1 Lick My Shoes Clean
In the Diamond Club.
Courteous waiters were serving champagne and wine between the guests.
The club was one of the places where the men of the city's upper society came linger, and it had a decent ambiance.
There were lovely ladies, who were gentle and considerate, milling about like wallflowers, and some of them hung off the guests' arms and made them feel at home. Of course, not all of the ladies were the type of people that the guests would expect to find here.
For example, the scrawny Kristina Zuniga, who was currently holding a mop.
She went from table to table, bending over, and wiping the floor clean of spillage as quickly as possible, before any stains could set in.
This club was the city's most expensive high-end entertainment venue, and their guests would not tolerate any flaws, but Kristina – she was the only eyesore that the guests of the Diamond Club would tolerate, and they did so only out of necessity.
While Kristi – the name that Kristina went by – was focusing on the ground under her feet, Victoria Greer walked into the club. Due to her hurried pace, she didn't notice the water on the ground. Thus, when her heels touched the tiles, she slipped, fell, and crushed on Kristi, who had been cleaning the floor by the door.
"Ouch!" Victoria cried indignantly, and as she got to her feet, she looked at Kristi angrily. "What the hell?" she hissed.
A flash of disgust appeared in her eyes and then she slapped Kristi's face, yelling, "Damn it! What the hell? How dare you stain my clothes! Can you afford to pay for it?"
Kristi's face turned pale from the rebuke, and Victoria's slap nearly put her thin, frail form on the ground. "I'm sorry," she apologized at once. "It's my fault. Please forgive me."
Although Kristi believed that the accident was Victoria's fault, she knew better than to argue with her now. Victoria was one of the Diamond Club's "princesses," which meant that any argument was pointless and potentially dangerous.
"Is that what you call an apology?" Victoria hissed. "How can you be so arrogant? Are you a psycho? Have you taken a look at your ugly face in the mirror? Your look dirties the Diamond Club's reputation."
Victoria seemed to take pleasure in humiliating Kristi in front of the club's massive audience.
"Look at my shoes!" she continued. "They are wet from your mop! You are a damn jinx! I don't know how you escaped from the asylum. After all, you are obviously still a threat to society!"
When the other guests heard this, they looked sideways and whispered to each other, saying, "Isn't she a new employee? How dare she offend Princess Victoria?"
"Did Victoria say that she was once in an asylum?" someone asked. "I heard that she was there for two years! Her name was Kristina Zuniga, and apparently she was once a rich young lady, but her parents both died in a car accident. After that, her family's company went bankrupt and she had some mental problems. That was why she was sent to the mental hospital."
"Why would the Diamond Club hire such a creature?" another person asked. "It makes no sense!"
"I heard that Minister Fernandez felt bad for her because she was poor," someone else said, "So he offered her a job as a cleaner. Now that she has offended Princess Victoria, though, she will have to suffer. Let's wait for the show to begin! I am sure things are about to get ugly!"
More and more heads turned towards Kristi and Victoria to see what would happen next.
Kristi's small face was white, and her back was slightly curved. She was desperate to keep her job, so she had to swallow her pride and accept the humiliation.
She apologized again, saying, "Miss Greer, I'm really, really sorry. This is all my fault. Please forgive me."
Two years of inhuman torture in the asylum had been enough to smooth out all of the toughness that Kristi had once had, and she remembered the only girl who had kept her warm in the asylum. Kristi had promised her that before she died, after being released, Kristi would take care of her younger brother, who was ill and in urgent need of surgery. Thus, she needed money – therefore, she couldn't afford to lose this job!
The asylum hadn't made Kristi crazy, so she could bear any hardship.
Victoria looked at Kristi skeptically and said, "Huh, you want me to forgive you?" She folded her arms under her bosom. A Malicious smile appeared on her face appeared, and she laughed. "If you lick my expensive high-heeled shoes clean, I will think about it."
Kristi's body stiffened, and she looked up in disbelief.
Victoria scowled when she saw the expression on Kristi's face. "Is that really too much to ask?" she demanded. "You made the mess, so you should clean it up. That is the right thing to do, and if you refuse to lick my shoes clean, I will tell the club's owner to fire you!
"So, what are you going to do?" Victoria lifted her chin proudly and lifted her right foot in front of Kristi's face in anticipation of the poor girl's tongue.
Kristi's eyes were sore.
She felt humiliated and embarrassed, but by this time she recognized that she had no other choice but to do as she had been told.
Kristi slowly leaned forward. Some of the people in the club were indifferent to what was going on, but they were excited about what they were seeing. After all, it wasn't very often that they got to see such a show.
Before Kristi's tongue touched Victoria's shoe, though, a cold voice came from behind, "Victoria, what are you doing?"
Kristi recognized the voice, and it caused her to freeze. Even her breath stopped, and her blood ceased to flow.
Victoria turned her head and saw that the crowd had parted to form a path for the man that had called her name.
He was a gentleman with a magnificent and compelling aura. Every part of his face was exquisite and perfect in a way that was difficult to describe. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and he was wearing a well-cut black cashmere coat.
The man looked calm and restrained, and when he walked into a room, everyone was terrified to be near him or look directly at him.
He was Ray Black.
Victoria kicked Kristi away and said, "Mr. Black, did you come for me?"
Ray didn't even look at her. He pulled a long face and looked down at Kristi, neither of the women had any idea what was running through his mind.
Kristi didn’t dare to look at him, and she trembled and lowered her head timidly.
The club's other patrons were utterly silent, and it seemed like everyone was holding their breath.
After a moment, Victoria smiled shyly and said, "Mr. Black, I have booked a box for us. Let's go!"
Instead of going to her, though, Ray went to Kristi, which caused the poor girl to begin to shake with fear. Ray put his hand under Kristi's chin and lifted her head so that he could look into her eyes.
Victoria glared at them incredulously. She had not expected Ray to be interested in this psycho, and she suddenly felt jealous. She quickly stepped forward and exclaimed, "Mr. Black, don't touch this girl. She is mentally ill, and it could be contagious!"
Ray stared at Kristi's thin and haggard face. "Are you afraid of me?" he asked.