Page 15 of Moonlit Choosing Ritual

Jackie winked at me and walked to the corner table, pulling the strap of her satchel close. I followed Megan inside the kitchen where she introduced me to the staff, which consisted ofjust four people. “This is Nelson, Isaac, Jeremy, and Violet. Isaac is the chef, Jeremy helps with cleaning dishes, and Nelson and Violet are servers.”

They all looked at me with the same amusement that I was getting used to. I waved nervously at them. “Hi!”

“Wow!” Isaac said and returned to cooking noodles.

Seriously, I was really getting irritated by the reaction of Umbra’s townspeople. And what a strange name the town had? Umbra.

Megan handed me a cleaner spray and a cloth. “Kimble, go outside and wipe the tables please.”

I took it from her and walked out of the kitchen awkwardly, mainly because it felt like she wanted to talk to her staff in my absence.

The bar was packed with people within an hour. At one table, a group of five men were boisterously talking. A girl with sharp eyes, observing the room keenly, was lounged gracefully at the bar, her finger tapping rhythmically.

Jackie had left after chatting with Megan, telling me to call her when I finished my shift. She didn’t want me to walk back to my apartment alone, scared that I might lose my way.

I approached the table assigned to me, the five boisterous men, smiling warmly. “Alright, who would like the steak? That’s our specialty today!”

The men there snapped their heads at me and fell silent. A low growl emanated from the man nearest to me. “Who are you?”

“I’m Kimble!”

He looked behind me and then narrowed his eyes.

I had to say one thing about the men in this town. All of them were handsome. Like Greek Gods rained and poured here. They had perfect features and muscles to die for. Even the girls were very beautiful. I found myself gawking at some of them alot. But, the most handsome guy in this town was my psycho owner. He had such drop-dead gorgeous, panty-dropping features, but such a pathetic temper with asshole tendencies. He was utterly arrogant and loved to control people. I gritted my teeth. Why was I even thinking about him?

“Hi, Kimble,” the man in front of me smirked.

I blushed heavily as I willed myself not to stare at him. “What would you like, sir?” I asked again, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Steak?”

A man in front of him gave me a super-sexy smile. He tapped his fingers on the table and said, “Yes, we’ll all have that. And we want it sizzling hot and extremely rare.”

“Blaze!” His friend growled at him, but Blaze only grinned.

As I began to leave, Blaze said, “Are you free after your shift?”

“No!” I blurted, forcing a smile. “I’m—I’m busy!”

His voice softened as his green eyes sparkled. “Hey look, I’m sorry to make you feel intimidated. That wasn’t my intention. It’s just that you’re… pretty.”

No one had called me pretty out loud before, other than Josh, and so his words turned my cheeks pink. “I’ll get your order,” I said awkwardly and walked away, feeling his eyes boring into my back.

None of the staff talked to me or helped me. While they joked and bantered, I was deliberately avoided. Most of the guests looked at me with disgust, which was weird because I didn’t even know them. At times, I felt like they were going to crowd me and beat me up. But I put my chin up and did my job, not relenting to their hateful gazes. Some people have only hate and bitterness to offer.

Well, you see, I’d been used to that behavior all my life, and so it didn’t deter my decision to work here. Three million dollars was a lot of money to repay, and I had to start somewhere.

By 11 PM, I was dead tired. Other than Isaac, Megan, and me, all the staff had left. Isaac gave me two tuna sandwiches with chips, wrapped in foil. “This is for you,” he said dryly. “If you want anything else, the fridge is yours to raid.”

“Thanks,” I murmured, taking it from him. I took it outside to the counter and started eating.

The five men were the only customers left and continued to talk rowdily. Blaze was glancing over at me, which made me uneasy. His eyes conveyed that he was waiting for me. I wanted to tell him that waiting on me was useless because I was going to run away soon. I just had to find a way to either earn more or escape.

“Ask them if they want anything else,” Megan grunted. “We’re closing.”

Taking a ragged breath, I placed my half-eaten sandwich on the counter and went to them. “Would you like to order something else? We’ll be closing any time now,” I asked quickly.

Blaze reached for my arm and touched me. “Can we meet outside? I want to talk to you for a moment.”

I gulped and darted my gaze toward the rest of his crew. Each of them looked like they could easily squash me like a fly. “I—” I shook my head, stepping back to put distance between us.

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