A Night with the Zillionaire

“Finally!”

Rosalind Miller walked to the front door and turned the mark hung on the restaurant door from ‘Opened’ to ‘Closed’. However, she bowed her head and smiled at the last few customers who would leave the restaurant. The bell’s sound rang a few times each time the customers left since the door movement hit the bell.

“Please come again and enjoy your night,” she said.

The closing time was something she was grateful for. Rosalind enjoyed serving people in the Premium Steak, one of the best steak restaurants in the capital. Her supervisor and co-workers were nice and considerate. Also, she appreciated the salary and tips from customers.   

At 9.30 p.m., Rosalind rubbed her aching waist. The restaurant was closed at 9 p.m. So, for the last half hour she had already cleaned up the empty tables. The restaurant had over fifty tables. As she needed to comfort herself, she took a deep breath while closing her eyes. 

Sometimes working at night was almost unbearable. Tonight was one of those. Because two servers couldn’t work—one because of sickness and another because of a death in the family—she had to work harder than usual to cover both co-workers. It wouldn’t be too much if the customers were nice and considerate. 

Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t her lucky night as some customers were nasty and stingy. She would be lucky if her tips would be enough to cover the online tuition fee.

When Lily Gweneth, the cashier, finished distributing the tips portion for each server, Rosalind could only groan inside her heart because it was what she already thought. Tonight’s tips were far from enough. She still needed $500 left to cover the next month’s tuition fee.

Despite she was a little despair, Rosalind waved and smiled at Lily and the other servers. She pulled the clip held her long black hair, and soon, her hair cascaded over her back. Even after pulling up her black jacket zipper, she still shuddered because the icy wind blew in her direction. Then Rosalind rushed to the bus stop. 

She was five minutes on the bus stop when there was a beep from her phone. After checking it, Rosalind got a text message from Lynnette Martin, her best friend. She smiled because usually Lynnette would send her funny or cute memes to brighten her day. 

However, Rosalind was frowning this time. Lynnette only sent a quick text message. It was: ‘Rosa … I’m sorry, but I need to tell you this …. Jeremy cheated on you.’

She couldn’t believe her eyes. After taking a deep breath, Rosalind read the text message for the second time. It didn’t change the content, for sure. She immediately called Lynnette.

Her friend picked up her phone right away. “Hey …. I know you’re just about to go home ….”

“Lynn, what did you see?” Rosalind blurted it out. “Please tell me ….” 

“Where are you? Have you been to your apartment yet?”

Rosalind shook her head. When she realized Lynnette couldn’t see it, she said, “Not yet. I’m at the bus stop.”

“I … I don’t know how to tell you ….” Lynnette was quiet for a few seconds, but then, she continued, “A half hour ago, I was at a restaurant across from the Hoffner Hotel. Since I was waiting for my friend, I kept looking outside to check if she had come. But then … I saw Jeremy with someone.”

“Did they go to the restaurant?” Rosalind asked, hoping Lynnette was wrong. 

“No … they went to the hotel.”

Rosalind gulped and clenched her hand. “Are you sure?”