Scarlett and Joey were chatting in the break room. She felt excited and relieved by what Sir Fond had just told her, and it showed on her face.
“So, what’s the good news?” Joey puffed at her cigarette, releasing smoke into the air. She looked at Scarlett. “Look at that face. Whatcha hiding, girl? Spit it out already.”
“Aye, stop teasing me. So, actually, here’s the thing. I’m about to quit working at Mystic Night Garden.” As she finished her sentence, Scarlett reached out her finger and deftly flicked the ash away.
Joey smiled, eyes twinkling, “Mmm nice, good for ya!”
Scarlett took a drag of her cigarette and let out a plume of smoke. She turned to Joey, “How much longer are you gonna stay here, you think?”
Joey shrugged her shoulders. Her thick make-up helped conceal her true emotions. A moment later, she said with pretend ease, “Ya know, I don’t really know what I can do in life besides this lousy job. Anyway, it’s a decent job. At least for someone like me who just wants to make a quick buck, ya know?”
After a long look at Scarlett, she continued, “The manager is right. You can have anything you want in life as long as you work really hard. But that’s just not the case for me.”
Scarlett took another puff of her cigarette before stubbing it out under her shoe. She said: “The higher you climb, the harder you fall. I’d better stay where I belong.”
Joey nodded her head in agreement. She stubbed out her cigarette, breathing deeply as she pondered over Scarlett’s words.
“What are you guys doing here?” The manager suddenly showed up and yelled at them outside the door. “Resting time is up. Mr. Clarkson’s room is now short of hands. Hurry up, girls!”
The two girls quickly stuffed peppermints into their mouths, straightened up their clothes, and headed toward the room.
Joey was sent to another room. Before they parted, she whispered to Scarlett, “Be careful, the manager…”
***
Scarlett pushed the door open and went in with one hand holding up a tray with two bottles of wine placed on it. It looked like the room had not warmed up yet. All the princesses were just sitting there on the couch; they were restrained.
As Scarlett popped up at the door, she caught the attention of the man who was seated in the center of the lounge. “Well, well, well, how could they be so foolish to ask such a beauty like you to only sell the wine? What wine are you selling, babe? Come, come here and show me.”
There was suddenly a spotlight on Scarlett, and everyone turned around to look at her.
The man then stood up, walked to her in a few steps, and stood right in front of her.
And in such distance, Scarlett noticed that his dark blue business-suit was limited. From this distance, Scarlet saw that his dark blue business suit was none other than limited edition Valentino. His leather shoes were classic Salvatore Ferragamo. He had probably even had them custom-fitted. Another rich asshole, Scarlett thought to herself.
“Little pretty, how about a few drinks with your Uncle Clarkson, eh? What do you think, babe?” Without even waiting for Scarlett to consent, he grabbed her hand and placed a glass of wine in it.
Everyone else in the room remained utterly silent and quietly watched what was going on without saying a word. They saw that Mr. Clarkson grabbed the girls' hand very tightly and refused to let go; no matter how the girl struggled to free herself, she stayed trapped.
Scarlett took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. In a second, a professional and polite smile reappeared on her face. “I’m so sorry to trouble you, sir. I didn’t mean to disturb you by barging in here like this. I owe you an apology.”
Scarlett raised the glass of wine to her lips and guzzled down the red liquid in a matter of seconds– by way of apology. She figured he would appreciate the playful gesture.
She was right. Her gesture, unfortunately, also managed to rekindle the old man’s interest and desire. His eyes became wild and his hands unscrupulous. He grabbed Scarlett’s hand again and touched it to his greasy face.
He was so disgusting that Scarlett was about to throw up. “I'm sorry, but I’ve still got work to do outside sir.” she smiled and struggled to get rid of the man’s hand.
The man didn’t give up and tried to tempt the girl with money, “Don’t resist, babe. Just listen to me. Aye, you listening to me? Just do what I say, and I promise you’ll go home tonight, rich.”
“I'm sorry, sir, but that’s not allowed. Please, sir, let me go. I don’t want to break the rules.”
The man grabbed her chin and threatened, “Are you really gonna ruin my party like this, you little bitch?” Summoning all of her strength, Scarlett managed to free herself from the man’s tight grip.
Mr. Clarkson grew even angrier. “You better fucking drink, bitch. You better fucking drink all this wine, or I won’t let you walk out of this room.”
As soon as he finished his words, the manager came in time and tried to ease the situation, “We are so sorry, Mr. Clarkson. This girl is just a newbie here and is still ignorant and reckless. It’s my fault; I should never have sent this one to you. Please, I beg you, have mercy on her. You would be very kind to forgive her– just this one time. Well, how about a 50% discount for today’s wine as an apology?”
Mr. Clarkson glanced at her, “You think I can’t afford this shit?”
The manager began sweating profusely and apologized repeatedly. She hinted at Scarlett to do something. Scarlett didn’t want to ruin her own good mood and also believed that this might be her last day at Mystic Night Garden.
She turned to Mr. Clarkson and apologized with a smile, “I’m sorry to have caused you so much trouble, Mr. Clarkson. I don’t mind drinking wine if that’s what you would like for me to do. This is the best wine out there, though– it’s a waste for a girl like me to drink it up. I’ll drink one bottle up and leave another for your later party. How ‘bout that? Does that sound good?”
Mr. Clarkson snorted to show his consent. Scarlett immediately picked the bottle up and knocked back the contents of it. Mr. Clarkson looked at her, drinking the wine. Some of it dripped onto her chest, and Mr. Clarkson smiled in satisfaction at the sight of it.Everyone sitting in the room was amazed by her drinking capacity– only Scarlett knew this was nothing for her. It was a cakewalk, drinking all that wine in one long swig.Within minutes, she finished the wine and showed Mr. Clarkson the empty bottle. “Enjoy your time, Mr. Clarkson. My apologies for causing you trouble earlier; I do hope you have a pleasant stay here.”Scarlett felt a little dizzy from drinking all the wine and couldn’t stand up straight. The manager immediately grabbed onto Scarlett, seeing her grow nauseous, and said
The manager began trembling even harder. She thought, “God, I’m done! I’m done! How could I not have known that this bitch is Mr. Sandler’s little girlfriend? Mr. Sandler! Shit, I might as well be dead. I’m done.”Mr. Sandler scowled and hesitated to push this odd drunk girl away. The expression on his face remained blank, and his dark eyes, shining like pearls, revealed his deep feeling of annoyance and discontent.But it was a life or death type of situation for Scarlett. She was in trouble. She clenched his arms more tightly, and tears began streaming from her eyes.From this vantage point, Mr. Sandler finally saw the girl’s face clearly. Her ruined makeup and faded, cracking lipstick couldn’t conceal her yet unripe and tender beauty. Her eyes were watery with tears
Most of the year, Scarlett was not seen at school. A rumor spread that she was the mistress of a wealthy old man who lived in Irving City. The original tweet that exposed Scarlett had been retweeted more than 2,000 times! The girls at school would update the post every day to reflect so-called “new evidence” concerning the scandal.The latest tweets read:“Girls, S. is holding a LOUIS VUITTON LIMITED today. Do you guys believe that a college girl could afford that? I don’t. [picture]”“NE: Damn. Scarlett’s new sneaker is my FAVORITE. I tried to reserve one, but I failed because you know what, only FIFTY PERSONS IN THIS PLANET got it! God, that man must be wealthy. #ScarlettMorrisIsABitch”But these offensive tweets didn&rsq
She knew she wanted to study further, and now she was well-prepared to do so both academically and financially. She decided she didn’t want to just let go of this opportunity.Twenty minutes later, she got off the bus and walked towards the hotel. She tried to relax her face. She took a deep breath and muttered to herself, “Oof… I’d better get going now and earn some money for myself. I must seize the day.”Scarlett saw, from a distance, that Sophie was waiting for her at the front door of the hotel. “We gotta be quick. Let’s go change our clothes first.” Sophie said and took her to a locked room.Scarlett wasn’t shy in front of Sophie– they had been friends for so long, and they had both seen each other naked anyway. They were more like sisters at this po
Back from the BanquetAs Scarlett arrived at her dorm room, she jumped right into her bed. Five hours standing in high heels numbed her legs and exhausted her body all over.“You’ve finally come back. Hey, don’t go to sleep just yet. I’ve got something to ask you.” Bell, Scarlett’s roommate and best friend at school, came to her and patted her face softly. Bell Harper had been by her side through the years.“Shoot!” Scarlett felt like she had no strength left, not even to talk.“Did Mr. Howard talk to you?”“The thing about the letter of recommendation?”Bell nodded and then lowered her voice. “He said t
“What? An online friend?” Scarlett couldn’t help herself. How silly of Bell to trust a stranger on the Internet, she thought.“Shhhh, shut up.” Bell covered Scarlett’s mouth, “It’s not like that, okay? I’ve known him for a long time, and it’s not like I just agreed to meet a total stranger. I’m not that absurd, okay? We’ve even video chatted a few times. He seems chill to me. Totally legit.”Bell dragged Scarlett out of bed. Scarlett didn’t want to get up and go out on this date with Bell’s online friend, but Bell had left her with no options. Scarlett pulled out a casual graphic T-shirt and a pair of denim shorts from a pile of clothes on the floor and put them on in a rush.She sat on the bed for a while and looked at Bell ru
Scarlett laughed out loud. Dan continued, “Can you believe it? It’s my fifth Tinder date this month alone. I wouldn't say I like it, but I still can’t stop. I feel like I gotta keep trying my luck.”Scarlett took a closer look. “Well, you never know, maybe you’ll have fun! Maybe she’ll turn out to be a good match for you. You gotta stay hopeful, right?”Dan shook his head and sighed. “I’m not as optimistic as you.”“Well, by the time you find the one, you’ll be so experienced. Things will go smoothly and fall into place.’ Scarlett laughed again.Dan gazed at her lovely face, and a sudden sadness rose from the bottom of his heart. Would he ever be able to confess his love to Scarlett? Woul
Sophie put the cigarette back unwillingly and said, “Oh, did I tell you about the casting next week? It’s for an art class, and they’re looking for a model for figure drawing. I recommended you for it, so I gave them your number.”Scarlett muttered with some sausage still in her mouth, “Can I? I am not a professional model, though.”Sophie gazed into her eyes and said, “Don’t you want to make money? Just go!”Scarlett finished her sausage and nodded. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. As always. You’re right, I guess I’ll go and see what happens.”Sophie took out her cell phone and made several calls, “Hmm, okay. Yeah, tell me everything. What? Where are they? Alright, alright, calm down. O