Chapter 3 Chloe's pov

"I'm taking it out of your pay, you lazy fool!" Madame Marie, my boss yelled and stomped the ground in her face. I fell on my knees immediately, holding on to the hem of her clothes while trying to force tears out of my eyes. As someone who has worked with Madame Marie for years, I knew her weakest point.

To be worshipped.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am. I'm so sorry, I promise I'll never come in late again, ever. Please spare my pay." I begged with fake tears trickling out of my eyes.

She looked down at me aloof but with pride in her eyes and swollen chest. Before I could tell her next move, she kicked me to the wall with a loud thud. I groaned due to the pain I was still feeling in my body.

"What made you come in late? You know how much I hate lateness. What if the party had started then? Who will supervise the rest, huh?" She glared at me from her seat. I struggled to stand up, attempting to hide the tremendous pain I was feeling.

"Something came up with my parents. I promise it'll never happen." I begged I'm tears and she scoffed.

"You always say that. Chloe, the only reason I still have you working here at my prestigious bar is because you're the only worker I can trust. If you make this mistake, one more time, you can as well kiss your job goodbye." Her words pinched at me but I was more grateful to still have a job.

"Thank you ma'am. I promise not to..." My words were cut off by the squeaking sound of the door opening. One of the bar bouncers walked in with a menacing look on his face.

"Ma'am, there's no one at the counter and the men are complaining. They want a bartender now." He reported. Madame Marie glanced at me quickly.

"Well, what are you still doing there? You know what to do." She directed at me with a wave of hand.

I limped out of the office with a deep sigh of relief. The loud music reverberated through the entire place drowning the loud thud in my chest.

A group of friends had booked the entire bar for a birthday party. I could tell the kind of people they were after seeing the jerk that came to make the payment. He was rude and spoke as though he owned the place.

I slowly made it out of the dark corner into the main bar where the crowd were dancing and singing to the music on the dance floor. A couple of guys were at the counter.

I dusted my apron and went over to them. As usual, I heard whispers.

"There she comes. They say she never talks at work." I heard someone say.

"She's mute. Why do you think she's called a mute bartender?"

"Such a beautiful body going to waste, how do I fuck someone who doesn't have the ability to moan?" Another asked and this caused an uproar of laughter but I ignored them.

"Hey, mute! Come serve us drinks." One of the guys hollered at me. I ignored his voice and went right to the bar station.

A loud noise erupted in the midst of a crowd and my eyes went over them until it stopped on a person.

A guy, actually. A proud and stupid one because the moment he noticed my eyes on him, he released a proud smirk. He winked at me with a sly smile that made me scoff.

I ignored his existence and continued serving the people before me without saying a word. As usual, they were trying to get me to talk but none of them could get my attention.

"Hi, I'd like a drink." I heard a soft, bass voice right before me. I looked up slowly and my eyes met his brown, warm eyes.

It was the guy from earlier and just like before, he still had that stupid smirk on his face.

I gave him a blank look, expecting him to order immediately but he just kept looking at me.

"Hey man, she won't speak to you. Just tell her what you want, she'll get it for you." One of the men at the bar counter laughed. He joined in the laughter, but I stayed mute as usual until he realized that the man's words were true.

"You really won't speak to your customer, huh? I wonder what type of customer service you have here." The cunning smile on his face revealed what his plan was.

"Don't try too hard, man. She won't say a word, there's a reason she's called the mute bartender. Her mouth is shut off like the door to an Egyptian mummy tomb." Another man said.

In that moment, something flashed in his eyes. Curiosity? Craftiness? Maybe danger. I couldn't tell what it was but I didn't care either. All I cared about was making money.

"May I have your attention, ladies and gentlemen?" He yelled over the loud music so the people at the bar could hear. His eyes held a mischievous glint as he stared at me intently.

Who the fuck does this guy think he is?

"Tonight, I would like to make an offer to the bartender, 'the mute bartender' I heard she's called." He started with a light chuckle. A couple of people were watching his stupid performance now.

"I'll make a mention of five of the rarest cocktails I know, if she can make all five of them correctly, I'll give her a thousand dollars but if she can't, she will not only speak, she'll sing and perform for us tonight. Do you agree?"

I sighed inwardly, braving up for the challenge.

"Hell yeah." Someone from the crowd screamed and everyone else did the same. He gave me a stupid smile again, which I suppose was meant to warn me but instead of ignoring him, I smiled back this time.

This idiot has no idea what he's getting into. Let's get the show started!