Chapter 16
Meanwhile, at night, Dominic was getting ready in front of the mirror in her closet. He chose a white linen shirt and black pants, combed his hair with his fingers, leaving it a little tidy, but with some loose strands. He put on a blazer and, when he turned around, he saw Mrs. Patel.
Immediately she said:
— Sir, Mr. Jared is downstairs.
That night, Jared invited Dominic to go to a bar to drink and talk. I told him he would like the place.
Upon arriving at the bar, Dominic noticed that it was not a luxurious place, which he usually frequented. It was a place in the suburbs, with an unsophisticated atmosphere. At the back of the bar, there was a jukebox playing songs from the 80s, and in the center there was a pool table where men dressed in leather clothes played and chatted while drinking.
Dominic and Jared asked for a table in the back, and Dominic watched with furrowed eyebrows. He knew Jared was probably planning something, as he wouldn't take him to that place for no reason.
Jared was constantly looking around, as if he was looking for someone, and this increased Dominic's distrust. He suspected Jared had taken him there to meet someone or show him something.
Jared said to Dominic:
— Will you survive without me? I go to the bathroom and be back in a moment
Dominic waved briefly and then just looked at the glass of whiskey in front of her, which remained untouched. He was suspicious whether that drink was really authentic or a cheap copy.
Instead of going to the bathroom, Jared headed outside the bar. He didn't want to waste time, he wanted to make sure he could show his friend, an illustrious presence who frequented that place.
Jared, when observing the scene outside the bar, saw a popular car stop in front of the establishment, just a little in front of where he was. Two women got out of the car, one of them seemed in a hurry, who gave her friend a brief kiss on the face, who said a few words to her with a serious expression on her face.
Jared squinted, trying to recognize who the women were in the distance, and when the dark-haired one turned to face him, he was sure it was her, Nina Moon.
Nina ran to the back of the bar, clearly late, and Júlia stood there watching to make sure she managed to get into the bar without being approached by someone in the way. After a while, Júlia looked around suspiciously, got into the car and started the engine.
This entire scene was observed by Jared, who was curious. He took out his cell phone and took a photo of the back of the car as Júlia drove away. Then, Jared went back inside the bar and sat in his chair with his legs spread, showing a casual attitude and a smile on his face, indicating to Dominic that he was really up to something.
Dominic, already suspicious of Jared's intentions, asked:
— Okay, now can you tell me why you brought me here?
— To drink, listen to music and have fun, you know? How long has it been since you had real fun?
Dominic just arches an eyebrow and Jared takes his glass containing the whiskey of dubious origin and pours the contents into his mouth, after which he says:
— Ah, my drink is finished, I'm going to ask a waitress for more, it looks like there's a new one serving.
He points towards the crowd and Dominic looks in the same direction, already knowing that it was probably who he wanted to show her, she just didn't imagine it would be Nina.
She was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt and an apron with the bar's logo. From time to time, he took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his nose.
Visibly sick with the flu, Nina never sat still, she was always moving from one side to the other, balancing a tray with many glasses and bottles of drinks, serving the tables.
Dominic raises her eyebrows at the scene, especially when she noticed that she was receiving less than discreet looks and worse, he saw how she ignored things that were said to her and skillfully avoided some jokers who tried to touch her.
— Why? Why do you want to show me this, Jared? — he says, still looking fixedly at Nina, who didn't notice their presence and continued working nonstop, waiting tables.
Jared smiles, realizing that he managed to provoke him, since he didn't hide his irritability in his tone of voice.
— It's interesting to say the least, a girl like her subjecting herself to working in this dirty place, instead of opting for the easier option. Important men would give anything to have a girl like that by their side...
— Do you think someone important would want a girl with a past like that? Capable of arousing the curiosity of the press and a flood of negative opinions.
— We know you know how to avoid this, Dominic. If I don't know, I'll do it myself.
— She has a job now, why is she subjecting herself to being humiliated like this? — he didn't seem pleased at all, seeing Nina being exposed to that environment was torturing him internally.
— Well… I wondered the same thing, so I did some research and found out that your girl is in a pretty bad situation. She has been taking out loans from several banks and is heavily in debt. About to lose the house he inherited from his father.
— Why did you incur so many debts?
— I don't know... I only investigated from above, because breaking a person's bank secrecy, without their authorization or that of a judge, is a crime, Dominic.
Dominic arches an eyebrow and only then turns to Jared, saying:
— Don't pretend you've never done things that go beyond the limits of the law, Jared. — Soon after, he gets up and continues — Let's go, I didn't like this place at all.
- Wait! And the girl? Aren't you going to take her with us?
— She has the right to do whatever she wants with her life, Jared.
— She doesn't seem to like working like this, being sick and being harassed all the time. You can do something, Dominic.
— I am not a charity.
Jared smiles and then says:
— Oh, you're such a bully. I want to see how long you will resist breaking your rules.
Jared also gets up and follows him, they leave the bar and go to the car, get in and Mrs. Patel waits for the order of where to take them.
Dominic remains silent for some time, then takes a pad of paper and writes something, plays with her cell phone for a few moments and then ends up getting out of the car, without explaining.
He goes back to the bar and there, he approaches a waitress who was passing by and says:
— Want to win 20 dollars? — he says, showing the note.
The waitress smiles and he takes off his blazer and hands it to her and a folded piece of paper.
— Give this to your colleague. — points to Nina, who was at the counter waiting for a new order.
The waitress looks at him curiously and he says:
— Deliver it and then come back here to get your $20. Don't say it was me.
The waitress shrugs and goes to Nina and just delivers, then turns around, serves some tables to disguise herself and only then returns to Dominic, who was waiting in a dark corner of the bar.
Nina looks at the blazer and the folded paper, confused, she looks around trying to find who sent her that, but she doesn't see anyone who could suspect her.
She opens the paper and reads the note, which said:
"Go away, you're sick and shouldn't be in this place, contaminating everyone!" — Nina raises an eyebrow and continues reading — "Keep warm with your coat, there's a card in your pocket, it contains your tip for the day. If in doubt, go to the app..."
The note contained instructions for her to access the account.
Nina took out her cell phone and accessed it, she realized that there were five thousand dollars in the bill, this was not equivalent to her tip for the day, it was equivalent to the tip she would receive in an entire month.
Suspicious if it was true, but trying not to attract attention, she puts on the blazer, which was much larger than her size, surreptitiously puts her hand in her pocket and feels the card by touch.
Nina knits her eyebrows and then takes the lapel of her blazer and brings it to her nose, inhaling the smell.
He realized it was the same perfume as Dominic, the one with citrus and floral notes.
She looked around again, looking for him.
"Did he see me working here? Or was it just someone who wears the same perfume?"