Zora spent three days in the hospital, and an extra one week at home.
That afternoon she decided to go out for a stroll, to get her mind off some things.
Although Zora was just twenty, turning twenty-one, and was supposed to be in university, some things had happened that permanently ruled out university from her list.
She happened to pass by the bar where she had gone the night of her accident and decided to try her luck at getting a job as a waitress.
She pushed the door of the bar open and walked in.
Her eyes swept across the bar so quickly that no one noticed.
A man who was drunk tried to hold her hand, but Zora was faster.
Zora had already noticed his movement, making it impossible for the man to touch her.
After what happened with her and Viktor, she felt disgusted at the sight of men.
Her reaction made the man’s face darken slightly.
He stood up with a smug smile.
“What is wrong, pretty?”
Zora ignored him and walked ahead toward the counter.
But before she reached it, the man grabbed her hand.
Zora tried to free herself, but he held her tightly.
“I have money.
I will give you as much as you want, just be my girlfriend huh.”
“I am not interested.”
The man suddenly became aggressive, drawing the attention of many in the bar.
While others whispered among themselves,
“What’s his problem?”
“I think He is drunk.”
“Someone should help the poor girl.”
His friends were egging him on.
“Yeah!
Get her, man!!”
He started reaching for Zora, but before he could, Zora slapped him hard across the face.
“Did you not hear me?!
I said I am not interested, so let go!!”
The man pushed Zora to the ground.
“How dare you slap me?!
Do you know…”
His hand raised to strike her,
but before it could land, a fist connected with his face.
“I said I am not interested, are you deaf?”
The bar went quiet like a graveyard, no one had expected the young girl to punch the man.
His nose stung, making his head throb slightly, his hand quickly went to his nose.
“Ahh”
He gasped in horror.
Blood!
He was bleeding from his nose, his hands were stained with his own blood.
No woman had ever dared to lay a finger on him.
It hurt his pride, out of annoyance he picked the bottle on the table next to him and was ready to use it on Zora but before he could, a hand grabbed the bottle from him and smashed it on the ground.
“I have warned you and your friends to stop harassing my customers, have I not?”
When the man saw who smashed the bottle, his eyes widened.
He immediately fell to his knees.
His hand still on his nose, his friends were already looking for the nearest exit.
The drunk man was about to apologize but the man who had snatched the bottle from him spoke first.
“Get out!!”
The man stood up immediately, and like a flash, both he and his friends were gone.
But in his heart he promised himself that he would get his revenge on the little girl.
The man in white bowed to everyone in the bar and apologized.
He then turned to Zora, helped her up, and apologized to her as well.
Many people were surprised, and some were thankful to the bold bar attendant who dealt with the drunk man and his friends, while others hoped he would not lose his job.
Zora and the bar attendant walked to the counter.
When they got there, he smiled at her and asked,
“Are you here for another drink?
At least today you came in without blood, or paint, as you called it.”
Zora tilted her head her brows slightly joined.
Have they met before?
The voice indeed sounded familiar, that was when it dawned on her.
‘the guy at the bar!’
A wide grin appeared on her face as she sat on the stool.
“Ahh, It was you that night?
Oh my goodness, thank you for today.”
He smiled.
“And no, I am not here to drink.
I actually came to look for a job.”
The bar attendant raised an eyebrow.
He folded his arms and leaned his back against the fridge behind him.
“A job, huh?”
Zora nodded.
“Yes, a job.
So could you please refer me to your manager?
I would be really grateful.”
Staying at home these few days has been frustrating, and she still needed money for a lot of things.
The bar attendant nodded.
“That is not a problem, if I may ask are you not supposed to be in school?
Why search for a job as a waitress in a bar?”
Zora opened her mouth but nothing came out.
She sighed, then said,
“Well, for your information, not everyone is meant to be in school.
I mean, if everyone is in school, who will serve all these customers who come in here to drink?”
The bar attendant smiled and said,
“Well, if you say so.
Then let me introduce myself.”
He stretched out his hand for a handshake and continued,
“I am Maximilian, your new CEO and boss.”
Zora’s hand froze.
He was the owner of the bar.
As she thought about his name, the name of the bar appeared in her memory.
Bar at Max.
Zora could not stop smiling.
It turned out luck was on her side today.
Not only did she meet the owner of the largest bar in Rosewood , she also got a job there.
It was amazing.
She looked at him like she had just seen an angel.
To be honest, Maximilian was a very handsome man.
Maximilian noticed that she wanted to say something but kept holding it in, as if she was afraid that if she said it, she would lose her job.
“Do you have something to say?”
Zora nodded.
“Actually, it is a question.
No, two questions.”
Maximilian smiled and nodded for her to continue.
“Well, the first question is, why are you working as a bar attendant when you are the owner?”
Zora leaned closer to him and whispered enough for only him to hear.
“Is it that you do not have anything else to do, or is it just for fun?”
“Secondly, should I start today or tomorrow?”
When she finished asking, she looked at him with her bright eyes.
Maximilian could not stop himself from laughing.
Zora frowned slightly not knowing what she said that was so funny.
“Firstly, that was four questions, not two.
Secondly, I do have other businesses, but I come here once in a while to see how things are going and how customers are being treated.”
“Thirdly, you do not need to start today.
Just start tomorrow.”
Zora nodded.
She stayed in the bar for a while before leaving.
The next day, Zora got herself ready.
Although he had introduced himself as her boss the afternoon before, she still had to go through the proper procedure of submitting her resume, going through an interview, getting a uniform, and being assigned a team for shifts.
When she went to the bar, she did everything she needed to do and was informed that her shift would be from six p.m.
to twelve a.m.
It was already four p.m.
she went back home to rest so she could be active during her work hours.
She had expected to see Maximilian during her interview, sadly he wasn’t there.
However, he had already prepared everything for her before she arrived.
That evening by six p.m., she was already at work, well dressed in her uniform.
She did everything she had to do with a smile on her face.
Because of how beautiful she was, almost all the customers wanted her to attend to them.
Some gave her large tips, while others bought many drinks just to keep seeing her.
“It seems all the customers like you, both male and female.”
When she heard the familiar voice, her smile widened.
She greeted him.
“I thought you were not going to come today,” Zora said.
Maximilian smiled.
“Actually, I was not planning to come today, but something happened that needed my attention.”
Although he said that, the truth was that someone had reported her for trying to seduce customers instead of doing her job.
The manager had reported it to him, saying a staff member made the complaint.
“Ooh, so has it been resolved?” Zora asked
Maximilian nodded.
“Yes, everything has been resolved, continue what you’re doing don’t mind me.”
Zora smiled and continued serving the customers.
Maximilian watched how the slender figure served customers effortlessly, and something flickered in his eyes.
There was just something different about her and something familiar but he couldn’t pick up on what it was.
It was already late, almost time for Zora’s shift to end.
She got ready to go to the changing room.
As she was about to use the elevator, she heard a groan coming from one of the private rooms.
Her movement halted abruptly, her eyes quickly scanned the walkway, no camera where she was, the nearest exit close to her was the elevator.
There are only four private rooms in the building and the one where the groan came from was isolated from the rest.
Her gaze went to the door of the private room and then back to the elevator.
However she entered the room and saw a man lying on the couch.
He was alone.
She turned to walk away immediately, but then heard him groan in pain.
Zora tilted her head to look at him, but the private room lights were dim so she could hardly make out his expression.
She moved closer, but heard him say in a commanding tone,
“Get out!”
Her eyes fell on the table with different kinds of expensive wines, however the man before her wasn’t drunk.
She was sure about that.
She decided to leave but felt something was wrong.
He kept groaning.
After her experience that morning with the drunk man, she thought of all possibilities that could happen.
but she still could not bring herself to leave him.
She tried to help him several times, but he kept pushing her away and asking her to leave.
Zora refused, and honestly she did not know why.
Finally, he stopped resisting.
Above the bar were hotel rooms for important guests.
On the table was his passkey, which meant he had a room there.
She helped him up, after so much struggle they successfully got into the elevator and then to his room.
she switched on the lights.
She had perceived the thick metallic scent coming from him, and indeed after the lights came on she saw blood soaking through his sleeve.
Zora sat at the edge of his bed without realizing it and quickly wrapped his arm with a piece of cloth.
From the angle, it looked like a self-inflicted cut.
As she was about to stand up, he grabbed her hand and threw her onto the bed.
Zora froze as cold sweat broke out on her back.
The man’s eyes were bloodshot and dangerous.
She was pinned under him.
She tried to push him away, but it was useless.
She saw he was struggling, trying to stay conscious.
He must have been drugged.
Maybe that was why he kept pushing her away earlier.
It seemed the drug had finally taken control of him.
She could not escape.
She had saved her virginity hoping to one day give it to Viktor, but now she would rather give it to a stranger and save him from his struggle.
He was just a stranger they would probably never meet again, and if they did, they might not even remember each other.