Million Dollar Marriage

Chapter One

“Tristen table four has been waiting over ten minutes for someone to get drinks and take their orders,” my manager Collin yells at me.

I watch as he walks over to the host stand letting out a light sigh. Did he not see that I already have my hands full! I clench my teeth in frustration glancing down at the arm full of plates I’m holding. When he looks back over at me and frowns I muster the best smile I can.

“I’ll be right over,” I chirp.

“Good,” he says waving me off.

Rolling my eyes I hurry back to table seven. I hate table seven. I’m not sure if it’s just my luck or the table was cursed but whoever sits there is always the rudest, most condescending person. Screening my eyes across the table I notice that this time it’s a bunch of businessmen in sleek black suits. They’ve been trying to peek down my shirt every time I lean over to clear a plate or glass.

“Chicken Cordon Bleu,” I announce as I set the plate down in front of a large man wearing an American flag tie.

“Nice,” he comments.

I cringe not sure if he’s referring to me or the chicken. Still, I hold my tongue. If I am nice these guys will definitely leave a generous tip. With that thought, I smile to myself.

“Do you gentlemen need anything else before I go?” I ask after placing all the dishes down.

I hold a stiff smile after asking the question. Please just say no.

“Another blue Moon, please,” the man with the flag tie says.

I flash him a smile, “Right away sir.”

As I’m turning away I catch sight of Collin glaring at me pointing at table four.

“Am I the only waitress on shift,” I mutter heading to that table.

Noticing there are only two people at this table I relax. At least these tables going to be easy.

“Hello, my name is Tristen and I’ll be your server tonight,” I greet offering a wide smile.

The two men turn to look at me and I suddenly feel my heart drop as I recognize the pair. They came in at least once and week and were both drop-dead gorgeous. I thought that at this point I would be used to seeing the handsome men and stunning women that came to the restaurant. But this feeling of inferiority never goes away, and these two are top tier.

Tonight both were dressed in fact silk button-ups, with the sleeves rolled up revealing their muscular arms. One of them wore a black shirt with a white tie while the other wore a white shirt with a black tie. I sigh with a soft smile, they make a great duo.

It’s a little irritating, why are rich people always so attractive, how is that fair! Isn’t it enough that they have money?

“That’s a strange name,” one of the men comments.

I narrow my eyes at his words.

“Anyways that’s not important,” he says.

The other man tried to cover a laugh causing my eyes to drift towards him. He looked like your typical boy next door type, with his chestnut-colored hair, soft brown eyes, and pretty face with a kind smile.

“Awe, yeah I get that all the time,” I cough uncomfortably. I suddenly want to retreat from them, I’ve served them a couple of times but they’ve never paid me any mind until now. Is this really the first time he’s picked up on my name? I grit my teeth taking in a deep breath. Just calm down I’ll be over soon.

“It’s cute though,” the man with chestnut hair says in a sweet tone smiling.

I stare at his perfect smile, showing off his pearly whites. How can someone have such a perfect smile? These two are definitely on a different level than me. I couldn’t even look a fraction as flawless as them.

“Can I start you, gentlemen, off with something to drink?” I ask.

“A shot of Lagavulin for me miss Tristen,” the dark-haired one says not even bothering to look at his menu.

“Absolutely! I’m just going to need to see some form of I.D. Please sir,” I respond offering a small smile.

He doesn’t look underage and I’m pretty sure I’ve served him alcohol before but I’d better check just to be safe.

“Do you not know who I am?” He asks in an irritated tone.

“Am I supposed to?” I ask awkwardly.

He looks troubled for a moment before a look of understanding passes over his features.

“I guess I shouldn’t expect someone like you to know,” he answers thoughtfully.

I tighten my hands trying to remain calm. Something about the way he said that irks me. Is he a celebrity? He looks like he could be an actor or maybe a musician. But then again someone like me wouldn’t know. He’s probably the son of some rich guy who makes airplanes for a living. I don’t really care.

“Your I.D,” I repeat.

The guy digs into his jacket pulling out a black leather wallet. I watch as he flips it open pulling out his I.D.

“Here you go,” he says handing me the card.

I scan over the card. Edgar Blanc. Edgar? What kind of name is that? It doesn’t ring a bell either so he probably isn’t famous. Pursing my lips I look over the date.

“You’re a Christmas baby,” I comment having the card back.

Edgar nods tucking his card away.

“Since the day I was born,” he says.

My lips twitch into a smile before I can stop myself.

“I bet it kind of sucks though, doesn’t it? Aren’t your Christmas and birthday presents combined as one?” I say.

“No never,” he responds nonchalantly.

I let out a stiff laugh, go figure.

“Anything for you sir,” I ask the other man.

“I’ll have a glass of ice water,” he says.

“No, he won’t he’ll have a shot of whiskey with me,” Edgar cut in, “give her your I.D.” He demands.

“I’ll stick with water,” he repeats.

Edgar shakes his head, giving his friend a disproving look.

“I’m going through a crisis right now and it’s your job as my best friend to drink the night away with me. Now give her your I.D.” Edgar says.

What kind of crisis could a probably filthy rich twenty five year old be going through? You know what I’m probably better off not knowing. I swear if I hear anything like ‘I can’t afford three porches’ I’ll off myself. I hate to judge on first impressions but seems like the spoiled type.

“Eddie, I wouldn’t call this a crisis,” the man starts

Oh my god don’t tell me I’m right? What a world I live in.

“Rob, we’re keeping this lovely girl from doing her job. Just show her your I.D. I promise I won’t make you take more than a couple shots,” Edgar pleads.

Rob hesitated for a moment before grinning and pulling out his wallet.

“You know Eddie you’re a pain in my ass,” he chuckles.

I look over the card passing it back with a nod. Robert Stanly I’ve never heart that name either. I head over the the bar getting the two orders. When I glance back at their table I see Edgar eyeing me. I stare directly back at him until he notices. Instead of looking away embarrassed that he had been caught he holds eye contact with me. Startled by his brazen behavior I turn away my cheeks lightly flushed. As I’m turning I notice the man in the American flag tie waving me down.

Shit I was supposed to get him a Blue Moon.

“Can I grab a bottle of Blue Moon too” I ask the bartender.

Justin, the bartender, pops the cap off on the edge of the table handing me the bottle.

“He’s been eyeing you all night, twenty bucks says he’s going to ask for your number,” Justin jokes with a crooked grin.

I pretend to gag as I walk away reluctantly going backing to table seven. As I draw closer I summon the sweetest grin I can.

“I’m sorry for the wait Sir, your Blue Moon,” I say handing him the bottle.

“I’ll forgive you if you give me a kiss,” he jokes a disgusting smirk playing on his lips.

Him and all his friends bust up laughing.

I’m doing this for the tips!

“Oh my, you flatter me Sir,” I laugh while hiding my face behind my hand.

Disgusting pig.

His eyes trace up and down my body and I can feel my skin biting from his gaze. I shift as my legs tense up.

“I can get you gentlemen anything else?” I inquire.

One of the guys leans over to his friend mutter something. I once again tense up. I wait for a response but none of them answer so I take their silence as a no and walk off. As I’m turning to leave Collin suddenly appears in front of me.

“Geez, warn me when you appear out of no where like that,” he breaths out.

“And you better get yourself in gear tables two and eight have been dirty for the past fifteen minutes. So hurry and go wipe them down,” he commands.

“I’m already on it,” I say letting my frustration bleed into my words.

Why does he always feel the need to pile more work on me every time he sees me? God he pisses me off!

“Oh- now guests are coming in, go greet them, Christen. What are you waiting for,” he shouts at me.

“It’s Tristen,” I grit our before walking away to do the hostesses job.

Honestly working her sucks! If I didn’t make so much money I’d just leave. At night end restaurants like this the guests really know how to tip. I can deal with the creepy men and annoying boss only because the money I made was worth it.

I greet the new guests as pleasantly as possible trying not to feel inferior standing next to the gorgeous women in high end cocktail dresses. After greeting the guests I wipe down the tables and grab her another beer for the flag tie asshole.

I had completely forgotten about table four until Collin mentioned them. Luckily Justin delivered the whiskey to them in my stead. Rush to their table ready to take their orders.

“I can’t apologize enough for the wait gentlemen,” I say losing my head.

I hope they still leave a good tip.

Robert offers me a sympathetic smile, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Again I am so sorry are you ready to order? What I can I start you off with?” I ask stumbling over my own words.

“Apologies aside you kept us waiting for fifteen minutes. Do you usually make customers wait this long just to order?” Edgar questions glancing down at his watch.

I open my mouth and close it a couple times caught off guard by Edgar’s curt manor.

“I apologize,” I say once again lowering my head.

“Typically a customer should spend a little over an hour and a restaurant. Drink orders are taken upon immediate arrival and food five minutes after. This allows about twenty minutes for the food to be prepared and about half an hour for the costumer to consume it,” he explains in a stately tone.

“We have been here over half an hour and have only had our drink order taken when our food should already be arriving,” he continues.

Robert shifts in his seat and I gawk a Edgar. I can feel my heart trying to claw its way up my throat. I do not need this today.

“I-I apologize,” I say again my voice trembling.

“Apologies don’t make up for bad service,” he states.

My body shakes and I begin to blink my eye rapidly. Just stay calm… just stay calm, I chant to myself.

“I-I… I’m so very sorry,” I repeat.

“I wonder what the of this establishment would think if I told him how his employees run the place. Surely this isn’t suitable for you, how much do you get paid to act like this?” He mocks.

At his words I feel a vein pop in my head. I am not going to let myself be treated like this!

“Excuse me I apologized, is it really necessary for you to treat me like this,” I snap my body shaking in humiliation.

He did really have to go as far as to make fun of my job. I’m sorry not everyone is born rich and attractive!

Edgar jerks his head back, “What did you just say?”

“I am very sorry I forgot about your table and I’ll be the first to admit that it was in fact my fault. If you were that worried about it you could have flagged me down or anyone else for that matter,” I say.

“I don’t expect you to know who I am but-”

“I’m sorry but I don’t really care who you are,” I interject.

“Is there some level of importance that makes it okay for you to make fun of someone else’s job? If you want a new waitress fine, I’ll send someone over. Although I can’t promise you’ll have better service since I’m likely already covering their tables too,” I spit out.

Edgar furrows his brows in confusion.

“That wasn’t going to be a threat I was just going to say I admire the courage you have to stand up for yourself,” he explains.

“Oh…uh… I see,” I blink.

“I wasn’t going to scold you either. That was a useful piece of information for you to tell your boss. Not that I expect this place to have such high standards,” Edgar says.

“Edgar,” Robert sighs.

“I have nothing against you,” Edgar adds.

“My words pertain to your so called coworkers who think chatting in the back is more important than attending to guests. When I asked how much make it is because you clearly deserve more,” Edgar continues.

I shift my eyes between the two of them confusion swelling within me. So he wasn’t trying to be an ass? I’m such an i***t, I shouldn’t have snapped at him.

“Edgar is oblivious to the way he speaks forgive him. He means well usually,” Robert says.

“I am really very sorry for misunderstanding,” I say in a low tone.

“Do you make enough money here to live decently?” Edgar suddenly asks.

“What?” I say dumbfounded.

Robert elbows Edgar in the arm.

“Ignore him, we’ve held you up enough. Should we go ahead and order?” Robert says.

“Oh, yeah sorry,” I say.

“No need to apologize so much,” Edgar says rubbing his arm.

The both make their orders as I make a mental note of them. They both order another drink and this time Robert only gets a water.

As I’m walking away I make sure to apologize one last time, “And again I am so very sorry for the wait.”

“I’ll let you off this time since you seem capable,” Edgar says lounging back in his seat.

I raise an eyebrow. Rich people have su strange personalities.

The next hour passes by painfully slow as I watch the men at table seven steadily get more drunk. And I wonder what Edgar would have to say about their average consumer time. The whole lot of them had been here for over two hours. Not that Edgar could really say anything since he’s gotten a little tipsy himself. Though he had switched to beers.

Just as I’m about to start wiping tables down, I see someone from table seven waving me over. Groaning I head over to the group of men.

“We’re ready for the check,” one of them slurs.

“And some cabs, I would assume,” I joke.

“I want you to take me home,” purrs the man with the flag tie his eyes lighting up.

Trying not to look bad I force a laugh, “If only I could leave. Do you gentlemen want me to do separate checks?” I ask.

“Put it all on me,” says the man with the flag tie.

I take his credit card heading over to the register. My eyes widen at the final total. It was more than I could ever make in two weekend nights of waitressing. I hadn’t realized how much they had really ordered until now. And he wanted it all on his card? How generous.

On my way back a hand shot out griping my arm. I jumped at the sudden touch, relaxing a bit when I notice it’s just Edgar.

“I have to pee,” he slurs.

“It’s over there,” I say pointing to the far left corner of the restaurant.

Using me as support Edgar pulls himself up almost knocking me to the floor. I catch myself by placing a hand on the table. The smell of his cologne hits my nose and I’m suddenly all too aware of our close proximity. He quickly pushes past me mutter something about marriage. I glance over at Robert who shrugs his shoulders at me.

I return to table seven handing the card back to the man in the flag tie. He fills the tip and signs the receipt handing the note book back to me. It was hard not to look at the tip but I quickly stuck the book in my apron pocket.

“Thank you very much! You gentlemen have a good night and get home safe,” I say.

As I turn to walk away feel a heavy arm sling over my shoulders. My body goes rigid.

“I that you said you were coming home with me little lady,” the man in the flag tie slurs in my ear.

As his beer breath wafts into my nose I have to hold back the urge to gag.

“Please don’t touch me,” I say trying to move away from him.

“I know you like me. You were eyeing me all night and lucky for you blond girls are my favorite,” he whispers in my ear.

I try to duck out from under his grasp but he simply holds me tighter. He places his other hand in my hair and I can feel his heavy breath tickling my neck. I shiver once again trying to pull away from him but to no avail.

“I have to go check on other tables Sir,” I say.

“What are you? Just a tease,” he groans his moist breath dampening the back of my neck.

When I became a waitress I figured I’d have to deal with my fair share of creepy customers. But this is honestly ridiculous. If I make him mad then my manager will get mad too. I cannot let that happen.

“I apologize but I am very busy right now,” I tell him.

“So you are interested?” He drawls.

Where on earth did he get that from?

“Please let me go,” I plead.

The blood drains from my face when I feel a massive hand pinching my butt. My body jolts at the unexpected touch. As my stomach flips I can feel bile rising up my throat. What should I do. My mind is lost in a jumbled haze of panic. I don’t want to cause a scene cause I could lose my job but this is not okay.

“Hit him!” I hear a voice bark out.

Without even thinking about it I stomp of his foot and elbow him in the gut. He releases me doubling over in pain. I jump away stumbling as I try to catch myself I feel a set of hands grip my shoulders steadying me. I look up to see Edgar.

“You b***h,” the man in the flag tie screams at me.

I flinch recoiling into Edgar’s firm grip.

“Enough,” Edgar shouts.

“Who do you think you’re talking to boy,” the man snarls.

Edgar raises a brow at the older man.

“And who do you think you’re talking to, Mr. Frank Boham?” Edgar repeats.

Mr. Boham froze upon hearing Edgar. I peek up at Edgar who was pulling a piece of lint from his shirt. There were not many in the restaurant but they were all staring at us. I see Collin in the far corner looking as though someone had run over his cat and I know I’m done for.

“M-Mr. Blanc,” Frank greets as sweat forms on his brow.

“Good to see you,” he continues.

I’m surprised to see this old whose practically twice Edgar’s size look so terrified of him. Is Edgar apart of the mafia or something?

“I wish I could say the same to you,” Edgar remarks.

“However, any man who could watch what I just witnessed and still be glad to see the man involved wouldn’t be a friend of mine. I think I should reconsider our friendship,” Edgar says.

“It’s her fault-” Frank yells.

I scoff, “Oh please-”

“Whether it was her fault or not you simply do not touch women without their permission. I think you should leave now,” Edgar says.

Amazingly Frank did just that. Without saying another word he just left. The group Frank was with had already left leaving him to storm out of the restaurant alone with his head down.

I let out a long shaky breath. My body feels gross everywhere that man touched me. Where do men get off treating women like this? I should’ve hit him more.

“Crap that’s right I hit him,” I panic running a hand through my hair.

“I think I’m finally going to lose my job. Collin is definitely not letting this go,” I mutter.

“That guy got what was coming to him,” Edgar says.

“You should have punched him instead of telling me to do it,” I murmur, “then my job wouldn’t be at risk.”

Edgar stares at me flatly, “My hands are far too delicate for that,” he states.

My eyes dart towards his hands. They don’t look dainty. I let out a deep breath as I run a hand through my hair.

“What am I going to do I can’t afford to lose this job. I can’t lose the money right now. I’m not even sure I could find another job that pays this much,” I mumble to myself.

“So, you do need money,” I catch Edgar murmur under his breath.

I brush away his words still too preoccupied with my current situation. I take a couple deep breaths in trying to calm myself before once again looking at Edgar. I notice him teetering back and forth until he reaches out to graft my shoulder once again steadying himself.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” he grumbles and he lets out a bellowing burp.

“Ew, come on,” I complain.

Putting my arm around his waist I hurry him over to the mens room. After setting him up in a stall I hurry my way out.

“Christen,” I hear a voice call out.

My head swings toward the back room where I catch a glimpse of Collin hiding behind a door. I panic suddenly seeing him there. I haven’t really thought I of what I’m going to say.

“Look, that guy grabbed my ass-” I start.

“Language,” he warns shrilly before continuing, “You hit a guest.”

“Yeah, but-”

“A very important guest,” he says.

“But he-”

“Do you know who that man is?” Collin asks in a strained tone.

My shoulders drop and I feel my head beginning to ache. Yep, I figured I’d be getting in trouble. This isn’t even my fault!

“No I don’t but-”

“I cannot let this slide no matter the reason. You can’t just hit a customer. That’s abuse,” Collin says letting out a deep sigh.

“I had the right to do what I did,” I pipe in quickly to avoid being cut off.

“I should fire you on the spot,” Collin states.

My heart jumps frantically. Fire me? Seriously, this is so unfair.

“I’m really so sorry this happened. I wasn’t thinking it won’t happen again,” I plead.

“You obviously weren’t thinking I but I can’t just act like this whole thing didn’t happen. The whole restaurant saw what happened. Now I’m going to have to pass out coupons. Coupons Christen,” he cries.

“My name is Tristen,” I remind him.

“I’m suspending you for the next month. You’re a good worker I don’t want to lose you but I simply can’t let this pass without a proper punishment,” Collin tells me.

I want to scream in his face how unfair this all is. That guy definitely deserved to get hit for what he did. I did nothing wrong and yet I receive all the blame. I wish I could just leave this shitty place but I really need the money.

“Go apologize to the guest and finish up with table four and then you can go home,” Collin instructs.

As I went around to apologize none of the guests were upset. Most in fact congratulated me.

When I got to table four both Edgar and Robert were already gone. Looking over the table I find a receipt. They must have gone to the hostess to pay the bill. I guess they couldn’t wait for me to come back? Feel a small pang of disappointment. I didn’t get the chance to tell Edgar thank you. I suspect that Robert decided to grab the barfing Edgar and leave. As I pick up the receipt I notice a small note scribbled at the top.

Tristen,

You need money, I need a girlfriend. I think we’d make good business partners. Please call me at your earliest convenience but not before nine AM.

Edgar Blanc

P.S. tip is your advance.

My eyes glance over the tip and I nearly faint.

Ten-thousand dollars is he insane!