Page 68 of Swamp Princess

With a huff, he nods his head in understanding. “That is true but it's not like he wouldn't be beneficial for our team. He knows how to run his plays and he always seems to be ahead of our team when it comes to football.”

“We'll worry about that when the time comes. Right now, we have more things to worry about than him.” Kingston is so sure that he's not going to be a problem next year, and I don't know why he thinks that, but maybe he knows more than what he's letting on.

“Do you know who's supposed to be here at this dinner tonight?” I asked both of them because they usually have more information than I do.

“No, but I bet that Vince will probably show up and so will Thiago, and maybe even Amir. All their families send donations to the school from their legitimate companies because they're required to.” Kingston must have the list of people that will be there. “Vince likes to come because he likes to control my father in public, and whatever he has on my father is enough to keep my father in his place.”

“Do you have any idea what he could have on your dad?” Vince has been running Kingston’s father for years now with no problem. The thing is, we don't know what he has on him, or how bad it is. We recently just found out that Kingston’s father is a part of the skin trade. He finds women all over the world and even some men, and ships them out to different countries.

“I haven't figured that part out, but I also know that they're hiring some kids from school, and I know that they just roped in Brinley. Which actually doesn't surprise me because she's from the swamp.” Kingston smirks.

“So, what you're saying is, we're going to have three of the kings of Warren there, also unknown men with legitimate and illegitimate companies, plus, our very own swamp princess.” I summarize.

“That's exactly what I'm saying.” Kingston walks over and helps me fix my tie since my father never bothered to teach me how to fix one, telling me that's something a man should learn how to do on his own.

Tonight is definitely going to be interesting and I'm not sure that I'm ready for it, but like most things, when it comes to my father, I'm given no choice.

* * *

Brinley

I can't believe I've been roped into catering tonight's event. The Dean of the school called me into his office and of course, because it's Kingston’s father, he felt that this was the perfect opportunity to embarrass me. I was given a uniform that I swear is meant to sexualize women.

The black skirt barely covers my ass, and it is paired with the tightest white shirt that I feel is meant to stop my breathing. I also have to wear a black bowtie and my hair is supposed to be up in a ponytail. I don’t like that I have to be forced into a room with stuffy assholes all night, honoring a football team like they are a bunch of celebrities.

“Dean is there anyway, I can work in the kitchens making food?” I see the answer before he even says it. He can tell that I am uncomfortable and that seems to make him happy.

“No, the kitchen is covered and you need to be serving with the others. You need to make sure you keep a smile on your face and look like you're happy to be there and supporting your team. Since you do go to this school now, we are the team that you support. Make sure you do not mention the failed game against the swamps.” He leans back in his chair like he's happy with himself, and all I want to do is slap him across the face. People from the swamps get to call the swamps the swamps, not some stuck up rich prick that's always lived on the other side of the tracks, it's rather insulting.

Knowing that he'll make my life hell if I tell him no, I nod my head and agree to it. “Yes, Sir, I will do my best not to mess it up, but I do want to let you know that I've never served before, so I'm not experienced.”

Leaning forward, he places his hands on the desk in front of him, folding them. “Wel,l tonight, I suggest you learn not to fuck up. It is very important that everything is done closest to perfection that it can be. If you do your part, you will be paid for the night.”

That perks me up, knowing that I can get a little bit of money. I may be able to give some money back to Haven.

“How much money would I be getting paid?”

“I'm sure whatever you're paid will be more than you even need or ever thought to get.” I need to leave his office as quick as I can before I run my mouth. He's so smug that he thinks that anything that we get because we're from the swamp, we'll be more than appreciative. He doesn't realize that we're hard workers and that most of us bust our butts every single day to make ends meet, but then again, most people who grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth don't understand the value of hard work.

“Thank you for this opportunity.” He dismisses me easily enough, satisfied that I've caved. The worst part is I think he's smug about mentioning money like I'm so desperate that I would do almost anything for money.

Once I'm back in my room, I slammed the door and throw myself on the bed. This was not how I was expecting my night to go and I'm honestly not looking forward to it, but because of my ranking in this school, I have no choice.

When I look at my phone, I notice that I only have a few hours before I have to head downstairs. Grabbing a quick shower, I fixed my hair up in a high ponytail and throw on some light makeup along with the stupid uniform.

Putting it on, I have to admit, I don't look too bad in it but it still pisses me off that I have to be wearing it. As I make my way down to the dining hall, it doesn't even look the way it normally does on a normal day. Everything is decorated nicely, along with the school colors of sky blue and white and some silver sprinkled throughout. The centerpieces of every table is roses of all three colors with some glitter which normally, I would think would look gaudy but with the rest of the decorations around the dining hall, it's actually very beautiful.

I wasn't given instruction on where to go, so I make my way to where the cooks usually are and I find some other students in the same uniforms as me, including Blaise. I watch as he sees me and his eyes admire me appreciatively before he realizes what he did and turns his head away.

A large woman comes into the kitchen area after we've been standing there for fiveminutes and goes over everything that we have to do. Her hair is pulled up into a very tight bun and she’s dressed in a similar fashion, but more conservative than we are. She is older but she looks a lot stricter and her face shows her frown lines. I again, look around the room, seeing that the guys are all wearing sky blue shirts and black slacks along with the black bow tie.

The way that Blaise looks in his uniform makes my mouth water. He’s always so gorgeous whenever he dresses up, and yet, this is the first time that I've seen him in full formal wear, which makes me wonder what he's going to look like when he dresses up for the Christmas ball. I turned my attention to the woman when she starts talking.

“Each of you servers will have a tray of different appetizers that you'll be walking around with for the first part of the event. I will give you each five sets of tables that you'll be rotating around. Once the first part of the presentation is done, you will come back here and start collecting the first part of dinner which will be a side salad with our side soup. Then, you will go back out to serve those, and within half an hour, you will serve the main course. Tonight's main course is lobster. After the main course, you will wait an hour and come back out with dessert which will be our tiramisu. In between the main course and dessert, you will all have a total of ten-minutes to eat your own food. You will not be allowed to touch what the guests are having; we have the cooks making you guys stroganoff. This is one of the biggest events of the year to celebrate the football team, and it is going to be close to perfection as can possibly be. If you spill something, it will be taken out of your pay at the end of the night. Does anyone have any questions?”

When no one raises their hand, she huffs like she enjoys hearing herself talk, and she'd want to be able to continue to tell us what we can and cannot do tonight. An hour passes before I hear noises in the dining hall, and the sinking feeling that something bad is going to happen just doesn't seem to go away.

It doesn't take long before my suspicions are confirmed, and my eyes meet Thiago’s and then Vinces. What makes the night even worse is that they are in my rotation of tables, and I want to scream to the high heavens that it's just not fair. With no other choice, I keep my head held high and do as I'm told.

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