However, when Aiden thought of King, he remembered the main reason he had come here. He withdrew his gaze that had been fixed on Shermie and walked toward the bar counter.
It was still early, and there weren't many people in the bar, so the bartender behind the counter noticed him right away.
Having received so much money from Aiden yesterday, the bartender's attitude was much better today. She took the initiative to ask, "The same as yesterday?"
Aiden nodded. "Don't add any weird stuff."
"Of course, that's basic professional ethics." The bartender said seriously, then placed a glass of vodka with ice in front of him.
Taking a sip, Aiden looked around and frowned. "Didn't you say your boss would come today?"
"The boss came by this morning, she signed a contract with her. So she might be coming a little later tonight." The bartender pointed at Shermie, who was sitting on the small stage performing.
"I see." Aiden relaxed his brow, then turned slightly to look back at Shermie again.
After watching for a bit, the bartender suddenly said, "Her's is really big, huh."
"Cough, what did you just say?" Aiden almost choked on his drink, turning his head in surprise to see the bartender propping her chin in her hands, looking at Shermie with open envy.
"When Shermie went up to sing just now, every guy who came in to drink tried to chat her up. Some even offered to buy her drinks," the bartender continued.
Aiden shrugged. "That's normal."
"Yeah, human nature. After all, with a figure like that, what man wouldn't like her?" The bartender grinned, tilting her head toward Aiden.
"You're not gonna go flirt with her? You're so generous, it shouldn't be hard for you to win her over. She's really short on cash, you know."
"I'm not that kind of person."
"And she's not that kind of shallow woman, either." Aiden pointed toward Shermie on the stage.
Well, that might not be true, people can change. The bartender grumbled in her head.
She herself had only started treating Aiden better after he gave her money.
Still, she didn't want to continue that topic, so she switched to another one.
"That girl from yesterday, well, I guess I can call her a girl, but wow, her figure was amazing. Almost like Shermie's. By the way, why didn't she come today? I remember she said she'd be coming."
"She got held up." Aiden turned his head slightly as he answered, no longer looking at Shermie, it wasn't polite to stare at someone for too long.
"Oh."
And with that, the bartender had nothing more to say.
After all, their relationship was simple, bartender and customer. There wasn't much to talk about.
At that moment, the bar's music stopped. The few people inside began to clap, and Aiden joined in. To be honest, Shermie's singing was really quite good. Her voice was naturally sweet and not the least bit pretentious, it just sounded effortless.
That's why Aiden couldn't figure out why the Heaven's Gate band's lead singer was Chris. If Shermie were the lead instead, Iori Yagami wouldn't have had to fight them for fame later.
After finishing the song, Shermie took a sip of water and adjusted her guitar. She was actually more skilled with a keyboard, but for live gigs like this, a guitar suited the mood better.
She looked around the bar, feeling a little annoyed. Why wasn't anyone requesting songs?
Though some people had offered to buy her drinks earlier, she was a singer, not a hostess, so she had flatly refused.
But now it seemed those people were more interested in her than in her singing.
"Humans really are shallow," Shermie muttered with a faint, sarcastic smile.
Still, she didn't care much. She'd already signed her contract and agreed on a base salary. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to fill her belly and feed her little pet hamster.
The only downside was that she'd have to postpone buying the new gaming console she wanted, and it was about time to renew her rent again.
"How annoying. A thousand years ago, you could just pick a spot and build a house," she sighed.
She knew that with her looks and talent, she could easily earn much more performing in big bars. But she truly disliked men, or rather, she held hostility toward all humans.
Because of her exaggerated figure and striking beauty, she was always harassed. Even when she spoke flirtatiously or acted playfully, that wasn't her true nature.
That was why she chose this clearly rundown little bar. Sure, she still got harassed sometimes, but at least not as much.
As she thought about this, Shermie lifted her head and glanced around again. Almost everyone was sneaking glances at her, except for one man sitting at the bar, drinking quietly.
Her gaze lingered briefly on his back before moving away.
Then she lowered her head and lazily plucked her guitar strings, just to pass the time.
Right then, a waitress hurried over to her.
"Shermie, someone requested a song."
As she spoke, the waitress handed her a stack of cash.
Even though it was only Shermie's first day, her figure and looks made it impossible for anyone to ignore her, even among the all-female staff.
Hearing someone had requested a song, Shermie lifted her head, but when she saw the bills in the waitress's hand, she frowned slightly. "This much? Are you sure that person really just wants a song, and not for me to go keep him company?"
The waitress was holding a wad of 500-euro notes, she wasn't sure exactly how many, but there had to be at least ten. That was three times Shermie's base pay, so she had to ask.
If there were any ulterior motives, no amount of money would make her agree.
"I just asked, he really only wants to hear a song," the waitress said, glancing back toward the bar, where Aiden was sitting. She'd been just as surprised when he handed her the money.
Following her gaze, Shermie saw the man sitting with his back to the stage, drinking quietly.
She frowned. Was he trying to act mysterious? Or pretending to be deep? Either way, since he hadn't made any inappropriate requests, she'd treat him as a decent person.
Besides, she needed the money. So she asked, "What song does he want to hear?"
"He said 'anything.'"
"Anything?"
"Yeah, that's exactly what he said." The waitress shrugged helplessly, as if to say she didn't get it either.
Shermie frowned again. Spending that much money just to say "anything", was this guy stupidly rich?
"Forget it. I'll just sing a few songs to make it worth it." She muttered under her breath.
Normally, singers charged per song, but since he'd paid so much, she figured she should make it feel fair.
She took the cash, tossed it into her guitar case, thought for a moment, and chose a slow, emotional song to start with.
At the bar, the bartender found a new topic. "You should've given it to her in smaller amounts. Usually, live singers take payment per song. Five thousand euros, split it up, and you could've had her singing all night."
"It's fine. If I want to hear more, I'll just give her another five thousand," Aiden said casually. To him, money was the least valuable thing.
And that sentence immediately ended the conversation.
The bartender went back to wiping glasses, muttering bitterly to herself about how nice it must be to have money.
Listening to Shermie's sweet voice, Aiden thought her singing went pretty well with his drink. Beautiful things always made people feel good.
Soon, Shermie finished her song. The audience applauded again. But as soon as the clapping stopped, another song began.
Just as Aiden was reaching for his wallet again, surprised that the music had started back up, he asked, "Didn't you say one song per payment?"
"Maybe you gave her too much, and she feels bad about it?" the bartender guessed uncertainly.
But one thing she was sure of now, the thing Aiden said yesterday about taking their boss to make big money was definitely true.
Even if he didn't enter the KOF tournament, hiring him as a bodyguard wouldn't be a bad idea. Their boss was skilled, but running a bar seemed like a waste of talent.
Too bad their boss hated dressing up. Otherwise…
Thinking of her boss's usual androgynous look, the bartender shook her head. How was that woman ever going to get married?
Come to think of it, the bartender had seen her boss in women's clothes once, when she dressed up for her younger brother's birthday. She'd swapped her bartender outfit for a dress, and that's when the bartender realized how good her boss's figure actually was.
Long legs, slim waist, no worse than a top Victoria's Secret model.
She always thought her boss was wasting her looks. If she had that kind of body and face, she'd have married a rich man ages ago instead of working hard to make ends meet.
The bartender started daydreaming.
But she was quickly interrupted by a voice.
"Where's the bathroom?" Aiden asked, phone in hand. He didn't really need to use it, he'd just gotten a call from Helena and needed somewhere quiet to answer.
"Over there! Go in that way, all the way to the end." The bartender pointed in one direction.
"Thanks." Aiden nodded to her and walked off with his phone.
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