One

Chapter 01

Ethan holds the tray of the glass cup and wine in his hands tightly,he releases a deep breath and tries not to let his nervousness get the best of him.

He joins the other staff and they all stride down to the meeting hall. He didn’t feel so good about this but what can he do? He’s in charge of serving the section.

The hall door opens wide and he leads the staff in with the drinks and foods in their hands.

“Welcome to Trump international hotel, Here is the order you place” Ethan bowed his head with a clean handkerchief in his hand at the bottom of the wine bottle.

He bent the wine slightly and poured the young man a few.

It’s a business meeting going on between five businessmen and women.Among those women is his wife Jones Gracie.

He bowed his head and gently put the wine bottle in an ice bowl.Ethan could feel eyes on him but he decided to ignore and focus on his work.

He didn’t want to cause trouble for his wife again and he doesn’t want to be looked down on by his wife's boss and colleagues too.

“Isn’t he your husband? I almost couldn’t recognize him for a while” Mr Augustus asked Gracie.

She cleared her throat slightly and glance at Ethan, she really do not wish to be acknowledged as his wife at that moment, 

“Sure”  Her replies are quick yet faint, she knows lying won’t help because her boss knows him so well.

Ethan realises what was about to happen and quickly wants to walk out with the other staff.

“Mr Jones,Stay and have a drink with us” Mr Augustus said before he could walk out, Ethan halted and swallowed hard.

“I really do not think that’s necessary sir?” Elsa, Gracie's best friend, speaks up before things get even more awkward.

“What do you mean not necessary? I’m just trying to be nice to my business partner husband and I don’t think that should be an issue” Mr Augustus snorts.

“Sir, I think we should just let him be since he’s still in his working hours and he’s really not needed here” Gracie quickly said, She knows her boss so well.

He’s far from being nice, especially with his choice of words.

“Come on Gracie! You know how important this Contract is, right? Let’s not delay it and let him just have his seat already” Mr Augustus said frankly giving no room for another opinion.

Ethan realises he really does not have a choice than to sit with them and he won’t want his wife to lose any important deal because of him.

He swallows his dry throat and takes his seat beside his wife gently, he’s been quiet knowing he might just add to the fire and so he remains quiet but eventually he is unable to escape.

Gracie has always wanted to avoid this kind of situation but only gets worse each time, the meeting is a high stake contract and she can’t afford to lose it.

Mr Augustus is not an easy man to deal with and she knows that as well, Ethan felt very uncomfortable to even lift up a glass of water to his mouth.

“It’s really unexpected to meet you here, I mean you working as a waiter is unexpected and unbelievable too” Mr Augustus laughed. 

Ethan looked down at his fingers trying not to raise his brows up to his face, He already felt uneasy and too low sitting among them.

“Tell me really, Why are you working as a waiter? I did hear that Gracie married a pauper but I never expected someone that is not qualified for a decent job, " Mr Augustus says.

The other staff except Elsa and Gracie ended up laughing while some chuckles and some seize him up in his cheap clothes.

Ethan was quiet. He felt like the man's intentions were really to mock him after all and he should have turned down the offer immediately and walked away before it got worse.

“We should talk about the business sir,” Elsa said, trying to take away the awkward atmosphere.

“Business? That’s been unfair to Gracie's husband, the waiter. How is he supposed to understand? Is he even educated?” Mr Augustus asked.

Most of the meeting holders couldn’t hold in their laughter anymore, “He does look too poor I will say” , Mr Augustus' close men said frankly.

“That’s true,” Another lady agrees.

Ethan holds his hands tightly under the table and tries not to break down with their words, it’s starting to get too much for Gracie to bear.

If only the contract is not important, She tried not to let it show that he’s her husband yet this happened.

Ethan keeps staring at the glass of water before him while they laugh and joke at him.

“I felt like I made a mistake letting someone of a lower class to sit with us now, I shouldn’t have allowed that and now I’m afraid his cheap perfume will contaminate mine” Mr Augustus said with his scornful voice.

Ethan was about to burst at that moment and wanted to stand up from the table, Elsa and Gracie couldn’t say anything.

Stopping Mr Augustus will only make things worse and it’s even as worse as it is already, Just till this meeting ends and she will breathe.

Ethan wonders why the man had to be like that, it’s not like he wants to be like this too, just the circumstances of life that have brought him down.

Does he feel happy looking down on him this way and turning a man like him into a laughing stock?He's not really surprised by his words.

Ethan felt that just because he’s rich and he is not doesn’t mean he could rub it on his face that he's a classless man.

All this because his wife wants a contract from him, his leg starts shaking and his head refuses to leave the glass cup in front of him.

“I have finished the wine, Come pour me more wine” Mr Augustus said and Ethan was forced to raise his head up this time.

“You shouldn’t be looking at me that way Mr Jones, It’s your work and you could have been out there bowing your heads to more people better than you are” Mr Augustus said plainly.

The rest of them laughed heartily.

`That's right,he just saved you some stress.He's probably been lazy all his life and that’s why he didn’t make it in life till now”Another man said, causing the rest of them to laugh.

T.B.C