Alexander to ask him what happened." Then, she picked up the telephone on her table and called her secretary to see her immediately. Not up to a minute, the young lady from before walked in.

"Did you see the scandal video of Christopher and Alexander?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Get to the end of it. And get me the information of the female bartender that was also involved in the ruckus."

"Yes ma'am." She bowed her head before walking out of the office.