It was a busy night at Hotel Ibis, where I worked as a receptionist. I had been working since 7 am, welcoming hotel guests, taking bookings, answering calls, handing room keys to hotel guests, receiving payment, handing out receipts, and chit-chatting with hotel employees and guests. Hotel Ibis was launched during the colonial era, and its authentic Western cuisine attracts many tourists and foreigners in general. With 2 main entrances, one on the right side of the reception and a bigger one at the end of the hall. From the big entrance appeared a tall, slender Asian guy, with jumpy hair and an unshaved beard he looked like he had been on the road for hours and needed a place to rest. At 6 foot 3, he looked like a giant. As he walked towards the reception, I thought to myself:<<WOW, he is tall>>.
He reached the reception and stood there until he was the only person left at the reception.
As I was done noting down a booking, I lifted my head to him looking at me, I politely asked "May I help you" to which he replied "Zhzhzhhzhzh" That's literally what I heard. I had been at the hotel for a few months with English being my third language, which I had learned in school for 2 hours a week, and my listening was pretty bad. I thought working at the hotel would be a good place to practice English. My morning prayer was always: "Please Lord, no British customers today, It was challenging to understand a word they said, whatever how slow they spoke. Little did I know about the Chinese accent.
I nervously replied: "pardon me"
He said: " Do ...You...Have....a ....lighter? "
with my eyes wide open, I just stared at him and he repeated the sentence accompanied by a lighting cigarette gesture.
Ahhh... A lighter, I said!
I don't have one, but let me check with the waiter. I got him the lighter, and he lit his cigarette, as he inhaled his first smoke, it was as if he had come back to life. He went ahead and asked for room 1, which was one of the hotel's biggest rooms and his favorite, to his luck the room was free. I went on with the hotel protocols and asked for his Passport. How surprised I was when I read China on the passport. In the world we live in filled with stereotypes, I had always thought that all Chinese were short, how wrong I was.
I handed him the room key and said: << have a pleasant evening sir>>. To which he replied thank you, as he was about to leave the reception, he turned to me and asked if the restaurant was still open at that hour to which I replied yes. He paused for a second and with a nervous voice he asked: <<can I have your phone number>>? I replied: <<the reception's number?>>, No, he said. Your phone number.
In the few months that I had been working at the hotel, I thought I had seen all sorts of guys' first moves, there was this guy who always came baring gifts and would have his breakfast at the reception counter, and there was another one who had his lunches and dinners at the same table every day facing the reception and he would always offer to buy my coworker and I lunch, there were dinner invitations, invitations to go dancing, better-paying job offers. No one had ever used the "Do you have a lighter "line.
Something was intriguing about him. I don't know if it was his accent, his deep voice, his crooked teeth, his height, his gentle and polite way of talking, or how nervous he was asking for my number that attracted me but one thing was, I felt something. With my 5'7, I am told that I am tall but next to him with his 6’3, I felt tiny that it felt good.
I reached for a piece of paper, wrote down my number, and handed it to him. He thanked me and left. As he walked away, I realized that there were no proper presentations. I had his name in the hotel register but he didn't know mine. I worked every other day, and I knew that I wouldn't see him the next morning. I smiled and wondered what name he put next to my phone number.
To be continued…….
Lovely
Beautiful story