Chapter 1: A Devastating Night

“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 f*e.

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 f*e.

Despite her 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?”

“Yes, Rosa …. I even went to the hotel and checked it. The receptionist didn’t allow me to have any information or follow them, but I saw Jeremy and the woman clearly before they went inside the hotel. The woman ….” Lynnette stopped abruptly.

“Go on. Describe the woman, please?” She still hoped Jeremy might go to the hotel with Isabella, his sister.

“The woman was wow! She wrapped her arms around Jeremy’s waist. Her clothes ….” Again, Lynnette stopped midway.

“Lynn,” Rosalind warned her best friend, “you don’t need to be concerned about my feelings. Please tell me what you saw.”

Lynnette let out a long sigh. “Well … her clothes were tight, but I had to admit. She had a perfect body.”

“I see.” Then Rosalind was silent. After a while, she finally said, “Thanks, Lynn. I owe you one.”

“It’s nothing. What will you do?” Lynnette asked. Rosalind didn’t reply until she called her, “Rosa? Are you still there?”

“Yes ….” Rosalind gulped because her voice trembled badly. “I need to go now. I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

“Rosa ….”

“Yes, Lynn?”

“Please promise me you’ll be okay. He doesn’t deserve you.”

Rosalind nodded a little, but her tears started falling and dampened her cheeks. “Thanks, Lynn. I promise I’ll be okay,” she said with a croaky voice. Then she hung up the phone. Hugging herself, Rosalind took a deep breath. It was hard because her tears didn’t want to stop flowing from her eyes.

After five or ten minutes, she stopped sobbing and wiped her tears. A bus she had been waiting for came, and Rosalind entered the bus. However, unlike the usual that she would go home and arrive after a half hour, this time she pressed the button to stop the bus after it went on the road for fifteen minutes.

Getting off from the bus, she balanced herself and walked straight to a restaurant Lynnette said. Rosalind sat on a table beside the window and ordered a cup of coffee. While waiting, she kept looking across the street to the Hoffner Hotel. The hotel with white walls and silver granite floor was one of the best hotels in the capital, owned by a billionaire, Samuel Hoffner.

Rosalind glanced at her watch on her wrist. It was already a half hour from the time she ended the call with Lynnette. It meant Jeremy and the woman had been there for an hour. A server came with the coffee she ordered. Rosalind nodded and smiled at the server.

She was hesitant to wait further or leave as she sipped her coffee. But then, her eyes caught her five-year boyfriend with a woman. Her heart beat faster, but she couldn’t think straight. The hurt numbed her mind.

What Lynnette said was true. The woman’s body was spectacular. With lovely bosoms and a tiny waist, her body could attract any man. Her tight dress showed off her flawless body shape. Despite Rosalind being an attractive woman too, she felt she was under the woman in terms of physical attractiveness.

Jeremy kissed the woman on her lips, and the woman wrapped her hands around Jeremy’s neck. Their bodies were glued to each other, with no space at all to separate them.

As if it wasn’t enough to kiss her lips, Jeremy also kissed the woman’s neck and rubbed her bottom. The woman shamelessly ground her lower body part to his groin.

Rosalind could only watch everything from the window. Then the couple went inside Jeremy’s car and left. Rosalind let out her breath that she held for a few seconds.

There were no more tears this time. She only sat there for a while, doing nothing and gazing at random spots on the table, since it was quite a devastating night for her.