Martin stood before a tall, handsome young man, either in his mid twenties or late twenties. He had an extremely sharp face outline that marked out all the delicate contours. His icy blue eyes pierced into Martin's hazel ones, almost as if he was under a heavy scrutiny.
"We're having important guests today, they've called to reserve a table so—"
His gaze turned extremely frosty.
"I do not want anything to go wrong. Of course, you don't want a deduction on your paycheck."
Martin panicked for a moment.
"Why am I the only one being told this? There are other waiters around."
The manager actually stiffened in realization. He immediately turned his back and simply walked away. Martin slowly exhaled and then sighed.
Maybe, he was the first to be hired and is the chief waiter. That must be why. And probably, if something goes wrong, then maybe he would be the one to get the blame and the manager isn't merciful when angered.
Last week, he had angrily fired a waiter for a single mistake and Martin knew that he'd make the same mistake if he was in her shoes. She was a noob, hired on the same week she was fired.
Martin shivered.
Maybe, Kevin had been lenient on him, which is why he had always maintained his position. Or maybe Kevin knew of his tragic start in life.
Martin did not grow up as the best or was not catered for, under the warming heart of his both parents. He grew up with his younger brother, his always fighting parents. But, when things went out of hand, his own mother took his younger brother away and till now, Martin did not know where to find him. Back then, he was only 10 years old and his brother was much younger.
When Martin grew much older, his father, the only survivor, died of a heart attack after losing a huge amount of money to a gamble. The man died, leaving Martin to cater for himself and that was when he met Kevin, the only guy who offered to help him. So for three years, he had only worked under the managing hand of Kevin in an expensive bar. That was exactly how he was able to meet his end needs.
Martin took a deep breath and looked at the now empty corridor where Kevin had disappeared into. He exhaled softly.
"Important guests huh?"
He didn't say much, but he would make sure that these guests got the best of his workmanship.
A few minutes later, Martin walked towards his colleagues. They seemed hurdled at a spot and discussed amongst themselves. Martin did not know what they discussed, but he became curious.
"I heard that we're getting an important guest."
Matthew stared up at Martin with a surprised gaze.
Jake, Don and Nelson were just as surprised. "Important guests? Kevin didn't say so."
Martin was stumped.
'Did he forget? No! Did he expect only me to do the work?'
The second one should be plausible.
Don sighed and said. "I'll be right back. Let me confirm what you've said now."
He left for five minutes and was back. His eyes danced with an excited light.
"You're actually right Martin. It's a famous celebrity. Everyone should know him."
"A celebrity? There are numerous of them. Which of them exactly?"
"It's James Paxton, remember the celebrity actor who played the role of Iron Man in that action movie."
Immediately, blood rushed to every waiter's faces, excitement building up within them. But then, Don's expression changed, his excitement fading.
"We are not going to be here when he comes. Apparently, Martin is the only one Kevin trusts to handle it."
Matthew, Jake and Nelson's faces paled.
Martin himself was stupefied. Kevin did not tell him that the other waiters would not be taking part in service this evening. Martin could already feel the heavy stress mount on him.
Celebrities were always the same. When they come, they usually bring a lot of friends and they get drunk. Martin could not imagine the work load. He decided to talk to Kevin.
"Let me go talk to him. This is a lot of stress."
He hurriedly walked away as his colleagues stared at his back with envy. Martin could feel the gaze so he blushed, still walking away. When he got to the counter where Kevin normally stays, Martin's face squeezed into a cute frown. Kevin raised his head and stared at the younger man for a while before continuing his business like his presence didn't matter.
"The work is too much, I can't be the only one who serves."
Kevin froze for a split second and then said casually.
"I'll assist you."
Martin was stunned. As a manager, Kevin's work is to simply manage the place, including making sure that people like Martin and the others are properly doing their job, not to actually do the job of a waiter. But here, Kevin was actually suggesting to assist Martin with his work.
Martin decided to refuse.
"No Kevin. At least, one of the boys should be able to assist me. You're way above doing a job as silly as mine."
Kevin stopped glancing at his tablet and said. "I just can't trust anyone better with tonight's job. I'll just dismiss them for today. I don't want them ruining the ambience with clumsiness."
Martin watched him closely and of course, he simply left without giving the younger man a glance.
An hour later, no one except Martin and Kevin remained in the bar, even the cashier was actually dismissed too which surprised Martin. More customers flocked in and Martin had to attend to them.
The stress mounted, but he continued bravely.
Martin worked without monitoring the passage of time. When he realized, he saw that it was only a minute after seven in the evening.
He had even worked more than he was supposed to and yet, this so-called celebrity was yet to arrive.
Martin wiped the sweat on his forehead and decided to rest a bit, he hid his smallish body behind a pillar at the entrance to the bar and actually slept.
Two minutes later, the door swung open revealing six men. Four were actually public figures while two were real celebrities. An actor and a content creator.
"Alston, I don't know why you chose this bar of all bars. This is— reducing our standard." James Paxton said, matter-of-fact.
Alston sighed.
"You know that you have crazy fans and of course this bar is usually empty at this time of the day."
James pushed himself in and grumbled. "Where are the waiters? Seems like there are none. What the hell, is this bar out of business or what?"
He lazily leaned himself against the pillar, not even realizing that someone actually napped behind it.
Alston shook his head and walked in, making a bit of noise, enough to get Kevin's attention.
The man raised his head from his tablet and offered a smile to them.
"We reserved a table." Taylor said, running a hand over his head.
Kevin smiled. "All tables are free."
Kevin slowly walked towards the entrance and pushed the sign that says, 'OPEN' the other way around that it now says, 'CLOSED'.
After that, he turned to leave, his eyes already scanning the place for Martin only to see a smallish body tucked behind a pillar.
Kevin's face was expressionless.
'He's actually sleeping.'
Kevin disregarded his comfort and tapped him up.
"Martin Luther."
Martin jolted awake, knowing fully well that his name plus his surname called together meant trouble.
He saw Kevin's expressionless gaze and shivered.
"I'm sorry, I was tired. I have been attending to customers alone for seven hours after you dismissed my colleagues."
Kevin's expression softened remembering that he promised to assist but did not do it.
Kevin did not apologize, instead he said. "Go take their orders. They are here."
Martin's gaze turned towards the interior of the bar and saw six figures. Slowly he started to approach them.