Chapter 2

"I said I want you. Why? Don't you come on the menu?" He nodded towards the menu board hanging over her head.

Faith wasn't sure how to answer that. She looked the man over. He was dressed in a navy-blue three pieces suit that she couldn't afford with her three salaries combined.

He stood tall, shoulders straight and looked her straight in the eyes--so different from Ernie a few minutes ago.

"Hello?" He snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. Faith caught a glimpse of his watch, half-hidden underneath his jacket sleeve. She felt her brain drop. "Anybody there?"

Faith bristled. "I don't understand what you mean, sir. My question was 'Is there any drink I can get you?"

She was confused. Was he a student? He looked a little old to be a student. He also looked a little young to be a lecturer. Perhaps a Teacher's Assistant? The suit was much too expensive for that though. Maybe he was just a visitor to the school.

"Well then, if you insist, get me one."

"One what?"

"One of everything."

Faith's mouth dropped open. "You want me to give you one of every drink we have on the menu?" She looked back at the menu, quickly counting how many different drinks they served. Fifty, they served fifty drinks.

He frowned down at her. "Yes. How many times do I need to repeat the same thing?"

She cleared her throat. "That will be fifty drinks, sir."

"Okay. Total?"

"Err... I'm going to need to get my manager for this. Give me a second." Faith hurried away and dodged into the employees' room.

She took a deep breath. Who was this man? He looked rich, really rich. She'd already met a lot of rich people at this school, but somehow he exuded wealth on a different level.

What did someone like him want with her? She couldn't begin to imagine. She needed to get back to work.

She ran off to find the manager. She found him in his office, feet up, watching a movie.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Faith?" He groused. He didn't like to be disturbed in the middle of a movie.

"We have a customer out front who wants one of every drink."

The manager, a burly man named Anthony, jumped up. "Wants what?"

"One of every drink we've got."

"Then why are you standing here talking, you silly girl. Let's go!"

Faith rolled her eyes but followed Anthony silently. The customer was still standing there when they arrived.

He had his phone out now and was typing quickly into it. He stopped and put the phone away when he saw them.

"So? Can I pay for the drinks?"

"Of course sir," Anthony said in a sweet voice that Faith had never heard him use before. He rang up the order, totalling $500.

Faith's eyes widened in shock but the man didn't even blink. He pulled out his card and swiped without a word. The familiar beep sounded, signalling that the money has gone through.

Faith felt faint. He just blew $500 on drinks. Life was so not fair. Here she was working three jobs and she could barely afford anything but someone could blow half of her salary for a week on drinks alone.

"Now that that's out of the way, I recall saying I wanted you."

Faith had totally forgotten about that in the face of his flagrant display of wealth.

"Want me for what?"

"Now that I think about it, this isn't the best place to discuss such business."

What business? Faith thought.

"What time do you get off?"

"In thirty minutes."

"Cool. I'll send someone to pick up the coffee then. You can come with him."

"Come with him? I don't even know you! You could be a kidnapper or a rapist for all I know."

The man blinked at her as though she'd just said the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.

"Of course, I'm not a kidnapper or a rapist. Do I look anything like a kidnapper or rapist?"

"It's never written across the forehead," she shot back.

The man rolled his eyes and turned to Anthony. "I'll like you to have your employee deliver the coffee later. Is that fine?"

Anthony smiled sweetly up at him. Faith fought the urge to puke at the grubby man's display. "Of course, sir. I'll make sure she's there."

"Hey, that is not part of my job."

"It is now. If you don't like it, you can quit "

Faith practically growled. Oh, she hated this man. She didn't even like the job, but she couldn't quit. She needed the job. She needed the money desperately. She didn't have a choice.

"I'll be there."

"Good! I'll see you in thirty minutes then." He turned and left quickly, just like he'd appeared.

Faith tried to follow him with her eyes, see where he went but Anthony stood in front of her with his arms folded and a frown. His head barely reached her shoulders. The sight would have been comical had she not been in a bad mood.

"Well? Get back to work!" He groused.

Faith took a deep breath to calm her heated face. "Next!"

The rest of the minutes passed in a blur. She took customer's orders and made small talk when appropriate but for the life of her, she couldn't remember a word that was exchanged at that time.

Finally, the clock struck three and her shift was over. She took her last customer's order just as the door swung open.

Faith felt her shoulders tighten. She was so high-strung. She'd been waiting impatiently for the past thirty minutes.

She wouldn't admit it out loud to anyone, she was actually excited. Maybe even more excited than nervous.

She was naturally a very curious person. That was one of the reasons why she excelled at studying.

She loved to learn, to gather information, to know things... She could never stand when things were hidden from her. She always had to know.

As a child, the phrase "Curiosity killed the Cat" was repeated to her very often as her parents tried to warn her about sticking her nose in other people's business, but she'd never been able to learn the lesson they so desperately tried to teach her.

Today, that saying might finally come true. Curiosity might finally kill her cat.

She supposed it wasn't a bad way to go, "Death at the hand of a Billionaire." She could probably write a killer book about it. If she ended up dying, hopefully, someone would.

She looked up to see who's opened the door. A man in a black suit stalked towards her. That was the best word she could use to describe his approach--stalking like a lion approaching its prey.

He was tall, taller than the man from earlier. His suit was also expensive but not as expensive as the other man's.

Even in a jacket, muscles peeked out from under his suit. A few buttons of his white shirt were opened and a pair of shades hung from them. The part of his chest that was visible was well-sculpted and she saw a hint of a tattoo peeking out.

He looked dangerous, dangerously hot. Faith swallowed, and she knew every woman in the place did as well.

He seemed strong, really strong, but when he came up to her, his face was kind and he smiled at her.

"Hello, I'm here to pick up two orders--some drinks and a pretty lady."