I have never seen Joshua working before — there was never a reason to look, either, because we’ve only just met each other. But as the man entered the room, there’s an instant shift in atmosphere; everyone straightened up their posture (even my boss, Louis, who doesn’t really care much about first impressions looks like he wants to impress Joshua) and there’s a murmur of recognition as well as introductions thrown around the space.

Louis shakes Joshua’s hand then Joshua shakes Anjali’s hand then he shakes Kristoff’s hand before he finally shakes mine — the last person in the room whose hand he has shaken in 2 previous occasions unrelated to this meeting before — while giving me a small smile. Along with him is another man, who I assume to be Gazi Radhana — the COO — who gave us all a simple nod of the head before his stare lingered over my face for a few seconds. He recognizes me.

It makes me wonder just about how much Joshua has told them about me, if he ever did tell them about me.

There’s a certain way that Joshua Hadi carries himself with; it’s a mixture of both confidence and the desire for the ground to crack open and swallow him whole. It’s like he wants to be there but he can’t wait until it’s all over. I wonder if that part of him comes from the fact that he’s the first child of a very high-profile family or because he’s, deep inside, a man carrying the weight of a heartbreak that never seems to heal. Even without hearing the story from him firsthand, it is easy to assume that Sabrina completely wrecked him through and through.

He is wearing an ironed white button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his dark hair is tousled (as usual) and there are a few strands blocking his eyes as he strikes up a conversation with Louis, I can hear some French words that he throws in his sentences randomly. As I’ve said before, this man carries himself uniquely and very differently that even the way he rolls his ‘R’s doesn’t sound pretentious at all. I’ve worked under Louis for a year and I still think his accent is a little ostentatious.

We all sit down on our chairs a few minutes after that and all of our eyes focus on Joshua who’s apparently the one who will be leading the meeting. Our virtual meeting a few days ago gave me a little insight on how the foundation’s being run, most of the time the 4 BODs prefer to do it all firsthand and then give the rest of the dirty work to their employees and it’s not a surprise at all, if you’ve seen any Ivy League kid, one of the things they hate the most is having some free time (second to not being able to brag about their achievements).

“Hi everyone,” even during a serious meeting, his voice is still sultry and soft, like honey being poured into a full glass of warm milk, “I’m Joshua, the CMO for Katamandara Foundation and I’m here with Gazi,” he motions to the taller man standing a few inches behind him, “he’s the COO and we’ll be discussing about the matters for the Adoption Day.”

“Ah yes, Joshua, I want to ask, is there the need for sponsors in this event? I’ve had a few companies calling us up and willing to give funding.” Kristoff asks while he powers up his laptop.

“That won’t be necessary, all our events are self-funded but we usually find other foundations who want to collaborate and we’ll donate some of the money gathered to them as well.” Joshua replies confidently, his eyes boring holes into the side of Kristoff’s face. If he doesn’t have such a kind expression, I would have assumed that he’s a tad offended by the question. Gazi shoots him a look but he ignores it.

There’s a few nods being shared around the room — mostly from Kristoff and Louis who finally understand what kind of foundation that they’re dealing with — before Anjali questions them again, “Do you have any plan for the date? We’ll find out if we have any available hotels on that day, Summer’s usually full-booked with weddings.”

This time, Gazi’s the one who answers the question. His voice cuts through the space like lightning in the middle of a hot summer night, unexpected, a clear contrast to Joshua’s soft one a few seconds prior. “Maybe 3-4 weeks from now? We can go on September as well, there’s no rush to it so if there’s any available hotel in that time span, we’ll take it.”

Usually, the chairs for the BODs will be filled with a lot of privileged white men who went to Harvard and took a year off to travel all around the world, thinking that they have experienced enough injustices in their life being Caucasian tourists that they think it’s okay for them to act like major assholes. We’ve faced a lot of men like that in the past, I’ve talked to employees with that sort of mindset in the past and I’ve tried to not generalize all men who come into that double glass doors but it’s been hard when they are the types I see every day. Therefore to have 2 men who are ambitious but also understanding, that is rare and that somehow terrifies me even more.

“That’s great then, do you already have a rundown of all the things that will be going on?”

Gazi nods before opening up his leather briefcase, taking a clear file from inside it and placing it on top of the desk for Louis to reach out and grab. They have come prepared. Now there’s no reason, at all, for Louis to turn down their desire to plan an event here. Now there’s no reason at all for Joshua and I to not meet a lot to talk about the whole event. Fuck. His friends are so good at being invasive that it’s not annoying nor persistent, it’s downright impressive.

“Yes, we have. During the promotion of the event we’ll tag and put the hotel’s logo on all our flyers, email blast and even texts to the biggest donators.” Joshua states again, his voice reverbrating through the small space — a buzz like that of a bee’s, comforting. “We hope this will benefit Marriott as much as it benefits us.”

And after that statement, he looks over at me where our eyes lock for a few seconds. I can feel my cheeks heating up as I look back at him before giving him a small nod and looking away.

“Thought I might find you here.” The familiar voice drags me back to reality as I blink a few times, still fixing my eyes on the horizon in front of me.

Joshua Hadi walks towards me slowly, his sandals getting stuck in the sand every few steps he takes and he sinks further and further into the beach as I stare at him. It’s a little comical, really, seeing someone struggling to walk on the uneven ground of the private beach but I stay fixated on my position beside the tree, my half-finished cigarette pinched in betwee my pointer and middle finger.

“Another assumption?” I ask, raising my brow when he’s finally near enough to hear my voice. The waves that are hitting shore this evening is a little more merciful than usual, it doesn’t drown out 3/4th of the beach. It arrives calmly, much like the person who’s now standing beside me.