Chapter 1 - I hate this

Gabriel POV

I walk into Mike’s office in the hotel and I sit behind his desk. I hate doing this. Why didn’t he leave his assistant to do this?

I take a deep breath and I start reading the contracts.

Why did he have to go on holidays and leave me here? I know he doesn’t trust anyone. He’s kind of like me that way. But he’s more serious than me. I guess it comes with the territory of being a big fancy CEO.

I pass my hands through my hair and I keep doing his fucking job. I know I was the one that told him to go on a vacation somewhere but he didn’t have to leave me dealing with this. I wasn’t made for the business world. My kind of business is ruled by fear. I prefer weapons to people.

“Mr Lockwood” - I hear his secretary say as she approaches the desk.

I lift my eyes to meet hers.

“Sir, the manager would like a word” - she says and I nod my head. Whatever it is I’ll listen and I’ll tell him to wait for Mike to come back.

Not long after I hear a knock on the door and I tell them to come in.

A tall man walks in. He looks terrible as if he was crying. What the hell. I can’t deal with this.

“Sir, I am sorry for bothering you, but we have a client in the restaurant that is making the staff’s life a living hell” - he says

“And yours by the look of it” - I say

He looks at the floor while he fiddles with his fingers.

“Let’s go” - I say as I stand up and put on my jacket. God how I hate wearing suits.

I fix my tie as we walk out.

Once I reach the restaurant I see two men shouting at the staff.

“You’re incompetent, I said I wanted my steak rare, and you bring me this” - he says to the girl standing in front of him.

I approach her from behind and I clear my throat as I stand in front of them.

“Gentlemen, I will ask you to leave the hotel immediately” - I say with a stern tone

“And why would that be?” - he asks in a thick french accent.

I lean forward placing both my hands on the table supporting my weight as I look deep into his eyes.

“Because I am telling you to” - I say

“And you think you are better than us? Hein?” - he asks and that’s when I realise I wasn't made for this.

I grab the guy by his collar and make him stand up. His eyes go wide and I hear the girl next to me gasping.

“You either leave using your own feet or I will make sure you never use them again” - whisper at him.

“Security” - I shout and the two big security guys stand next to me.

“They won’t be as polite” - I say

The guy grabs his stuff cursing under his breath and starts walking.

I adjust my jacket and smile at the people around in the restaurant and I start walking out. As I am leaving my eyes meet the most beautiful brown eyes I’ve ever seen. She’s serving a different table.

She’s wearing the normal restaurant uniform. White shirt and a black pencil skirt that hugs her curved body perfectly.

I shake my head and walk back to the office hoping I won’t be interrupted again and I can finish this and go have some drinks tonight.

Once I’m done I walk out through the back door so I can get to my car.

I strip the jacket before I get in and fold the sleeves to my elbows.

I look at the time and realise I don’t have time to go home and change but luckily for me I always have some clothes in my office at the club.

The drive didn’t take long and once I Parked the car and I have the keys to one of my men I went inside and into my office to change clothes.

This is more like it. I think looking in the mirror. I don’t bother with a jacket as it is hot in here. I walk to the bar to find Jason waiting for me with two girls already. He has one in each arm and they are both holding drinks with straws and placing it in his mouth.

He is a fucking legend when it comes to women.

“Hey” - I say as I approach them.

“Gabe, meet my friends” - he says with an evil smile on his face

“Ladies” - I say taking a seat on the stool in front of him.

One of the girls comes to me and wraps her arms around my neck and I slide my hand on top of her ass. She smiles at me and we stay like this for a while. Her body between my legs as we talk and drink.

My hands slide between her waist and her ass as I start to get horny. Her dress leaves nothing to the imagination and it’s been a couple of weeks since I had sex. I could use the distraction and the pleasure.

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River POV

I walk into the hotel through the back door as we are supposed to. I walk into the changing room and place my bag inside my locker. I’m a little early so I decide to go talk to the restaurant manager to see if she has any extra shifts for me this week.

I knock on the door and she tells me to come in.

I close the door behind me and she smiles at me.

“River, how can I help you?” - she asks

“I was wondering if you had any extra shifts for me this week?” - I ask her

“Not this week, sorry, but if someone doesn’t turn up I will definitely give you a call to cover” - she tells me

“Thanks” - I say turning around ready to leave.

“River” - she calls me

“Yes ma’m”

“I have a party of seven people tonight and I would like you to serve them, you are definitely the most experienced waitress and they are important people” - she says and I nod my head

“No problem” - I reply turning around and leaving.

Usually big tables means good tips. So that’s okay by me.

I have a really good salary but I still would like the extra cash. It’s always hard to live in New York and go to college. Everything is so expensive. Good thing is we are allowed to have meals after work so i rarely need to buy food for home as I eat at work. Saving some money.

I get changed and put my hair up into a ponytail. I check my white shirt in the mirror and I walk out to the restaurant. I walk into the kitchen and I am greeted by Pedro and Alicia that are doing the same shift as me.

They were the ones that got me this job.

I met Pedro in one of the last foster homes I was in. We became instant friends. And Alicia was dating him at the time. It didn’t last long but they stayed friends which was nice. We are still missing Jonah in our group but he doesn’t work here. He works in a art gallery downtown. He is the most successful of the four of us. I meet him in the club when we were nineteen, he fell head over heels for Alicia but she never wanted anything to do with him. She only wanted his friendship. I think she is still into Pedro but she claims that I am insane. Oh well.

“Hey, how are you today?” - Alicia asks giving me half a hug while Pedro looks at us.

“I’m okay, I’m tired. Class was manic today” - I say as I grab a cup of coffee and I start sipping on it.

“Okay staff” - We hear the restaurant manager’s voice

“Today we have a party of seven that River will be waitressing, Pedro you will be at the bar, Alicia doing the floor with Kacey and Ruth” - she says and we all nod and smile.

We like everyone that we work with. Everyone is extremely nice and polite. We all take out jobs very seriously.

“River, your party is here” - the manager calls and I follow her out of the kitchen and into the restaurant.

They take their seats and I offer them menus asking what they want for drinks. After their order is places I walk to the bar and I ask Pedro for the drinks.

I stand near him making small talk while he prepares the drinks. Once ready I place them at the table and proceed with service. I see two men from the corner of my eyes giving Alicia shit.

She’s bright red and I can see she is about to cry. They are being extremely loud.

In any other job I would e marched to them and tell them to fuck off but I can’t lose this job.

Alicia calls the manager and then everything becomes a blur as I am extremely busy bringing food out and making sure everything is up to standard.

The restaurant goes quiet and I look around to see The hotel manager and another men talking to the guys. I couldn’t see his face but he had a nice build.

Once the shift is over and I take a seat in the changing room Alicia sits next to me. She takes a deep breath.

“Let’s go to the club” - she says at me and Pedro.

“I’m tired babe” - I say pulling my jeans up and doing the button.

“Come on, this was really stressful, live a little, it’s Friday night” - she says and Pedro nods his head.

“I’ll call Jonah” - he says stepping out of the room.

“Pleaseee” - Alicia says and I smile.

“Fine, one drink, two dances and I’m out” - I say grabbing my purse.