As if I didn't hear what she said, I asked, "Mam, what did you say?"
"It's very simple, my husband here will the debts you and your friend owe them and in return, you work for us. The pay will be higher than the ones here and you'll get special treatment," she replied.
I glanced at the girl and though she wasn't looking at me, I could feel that she was not happy about what they were saying. In this case, I had to use my head and not get tempted by their offer even though it was appealing.
"Mam, I've heard what you said but I'm sorry, I'll have to decline your offer!" I replied to the surprise of both the couple and the girl. I bet, she wasn't expecting me to decline the nice offer.
"But why? Don't you like the pay? Or should we increase it? We initially thought of paying you two thirty gold coins monthly but we can make it fifty, just name your price!" The man said, not sounding happy again.
Thirty gold coins monthly? That's some huge amount of money, I've never seen or handled that amount of money yet, these two couples were even offering to increase it to fifty! Even the girl gasped at the amount they mentioned, she was supposed to be shocked but rather, she got angry more.
This is the height of it all, the offer is so tempting and if care isn't taken, I am ready to fall into it. I needed money more than anything else and right now, it mattered more to me than my feelings. The girl, if actually, she wants me to work in her inn should be ready to pay as much as the couple will or she should forget about it.
I turned to the girl who was now staring at me and asked, "Are you willing to pay as much as they will or should I accept the offer?"
Hearing my question, she was taken aback. I know it'll come as a surprise to her but right now, I cared less about how she will feel.
"You!" She spoke, she had no words to say as she was still surprised by my question.
"If you aren't ready to pay that much, I'll have no choice but to accept their offer, the option is yours to make," I said again.
"My dear, there is no point persuading her. It's clear that this inn is not rich enough to pay you that amount of money so why worry yourself? Just say the word and we'll settle everything at once," the lady said out of impatience.
"And who says we can't pay him that much?" The girl finally spoke as she glared at the couple. "I'll pay him as much as you do so he won't leave this place even if he wants to!"
I smirked hearing her reply, I knew deep down that she would not let me go easily but agreeing to pay up to a hundred gold coins is something I don't think she would.
"And how will you do it?" The man scoffed. "How much does this inn earn daily that you will be able to pay the such amount? For us to not have problems, I would advise if you allow him to make his decision, I'm sure you have a lot of workers here that will replace him immediately."
"Kid, make your decision and let's end this conversation!" The lady said after her husband finished his words.
"Well, I'm a very straightforward person and what matters to me is friendship. Since my friend here has agreed to pay me up to that amount of money, there will be no need to dwell on this matter. I won't leave again and so thank you for your offers, I hope someone else will be lucky just like me."
The couples silently stood up and walked out of the office, I was not able to know if they were angry or not but I guess they would be. Earlier, I thought I had done something wrong but luckily I didn't instead, I was being offered a nice deal.
The girl cleared her throat, gaining my attention. She was staring at me, I guess she would be trying to figure out why I didn't accept their offer.
"Are—"
"Why—"
"Go ahead!" I said, ushering her to speak before me.
"No, you go ahead!" She replied, sounding awkward.
"Well, I wanted to ask you why you agreed on paying that much?" I asked.
She looked at me for a while before replying, "It's a choice every business person has to make."
"I see," I mumbled.
"And so why did you agree on not leaving? I thought you would accept their offer." She spoke again.
I would have accepted their offer if she didn't agree on paying the same amount, it's what anyone else would do, not just me alone.
"Because I find you quite interesting and gorgeous," I replied with a playful smirk. She glared at me and looked away as her cheeks turned red in embarrassment. I chuckled inwardly seeing her this way, at least, my reply would make her stop asking further. I can't let her know that I insist on staying because of something else, it would end up making me suspicious.
"Quite playing around and get back to business!" She said and let out a sigh.
"Why the sigh? Is there a problem?" I asked, seeing the look on her face.
"It's nothing," She replied and waved me to leave. I quietly walked out of the office, leaving her to her problems.
I went back to the kitchen and saw Ruben waiting for me with his eyes closed and his plans together.
"The hell are you doing?" I asked, trying not to laugh.
Hearing my voice, he opened his eyes and rushed at me. "Hey! What happened? I almost thought you wouldn't return!" He said.
"Why wouldn't I? It was just an offer I had to reject to save the inn some face," I replied and went inside the kitchen.
"What offer?" Ruben asked, getting curious. "Don't tell me it's about money!" He added, looking at me curiously.
"It is but we have nothing to worry about!" I replied and went back to what I was doing before I was called.
More customers trooped in and more orders were placed, everything was going well and I was beginning to enjoy the flow of things. Later on, the girl with glasses rejoined us and said she was asked to give us a hand. As we discussed, I found out that her name is Elsa and she was the only child of her old mother, her father had died in an accident, leaving her and her poor mother behind.
According to her, she has been working at the inn for close to five months now and throughout all this time, she has never for once met Rina's parents. She also suspects that she has no parents as she had never mentioned any of them to anyone.
Learning of this, I kind of felt pity for the girl and hoped to know more about her. If she was the owner of the inn, it will mean only one thing and I could not help but imagine how she survived through the years, alone. The world was a competitive one, and only the strongest survive, I wonder how she was able to do that.
I was determined to learn more about her and so I decided to meet with her at the end of the work time but I was unaware of the brewing storm.
After we were done, I and Ruben left the kitchen and entered the inn, just as we prepared to leave, one of the waiters rushed inside holding a piece of paper and a bangle.
"The miss has been kidnapped!"