Chapter 2 A one-night stand

“You said what?”

“I want to ask for an advanced payment this month,” Danielle repeated herself.

She is standing in front of her manager, Angela, with hopes that her request will be granted.

Angela laughs hysterically, this crushes Danielle’s hopes and boldness. She bends her head, wishing that the earth will open up and swallow her.

“You want an advanced payment for this month, Danielle. What could be the reason for this?”

Danielle gulps, “The reason is that my parents are in debt and need to pay up by the end of the week.”

Angela gives Danielle a daunting look, “You dare to come here and tell me this. Danielle, we will abide by the rules of this work.”

“Please ma’am, I just need this money urgently.”

“Get out of my office and don't come back or you'll be fired!”

Danielle exited the office with tears in her eyes, she called Freda and asked if she could meet up with her. Freda arrived a few moments later, and seeing Danielle in tears broke her heart.

“Dani, what's wrong?”

“My parents are in debt to a certain man, he is dangerous and will probably kill them at the end of the week if they do not deliver the money.”

“That's bad, how much are they owing him?”

“Three hundred thousand dollars…”

“What the hell! That's a huge sum of money,” Freda exclaimed.

“I know, Freda. I need to raise at least half of the money before then so I can beg him to spare my parent’s life.”

Freda sighs, “I would have loved to help you out but that money is a huge amount and my parents will never give it to me. There must be some other way we could raise this money.”

“I asked my manager for an advanced payment but she refused, I won’t be getting paid any time soon.”

“I will also think of what to do. For now, you have to keep calm and continue your work. Are you on full day?”

“No, I will be closing soon,” Danielle replied.

Freda nodded and got up, “I will see you around.”

Danielle nods and goes back to work. Just in time for a man to enter and ring the bell for customer service.

“Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you?”

“I want to be served the best cuisine on the menu,” he replied.

She smiled and checked the menu out, “That will be chicken sauce and pasta.”

It is also her favorite meal which is why she recommended it to him.

“Fine then.”

She went to the counter and made the order. While waiting for the chef to get the meal ready, Danielle turned to look at the man to see him staring at her intently. She looked away, her cheeks flustered.

She served him the meal without looking at his face, but she could feel his eyes on her. Why was he staring at her so intently?

“Here’s your meal, sir?”

“Thank you, Danielle.”

She paused and courageously looked at his face.

“How did you know my name?”

“Your name tag.”

She smiled again, remembering that her name was pasted on the name tag on her shirt. She had to wait patiently at the counter for him to be done with his meal and ring the bell for payment.

Before she could reach his table, the man had left already. She checked his money and discovered that there was an extra sum of twelve thousand dollars, so she went after him immediately.

Luckily, he was just about to enter his car when she reached him.

“Sir, you left your money here.”

He raised the corner of his lips, “How much is that?”

“Twelve thousand dollars.”

“Are you not in need of that money than I am?”

She thinks for a minute, that money might not be up to the amount needed but it could help to lessen the burden. Smiling in appreciation, Danielle thanked the man and goes to hand over her shift to her other colleague.

Freda came to pick her up and  drove her to the club.

“What are we doing here?” Danielle asked.

“I know that what I’m about to say is triggering but I can’t think of any other solution. I have a job for you that can earn you three hundred thousand dollars in one night.”

Danielle sat up and said, “Tell me about it, Freda?”

“A one night stand.”

“I can’t do that, Freda. I’m a virgin ,” Danielle declined.

Freda rolled her eyes, “We were all virgins at some point. Think about it, Dani. Someone is willing to pay you three hundred thousand dollars for a night.”

Danielle is worried with this but the price to pay could be worth it. Getting this money will help her family a lot and imagine when she does this for a week or more, she’ll be able to raise money to start her own diner.

“Do you have an idea who this man is?” Danielle asked.

Freda shrugged, “Nope, and I have not slept with him before. But the job was given to me, I asked for the negotiation and he accepted so tonight’s gonna be a good night. He won’t know that we switched and when he pays, you’ll use that money and sort your problems out.”

Danielle nodded, the plan sounded like a good one to her.

“I’ll be doing this more often if it works out this night,” Danielle said.

Freda cheered, “That’s my girl! Tonight will definitely work out, I’ve been doing this for a couple of weeks now and it’s been going great.”

Danielle’s mind relaxed a bit, three hundred thousand dollars in one night might not be so bad to get. Her parents might question how she got it and she’ll have to cook up a lie to tell them.

They stay at the lounge and wait patiently until darkness sets in and the club is now filled to the brim with people.

“It’s show time, Dani.”