Rainie Yang is stuck in a colorless world with too many responsibilities and spent her whole life wanting special to happen. She doesn’t know what it is until she landed a job as a bartender-waitress in a high class lounge. It was perfect: a high wage to lessen her burden and fixes her problems at home. Her colorless world begins to fade when she meets her wickedly, charming, dream man.Ken Zhu is the part-owner of the lounge and former bad boy. He has many moral rules. One of them is that he doesn’t employ someone he has been intimate with. And he lets Rainie know that and did it quite loudly. However, Rainie fights for her job with sass and Ken challenges her that if she gets in his bed one more time, she loses her job. The clash between an employer and employee begins and, as always, alls fair in love and war.*******Barbie Hsu is a bookstore owner and has wild hair like a vixen. Ever since she was little, she has secretly pined after her childhood neighbor. But she has a secret: the reason why she stood up her neighbor four years ago and changed herself 360 degrees. She planned to come around him and pursue her dream man when she is emotionally and mentally ready but, too late, he found and cornered her first.Vic Zhou is now a hot badass and part-owner of the lounge. He walked into the bookstore, took one look at Barbie 2.0, and knew she’s hiding something. She is no longer the sweet and funny girl he knew but instead she is all attitude and unpredictable; and Vic doesn’t know why. He is having none of it and will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. The battle of the Bad Ass and Superfox begins, but Vic has the advantage and is not afraid to use it.*******Both Barbie and Rainie are determined to stay away from their dream man until they overcome their own battles. But the perfect plan is flawed. During the encounters, Rainie lets it all out and shows Ken that she is exactly who he is looking for. Meanwhile, Barbie’s relatives comes into town and all secrets are revealed, leaving her to deal with the consequences mainly because Vic isn’t giving her a choice. ForewordNightingale. The deep scarlet lettering on a black background in the huge sign on the top of the place. The slightly tinted windows hid the interior designs as well as shielding the daylight from entering the three-story building. There were a motorcycle and a sedan parked in the parking lot as a silver vehicle pulled into the edge of the lot.The engine of the car turned off and a petite woman with long, mahogany locks, pale lavender blouse and black pants, and nude low-pump heels sat patiently. She looked out the window to her left. In it was a sign that said, "Help Wanted." In the space below the sign printed, "Waitress and/or Bartender."The woman took a deep breath, exhaled, got out the car, and walked to the big double doors. Pausing at the doors, she held her head high, took another deep breath to calm her nerves down, and walked into the lounge.Evidently, Nightingale was a high-end lounge for it had a beautiful interior design. The tables were ivory with gold linings and the velvet red chairs that screamed comfortable and classy. It surrounded the huge dance floor. Against the walls were mahogany booths and round red oak tables.In front of her was the bar. Black granite counters with beautiful fish tanks on the bottom and lovely black metal bar stools. Behind the bar was a woman with black short hair and choppy bangs, cleaning the wine glasses.She looked up at the petite female standing ridiculously awkward near the entrance, "We open at two, Miss --""Rainie Yang.""Well Miss Yang, we arent open until two.""Um....actually, Im here about a job position."For a second, there was silence as Rhiannas song, Stay, played softly in the background.The black-hair womans eyes narrowed, "Look, Im not finding this funny; Ive got things to do."Rainie looked around her and saw that she actually didnt have much to do. Everything seems clean and well organized. She looked at the woman again, "Seriously, Id like to apply for the position."The short hair woman stayed quite for a while and took the moment of silence to study Rainie. She slowly placed down another wine glass onto the counter as a man walked in with a crate of beer.This man had with shoulder length brown hair, black faded jeans, and a white tee. He looked between the short hair woman and Rainie, positioned the crate on the bar, and turned to the woman with black hair. "Ella, is this one of your cousins?"Ella kept her eyes on Rainie and replied, “Hell no.”The guy burst into a loud laugh, walked to Rainie, putting his hand out to her. "Ryan Tang."He smiles at Rainie and looked into her eyes. His muscular biceps stretch his sleeve as his dimple flashed. For some reason, instead of making him look like a dreamy man with heart melting dimples, it made him look a little goofy.Rainie stared at his hand for a bit and shook it, "Nice to meet you, Ryan. Im Rainie."He gave her a firm squeeze, released her hand, and returned his attention to Ella. "Oh my, she got etiquette.""Shut up, Ryan," Ella growled. "Shes here for a job."Ryan returned his gaze to Rainie, "Bartender or Waitress?"Before Rainie could answer, Ella interrupted, "Doesnt matter." Ella walked around the counter to Rainie and leaned into her. "Girl, take this as me doing you a favor. People around here will eat you alive. Go back into your car and drive to the other end of the town. Women like you got no business in Nightingale.""Women like me?""Women who look for thrill. For adventure.""Not to be rude," Rainie leaned in and spoke in a low tone, "but you don’t know anything about me. Im not some girl looking to live a night life, thinking I could wear nice looking clothes, finding some high-end lounge to let loose so I could hook up a guy with deep pockets. In the end, me and him will fall in love and live happily ever after.”Ella remained silent as Rainie continued, "Im here for a job because Ive worked at a restaurant-bar before and believe the pay here is better than my last job. I have a sick mother and two younger siblings to take care of. I need and want this job. I know I can do a pretty damn good job at serving drinks to customers and feel good about myself for working hard and bringing home enough money to have somewhat a comfortable life. Im not looking for an adventure or thrill or anything special. Im content with working hard, and finding a way to my life as I see fit.""Well, Ill be damned," Ryan muttered.Rainie didnt look away from Ella and ignoring him. "Can you give me that?"Ella stood back as her face went blank and stayed that way for a long time. Then she said, "Im Ella Chen. Let’s get you started with the application." Afterwards, she walked away.Ryan smiled as he looked at Rainie, "Welcome to Nightingale, Rainie." ******* Rainie sat down at the sofa in the bookstore, waiting for her best friend to finish assisting her last customer. She glanced around the bookstore.The atmosphere is not like Barnes and Noble or Starbucks. It is cozy and warm. There were beige walls along geometric designs rugs on top of the light brown hardwood floors. Also, there is a mini cafe on the far right side with espresso machines, small round tables, and wooden chairs with soft cushions.Rainie looks at her best friend.Long, black locks flowing down to her mid-back. She had on denim skinny jeans with a floral tank top to go with her brown leather boots.She is the owner of the bookstore. It was her grandmothers bookstore. However, she died when Rainies best friend was 18 and handed the deed to the bookstore. Rainies best friend kept the original name, Pandora, while re-polishing the store in order to keep its original style.The only thing changed was the additional mini cafe. The theme of this place was cozy, relaxing, and homey. So, by adding the mini cafe, it would create a warmer atmosphere.Rainie looks back at her best friend as she heard the last customer and owner exchange their goodbyes and her best friend waltz around the register counter.Rainies best friend approached her with a bright smile and asked, "So did you get the position or what?"Rainie nodded, receiving a huge bear hug from her friend."Gee, Barbie. Let me breathe."Barbie let her best friend go and said, "Im so happy for you. Do you know how difficult it is to get into that lounge as a customer? Never mind an employee." She paused. "Let me go lock up and we can go out to celebrate."Rainie walked behind Barbie, following her out towards the doors, "Ive got to stop by there to get my work schedule."Barbie punched in her alarm and strolled out of the doors with her best friend. "You know, you could work for me and Im closer to your home. You dont have to travel another 15 minutes to the club.""Bee, you know I need the wage they are willing to pay me and it wouldnt feel right if you pay me double the amount you give your employees. I would only feel right if I worked extra-long hours and we both know I dont have the time for that."Barbie shook her head and said, "Who is going to look out for mom and your siblings when youre doing shifts?""Ive talked to Nancy and she is willing to stay over on my shifts."Nancy is the best friend of Rainies mom. They have lived down the street for decades and Nancy is like Rainies aunt. Rainies mom had a stroke a year ago and ever since, Rainie, her siblings and Nancy had begun taking turns taking care of Rainies mom."Okay. If you need me to do anything, just call me," Barbie announced."Well... I do need someone to help me eat dinner tonight with mom," Rainie laughed. ******* "Dammit Ella, maybe you should talk to me before you hire some sorry-ass, amateur, little girl to work here," said a deep, masculine voice."Well, excuse me, Ken, I believe you hired me as manager for the first floor. So, I believe I have a say in who I hire," Ella retorted.Ken looked between her and Ryan. Then his eyes narrowed on Ella again. "Id like to run background check on this girl. Vic and I need to make sure all of our employees qualify in socializing and serving our customers."Ryan looked at Ken patiently, "I think Rainie will do fine. Her employment records indicate skills in servicing customers. You dont need to worry.""And Vic wouldnt care as long as she does her job and not sleep with her co-workers or employers," Ella replied. "God knows we have enough of that."Ken looked at his friend, Vic, for a response. Vic placed his hand under his chin as an indication of him pondering about the situation.When Ken and Vic first opened Nightingale together, countless individuals would apply for a job for many reasons from hoping to sleep with a co-worker or employer to wanting to bring in illegal substances and sell them. This made the two men set up many procedures and precautions in order to ensure the satisfaction of their customers and have a great environment for an amazing time.Finally, Vic set his hand down and looked at his partner, "Lets give her a trial. The annual Wus Gala is this weekend." He nods his head at his employees, "You two will be in charge of training her and getting her prepped for the gala. She will be pulling a double shift from her first day until the gala and --""Thats insane! Shes got a sick mother and younger siblings to take care of, Vic!" Ryan interrupted.Vic ignored Ryan and continued, "And if her performance is up to par, she can stay. Also, her wages will be half of what she would normally get and tips."Ken smirked in agreement with his co-owner. "Then it is settled." His eyes landed on Ella, who has been more quiet than usual. "We good?"Again, Ella stayed silent as she looked at Ryan, Vic, and Ken. After a few beats, she smiled slyly. "Yup, were good." ******* “Thanks for giving me a ride on my first day,” Rainie said, and got out of the car, turned, and waved at her best friend.Barbie smiled brightly and said, “No problem. I’ll give you a ride anytime your car breaks down. Have fun at your first day!”“Later, dollface!”Rainie walked through the lounge’s doors and instead of hearing Rihanna’s song, Stay, in the background, Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis filled the place. Instead of just seeing Ella and Ryan as she did her first time visiting the lounge, there were a few other people. A tall male with choppy brown hair wiping down the tables, a petite woman with dark red medium length hair mopping the dance floors, and a super hunky guy with short hair writing things down in a notebook.Again, looking around probably in an awkward manner, she was hoping to find Ella.The super hunky guy looked up at Rainie and grinned, “You must be Rainie.” He closed the notebook and strolled towards her. “I’m Danson Tang, Ryan’s brother. Ry and El are having their daily meeting. They’ll be right out; in the meantime, let me introduce you to two of our staffs in the first shift.”He guides her to the red-head and introduce them. “Rainie, this is Ariel. She’s our waitress, one of the best.” He winks at Ariel.“Hi, Rainie. Don’t listen to Danson. He’s a flirt and flatters everyone.” Ariel shook her head at him and Danson laughed loudly, guiding Rainie on to the choppy hair male.“This is Jiro. He is one of our bartenders and Ariel’s boyfriend.”Jiro looks at Rainie, “Hey. This is your first day?” Rainie nodded as he wiped down the table. “You bartend or serving?”Rainie paused. “I could do whatever, really.”Jiro raised his eyebrow, “Really?” He swung the towel over his shoulder and waved to Rainie with his index finger as he walked toward the bar. “Whip me something.”Rainie blinked and laughed, “Alright.”She strolled around the bar and grabbed two bottle of liquor and some random sour mix. She put them in a shaker along with ice, holds the shaker in both hands, with one hand on top and one supporting the base, and give short, sharp, snappy shakes. Danson and Ariel gather around the bar as Ella and Ryan watched from afar.As Rainie shakes the drink, she moved gracefully to grab a highball glass, and pour the drink. She places the glass in front of Jiro and smiled, “Enjoy.”Jiro lifts up the glass and spin the glass to test out the quality of drink. He looked hesitantly before giving it a sip. He puts the glass down and stared at Rainie for quite some time.Ariel looked between her boyfriend and Rainie, losing patience. “Well?! What does it taste like?”Rainie leaned back as Jiro leaned forward. Completely ignoring everyone else in the room, Jiro chuckled, “That’s one hell of a Kamikaze.”Ariel squealed and Rainie broke into a smile. Ella and Ryan looked at each other with a knowing smile.Then, Danson turned around and said, “Oh look who decided to join the party.”Everyone else turned towards Danson and saw the two managers. Rainie stood up straight and greeted them. Ella smiled and Ryan waved at Rainie.“Alright people, start prepping for tonight. We’ve got --” Ryan looked at the wall clock, “One hour before doors open.” He looked at the crew in front of him, “Where is the rest of you people?”Silence.“Never mind,” He turned to his brother, “Dan, phone the rest of the staff and get an update of where they are at. If any of them cannot make it, get the second shift to pull in.”Ella glared at Ryan and muttered, "We need to evaluate our employees."Danson put up his thumb and smiled, “You got it, dude.” He turned around to Jiro and Ariel, “Get working!”The three scrabble to work as Ella turned to Rainie, “Follow us to the office.”Ella walked past the bar and dance floor, towards the left wing of the club, and opened the door as Ryan and Rainie followed behind.Ryan whispered, “Don’t mind El. She acts like she’s tough but she’s a big softie.”Rainie smiled slightly and nodded.Ella sat down as Ryan took a seat next to her while Rainie sat in front of her two managers.Ella looked at Rainie, “Okay. I know today is your first day and after seeing the way you move around the bar, I know I’m not wrong about hiring you. But, we have a situation. Since, we did not give you a probationary period for training; we cannot pay you $20 an hour. It’s in our regulations. So, we will have to just give you a $10 wage base.”Deep breaths, Rainie, deep breaths. Probationary period shouldn’t last so long, Rainie thought as she stared at Ella in shock.“However,” Ryan intervened, “another new is we have a huge event this Saturday so your probationary period will intensify because you will be pulling double shifts. We have two types of hours."Rainie looked puzzled, "Really?"Ella nodded, "The first is regular operating hours. We open from 2pm to 4am. Day shift is from one to nine with a 30-minute break. Night shift is from nine to five with a 30-minute break. The second type is the event hours. It varies depending on the event."Ryan smiled, "The upcoming event is the Wus Gala. Do you know anything about it?"Rainie shook her head as Ella sighed."Thats okay," Ella replied. "Its an annual event in the spring where lots of high class members show up. So, it is expected that we do real good at providing them a wonderful time at Nightingale.""Or we lose a client an it becomes bad PR for the lounge," Rainie interrupted.Ryan chuckled, "Smart. Very quick on catching cues."Ella continued, "For this event, there are three shifts. First shift is from the 10am to 6pm with a 30-minute break for set up. Second shift is from 6pm to 2am with another 30-minute break. Last shift is from 2am to 10am, with a 45-minute break. Normally, this event is from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. so the remaining hours are where the crew cleans up and count inventory. The faster the clean-up and inventory is taken care of, the quicker it is for the staff to go home.”Ryan looked at gently, "Perks about Nightingale is that we close down the lounge for the next business."That event is a week from today; my bills are due in 5 days…Oh man, oh man, Rainie pondered.“Rainie,” Ella said, grabbing Rainie’s attention again, “I know it is a lot to ask. But you need to work many hours with very little breaks. But I’m going to try to accommodate you. If you can get here immediately and get to work, I’ll let you off a few hours early, so you can sleep and take care of your family.”“Okay." Rainie took a moment to ponder, "Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I will be here by 10. And Tuesdays and Thursdays, I will be here by 12. On weekends, I will be here at 1.”Ryan began to clap his hands, “Excellent. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, you will get off by 11. Tuesdays and Thursdays, you will be off by midnight. How does that sound?”“Great.”“Don’t worry, we will compensate for the other 10 dollars an hour into your tip,” Ryan said quietly as if it was a secret. “So, technically, you will be getting your 20 dollars per hour.”“But if I hear from anyone that you get a full wage and less hours, we will have a talk,” Ella warned. Her eyes met Rainie’s and held it for a few moments, “Are we clear?”“Crystal,” Rainie said with a huge smile.Thank you, God, she thought.“Alright,” Ryan declared happily, “You will be on El’s floor, bartending for the first two hours and servicing the last two. When your first shift ends, you come to me and we’ll set you up on my floor, which is for the predominantly lounging and karaoke.” ******* Sitting in the office at Pandora, Barbie took a bite of her spicy tuna rolls whereas Rainie ate her pasta salad. Barbie turned to Rainie and took some of her food, “I cannot believe they are making you pull double shifts this whole week for that huge event.”Rainie shrugged.“Yeah, I know. But, hey, the tips are great. I made just a little over 400 last night. That should help me pay off my utilities bill and get this week’s groceries and next week’s.”“Guess who I just hired yesterday after you left yesterday?”Rainie shot her eyebrows up, “Who?”“Your sister and Jennifer Zhou,” Barbie said in a low, quiet tone.Rainie eyes widened and exclaimed, “Zhou?! As in Vic Zhou’s sister?! As in once your neighbor, Vic Zhou?! The guy you fell in love with since you were eight?!”“The one and only, apparently. The world is so small,” Barbie declared, “and keep your voice down. Today’s her first day!”“Did she recognize you?”“No,” Barbie muttered. “I was fatty, fat, fat Barbie when she last saw me, which was like five years ago.”“And you were not ‘fatty, fat, fat.’ There is nothing with some cushion for a real man to grab,” Rainie announced.“Woman, I lost 65 pounds to be where I am now.”“Still doesn’t qualify ‘fatty, fat, fat’ since you was not fat!” Rainie decided to change the subject before they debate about what was ‘fatty, fat, fat.’ “So, what are they working as?”“Well, they are both baristas and cashiers.”Before Rainie could respond, a knock came at the door, and briefly, after Barbie said to come in, Rainie’s sister popped her black colored head in. She looked at Rainie, gave a chin lift, and greeted, “Yo, Rainie.” Then gazed towards Barbie and acknowledged her with, “Heyy-yo.  Just got in and there’s a Jennifer out there wanting to see you.”Barbie swallowed her sushi and Rainie laughed loudly. Barbie took a second to steady herself and announced, “Thanks Jessica, I’ll be right out. You should go start on making those drinks.”“Okie-doke,” Jessica said, closing the door behind her.Rainie glanced over at her best friend with a huge smile, “This should be interesting especially when Vic Zhou pops into this place.”Barbie glared at Rainie, “I’m getting a best friend divorce,” earning a huge laugh from her best friend.