Chapter 5: Bracelets and Golddiggers.

KIKI.

"Loosen a few of those buttons, dear friend! Don't be so uptight, you will be missing out on a lot. With those plump boobs and amazing butt, you'd be getting so many business cards in no time. I promise you." Claire said as she added more foundation and lipstick, some other women kept chattering loudly beside us as they washed their hands in the sink. We were in the ladies toilet and Claire has been drawing so much on her eyes than necessary.

"Are we here to wait tables or to get men's business cards, Claire? Be specific!" I said, glaring at her.

"Who says we can't do both?" She replied, and then winked at me.

"Ugh, can't you just keep this side of yours for once? You don't always have to be all about getting men or be such a ..." I started before she interrupted me.

"Gold digger? Girl, I am a gold digger, I would never deny that. I don't care who has an issue with it. It's not my fault that I noticed a damn land that might have gold and decided to dig for it. It's also not like it doesn't take some work before I get the gold too."

And that, dear people is my best friend. She can appear to be very shallow and slutty, but she's an absolutely amazing person. This mentality of hers needing a man to hand over everything to her on a platter of gold is what I would say is an outcome of her upbringing which is really something to talk about but definitely not yet.

"My own is that, don't go out there embarrassing me with your ways. I don't want these men thinking that I'm exactly like you. You know what they say, birds of the same feathers flock together. Do not give that impression!" I warned sternly waving my right index finger at her.

"Ugh! You really need to learn to live a little." She replied rolling her eyes playfully and at the same time applying even more eyeshadow.

"Claire, if you add any other layer of make up on that face of yours, I promise you that you'd end up looking like Cinderella's evil step sisters or even maleficent in her older age. I'm not even exaggerating. I can't seem to understand why you are always on so much make up anyway. Jeez." I scowled.

"Oh, stop being such a spoilsport, I'm only trying to achieve the Kardashian look. I'm done by the way, so babe, let's go get those gold." She concluded as she packed all the make up items and walked out of the restroom. I simply smiled and shook my head.

We stepped onto the venue as a wave of suits hit me. Every single man in there was in a suit, mostly black and others grey or white. For some reason, suits annoy me. They're a sort of anti-hero suit. Not stretchy, hiding the body rather than showing it off. It's like they were made as a sort of club-membership for the up-side down world of greed and selfishness being a praised virtue. You're supposed to enrich yourself at the expense of other people just to win ahead or over the 'competition.'

Soon enough, we were deep into waiting tables and all. Within an hour, I could see Claire walk up to at least five men in the room, laughing extraordinarily and giving too much winks. That girl can be so annoying. I tried as much as possible to avoid her but she still came up to me acting all excited like she won a lottery.

"Girl, guess what?" She announced as she tagged right behind me while I placed drinks on a certain table.

"Ugh! I'm not even interested." I groaned loudly.

"Come on! This man is a damn millionaire, he's cute and very single. That's not even the best part, the best part is that he likes you and he told me to come get you for him." She said stylishly pointing towards a man who was standing with who I presumed was his friend or something, he waved me over but I simply turned to glare at Claire while saying a big fat no, she was adamant at first but after a while of getting so many nos, she gave up and left me alone.

After some minutes, the same man walked up to me:

"Your friend said you wanted me to walk up to you myself?" He questioned acting like I went so high by saying that, something that was even cooked up by that friend of mine.

"Actually, no. What I said was no which means, no, I don't want to talk to you. No I don't like you back, no, leave me the hell alone. That no." I replied even while sounding normal and not harsh at all or so I thought.

"Oh, come on! I can tell that you want me." The man said with a very cocky and proud grin. I rolled my eyes taking in his looks, he had a beard you could only describe as a bush, and a moustache to rival Yosemite Sam. But despite this great amount of hair on the lower half of his face, he was bald as an eagle, as in, he wore a toupee.

"Yes, I want you to leave me alone. Thank you." I dismissed, attempting to leave before he stepped in my way.

"Ouch, you're breaking my heart. I just like you, that's all, no need to be such a bitch and say mean things like that."

"Oh, you are offended by the things I'm saying? Just imagine the stuff I’m holding back and leave me the hell alone." I attempted to leave again and he blocked me yet again, this time while holding my right hand. I was almost close to punching this guy in his face when another man stepped in, I looked up at the man and I almost choked on my own saliva.

The man was also in a black suit like most of the other men. However, he got better the more I looked. His rich chocolate hair that had tousled griminess which promised finesse. He had strong arched brows and eyelashes so thick, it could be illegal. And then his eyes- they were deep and catastrophic, a vivid baby blue as a great body of water that softly melted into a milky green. As he moved closer, I could see the flecks of silver in his eyes. He had distinct cheekbones and an angular jaw, his pale skin made him look devilishly handsome.

Really, I am mannerly enough to avoid gawking at random strangers. But this man before me, radiating with nothing but grace, had me enthralled. He was mesmerizing in every way. The faint glimmer of the afternoon sun ghosted over his pale skin and eyes as deep as the heart of the sea. He had a very captivating beauty, that I would agree but when he spoke, it was like a freezing cold water was poured on me.

"Oh, leave the girl alone. They always think they're all that, just let her go. There are way more beautiful women in this room, don't you think?" The other guy said as he helped in getting the guys tight grip off my wrist. This action caused my bracelet to break as the beads rolled around on the floor in a very noisy manner thus attracting some attention towards us.

Burning rage hissed through my body like deathly poison, screeching a demanded release in the form of unwanted violence. That was the last gift my dad gave to me before he died, it was like a very important possession that makes me believe that my dad was still with me and these men, this man with the beautiful face but disgusting attitude just managed to make me lose such a possession with their grips.

"Did you two just break my bracelet?" I questioned, trying so hard to keep the burning rage enclosed in me, knowing how much damage the words that would come out of my mouth could cause to me if I didn't suppress that anger.

"I was just trying to help, shouldn't you say thank you instead?" The handsome man responded, without an iota of remorse. I was even more pissed if that was possible. I imagined punching that beautiful face of his till it gets disfigured.

"And if it's that important, I can always pay for a new one. So how much did you get it? I'll just give you the money for it." He said again in a very nonchalant manner.

"Oh, is that how you were brought up? You think everything is about money? You think you can just solve every issue with money?" I said raising my voice with each question.

I know I was directing my anger at the wrong person, but at that moment, I just couldn't care less. I was seeing red.

"Uhm... Yes? I haven't seen anything that can't be gotten with money. Nothing at all. So will you tell me how much it is so you can get another one or should we just forget about this whole thing?"

As I was about to reply with a definite outburst, Claire stepped in between us, "That will be five thousand dollars sir." She said as I instantly looked at her in shock.

'Who on earth would believe that bracelet even costs five hundred dollars not to speak of a whole five thousand dollars, this girl is practically out of her damn mind if she thinks she's fooling anybody.'

"Alright. Have it." The handsome man said handling over a ward of bills to her.

"Oh hell no." I muttered stopping Claire from collecting it but she had faster reflexes. She collected the money, pocketed it and started to push me away from the scene while the men went about their business like what just happened was nothing at all.

I took another look at the handsome man, and he winked while stretching his cup of wine towards me. To me, it looked like he was saying he was right about money buying anything.