Rune System: The Crimson Knight

CHAPTER TWO

“Please don’t fire me, Mr. Bowers. I’ll do better, I promise. Just… please, sir. I really need this job.”

Twenty minutes after the humiliating scene, Dominic found himself on his knees in Fredrick’s cozy office on the upper floor. He’d grabbed his “things”—which only included his backpack containing his hoodie and worn-out jeans—and immediately resorted to begging when he entered the room, failing to recognize his own desperate voice as he knew all too well that he couldn’t afford to lose his job.

On the other hand, Fredrick massaged his temples like he was silently nursing a headache. Moments later, after heaving a sigh, he finally spoke.

“Get off the floor, boy. I didn’t call you in here to have you beg. Nor do I have plans to replace you just yet.”

Wearing a confused frown, Dominic slowly got to his feet. “You’re not… going to fire me?”

“Just because a billionaire’s son asked me to?” Fredrick gave a short laugh. “Hell, no. Now, sit.”

Dominic, still a bit doubtful, gradually settled in the visitor’s chair right in front of Fredrick’s wooden desk. The latter chuckled again as he leaned forward.

“You’ve already met Gregory Embers, although in a way I’m sure you’d like to forget. His father, Gerald Embers, was the founding father of this establishment, along with several other businesses and companies he started later on in his life.”

“Wow,” Dominic mused. “Gerald Embers. I heard he was right up there on the Forbes list of richest people on the planet.”

“Damn right, he was,” Fredrick confirmed. “The bulk of his wealth came from involvement in the tech industry, but he also spread his tendrils across other sectors as well. The food industry being one of them.”

“Wow,” Dominic uttered again. “And Gregory is his son? I had no idea.”

“Stepson, actually,” Fredrick corrected. “But all the same. The hothead is nothing like his father. Nowhere near compassionate or respectful.”

Dominic frowned. “And that’s the person who inherited all of Gerald’s wealth?”

“Not really. See, Gerald died when Gregory was still a child in high school. Plane crash, or so I heard. So his older brother, Lawrence Embers, stepped in to control everything he had. Until Gregory’s twenty-fifth birthday, at least.”

“Oh.” Dominic scratched his messy hair thoughtfully. “Sorry to ask, sir, but why are you telling me all this?”

Fredrick shrugged. “A history lesson you missed since you started working here, I suppose. If you knew all this, perhaps you would’ve recognized him from the start, and avoided him completely.”

For the first time that day, Dominic chuckled lightly. “Now you don’t have to tell me twice. I’ll happily avoid him like a plague.”

“Good boy.”

Dominic’s old digital watch suddenly began to buzz around his wrist. When he glanced at it, his eyes widened slightly. How was it 4:00pm already?

“Somewhere you need to be?” Fredrick inquired.

“Uhm… actually, yes. Should’ve been there five minutes ago, in fact.”

“Then get going. The other waiters can hold down the fort until we close for the day.”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Bowers. I really appreciate it.” He bounded up to his feet and holstered his backpack higher, heading for the door.

“Dominic?”

He spun around immediately. Fredrick was fiddling with the ring on his forefinger, but referring to him when he spoke.

“It wasn’t just about you being a fast learner or a willing worker. You’re a good kid, that’s why I hired you. When men like Gregory trample over everyone and everything they meet, you don’t indulge. Keep your heart golden, kid. You’ll go places, I can tell.”

Dominic didn’t fully understand the manager’s words, but he cherished them regardless. His chest swelled with pride as he nodded to his boss. “I won’t let you down, sir.”

“No, kid. Don’t let yourself down.”

It took Dominic about ten minutes to get to the Grand Palace Hotel downtown. Even when he arrived, his colleague on the same shift had already resumed their valet services, so he wasted no time in swapping his hoodie and jeans for black pants, a red vest, a white shirt, and a black tie.

“Well, you’re early,” his partner, Lucas Daniels, noted with a bit of scorn.

“I was caught up with other… stuff,” Dominic explained vaguely as he straightened his vest. “I got here as fast as I could.”

“Yeah, well not nearly fast enough,” Lucas said, his tanned face wrinkling with frustration. “I had to handle three cars at once—don’t ask me how—and Mr. Hobblestone noticed your absence at one point. I can’t keep on covering for you without making myself look bad, and you know you’re in big trouble if he finds out you have another job.”

“He won’t,” Dominic said stubbornly. “I’ll be more careful. I promise.”

Lucas scoffed. “You better, man. ‘Cause I’m gonna keep my mouth shut, but if you go down, I’m not going down with you.”

Dominic swallowed that piece of information as he squared his shoulders and tried to look as presentable as possible at the entrance to the lavish hotel.

“You two would be the last people I’d hand my keys over to if I were a guest.”

Both Dominic and Lucas glanced at themselves, then they wheeled around, tracing the cheerful voice to their third colleague, Finn Slattery. Wearing the same uniform as the others, the young man skipped through the revolving doors with a red baseball cap over his reddish-brown hair, grinning widely as he threw his legs in a carefree stroll.

“You’re forgetting that you don’t even have a car,” Lucas reminded him.

“Not to mention you’re not old enough to drive one yet,” Dominic supplied.

Finn shrugged, unmoved by their facts. “I’m just saying you two look dull, like cats drenched in the rain. Gotta appear more lively in a public setting like this.”

Lucas stroked the dark stubble underneath his chin thoughtfully. “You seem in a good mood. What’s happening?”

“Unlike you two, I’m always in a good mood,” Finn countered. “But, since you asked nicely…”

He pulled out five one-hundred-dollar notes from his breast pocket and raised them to his face, spreading them out like poker cards.

“Holy shit,” Lucas muttered, wide-eyed. “Did you steal those?”

The freckles across Finn’s face fell as he frowned. “Of course I didn’t. I got a huge tip from one of the guests after I helped him with his luggage to his room. I think he was impressed that someone my age knew quite a lot about airplanes and how they work. Either way, I can go see that movie with Isabel now.”

He turned to Dominic, who still had his eyes glued to the flaunted cash. “What about you, Dom? Have you got anything special planned with Veronica on Valentine’s Day?”

“Uh, well…” He didn’t want to touch on the strain his relationship had been enduring in recent weeks. How she’d basically detached herself ever since her trip to Canada, and how she barely responded to his calls or texts. Clearing his throat, he smiled slightly at Finn. “Hopefully, I won’t be too busy on that day. Otherwise, I suppose we could hang out in the park or something.”

Finn didn’t look impressed.

Lucas, being the single one in the group, couldn’t care less. He gestured towards a vehicle behind Dominic. “Here’s your chance to get busy now. Powder-blue Porsche at nine o’clock. Knock yourself out.”

Dominic turned in the direction he had tilted his head and immediately started descending the marble steps. The classy car was parked right before the last step, with the engine growling smoothly. Dominic stopped two feet away from the vehicle, clasping his hands together as he began to roll out the greeting mantra.

“Welcome to the Grand Palace Hotel, where quality service—”

Dominic’s words suddenly got stuck in his throat as the driver stepped out. Then his face paled considerably.

The driver wore a black turtleneck shirt over plain, gray pants and spotless formal shoes. His hair was styled differently and combed backwards, but Dominic could never forget those cold green eyes that’d shown him unreasonable hatred just hours ago. Dominic prayed silently that he wouldn’t recognize him, but found how useless his wishes were when he halted in his tracks.

“You? Again?” Gregory Embers scowled immediately with clenched fists. “What in the hell are you doing here? Are you following me?”

“No! It’s not… I…” Dominic began to stutter, then he briefly forgot about Gregory’s existence when a young, beautiful woman came out of the passenger seat of the Porsche.

His face fell, he couldn’t remember how to breathe, and even Lucas muttered behind him, “Oh, shit.”

Veronica Grogan, Dominic’s girlfriend, waved limply at him as she shut the door behind her. “Hi, Dom. It’s been a while.”