-(.-.)-
"Please I can work! I have a degree in culinary arts!" I pleaded outside the restaurant.
"I'm sorry we only employ adults! Come back a few years later." The staff told me, smiling apologetically. I sighed and turned clutching my bag pack tightly, kicking at the stones on the walkway.
It has been four months since the death of my mother. I would have been able to contact Masaomi if not for the fact that my phone was currently under miles of stones and dirt. Living by my own in the cottage had been really hard at first, with all the reminders of my mother all over the place. Nevertheless, I pulled myself together and gave myself simple goals to accomplish, like stocking up for winter, trying to take my mind off my Mother. Time may have patched up my heart, but a part of me was lost.
Then just during the beginnings of winter, an avalanche occurred just beside my home burying everything aside from what I had brought with me when going into the woods to get the last bit of firewood. Everything was gone, my laptop, my funds, my phone, basically everything except for the picture of my Dad and Mom which I had brought with me, emergency funds, identification card, and some basic necessities which I always brought around with me.
I could not even contact Masaomi considering how I did not remember his phone number. I left, buying a train ticket to get to the city to find a job quickly. However, I was not in luck considering how stores did not allow 16 year olds to work and those that did had no vacancies available. I was low on cash and desperately in need of a place to stay.
I sighed, rubbing my hands together to gain heat. It was cold in the city, I shivered. Nobody wanted to hire me because of my age. If I had my computer, I would have been able to scout online for a job but I was practically broke and the rentable computers were expensive.
Tears welled up at the corners of my eyes. I brushed them away. This year felt like the worst year of my entire life. My stomach grumbled and horrible empty feeling gnawed at the walls of my stomach. I had barely eaten anything aside from some crackers these few days.
"Hey! Girl! We have some leftovers would you want some?" The staff of the restaurant called from behind me. I turned and nodded. He handed the box to me and I took it thanking him vigorously.
I trotted to a bench and sat down to savour my meal. Left over rice with pickles and some salted sardines. The rice was soft and fluffy, with a hint of sweetness, the pickles sour and slightly salty, and the sardines flavourful and meaty. I had better meals before but the food tasted like heaven.
I moaned at the first bite and reached for the next bite only to be stopped by a growl of hunger. I glanced up to see a child. A poor homeless child. She stared at my meal, her body wrapped by a grubby and dirty old jacket.
Her hair oily and filled with dirt. However, she was clearly starving, her face waxy and her figure so horribly thin. She stares at my food in hunger her eyes filled with longing. My heart clenches tightly, appetite lost.
"Do you want some?" I asked gently, putting down my chopstick. I smiled kindly to her.
"P-please!" She pleads her eyes wide and her hands trembles as I handed over the box to her. Without bothering about the chopsticks, she uses her hands to eat grabbing handfuls of rice and shovelling it into her mouth as if she had not eaten in days.
I watched her, my stomach growls but I know she needs it more than I do. I watched fondly as the little girl feasted on the food, ruffling her hair before walking off towards the opposite direction. I sighed. I was sadly still hungry and would probably not get a proper meal any time soon.
"Hey! I heard that you needed a job." A feminine voice called from behind me. I turned to see a tall lady dressed in a neat suit, her long straight inky hair was tied up into a high ponytail. Her face angular and sharp with lidded eyes framed by long eyelashes, hidden by a classy pair of spectacles.
"How about working in my striper club?" She asked in a clipped no-nonsense voice, a hint of a smile on her lips. My eyes widened and before I can think properly through my actions, or where she offered for me to work, I find myself agreeing to the first job 'interview' I have been accepted in.
"Okay."
~(.-.)~
"I'd like a water-chilled sashimi," A new customer of mine, a young 20 year old wealthy man who worked as a famous food critic, with pitch black hair and a sharp handsome angular face, smiled at me. His eyes brimming with hunger, and lust.
Nodding, I carefully sliced the fish, drawing the full length of the blade in one quick sweep. I then took a block of ice out from behind the counter and flipped my knife, quickly chipping the ice with just a sashimi knife into small shards. The ice glitters under my hands, reflecting beams of light all around me.
His eyes widened in awe. I smirked, amused and quickly added the finishing touches, placing the sashimi over the bed of ice shards in a crystal glass bowl. Using a pair of chopsticks I picked a piece of the fish, pale soft pink in colour, and leaned over the counter.
"Say ahhh." I motioned for him to open his mouth, smirking sweetly at him. He obediently opens his mouth. His eyes widened as the fish, with its tangy sweetness and slight saltiness of the sea, hits his tongue with a burst of flavours. He moans at the taste.
"This is…Wow. This is really good, Aphrodite-chan. I didn't expect your skills to be as good as they say in those magazines and websites." He gaps at me. I blushed and grinned at him under my red velvet Victorian mask. He had requested for the cute innocent type from me which basically meant less seductiveness and more talking. Aphrodite, the Goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation was my alias in the club, my nickname.
"Thanks!"
The club I was working in, MASK, was currently one of the most popular private club in the world. It even gained five Michelin Stars for the food they served here, which hence resulted in us only working for the cream of the crop. The richest people in the society. Basically, you had to be a VIP to even get in. But, there were magazines, videos and a website of our club that everyone could see. The club works as a host/striper club and its specialty was that all staff members were required to wear masks when they worked.
It depended on the theme of the day. For example, there was Ninja Day, where we wore ninja masks. It was pretty cool and on the plus side the masks hid your identity and allowed us to immerse ourselves into our jobs.
I started off as a member of their culinary staff. However at that time, MASK had just been opened by my Boss, Rose, aka tall lady who gave me a job, and they were incredibly low on staff members. I had to learn to flirt, dance and seduce men from my "older sisters" (colleagues) to help out in the work load.
These skills slowly became a part of me and flirting and seduction came easily to me. With my skills, I could easily make man weak at their knees or become attracted to me and only me. It was humorous and scary at the same time.
As the club grew and improved over the years, my list of various wealthy customers increased too. As the head chef of MASK, I earned a rather high sum from my job of cooking, talking and seducing super rich customers and was rich enough to afford for a flat to stay in.
I was a hostess in the club and had the task of entertaining men or women, seducing them and being their temporary girlfriends for the day. Being a hostess was not as horrible as I first thought. I made lots of friends from my customers and seducing others and dancing was pretty fun. It was all like a game to me.
Life was pretty good from then on. I had a great job that I enjoyed, a proper house, and people who loved me. However, my mind was constantly plagued by questions of my real father. That was when I began my search of my biological father.
I found Dad through a customer who was a renowned doctor in charge of medical records. It just so happened that Dad was in the city at the time and we met up after a few phone calls and emails from me.
I confessed everything, even my career. It took some time for him to accept that, a daughter of his, was working in a striper club. He eventually accepted it grudgingly, after I introduced the love of his life, Miwa, to him.
Miwa was my clothes designer. She designed all of my clothes for the club as my personal fashion designer. She had been a nobody, poor, and barely making ends meet. Her husband had left and stolen her money from her, and she couldn't even press charges because of how expensive it was to get a good lawyer. Plus, she had a whole bunch of kids to care for from her previous marriages and stuff.
I saw her work in a dingy old shop selling cheap clothes and immediately hired her. She climbed to fame through me, using me as her model and also her walking advertisement. She treated me like her own daughter, and even though she left MASK to open her own brand she continued to make clothes for me.
After meeting Dad, and my step-sister Ema, I moved into their home. Normally, it was just me and Ema at home as Dad worked as a World Traveller. We skype him 3 times a week and he sends tons of souvenirs.
Just lately, Dad had gotten married to Miwa, and Miwa thought that we ought to get to know our new siblings and move into their flat. 13 hormonal teenage boys. Holy crap. This ought to be rather fun.
My customer finishes his meal and he wipes his mouth, a sweet smile on his lips. He stands to leave as the buzzer in the room goes off. I leaned forward to press a quick kiss on his cheeks. Only for him to turn his head and press his lips on mine, our lips moulding onto one another. It turns from a sweet peck to a heated make out session. He moans onto my lips, his eyes hazy with lust. He was panting hard and out of breath when I finally leave his swollen lips. I smirked watching him leave the room with weak knees.
Score.
"Great job Miyu-chan." Rose nods towards me, as I entered her office. She hands me a cheque, my pay. If you were to think of this place as the mafia. I would be the right-hand man of the Boss, Rose. I was basically her longest employer and her best friend. I beamed, and glanced at the numbers briefly. Wow a six figure sum. That happens when you have billionaires coming after you.
"So…anyway," I grinned cheekily at Rose. "What do you think of my plan to build a school in a less-developed country?"
"It's surprisingly…a good plan, for someone like you." She sniffed teasingly, pushing up her glasses. Her expression cold but her eyes shone with mirth. "I've hired professionals to start on it already. We already have around 50 students."
"Wow!" I gaped at her, I only suggested the idea to her and a brief plan just a few weeks ago. "That's fast! As expected of my best friend!" I beamed, giving her a thumbs up. "ROSE IS AMAZIIIIIIII-mmf!" She had thrown her fake leather bag in my face.
"Shut up. Go home." She scowls and snorted at me. I faked a few crocodile to show how deeply hurt I am. "Don't you need to go to your new sibling's house? You're going to be late you know considering how long you take to pack and get ready…So SCRAM!" She flung a shoe at me, which I dodged, thankfully, and ran out of her office yelling my goodbyes at her.
I smirked. That was basically how our relationship worked. I annoyed the hell out of her and she puts up with my crazy behaviour. I strode to the staff rooms. It consists of a living room with classy furniture, an OLED television, and sofa beds, linked to a large communal staff locker room, first aid room and dressing room, as well as many individual staff rooms for staffs who were more famous. I just happened to have a room to myself.
My room was incredibly homely with simple cosy furniture, a small dressing table with a makeup sink, a walk in wardrobe and a decent sized toilet. I washed off my makeup with water, and took off my work clothes dressing back into my simple baggy rabbit hoody, a black hoody with rabbit ears, and black leggings with animal patterns. I then grabbed my phone and wallet stuffing them into my pockets before sneaking a glance at the mirror.
My looks had changed over the years. I had lost the baby fat on my face and body, and I was toned, with lean muscles. At 22 years old, I was a stunning 165cm young women with curves at all the right places and long legs that practically stretched for miles. Maybe not. Teehee, hyperbole.
I brushed a strand of hair from my face and stepped out of my room. It was about time I made my way home to get ready to go to my brothers' house. Good god. 13 guys. Good luck to me. I hope Ema is mentally prepared. I glanced at my watch. 3 am in the morning, well I definitely have a lot of time to mentally prepare. Maybe I ought to catch a nap first before I make breakfast for Ema…