Opinion

Kate

"How are you handling Ms. Temples?"

With all my might and power, I know I was a bit behind with Mr. Caddel, but my little legs and my sweaty forehead keep slowing me down. I may be a small human, but I know for sure that I have big pride, taller than the Eiffel Tower itself.

I walked faster a bit, and I was now beside him. I tried on my best smile. "How can I not be?" I said, and I kept on thinking of Lily in my apartment.

How can I feed Lily if I don't survive this job today? And now that I think about it, Mr. Caddel didn't tell me about my salary.

Mr. Caddel didn't say anything, but I slowed down a bit and only followed behind him when a few people came rushing beside him again. Is this how it usually is for him every day and for every company that he goes to? I always think that he is out of the country most of the time because Sophia told me that she barely sees him in. When I think of him as a COO, I don't think that he would handle everything; isn't the CEO supposed to go with him as well?

I barely know what big companies do, but because I see dramas on TV, this was different, since Mr. Caddel is not a CEO; he is a COO.

We finally reached the 100th floor when it felt like forever to arrive there. There were a few people beside him other than me, and finally, we went inside a huge room, colder than London itself, with a few businessmen already in their respective seats. As for me, who didn't know where to sit, I looked at Mr. Caddel, and he eyed the chair on his right, which I obliged and sat in as well.

"Any follow-up teams?" Mr. Caddel said bluntly. I guess he doesn't like wasting his time.

A person on his side spoke, and it took me time to write down the important things. He was a bit older than Mr. Caddel judging from his looks, and because of how slow he talks, I managed to take on whatever he said, and then follow-up chains continued. Not everyone talked, but it seems like they caught on to their topic. It was an old hotel that needed to be furnished.

They were talking about possible things to do to make the hotel known again since the last time it had massive guests was about 10 years ago, which was a very long time ago. They were discussing the budgets and renovations. Some folks inside the room have scowls plastered on their faces while the others are just sincerely listening; some are taking notes as well; and some are just chill.

As for me, I'm constantly trying to divide my own thoughts, my opinions of their topics, which made me feel so bad because some of their opinions stink, and being a secretary to Mr. Caddel, which is to shut my big mouth or I'm going to regret it again.

"Hotels are supposed to make the customers feel like it is their second home; that's what matters, and that's what we are trying to propose," a gentleman said.

"Yes, making it a home, but not everyone inside checking the hotel thinks that way. Let me ask you, when you go on a business trip, do you even consider the hotel room you are in a second home?" Another gentleman spat back.

"We are in the world of business, Mr. Rock. Businessmen who booked a hotel will never think that way; in fact, they will discriminate against the hotel room that they are in, and for what? To have other options, wide options, other perspectives, and alternatives to what they can put on their own problems with their own hotel." He then spat back again, but this time he tapped his index finger on the table, trying to prove his point.

They're just two middle-aged men barking at each other. It stinks to be them, I guess.

"Ms. Temples..." My heart skipped a beat when Mr. Caddel called me.

Or sucks to be me as well.

I looked at him so immediately that I almost felt my neck breaking for looking so damn fast. "Yes, sir?" I responded.

"Tell me your opinion about this." He said it so gently that the intense, heated argument didn't bother him at all.

"Uh, me?" I pointed at myself and looked at the gentlemen who were looking straight at me.

"Yes, you," he said again, leaning on his chair.

Fuck…

"Come on, Mr. Caddel. I'm sure a fine lady like her is good with notes but not with opinions. We don't want to hear a lousy opinion and waste our time with our meeting." The grumpy man whom I believed was Mr. Rock

The nervousness instantly vanished from my body. It evaporated like water in the pond, ready to make a storm on this middle-aged man who can't even seem to form a proper beard on his face. "Excuse me?" I said gently, raising my right eyebrow at him. "Just because my position is Mr. Caddel's secretary, I pay you my respect for thinking lowly of me, but I'm sorry. I was asked for an opinion of this meeting, and I hope the opinion I'll give will change your perspective on me."

I looked at Mr. Caddel and asked, "May I?" and he nodded gently.

"We are battling for the appearance of the hotel room which was argued since the very beginning of the meeting, I guess making it seem like a second home is what makes it important. With the generation today, the aesthetics are important. Des company is one of the updated business companies I know especially in the form of blogs and social media, and now that we are looking at an old hotel that managed low for 10 years then we will upgrade the aesthetics of the hotel to today and of course, sturdiness of the hotel, a sturdy hotel means a sturdy home. Each hotel rooms should be presentable, we all know that presentation matters. So how can we make the hotel presentable? Like I said, we'll upgrade the hotel with today's aesthetic."

"But Ms. Temples, does that mean that we have to make each of the hotel rooms look exactly like… houses?" A gentleman asked.

"What?... No, the essence of the hotel is still there, but the aesthetic of the hotel is somewhat like a home and updated to today's aesthetic and trendy to make the whole hotel updated with today's generation and doesn't feel like it is behind."

Mr. Rock butted in, "Have you seen the hotel? It is beyond repair."

"If the hotel is beyond repair, why are we in a meeting today with our main subject, the hotel, and say that the hotel is not possible for reconstruction?"