Rise Of The Student Pauper

CHAPTER 9

Darren gave a swift glance at the manager who was now trembling before him. His whole face was covered with cold sweat even though the air conditioner was on.

Just a minute ago he called him a thief and threatened to throw him in jail. Now he was begging him.

“Don’t worry I am not going to report you. But I didn’t expect such unprofessionalism from you and your employees. You should’ve known better than to judge someone by their appearance,” he said raising his head to look at Ava and the security men.

“We are sorry sir,” the four of them said uniformly.

But Darren was not the type to hold grudges so he didn’t stretch the issue further.

“Can I withdraw my money now?”

“Of course, Mr. Hilton” Donovan straightened and stepped back ushering him towards the machine.

This time they didn’t pester him, they stayed several feet away stealing a glance as he checked the balance in every card.

Every time he inserted a card the machine would read “Balance; $700,000,000,000.00”

Everyone watched with their eyes widely opened in bewilderment.

Even though Donovan have been managing the company for over five years, he’d never seen someone with $700 billion in two different accounts left alone four.

At that moment he adjusted his neck tie and approached Darren again.

“Mr. Hilton please come with me, there is a section for VVIP down the hallway. You’re a very special customer you shouldn’t be here in the regular section. There I would attend to you personally,” he said with a nervous smile.

But Darren refused saying he was okay there. The manager smiled awkwardly before he turned and retreated back to his office.

Since the money he wanted to withdraw could not be dispensed by the ATM machine, he came back to Ava at the counter.

“I want to withdraw $250,000 from each of the four accounts”

“Y-yes sir,” her voice and hands were still trembling from shock.

Without wasting any time she hurriedly arranged for the money, a total of $1 million in cash.

Usually, the bank paid out cash to its customers in plastic bags. But Ava packed it up neatly into her personal tote bag and handed to Darren. Even by a glance one could tell the Chanel designers was worth several thousand dollars.

“Here you go sir. Your money is ready,” her voice was gentle and carried a hint of reverence as she handed over the bag to him.

There was a shift in her tone and attitude compared to some minutes ago when Darren first walked into the building.

He didn’t know she had this calm and customer friendly voice till now.

Seeing she used her personal bag, he pulled some cash from the bag and offered to buy her a new one. But to his surprise she refused to take the money saying she gave it to him for free.

At first he thought it was an act of kindness till he thanked her and turned on his heel to leave.

But before he took a few steps she called him from behind, “Mr. Hilton, please take this,” she passed him a small folded piece of paper. This time her voice was not professional but rather timid.

Darren unraveled it curiously.

Inside the paper, they were eleven digits neatly written.

“What’s is this for?” he raised an eyebrow puzzled by what the digits meant.

Ava tilted her head, leaned slightly forward and whispered “That’s my phone number. You can contact me anytime you want to hang out or need some company” she said biting her lips intentionally.

Darren’s heart drummed a little in his chest. Not from fear but from surprise of realizing she was indirectly asking him out.

He slowly sized the woman in front of him from head to toe. Ava was a gorgeous woman with a perfect shape. Her face card was a ten. The type of woman most men would dream of ending up with.

But not Darren.

He smiled calmly, then stared her straight in the eyes and responded boldly, “No! I don’t want anything to do with a girl who only follow men because of their money”.

“And also judging by your looks, you should be at least five years older than me. Shouldn’t you find a husband instead of trying to flirt with boys you’re older than?” he added contemptuously.

His tone was calm but loud enough for other employees and customers to hear him. They giggled uncontrollably some covering their mouths with their hands while some forced a cough and turned their heads away, all trying to hide their amusement.

Ava’s face burned red with embarrassment as she watched him exit the bank with a backpack full of cash.

Outside, Darren walked out of the bank’s gate still looking like a pauper —but in reality he had over $700 billion in just one of his blacks card.

He was barely out of the premises when he felt a stinging kick in his intestines. It was at that moment that he recalled he had not eaten since the previous day. It was such a long day that he’d forgotten to eat.

He raised his head and looked around, then his eyes fell on a restaurant across the road. The sign on its facade read ‘Elite Bite Restaurant’.

“Elite Bite? Why does the name sound so familiar?” he thought.

Then it struck to him why the name sounded so familiar. It was the latest restaurant in the city. All his wealthy class mates used to brag about bringing their girlfriends to eat there. According to them, the least burger there was sold for $10 thousand.

Darren never thought that he would ever have the chance of eating there considering how poor he was. It took him weeks to raise a hundred dollar, if he was to save up to that amount then the maths will be in years.

But now things were different for him.

Clutching his bag, he made his way towards the restaurant.

As he approached, his eyes caught the sight of two beautiful girls standing near the parking lot.

One of them was wearing a long gown that was perfectly tailored to fit her curvy shape. Her long and blonde hair was neatly packed making her look like a goddess of beauty. The other who was almost of the same height, wore a short gown barely reaching her knees. The color of her address matched the heels she was putting on.

Both of the girls were breathtaking. And judging by the impatient look on their faces, it was obvious they were waiting for someone.

Darren recognized them as Linda and her best friend Samantha. They were from the same department as him in the university.

Seeing them, he waved at them and greeted them gladly, “Hello Linda! His Samantha!”

But the response he got wasn’t what he expected. Instead of waving back at him, the two girls abruptly turned and faced the other direction completely backing him

“That’s weird,” he muttered. “Maybe they didn’t see me,” Darren convinced himself.

So instead of going into the restaurant like he was headed, he turned to the parking lot. He didn’t say another word till he was close enough to tap Samantha on her shoulders.

“Hi Sa—”

Before he completed the word, she spun around sharply and delivered a tight slap across his face.

“Are you not ashamed of yourself?” she snapped. “Shouting my name in public like that while wearing those wretched clothes and drawing attention? Don’t you have any dignity?”