2 How would you like to make a few million dollars?

"I don't know how to help you Zi Mei, I am sorry," Darren said. He comes from a middle income family and though they do not want for food or the conveniences of modern life, they do not have spare money to throw around. "I only have a few thousands in my savings, I could give you that to maybe buy some time but after that…"

Zi Mei shook her head. She didn't want to take Darren's money. It is not right. No matter how close they are, she could not bring herself to take his money. It was not only a matter of pride but also honour. It was one thing to beg for food for survival but quite another to take another person's money to pay a debt her gambler of a father had racked up.

"No, Darren. I can't take your money. That's wrong. I just have to figure out a way out of this," she said.

Both of them sat in silence, each of them thinking of ways to settle the huge debt without resorting to illegal means. Zi Mei does not have any close relatives, except for one rich cousin who had long "disowned" them and refused to be associated with them. Her father had borrowed a large sum of money from that cousin and never even gave back a cent. The cousin had since changed her number, moved and disappeared from their lives. Zi Mei is all alone now. Her father has gone into hiding and left her with a $500,000 debt to repay.

Tears wet her cheeks and dropped onto her lap. Maybe she will have to become a prostitute for the loansharks to repay her father's debt. A sob escaped her at the thought. She is a virgin. She has never had a boyfriend or kissed a man before. She shuddered in revulsion at the thought of having to "service" men to earn money and repay the loansharks.

"What if they force me into prostitution Darren?" she whispered, fear written on her face.

Darren was taken aback and horrified at the suggestion.

"No, I will never let them do that! Prostitution is illegal here so they can't do that anyway," he said.

She shook her head. "It is because it is illegal that they can charge high fees and offer up young women as prostitutes to rich men," she said.

She had heard of such stories. Young girls and women, barely out of their teens, some even in their teens, being taken and forced into prostitution to pay for the debts their families had run up with the loansharks.

She is 21 years old with a smooth complexion, features that can be considered pretty and her crowning glory, long luscious ebony hair. She also has an hourglass figure with tiny waist, an ample bosom and round hips. Boys often make jokes about her sexy figure in school and a number of them had tried to get her to date them but she didn't have any interest in any of them. She thinks them childish. Her regular rejection of boys earned her a reputation as the "Ice Queen" and some meaner ones would call her "Lesbo". They assumed that she must be a lesbian since she had no interest in boys and seem to have a few close girl friends who are always with her.

Darren, who is only a year older than her, went to an all boys school so no one from her school knew about her close friendship with her neighbour. Except for her two friends, Sheena and Jazzmine.

Darren rubbed his forehead in frustration. "We have to think of something!" he said. He took out his cellphone and started googling "how to make money fast". He ended up finding pages after pages of scam sites offering dubious ways to make money. He threw his phone on the rickety table in frustration.

"Urgh. Even the internet is useless," he said.

Zi Mei dried off her tears. There was no point crying over this now. She has to look for a solution somehow and crying will not solve anything. She looked at the time. It was almost 10 and her shift starts at 11. The cafe she worked at is a 20-minute walk away. She got up reluctantly.

"Darren, I have to get ready for work, let's try to think of a solution later," she said, dejectedly.

Darren nodded and got up too. "Okay, I have classes later too, let's just chat over it later," he said. He walked to the front door, then turned. "You do know that I will always stand by you right, Mei?" he said, using his nickname for her.

She smiled at him, her heart swelling at his warm caring tone. It was not hard to develop feelings for this man before her. He is good looking, tall and such a good friend to her for all these years. If only…she sighed. This was not the time to be thinking about romance.

"Let's chat later," she agreed. She waved Darren goodbye and locked the door behind him. Then she bounded upstairs to get changed.

...…

Four hours later, Zi Mei was staring blindly into space during a lull at the cafe. It has been a busy day from the moment she started her shift till now, after the lunch crowd has dispersed and there was finally some peace and quiet. Only a few teenagers and college students are still hanging around, chattering and laughing. The working adults have already went back to work.

She took out her phone. There were at least 10 messages from Darren and a few others from Sheena and Jazzmine. She clicked on the messages from Darren.

"What if we try mining bitcoin?"

"No, scratch that. That's a bad idea."

"What if we traded antiques instead? No wait, where do we get antiques?"

"What if we start crowdfunding?"

"R u busy?"

"Hello? I guess you're busy"

"Maybe if I take a few more jobs and you take on another job?"

"I'm running out of ideas"

She scrolled past more similar messages along the same thread. It was so typical of Darren to send her tons of one-line messages. It was like reading him talking to himself. She smiled at his messages.

"Sorry, Darren, it was lunch hour and today was madness," she texted back.

He immediately responded.

"Phew. I thought you were ignoring me. I thought of something, maybe if we start an online store selling stuff, it might work," he typed.

She smiled at his earnestness. Darren was always the one to try to find solutions to her problems. She was so engrossed texting with Darren that she didn't notice a stern looking woman at the counter, tapping her high-heeled foot impatiently and glaring at her.

"Ahem!" the woman cleared her throat loudly. Startled, Zi Mei looked up. She quickly slid her phone into her pocket and smiled at the woman. The woman, possibly in her 30s, is gorgeous with large almond-shaped eyes, a high aquiline nose, rosebud lips and narrow, oval face. Her complexion was creamy smooth, like alabaster. She even looked beautiful when she was scowling at Zi Mei.

"Oh, sorry. How can I help you?" she asked the woman pleasantly.

The woman glared at her. "A latte for me and a double shot latte, no sugar, for him," she said coldly, gesturing to a handsome gentleman seated at the far corner of the cafe.

"Would you like anything to eat? Cakes maybe?" Zi Mei asked pleasantly. She has met her fair share of rude and arrogant customers so she is used to such attitudes.

"Of course not, ugh…I wouldn't even come here…if not for him….uggh…that'll be all," the woman said. She handed a card to Zi Mei to pay for her orders. After Zi Mei completed the transaction and handed back her card, she walked off, an air of anger and displeasure heavy around her.

Zi Mei was careful not to show any expression other than a pleasant smile despite her slight annoyance at the woman. There was no reason for the woman to be so angry. It was not as if she had kept her waiting for too long. She shrugged and dismissed the rude but beautiful woman from her mind. Maybe the woman had a bad day, she thought.

She prepared the drinks and brought it over to the woman and her companion, that she assumed must either be her boyfriend or husband. As she neared their table, she noticed the man looking at her curiously.

He has a mysterious aura about him, his thick dark hair swept up stylishly and his deep, dark brown eyes like bottomless pools. He is so breathtakingly handsome that she almost stopped to gape at him but caught herself. He looked like a movie star. She wondered if he is indeed a movie star. She noticed him staring at her enigmatically and she couldn't help but blush. Her heart did a flip and her pulse quickened as she stood before their table.

"Here are your drinks, enjoy and have a nice day," she said, careful not to stammer, and she carefully placed the drinks on the table.

She avoided looking at him or the rude woman. She looked at some point on the table and noticed his hands with long tapered fingers resting on the table. A plain wedding ring glinted from his ring finger. So, she was right. He is the husband. They made a matching couple, the woman is gorgeous and her husband, equally gorgeous.

She turned to walk away but the man suddenly reached out and touched her arm. Just the slightest touch and she felt as if she was zapped with electricity. A strange current passed between them. She gasped. She snatched her arm away, as if burnt, and turned to look at him. He looked just as surprised. He was staring at his hand in wonder, then he looked at her.

"How old are you Zi Mei?" he asked. He has a deep baritone voice. The kind of voice that slides into your consciousness and burrows into your dreams at night.

"Excuse me?" she asked. Customers have asked her many strange things but never once have they asked her a personal question like this.

He stood up. He towered over her, his wide shoulders straining under his expensive-looking fitted shirt. His wife was looking at them, her expression contemplative.

"Tell me, Zi Mei, how old are you?" he asked again. He took a step closer, almost touching her. She could feel the warmth from his body that was a mere inches away from her. She looked up at him and her breath caught. He was even more handsome up close. Her pulse is now doing a staccato dance and her heart is almost in her mouth. To say she was awestruck, was an understatement.

"Erm. Ah. Mister…ah…" she stuttered. Her mind was blank. His closeness was disconcerting. His virile masculinity, so close to her, was scrambling her thoughts. What did he ask her?

He smiled down at her and she almost melted into a puddle on the floor. It was the most dazzling smile she has ever seen. It was like meeting a famous handsome movie star in real life. Her heart did a flip and dance before it thumped rapidly like a machine gun going off. If he come any closer, she might just have a heart attack.

"I am Thorin Loong and this is my," he paused and gestured to the woman seated at the table. "Wife, Jessica, and we would like to know more about you," he said, his tone warm and intimate. It burrowed insidiously into her consciousness, sending thrills down her spine.

Zi Mei gulped. She barely heard what he said. Her heart was thumping so loudly and her senses so overwhelmed by his proximity, she couldn't think straight. Despite his innocent words, his tone made it sound like he had asked her to have an affair with him.

She stole a glance at his wife. The rude woman did not look angry. Instead, she was sitting back and sipping her latte as if it was normal for her husband to accost cafe servers and tell them that he wanted to know more about them.

When she didn't respond. Thorin Loong took a step closer and bent, his lips next to her ears.

"How would you like to make a few million dollars?" he whispered into her ears.