Chapter 15 This Is Your New Job?

Joan’s hazy gaze suddenly lit up. She stared at Daphne. “No, I’m not going back! I’ll go wherever you go, Miss!”

“Then listen to me,” Daphne said, taking Joan’s hand and drawing her toward one of the rooms. “Joan, this will be your room from now on. We’ll live here together. No one will ever hurt us again!”

“Yes!” Joan’s eyes shone with tears.

By the time she had settled Joan in and bought a few daily necessities, Daphne’s already dwindling finances were pretty much depleted.

Joan probably sensed Daphne’s concern and stopped her just before she left the house to go to work. Joan told her that she still had a little bit of money and that she could use that for emergencies.

Daphne, who was in the middle of putting on her shoe, paused and stared at Joan in surprise.

Joan was given a meager salary during her time with the Montgomerys. Even so, Olivia had always been looking for excuses to cut her pay every two to three days. However, Joan still managed to have savings!

“No need, Joan. I have enough money. You can keep your savings. Don’t worry. I’ve gotten you out of there. I can take care of you.”

“But Miss—”

“I’m going to be late. We’ll talk when I come home. You can watch some television if you’re feeling bored.” Daphne interrupted Joan and rushed out the door.

It probably wasn’t easy for Joan to save up that amount of money. She couldn’t bear to spend it at all.

Joan frowned as she closed the door. After a pause, she picked up a vegetable basket and walked out the door.

‘No, she’s still too young. She must be exhausted from working all day. I have to help her somehow.’

Daphne worked part time at a café in the afternoon. After that, she would have to go to the second job that she had found at a bar.

Daphne put on her uniform for the first time and felt a little uncomfortable. The hemline on this sailor suit was simply too short. Daphne pulled it down a little, but it was no use.

Luckily, she was only a waitress. She only needed to serve the customers alcohol and fruit platters. The manager had arranged for a senior employee to guide her, worried that she wouldn’t know what to do on her first day.

“Just follow me around. Be careful and don’t bump into anyone when you’re serving things. It’s usually not a big problem, but if we get any tips, I’ll take 70%, and you’ll take 30%, got it?”

The senior employee assigned to Daphne was a girl. Everyone called her Cassie. She was probably slightly older than Daphne. She had short hair and thick, smokey-eyed makeup. It was difficult to see through her actual features.

Daphne stared at Cassie, dazed.

“What? You’re not happy? Mentors usually get all the tips from their trainees, but I’m giving you 30%!” Cassie rolled her eyes at Daphne, thinking that she was unsatisfied with the tip ratio.

Daphne shook her head. She just never expected to receive tips.

“Glad you’ve agreed!”

Cassie looked at Daphne, then fixed her clothes in front of a mirror.

“Number 27, serve this beer to compartment number 9.” Suddenly, a loud order was heard. Cassie paused in the midst of pushing her breasts together, turned around, and answered. Then she looked back at Daphne and said, “You’re pretty lucky. Compartment 9 is our most expensive compartment. Not many people can afford it. Be on your toes, and you might get a big tip!”

Daphne immediately nodded at the mention of “tip”, then followed behind Cassie.

Cassie proficiently took the alcohol once they had arrived outside. The guests from that compartment had ordered a lot of alcohol. Cassie wouldn’t have been able to carry them all, so she gave Daphne a few bottles.

“Hold on to these carefully. Both our two-month salaries won’t be able to compensate for one bottle if it breaks!” Cassie warned Daphne.

Daphne immediately tightened her grip around the bottles and became even more cautious.

Compartment 9 was located on the third floor. Daphne followed Cassie upstairs. They had just stepped out from the elevator when their manager quickly walked toward them and irritably snapped. “What took you so long?”

“Newbies tend to be a little slower.” Cassie pushed all the blame on Daphne.

Daphne was stunned, but she didn’t say a word and simply hung her head.

She had been working for so many years and had therefore gained some street smarts.

“Hurry in! We can’t afford to annoy the VIPs in there!” The manager urged.

Cassie did not dare argue. Daphne followed closely behind her, wondering who was in that compartment that made her manager so nervous.

Daphne followed Cassie inside the compartment once the door was opened. She was met with a myriad of colorful lights beneath her feet and blaring music…

Daphne lowered her head. Cassie had previously warned her against looking around.

She followed Cassie and put the exorbitantly expensive liquor on the table, then heaved an internal sigh of relief once that was done. Thank goodness nothing broke.

Daphne was just about to get up when a powerful force suddenly yanked her aside, causing her to drop the liquor bottle on the table, and it shattered on the ground!

“Ah!”

Crash!

“Oh no!”

Daphne’s scream of panic, the crashing sound of the alcohol bottle, and Cassie’s cry of disbelief came all at once.

However, none of these could be compared to one other voice.

“This is your new job?”

It was Nicholas!

Daphne was dumbfounded. She stared fixedly at Nicholas.

The lights in the compartment were dim, but that did not prevent Daphne from getting a good look at the terrifyingly grim expression on Nicholas’s face.

Silence.

The compartment was so silent that one could have heard a pin drop.

Cassie was in shock too. She stood on one side, too afraid to breathe too hard.

Nicholas eyed Daphne with malice. He looked as if he could tear her apart at once, or maybe push her out the window.

“Oh, what’s this? Has good old Master Nicholas changed his tastes? When did you start crushing on a four-eyed girl?” A flippant voice was suddenly heard.

Daphne lifted her head and saw the only other man in the compartment.

He was very handsome. However, unlike Nicholas’s cool and icy handsomeness, this man looked more like a steamy bad boy.

“You don’t know her? Wasn’t she a gift from you?” Nicholas’s icy voice reverted to the same dismissive tone that he had used when she first met him.

“Me?” Charles Siegfried was taken aback. He released the woman in his arms, leaned forward, and stared at Daphne.

At that point, Daphne felt like an item on a sales counter—anyone could eye her however they liked.

“You must have gotten it wrong. I’d never give you a four-eyed girl.”

Charles examined Daphne a little longer, lost interest, then leaned back into his seat.

Daphne hung her head and remained in her spot. Her mind was buzzing with various escape methods.

Nicholas ignored Charles. His sharp almond eyes stared squarely at Daphne’s mini skirt. “You mentioned finding a job. Did you come all the way here for that?” he asked fiercely.

Daphne’s bespectacled eyes flashed with embarrassment. She paused before answering, “I’m working as a waitress here.”