A Mysterious Compensation

After completing their show on the second night, Natalie entered the dressing room to change out of her dress with Kevin following her. She turned around and looked at him with her hands on her waist, wondering if he planned to watch her getting undressed after all.

"Nati, I am so sorry," Kevin apologized for the hundredth time. "I swear to God I had our music playing in the background to check the quality before I post it on social media and didn't hear you calling me at all."

Natalie sighed then headed towards the mirror and started removing her makeup instead of undressing first. She assessed her appearance tonight and compared it with the one she had the previous night. The knee-length red dress was more modest, at least the chest part left enough space for a woman of her size to breathe comfortably.

"I'm such an idiot," Kevin kept on digging a deeper tunnel of shame for himself from behind her.

Was her best friend the idiot for not hearing all the commotion of the street fight that broke out the night before, or was she the idiot for going back to the hostess club for a second night instead of cancelling her contract?

At least the table in the middle was empty throughout the performance.

Once she got out of this club tonight, Natalie was determined to forget all about Mr. Moneybags and the incident from the evening before.

"…Will you say something and put me out of my misery, please?"

"I'm not mad at you, Kevin." She lied. "Now go outside and finish your solo performance so I can change out of my dress, okay?"

He frowned.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait for me? We can either walk together to your place or I can drop you off at the metro station."

She shook her head; the right thing to do was to wait for Kevin to finish and then go back home with him but the problem was that she couldn't endure more remarks from her uncle about coming back late two nights in a row.

"That money better be in my bank account tomorrow," she threatened, albeit in a joking manner.

Kevin gave her an enthusiastic nod, "Their word is solid; the money is coming for sure. And I'm treating you to dinner after my share of the profits enters my account."

It was just like him to start spending money he did not even own yet.

"Break a leg, Kev."

When she opened her arms for him, Kevin hurried to pull her into one of his bear hugs.

"I will break a leg." He squeezed once before letting her go. "Hey, what's that box over there next to your clothes; it wasn't here earlier."

Natalie followed Kevin's eyes to see that there was indeed a white box over her folded clothes. She moved over to pick it up and immediately recognized it; she had just bought the same item two days ago.

"Hey, isn't this the same model of the phone that the jerk broke yesterday?"

"…It is."

Kevin grinned then frowned, his face showing mixed emotions at the sight he was seeing.

"Who do you think sent it?" He asked.

She flipped the box to check all its sides.

"There are no cards."

"Well, I think that you should take it."

She glared incredulously at him, "How would I just take such an expensive phone without…" She didn't even know how to continue this sentence.

"Look, Nati, pride has nothing to do with it. I'm sure the surveillance cameras caught the whole thing. The managers are probably compensating you to avoid potential legal issues. It can't be a coincidence; they're likely trying to win your favor."

She grimaced; his story seemed far-fetched but also believable at the same time.

"Just take it; you have no reason not to."

"…You know what? You're right."

Hugging the box to her chest, Natalie smiled at Kevin and felt ridiculously happy to have received such compensation for the phone she lost the day before.

"Call me when you come back home, all right? I'll be waiting for you," Kevin walked over to her, pinched her cheek, and then walked back to the sofa. He picked up his guitar and headed out of the room.

Natalie looked at herself in the mirror again and smiled as she continued to remove her makeup, unaware that the man behind the mysterious gift was waiting for her outside.