"Hey, Steven! The f*ck are you doing over there?" A man in a suit bellowed, with a deep frown on his face.
A young man came running to him. He did a small bow of courtesy when he got to where the man was.
The man looked at Steven with a sneer before speaking.
"We have a ton of customers over here that are yet to be attended to, but you were over there doing what exactly? Nothing? Is that what I'm paying you for? To do nothing?" He asked, his voice filled with intensity.
Steven opened his mouth, wanting to defend himself. He was actually helping a customer with something. But the man's next words shut him up immediately.
"I don't want to hear any of your excuses."
"Go to that table over there and attend to them," the man said, pointing to a table where a young man and a lady were seated. "Mr Weston has been waiting for a long time. He's a VIP customer. He deserves better."
"Yes, sir," Steven nodded, sighing heavily on the inside.
"Hurry along, then," the man said, then scoffed and walked away.
Steven sighed once more and walked to the table his boss had pointed to.
His boss had always been like this, coming down hard on him for almost no reason.
He had tried to stand up for himself a couple of times, but it only made things worse. Now, he couldn't go a single hour without getting yelled at or insulted.
Steven wished he could just quit. He had thought about it multiple times and had nearly gone through with it, but he understood how difficult it was to find a job. So he decided to hold on to what he had for now, and only quit when he had a replacement.
But he barely had time for himself, which made it nearly impossible to go job hunting without quitting first.
Steven reached the table. The young man looked at him with disdain, which was both surprising to Steven, and at the same time, unsurprising when compared to everything he has experienced while working here.
He turned to the lady seated opposite the young master, and his breath caught in his throat.
"Tara? What are you doing here?" Steven asked, his eyes wide.
"What do you mean what am I doing here?" The lady replied, sneering, her face filled with disgust. "Do I have to tell you where I am? What are you? My dad?"
Steven felt a sharp sting in his chest. He never imagined Tara would say something like that.
"Are you being serious right now, Tara? You're here with another man and you're asking me what I am to you? What have we been for the past four months?" He asked, the hurt clear in his voice.
"We? There was never a 'we'. Look at you. You're barely surviving. You're always in rags. You look so skinny that a bit of wind could knock you off your feet. Do you really think you deserve a girlfriend with how wrecked your bank account is?" Tara said, her disdain open and unrestrained.
Steven felt a chill run down his spine. He couldn't believe what he just heard. He had no idea that his girlfriend of four months had this in her.
He opened his mouth but couldn't form any words. He closed it and forced a small smile, pushing down the ache in his chest.
There was nothing he could say or do to change any of this. Tara had ended things, and that was that. All he could do was move on.
It hurt. But he would get over it.
He turned to the young master, no longer paying attention to Tara.
"Are you ready to order?" He asked.
The young master still wore the same look of disdain. He looked Steven up and down, then spoke.
"You stink. Send someone better to take my order. And get me the manager."
Steven scoffed on the inside. He said nothing and walked away.
When he got to the counter, he turned to his colleague and gestured toward the young master's table.
"Tisha, can you help me with that table, please?"
She said nothing. She simply nodded and walked over.
"Thank you," Steven said.
He pushed through the kitchen door and made his way to the back, where the staff kept their personal clothes. He changed out of his work uniform and put on the clothes he had come in with.
He held the uniform in his hands as he opened the back door and stepped outside. He walked to the dumpster, dropped it in, and walked away without looking back.
Steven had finally quit. And he would be lying if he said it didn't feel good.
It wasn't Tara that pushed him to do it. It was partly what the young master had said.
Steven knew how things would have gone. With how much his boss kissed up to the young master, the only outcome was him getting fired anyway. He decided to quit before he had to sit through another round of insults.
As for his pay, he had been paid just a couple of days ago. His boss owed him for only a couple of days of work. And knowing his boss, he wasn't going to see that money regardless.
I really wish I could get that $400 though. It would go a long way. But f*ck it. I'll survive. I still have about $250 in my account. It should last me a few days. I just have to find a job before then, Steven thought.
He knew the coming days were going to be rough. But he didn't mind. He would push through and hope for something better. He hopes he gets a job somewhere with a boss who wasn't a complete jerk.
Steven turned everything over in his mind and smiled to himself.
He was about to cross the road when he heard loud, desperate honking. Before he could react, something slammed into his side and he hit the ground, gasping.
Lying there, Steven felt his body growing cold and his strength was draining out of him fast. He was losing consciousness.
Fear gripped him and his heart started racing, in panic. He tried to speak, to call out to someone, but only a weak sound came out.
Then something strange happened. A voice rang out inside his head and a vision appeared before his eyes.
[Parsing package… 100% completed.]
[Rebate System is now online.]
[Generating Host's information… Completed.]
[Alarm!! Host's body is in critical condition. Emergency response mode activated. Host's body has returned to its optimal condition.]
[Rebate System]
[Name: Steven Craig]
[Physique: 12]
[Intelligence: 18]
[Account Balance: $247]
[Exclusive Points: 0]
***
"Am I drunk?" Steven asked himself, in utter disbelief.