###Chapter 67: More Alluring Than a Songbird
That afternoon, the uncle of the bar’s receptionist called Nina Wainwright in for a hotel interview.
Strictly speaking, The Sovereign Hotel was more like a high-end private club. Nina followed the club’s manager, Mr. Kane, up to the staff lounge on the sixth and highest floor.
"The sixth floor is for the rich and powerful, and they care a lot about their reputations in the industry," Mr. Kane told Nina. "You’ll be serving in these private rooms, and they won’t give you a hard ti. At worst, they might get drunk and be a bit difficult, but as long as you’re careful to humor them, you’ll be fine."
Nina wasn’t thrilled about working in this kind of environnt. What happened last ti had left a lasting shadow on her.
But now, she had no other choice.
’The most important thing is to find a job and get settled. If Zachary Hawthorne suddenly decides to divorce , I’ll be kicked out with nothing. The money I have now is nowhere near enough to support a child...’
After considering it, Nina nodded with a serious expression. "I understand."
Mr. Kane looked at her face and added a word of caution. "If anything happens, call the security guard outside the door. To be honest, I don’t really like having overly beautiful girls here. They tend to attract trouble."
Hearing him say that, Nina felt that his establishnt was probably much more legitimate than others.
’Only those hotels and clubs looking to profit from a girl’s looks would think the prettier the applicant, the better.’
"Thank you," Nina said, her voice filled with gratitude.
"Anyway, if a problem cos up that you can’t handle yourself, call security imdiately. Don’t even think about getting into a conflict with a guest, or we might as well shut this place down." After speaking, Mr. Kane gestured for her to enter the lounge.
Nina walked in.
The lounge looked like a storage room, but each waitress had her own locker that she could lock.
"Your locker is at the very back. After you complete the onboarding, you’ll be given a uniform. Can you start tonight?" Mr. Kane asked.
"I can co in for a trial shift," Nina replied.
With a cool expression, Mr. Kane took her to complete the onboarding paperwork.
After finishing the paperwork, Nina returned to the lounge, holding a uniform and a key.
Inside the lounge, there was a restroom and a changing room. Next to each person’s locker was a small seating area.
A girl with very elaborate makeup was sitting in her spot, removing it.
Nina was a bit surprised to see that after removing her makeup, she looked like a completely different person.
"What are you looking at?" the girl shot her a glance, her tone unfriendly.
Nina imdiately looked away. "Sorry."
"Did Mr. Kane have a change of heart? Is he planning to make money off won’s looks now too?" the girl asked maliciously.
The requirents for this private room area weren’t just about having a degree, knowing a bit of a foreign language, or being able to sing. The most important skill was makeup. It didn’t matter what you originally looked like; if you could use makeup to transform yourself into a different person, you were most likely to be hired.
"You can ask him," Nina replied, walking to her spot. She placed the uniform on the seat and used the key to unlock her clothes locker.
The girl sized up her long limbs and curvy figure. Seeing how elegant she was, the girl couldn’t help but roll her eyes. "I’m just saying, soone as good-looking as you doesn’t need to be in a place like this, do they?"
"What do you an, ’a place like this’? I don’t think there’s any sha in serving drinks," Nina said as she opened her locker and put her bag inside.
"You’re just telling yourself that. You probably ca here because you had nowhere else to turn, right? Otherwise, with looks like yours, you could’ve just married so rich guy. Why would you end up here serving drinks?" the girl said.
The words stung.
Nina didn’t answer.
As she put her uniform away and was about to leave, the girl sitting in her spot couldn’t help but offer a piece of advice. "You’d better keep so condoms on you. Also, learn how to do your makeup. Otherwise, who knows how those old geezers will try to bully you."
Nina unconsciously bit her lip, then asked, "Why would I need condoms?"
The girl replied, "What do you think? If you’re short on cash, you can do it with them in the private rooms. These guys are big spenders. They’ll drop tens of thousands for one ti."
"But Mr. Kane said..."
"Oh, please. He knows about it. As long as it doesn’t cause a scene and it’s consensual, why would he care?" the girl said with a laugh. She stood up, straightened her clothes, and headed for the restroom to wash her face.
The makeup sared across her face was a kaleidoscope of colors... it was a frightening sight.
Nina watched her walk past, her expression grave.
"If I’m not willing, will they force ?" Nina asked.
"So naive... The people who co to this floor are all regulars, and a lot of them know each other. If you refuse, this whole group of them won’t request you. If you’re really desperate for money, don’t be so stubborn. You’re pretty good-looking. Maybe you can get one of them to keep you as a mistress. A hundred-thousand-plus a month in pocket money is way better than serving drinks." With that, the girl closed the restroom door.
She rembered the base salary was several thousand. ’I’ll give it a try. If they don’t try to force anything, I can just make do with the base pay... If that doesn’t work out, I’ll start looking for another job tomorrow.’
’If I weren’t pregnant, I would never have co to a place like this. I’d rather find a decent training program or even ask Diana Aldridge for help.’
「That evening.」
Nina arrived at The Sovereign Hotel as scheduled.
She changed into a black velvet qipao, put her hair up, and, without any makeup, went straight to the private room she was assigned to.
She pushed open the door to the private room and was about to approach the guests, who were in conversation. But as soon as she looked over, her eyes t Zachary Hawthorne’s.
Her feet felt as if they were filled with lead. A huge wave of sha washed over her.
When Silas Sinclair saw her, he also froze for a mont before his gaze shifted to Zachary Hawthorne’s face.
Zachary Hawthorne only glanced at her, the corner of his mouth twitching into a mocking expression.
Nina bit her lip tightly and walked toward the liquor cabinet. She placed a drink nu on a tray and slowly approached them.
"Mr. Hawthorne, feel free to order whatever you’d like." After speaking, the middle-aged client next to him looked up. He saw Nina kneeling across the coffee table to set down the nu, and his eyes flickered. Then, in a voice so gentle it seed to drip honey, he asked, "New here today?"
He had always found the waitresses at The Sovereign Club a bit too tacky and overdone. But this one, at first glance, was so refreshingly pure that he felt like he could breathe easier, as if the very oxygen in the room had been purified.
"Yes. Here is the drink nu. I can get you whatever you’d like to drink," Nina said with a pleasant deanor.
Her voice was soft and gentle. When she spoke softly, it carried the tender, lodious quality of a woman from Jiangnan, more alluring than any songbird.
The middle-aged man stared at her face, then his eyes moved to her chest, and then down from her chest, trying to get a glimpse of her legs.
Uncomfortable under his gaze, Nina instinctively averted her eyes.
"Bring three bottles of the hundred-thousand stuff. You pick," the middle-aged man said with a sleazy grin.
Nina picked up the drink nu and looked at Zachary Hawthorne. "What would you like to drink, sir?"
Zachary Hawthorne’s eyes were glacial as he stared at her.
His gaze made her scalp tingle with dread. Still kneeling, she didn’t dare to move. *****
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