busy man and

Ophelia smoothed her hair back. She used the rest of her money on a hotel room and a sandwich.

She had zero dollars and zero cents, a broken heart and a mysterious job offer from an even more mysterious man.

She smoothed her outfit down. She washed it, but it was embarrassing, wearing the same thing twice.

Not that she wasn't used to it. It was just...him.

She didn't want him to see her that way. 

She wiggled.

"Hey, little songbird," came his earth shattering voice from outside the hotel door.

She jumped. Why did he have to sound like that anyway? 

She opened it gently. "Hello, Mr. Hades."

He smiled. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, moving in place for moment. 

"Following me then. We'll get going to The Mines. The walk through will take about an hour," He informed her, walking at a brisk pace. "If you choose to accept the job, we'll begin the paper work, and start your training immediately. You will be paid for training."

He opened the car door for her, nodding. Her skin heated as she sat down in the cab. He shut the door, getting into the passengers seat.

They rode in silence. She glanced over at him. He was refined. Everything about him screamed royalty.

He walked like king and had a voice of a god.

It was the start to a really bad hallmark movie.

"Do you hate Christmas?" Ophelia asked suddenly.

He glanced over at her, with a smile frown. "I don't hate it. But it's not very necessary."

Great. So it was a hallmark movie.

"Why?" He asked. 

"Oh...nothing." Ophelia say quietly, looking at her hands.

He bit back a small smile. Such a shy little bird she was. But tired too. Ready to perch.

He would give her a place to land.

He glanced out the window. "We've arrived," he thundered. The cab driver skidded to a halt, and Mr. Hades paid the fare, sliding out of the car.

She looked up. It didn't look like much. The Mines glowed dimly in the day light in a classy font.

The building itself was nothing special though. Just a small bar.

"Don't let appearances fool you," he whispered gently. "There's more to the building inside."

Ophelia nodded, following him inside. The inside just liked like a regular bar. Like that one they met in.

"You won't be working in this section," he informed her, opening a door.

She paused. 

He quirked his head, his long hair brushing over his shoulder. 

"Why are you standing there? Follow me, Songbird."

She stepped into the very small room. 

"It's an elevator," he explained, as he shut the door behind him. He turned around.

"The door opens up this way," he informed her. 

Ophelia turned around, stumbling into him. He pushed two fingers against her arm, steadying her.

"You'll have to learn to be a bit more graceful I'm afraid." He chuckled. 

He pressed the only button in the elevator, and it started moving down.

She startled. 

"Another reason I named this place The Mines, is because it's underground," he said.

He smelled amazing. Holy shit. Did he bath in gold? Nothing on him was particularly ostentatious, or obviously expensive.

He just had...an aire around him. Except, she glanced down.

His gold watch. He was wearing it last time too. 

The doors opened with a ding. She gasped.

It was huge. A very large, dark room, with velvet seats. Large tables, and men and women bustling around.

But it was mostly empty except staff.

Anticipating her question, he started. "Most all of my clients are very busy during the day, so we don't open before 9."

Ophelia took in her surroundings. 

"Now, here's what you'll be doing. You will sing on that stage," he pointed. "You won't dance. You won't strip. You won't interact with customer or take requests. Your job is to sing and watch."

Ophelia swallowed at his intense words. She watched him explain the duties of the job intensely.

He was very attractive. But... 

"If you don't feel you have a good singing voice, we will train you. But I have a feeling," he glanced at her, "that you sing beautifully."

He looked away continuing. "Your hours will be long. As long as we're open, we need a Canary. This is one more Canary, so you can split the time—"

Another Canary? 

"Her name is Rena. She'll train you." 

After an hour or so, or explanations, and touring, they came to an office where he paused.

"Thus concludes the tour. Are you interested in the position, Ophelia?"

"I am, Mr. Hades." She smiled. This was legitimate. Sure it was still a little shady, but it was more legitimate than she anticipated.

"Then let's sign some paper work and we'll go more in depth as to your duties.