Rich Nights of a Penniless

Chapter 7 Reward granted...

In the evening the cafe was busy with customers filling every available seat. Among them was a particularly disgruntled and rude customer, whose impatience and arrogance were evident from the moment he walked through the door, with a luxurious suit on, he was bawling on his phone as if someone had just burnt his butt.

As fate would have it, this customer's bitterness burst on James's head right from the beginning as he bumped into him, accidentally.

"Do you have eyes in your pocket...! You bloody... crab..!" that man yelled without taking a breath. James hung his head down, embarrassed.

"I am so sorry sir, but it was you who bumped into me" James let out so politely to make it up but that man seem to have a temper issue. He pushed James away, shrieking at him,

"Get your shitty hands off me...!" he yelled with an awe expression on his face, stumbling away and cursing someone under his breath," Why the hell he called me here, out of all places? What kind of trashy place is this?"

That man strolled in and settled on one of the empty seats, his every action displaying his disgust and his indifference.

Leo had been observing him from a corner, cleaning the table. Though he wanted to throw a fist at that rude bastard, his job doesn't allow him to do so. And that condition he got from the system had tied his hands. He couldn't just leave the job, the very first day he joined, right?

As there was no one else in the cafe except for Jessica and Leo, Jessica moved near that table hesitatingly to take the order of that nosy man, and talked to him. His disgusting gaze rolled all over her body and he extended his disgusting hand to touch her back but she stumbled back avoiding him. Gritting her teeth she controlled her anger.

"Sir, please behave yourself" she warned him politely and took the order.

After a few minutes, Jessica brought the coffee he ordered,

"Do you call this a coffee...!" he pushed away the cup, spilling some of the coffee on the table.

That man targeted her and claimed that she intentionally had inadvertently made a mistake with his order. He ordered an expresso and she took it to him but he lost his temper again and started yelling at her. His reaction was disgusting and laced up with cruel insults, aimed at belittling her in front of the other patrons.

"Were'nt you throwing yourself at me...! you don't even know how to serve a customer, who the hell gave you this job"

Witnessing her humiliation, Leo's protective instincts kicked in, and he couldn't stop himself from stepping forward, determined to defend Jessica's honor. He stood before Jessica gesturing her to leave. Despite his fury, he maintained his calm demeanor, and bending forward he apologized.

"We are sorry sir, please let me serve you, I will get another one for you" With a firm yet respectful tone, Leo tried to diffuse the situation, offering apologies and attempting to rectify the error.

However, the customer, fueled by his anger, refused to be appeased. Leo was cleaning a table a few minutes back but as the situation gone worse, he had to step in immediately.

"What the hell do you think of me, What kind of nasty place is this where a floor cleaner serves the customer? Do you have any idea who I am and where I work?" Ignoring Leo's attempts to reconcile, he lashed out with an even more venomous tirade, targeting Leo personally.

"I am sorry, Sir" Leo repeated himself. But that man was not ready to give up, he stood up at once grabbing Leo's collar.

"Sir please, let's solve this politely" Leo still insisted, requesting him and trying to free himself, it wasn't the first time that he was being involved in something like this but still he felt insulted being mistreated only because he was cleaner. Clenching his fist on the apron, he cooled himself a bit.

"Politely...! Who do you think you are? A rotten piece of trash...! I work at a place where you won't be allowed to clean the poop, you bastard...!"

In a moment of anger and frustration, the customer grabbed the nearby coffee pot and poured the scalding liquid over Leo's head. The cafe fell silent, with patrons gasping in shock at the audacious act of cruelty. Leo's face contorted in pain as he gritted his teeth, but he refused to let the humiliation defeat him.

Rather than retaliating with anger or aggression, Leo chose a path of restraint.

"You will pay for this...!" he mumbled to himself and mustered all his strength to keep his composure, refusing to let the customer's actions define him. Determined not to escalate the situation further, he calmly requested assistance from James and retreated to the back of the cafe to tend to his injuries first.

Soon after that incident, James took immediate action, promptly escorting the disrespectful customer out of the establishment. Concerned for Leo's well-being, Jessica rushed to his side, her eyes brimming with tears of remorse and concern.

"Why the hell you got into this?" she hissed grabbing the tissues, "I often face scumbags like him, I would have taken care of my issues, why did you get your ass in?"

She yelled at him but soon, gently cleaned the coffee residue from his face, her touch conveying an unspoken apology for the pain he had endured.

Amidst the chaos, Leo's true character shone through. His ability to handle adversity with dignity and empathy only melted a little Jessica's rock-hard heart and a friendly relation bloomed in them. Though they found solace in each other"s company, none of them spoke further. Jessica left after briefly applying the medicine on his face.

{Ting}

{Task completed}

{Reward initiated}

A notification popped up but Leo can't see any reward in there, confused he looked around and realized that the pain he just felt subsided magically. As he touched his face unbelievingly, his face was completely healed.

"Why give such painful tasks and then heal the wounds?" He sniffed to himself then looked around for anything else, and soon his phone buzzed. As he checked it he saw a bank notification his gaze rolled over the corner of the screen, the time was eight in the night. A smile tugged up as it was time for him to taste the life of the rich.

Leo stood up, got changed, and took a deep breath before strolling out of the cafe, Jessica left already as her shift was finished too.

"Hey, Leo" James called him from back while closing the cafe, "Do you want any money, I can lend you some for your hard work," said James kind-heartedly. Leo turned around to answer, his face glowing already.

"No..! I have some" he replied with a smile.

Have some...!

{Two Million Dollars were credited to your account} The bank stated clearly, about the "Have Some " he had.

{Destination:- Paramount mutiplex}

Leo had never heard of a place like that before, just to see where his destination for tonight is, he searched for it on his phone.

To his surprise, it was one of those costly places that only the higher-class people can visit. As going deeper, he got to know that Paramount Multiplex is also related to that Diamond Wars, where he had fun yesterday night.

Booking the same luxury car with the same driver, as he was too lazy to explain himself to the new one, he embarked on his journey.

"We are here sir" The driver took him to the same mall to buy a dress where he was treated as a VIP customer. After getting changed, they drove to the destination he was supposed to go to.

Reaching the given address, his driver got out opening his car door, a luxurious multiplex towering before Leo welcomed him with its royalism, which can be described as a state-of-the-art entertainment venue with a premium movie-watching experience.

"Watching a Movie" exclaimed Leo, it might be his first-ever experience watching a movie in a theater as Anasthasia refused every time he insisted on going to a movie with him though he wanted to go with her so badly. 

Stepping in, he saw a familiar figure hovering before him. Dressed up in a staff uniform with all those accessories needed for a decent look. The moment Leo laid his gaze on him, he understood what his reward for the task was. A playful smirk tugged on his face and he marched in. 

Before getting in, he turned around to face his driver and whispered something into his ears. The driver stared at him weirdly then nodded his head rushing out.

"Yes Sir" 

Leo called Mr. Roberts, the manager at The Diamond Wars, and asked for his service here at this place. He instantly recognized Leo and promised him the best service there too. As Leo moved in, the watchman stepped aside as his attire gave him a look of a young master. Moving in he stood at a side, the receptionist asked the assistant manager to attend to that distinguished guest but the man was known for his rudeness. It was Nicolas Fredro, the man who just misbehaved with Leo in the evening, now it's Leo's turn to pay him back. 

"May I help you Sir?" he said forcing a smile on his face, though Leo looked familiar, Nicolas never thought that a cleaner could ever come to a place like this. It was more than impossible for him.

"What can you offer me?" let out Leo ironically. A little doubt sparkled in Nicolas's mind as he heard Leo talking, and a feeling of disdain curled up in his mind.

"How dare you?" he instantly blurted out and grabbed Leo's collar, "How dare you beggar stepped into a place like this?"

"What are you doing?" the other staff members jolted there as in their profession treating a customer disrespectfully was like a huge sin that should never be forgiven. Everyone circled them as Nicolas's voice raised and yelled at the gate guard on duty.

"Did you check his ID, how could you let a poop cleaner in?" yelled Nicolas. All his colleagues tried to stop him but he was not in a state to listen to anyone, he shouted back at them in anger.

"I know him, he is nothing but trash...! Do you get it"

Leo silently took all that humiliation, waiting for his chance. Meanwhile, Nicolas dragged him towards the gate clasping his collar. It created a huge mess at the entrance that gathered the attention of all the patrons and the administration as well.

The manager rushed over to them to look into the matter. Nicolas was quite enjoying the play and was happy that his higher authority will praise him for his conduct. But before he could explain anything, someone kicked his ass from behind.

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