The Invincible Arthur Gardner

Chapter 5 - The Uneasy Mind

Arthur then exited the hot pool and changed into warm clothes. As he sat on the chair, his eyes lit up as the aroma of the food tantalized his taste buds. Edna welcomed him to the meal, and the other waitresses promptly left the room.

"Edna, you can stay here, and eat with me," Arthur said softly.

But Edna only bowed her head once. "I'm sorry, Mr. Gardner, but I feel like I'm not worthy to sit at this dining table with you. I can help you feed if you want, but I don't think it's right for me to eat at the same table as you."

"Well, it's okay. I need a companion to talk to and I don't mind if you do that with me."

Bob, the manager of the restaurant, heard about a guest who had come in and bought access to Platinum Membership, despite his beggar-like appearance. He also knew Edna had treated him disrespectfully before.

"Are you saying he bought access to Platinum Membership? Are you kidding me?" Bob asked. He then checked the identity of the card that the guest, Arthur, had used and found out that the card bore his name exactly. There was no indication of fraud.

"What bullshit, Arthur Gardner? I've never heard of that name before. But he really paid for it? Tsk, quite unexpected. Is he a rich kid who's deliberately hiding his identity?"

Bob, a 40-year-old man, was wealthy; his job as a manager at the restaurant gave him a very high salary. But there was one thing he wanted more than anything, to feel Edna's body, a waitress who had rudely rejected the offer to sleep with him. Bob had a grudge against her and wanted her to suffer for it.

He had heard reports that Edna had treated a man disrespectfully, even going so far as to refuse to rub his back while he took a hot bath, and had impolitely sat at the same dining table with him and eaten with him. 

Bob was fuming with anger; he wanted Edna to bear the shame of being put out of her job because she had consistently refused to sleep with him.

Bob knocked on the door of the VIP room where Arthur Gardner was dining and was shocked to see Edna sitting with a smile, chatting casually with the guest. He exclaimed, "What a bitch!"

Bob walked over to Arthur, who was eating with Edna, and suspicion immediately surged in his heart. Bob could see that Arthur didn't look like a wealthy person; he actually looked like a homeless person, even from his outward appearance. 

Bob thought to himself that Arthur must be hiding something, or perhaps he had merely saved up the money to purchase access to the Platinum Membership.

"Edna Ross," Bob said harshly, cutting into the meal Arthur was enjoying, "do you have no manners for eating with guests at the same dinner table? You have also treated a special guest very disrespectfully. I'm afraid you have crossed the line, and I must remove you from this job immediately."

Edna was taken aback and quickly stood up and walked over to Bob. "Mr. Bob, I'm sorry, I was just doing as I was told and Mr. Gardner himself asked me to accompany him to eat. I did not do anything wrong, I simply followed the standard operating procedures of this place. You can ask Mr. Gardner and he can verify it for you."

"Hmph!" Bob was very angry, and he could no longer contain his words. "You good-for-nothing woman, you are just out to get money from men, even when you are supposed to be at work. You do not deserve to work here, and you have defiled this place. You are no longer working here as of now."

"Mr. Bob, I apologize, but I really need this job. I work hard to do my job with utmost dedication and don't even have time to rest. I work twice as hard and longer than my coworkers. Please forgive me if I have done anything wrong, but I beg of you not to fire me. I will have no place to work anymore if you kick me out of here."

Edna fell to her knees and pleaded to Bob. She could not lose her job. She had to bear her family's financial burden and desperately needed this job. She had to fight for it.

Arthur felt his lunch had been utterly disrupted - this man had ruined his appetite completely. He had shouted in the room without even checking if there was a guest present.

Rising from his seat, Arthur confronted Bob. "Mr. Manager," he began, "would it have been too much to ask for you to not disturb my lunch? And I don't think Ms. Edna did anything to deserve the accusations you made of her. You shouldn't be treating her like that."

Bob saw Arthur attempting to block him from evicting Edna, but at that moment, he suddenly felt that Arthur was not displaying any signs of wealth.

Arthur didn't look dignified in the slightest in front of him, and this time, Bob's conviction was growing that he was just a fraud.

Maybe it would be better for Bob to kick the two out of there and receive a promotion for exposing a scam in the most renowned restaurant in town.

"I don't remember Gardner's name as someone influential in this town. Tell me, do I have it right that you are just a con artist and only trying to take advantage of this woman?" Bob said sternly.

"I don't remember Gardner's name as someone with any influence in this town." Bob said sternly.

"How can you accuse me of fraud when I paid for access to this place with my own money? You can show that my money was used, and I'm certain you won't find any evidence of fraud on my part," Arthur stated firmly.

"Furthermore," said Arthur, "I will be taking Ms. Edna from this restaurant as my personal assistant, offering her a payment of one million dollars. She will be exclusively employed by me and I would really appreciate it if you stopped bothering me, Mr. Manager. Could you please ask your boss to sell me all of the restaurant's shares?"