Meeting Mr. Mogul(5)

"Are you sure this is it?" I asked nervously, which was hopefully drowned out by the noisy people lining outside the club.

"Yes. Come on," he replied as he took my helmet and gave me an enthusiastic smile.

When we reached the front door, the guard simply let us through without  asking who we were. I looked at Terry with my eyebrow raised, alarmed at  how easily we got in. With his hand holding my wrist tightly, Terry  dragged me towards the bar. I was too mesmerized by the dim lit room and  the sea of people in the middle of the dance floor before I noticed the  bartender.

"Jack, this is Andy. Andy, Jack," Terry shouted close to my ear, which  made me abruptly turn towards the man behind the bar counter.

In the dim light, I could only make out a small portion of his features.  He looked like a guy in his forties, with dark hair, grey highlights,  and a scruffy beard. But it was his deep, dark eyes that drew me to look  at him longer than usual. His stare was stern yet weary, a stare I was  quite familiar with. It was the kind that had seen a lot of things in  this world that normal people had not. It was the same as my father. At  that very moment, I gave him my respect.   





 

"Marines or navy?" I asked after Terry introduced us. There was an awkward pause after I said that.

Jack looked at me seriously for a second, and then smiled. "I served for  five years in the army, but I was recruited in the marines. I served  for seven years until I retired to run this club," he shouted in reply,  his voice deep with a thick southern American accent.

"You're from the south?" I asked, reeling back in shock. I can't believe I'm starting to like this guy the longer we talked.

"Yes, ma'am. Born and raised on a small farm in Texas," he replied with a  slight twinkle in his eyes, though his facial expression remained  serious and unnerving.

"My father was from Texas too. He served in the marines for fifteen years," I said with a small smile.

Jack smirked in response then turned to look at Terry, whom we had  almost forgotten during our conversation. "I think I like this one," he  stated.

"I told you," Terry countered in glee as he glanced at me proudly.

"So, when do I start?" I turned to Jack and asked.

"Since you are here, how about giving me a hand with some of these?" he  replied as he tilted his head in the direction of a crowd of people on  the other side of the counter.

I glanced at Terry for a second, eyeing him for permission, which he  replied with a nod. "Sure," I replied to Jack as I looked back at him.  "How do I get there?" I added as I pointed at the inside of the bar  counter

"Climb over," Jack replied, after which he excused himself when a  customer called him relentlessly. He was gone before I could react.

"Was he serious?" I asked Terry, looking at him dubiously.

"Jack is always serious. I rarely even see that guy crack a joke," Terry replied as he looked at Jack's retreating figure.

I hesitated for a moment. But as I kept thinking about that piece of  information, it made this job seem more daunting. However, I desperately  needed a job. Without further ado, I stepped on a stool then put my  knee on the counter and eventually climbed over to the other side. I was  glad that I wore comfortable clothes. As soon as I was behind the bar,  Jack immediately handed me an apron to wear, a sign that I had to start  work.

About half an hour into the job, I was getting the hang of it. Terry  stayed in the bar until Andrew showed up with a bunch of people. I was  in the zone, getting beer bottles and hosing glasses as the people came  and went. But it was slightly hard to manage people's orders when they  are all shouting at the same time.

"Excuse me! Can I get a whiskey please?" a man, with a slight British  accent, called to me when I passed by him to hand out another customer's  order.

"Wait for your turn. You just got here," I replied without looking at  him as I gave a few bottles of beer to the customer I was currently  serving. I said those words out of courtesy to the other customers. It  was unfair to serve a newcomer - even if that newcomer has the power to  ruin your life.

"Excuse me. Are you just going to ignore me?" the man asked in disbelief  when I went past him a second time, ignoring him to serve another  customer on the other end of the bar.

His words finally caught my attention, making me look at him directly. I  eyed him for a second in irritation. I couldn't make out his features  because the room was poorly lit, but my voice was clear when I said,  "Sir, with all due respect, there are people who waited in line to get  their drinks before you, so please be patient and wait for your turn.  This is not too much to ask." My eyebrow scrunched together impatiently  at his outburst.

A few of the people nearby heard my reprimand and turned to look at us  in awe. A girl on his right clapped her hands and cheered me on while  the other guys just smirked and told the guy to wait. This silenced him  for a second before he walked away disappointedly. As I stared at the  man's back, I had this strange notion that there was something familiar  about this man, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.





"Andy, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jack asked while I was cleaning a  beer glass by the bar. It was already past three in the morning and I  was beat.   





 

Before I followed him, I quickly washed the glass, put it on the  counter, dried my hands with my apron, and took it off when Jack  signaled for me to go somewhere else. He led me to a small room at the  back of the club. At first, I thought it was the storage area. It turns  out it was his office.

When we got in, he lightly closed the door behind him, faced me, let out a sigh, and said, "Did you insult Mr. Maxwell?"

"Tonight was a long one for me. Can you be a little more specific? I may  have insulted or cursed on a few people who were being too rude to  handle, so I actually have no idea who that one is," I replied lightly,  trying to lighten the mood.

He smirked and walked around me towards a small desk across the door.  "For someone who just started, I can't believe that you had to pick  tonight to be clueless," he said, his serious façade back. Terry was  right, the man was humorless.

"I'm so sorry, Jack. I don't know who you mean or why you are angry," I  said calmly in reply. I reeled my tongue in and tried not say any more  witty comebacks.

"He told me that you told him to wait and deliberately overlooked him.  Does that refresh your memory?" he asked lightly, though his voice  sounded grave.

As soon as he mentioned it, I was able to refresh my memory. "Ah, yes. I  remember that guy. He was a prick if you ask me," I answered, snorting  in disgust as I recalled that scene.

"You don't know who he is?" Jack asked, looking slightly taken aback by my words.

"Well, I did just say that..." I pointed out sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"William Maxwell, CEO of Maxwell Enterprises. The man owns almost half  of the city's businesses. He co-owns this club with me," Jack explained  quickly, giving me a gist of the man's background.

"Holy..." I started, but trailed off as a memory came to me. He was the  man who I served in the restaurant the night before. He was the boss of  my boss, only now, it turns out he was also the boss of my other boss.  It just dawned on me that I disregarded twice the man who has the power  to ruin my life, which is putting both my jobs at risk.





Four





Jack was very calm after I admitted-innocently-that I didn't know who he  was. He forgave my lack of knowledge and told me to not be rude to the  man again. I wanted to comment more on that, but I held my tongue and  just nodded. I may have only encountered the man twice, but during each  encounter, he made my blood boil. The arrogance he emanated was  overwhelming that I almost lost my cool.

After our chat, Jack gave me a lift back to Terry's apartment since it  was almost four in the morning. Well, there goes my sleep. When I got  inside the apartment, the sky had turned gray, which signified dawn. I  was so exhausted that I didn't bother to change my clothes and just  crashed on the couch.

When I woke up, the sun's rays seeped through the window, blinding me  momentarily. Then someone nudged me, taking me by surprise. In  retaliation, I kicked the person, which resulted in a series of profane  words.

"I didn't know you were so violent when woken up," Terry hissed, his voice suddenly close to my ear.

I turned my face to the side, since it was face down (the way I mostly sleep), and stuck my tongue out like a kid.

"Why are you annoying me? I just got home-wait …  What time is it?" I asked in alarm, quickly sitting upright.

Terry studied me with his brown eyes, smirking at my animated actions.  "You looked funny. I never actually saw your ‘just woke up' face," he  said, looking amused.

"Don't ruin my already sour mood, Terry," I warned and glanced at the  clock. "Shoot! I got to go!" I exclaimed, getting up as I frantically  searched for my bag.