With the sudden entrance of the three people, the atmosphere in the whole room shifted. Conversation halted, few of the diners gaped at the newcomers with open mouths while some even unconsciously straightened their posture, sensing the weight of the moment.
The two in the back were the staff members who had rushed inside to fetch the manager while the rude customer was busy making a scene. The one walking in the front, the person who truly commanded attention as soon as she stepped out of her office, was the restaurant manager.
She was a young woman in her twenties but she contained an aura and grace that did not match her age. She strode through the hall with an air of authority. Dressed in a formal Japanese kimono which matched the vibe of the restaurant, her long black hair tied into a perfectly coiled bun by a jade hairpin, showing a bit of her nape.
The rhythmic clacking of her pencil heels against the wooden floor now echoed in the silent hall. The growing tension in the air unconsciously made the man loosen his grip on Alvin's collar, yet not entirely.
"Hisss! That guy just had to call that little demoness out of her den." An old man in the corner hissed in annoyance and lingering fear, shaking his. He looked at the woman with a lost look as if recalling some traumatic past.
His wife, sitting to his right, promptly smacked the back of his head hearing his comment, "Old Man how could you talk like that about such a cute lady? Believe it or not, I will smack you in front of everyone."
'What did you do just now then? Kill a mosquito?' The old man wanted to curse out loud but he lacked the guts to do so, seeing the growing coldness in his wife's eyes, he even stopped thinking of such things, feeling his survival instincts taking over his body. He could not take any chances after all the keys to their house were with the woman and he knew there were no such things as husband rights.
It was not just this old man who felt scared upon seeing the young woman, some others also showed a similar response.
As for this young woman, she was Aizawa Rin, the manager of the restaurant and the daughter of the head chef who built this place from scratch through struggle and connections.
Stepping into the main hall, Rin's sharp and cold black eyes swept over the entire room. The look in her eyes sent shivers down the spine of those who met her gaze.
But as soon as that cold gaze landed on Alvin, they softened and a trace of fondness flashed through them, just for a fleeting moment before they hardened when she took note of the hand clutching onto his collar.
She tried to hide her clenched fist in the long sleeves of her kimono and walked closer to them, her presence grew heavier with each step she took.
"What's going on here?" Standing before the two of them, Rin asked with a calm yet cold voice but her eyes… they stared at the hands that were holding onto Alvin's collar.
Even though the man could not see Rin's hollow gaze, he felt a sense of forbidding wash over his body. He did not even realize it when he took his hand away from Alvin and stepped back to create some distance between the two of them.
But, now that things escalated to this point, the man coughed to hide embarrassment and tried to regain composure, "You are the manager here?" his tone skeptical.
Rin said nothing but continued to look at the man in silence with a gaze that could pierce steel. She felt the leering gaze of this man before her even though he was trying his best to put on the act.
Her mind was already thinking of several ways she could deal with him. The man's jaws clenched. He wasn't used to being ignored, especially not a mere restaurant employee. 'How dare this woman look at me like that!'
Alvin, who was watching this whole scene unfold scoffed silently. He had enough confidence in Rin to handle matters like this. 'Why do people like him pop up every now and then?'
He watched as the man feigned outrage, his acting skills fooled no one. He raised his voice, "I heard a lot about your restaurant from my friends but I never thought I would be treated like this here!"
Rin remained composed, her gaze unwavering, "May I ask, what my staff member did to warrant such treatment from you?"
The man, clearly looking down on Rin, puffed out his chest in confidence, eager to make a scene. "This man stepped on my shoes—do you see this?" once again pointing at his shoes and snarled, "These are expensive! Yet he not only damaged them but he also had the guts to argue back."
Rin merely glanced at his light brown Oxford shoes with a faint imprint of another shoe on them. She moved her gaze to Alvin, who met her gaze patiently. He saw no doubt or blame in her eyes, only a bit of pain.
He knew why she looked at him like that, after seeing him being subjugated to such treatment from time to time, she felt anger and pain that he had to go through that even when she was the one who suffered more than him.
Rin paused, sighing as she collected herself, "So he is one of them, Tch!" she muttered, annoyance dripping from her voice. Her voice though faint reached the man's ears due to the silence in the room.
The customer, creating the scene, misunderstood her words, with a barely suppressed smirk he said, "That's right! If he had simply apologized to me, I wouldn't have made a big deal out of this. But, this trash even had the guts to blame me for his incompetence, he said that I was the one who got in his way!"
Beside him, the woman he had come with, sensed something was wrong, she tugged at his sleeve, whispering for him to let it go but he ignored her.
"So you are saying that my staff member here stepped on you and pinned the blame on you?" asked Rin.
"Exactly!" the man replied, his smirk widened as he glanced around as if expecting support from the people around him.
But his smugness evaporated when he finally noticed the look he was getting, 'Something feels off.' The next second Rin's words hit the final nail in the coffin.
"Then, I assume you won't be having any objection to confirming your claims through the security camera. I can also use that as proof to fire this guy as well."
The room fell into deathly silence, the man blinked, once, twice, and he finally realized what was happening. 'She never cared about my complaints from the start!'
The man wanted to protest but Rin made her move first, she turned around to look at the huge LED screen hanging on the wall, showing a paused video of the music that had been playing.
The contents of the screen changed…