Drunkard (1)

Emma had that unsettling prickling feeling on her neck again, the feeling of being watched. For the umpteenth time she glanced around to see if there was indeed someone observing her, but since the bar hadn't even opened yet, it was almost completely deserted. Shaking her head, frustrated at herself for being so paranoid.

As it was Saturday night, she soon got too busy to give her paranoia much thought, as the club started filling up and became loud and bustling.

The VIP area was located above the rest of the club, overlooking the dancefloor. It had its own bar, which was were Emma worked.

While the lower part of the club was full of thronging people, dancing along to the loud music, the VIP area was a bit calmer, and slightly less noisy than the regular area below.

One side of the space had a railing from which the VIPs could look down at the dancing crowd below, and be seen and admired by the 'commoners'.

To one side of the area the long, sleek bar, made out of expensive black granite, dominated the room. The rest of the room had soft cushioned sofas in discreet cubicles.

A number of servers in the same tight-fitting black shirts that Emma wore, paired with matching black miniskirts, circled the room keeping the customers supplied with drinks, refreshments, and good views of long sexy legs.

The servers sometimes had to deal with customers who mistook the fact that some feminine assets were on display, that this also meant that they were on offer. A firm, but polite reminder, that the club was not that sort of establishment, was usually enough to bring the situation under control. And if that wasn't enough, a visit from the stone-faced Mr. Chen was almost always sufficient to deter any drunk customer from further harassing the serving staff.

Since Emma only prepared the cocktails, she rarely came into direct contact with the clientele, and she had not yet had to deal with difficult customers.

However, tonight was turning out to be an especially busy night, and the VIP area was fuller than usual. The serving staff was struggling to keep up with the amount of customers.

Therefore, one customer, growing impatient, decided to approach the bar directly to get a refill. Usually, he would have waited for one of the servers to become available, but he had noticed how unusual pretty the bartender was, with large expressive eyes and a small, full-lipped mouth.

With several drinks in him, he had finally plucked up the courage to go over. His friends egged him on with words of encouragement.

Emma was at the far end of the bar, as the drunkard approached her. That part of the bar mainly served as a storage space for the cocktails ingredients, and was a bit secluded from the rest of the VIP area.

"Heeeeey... pretty lady!" he yelled, his speech slightly slurred.

Emma looked up at the drunkard, surprised.

"I want another!" the man exclaimed, banging an empty glass down next to her on the counter.

Plastering a professional smile on her face, Emma turned to the man.

"Of course, sir. Which table are you at? I'll have one of our servers bring it to you as soon as it's done."

"Make it now!" he demanded.

Knowing it was better to simply give the customer what he wanted rather than arguing, Emma started mixing the drink straight away.

The man screwed up his eyes in concentration and swayed slightly on the spot as he looked at Emma's face.

"I'm sure I know you from somewhere," he slurred. "You look so familiar..."

Emma was struggling to keep her stiff, professional smile plastered to her face. Mercifully, she finished preparing the drink in record time and placed in on the counter in front of the man.

"Here you go, sir. Enjoy your evening."

She turned away to head back to the other side of the bar, but was yanked back as the man grabbed a hold of her wrist.

"I know! I know!" he yelled triumphantly. "You're Huang Linhua's little sister!"