Tangled By Fate

"Here's the wine you ordered, gentlemen," a girl was seen gently trudging toward a table full of men while serving the customers white wine. She was holding a serving tray filled with several glasses of white wine.

One of the drunk customers glanced at the new girl. "Oh, a new face. Babe, what do they call you?"

"Everyone calls me Ver…" the girl halted before she uttered her full name. 'I shouldn't tell my name to strangers. What if it causes a problem later?' She thought about it and said no more.

The man exclaimed, "Ver? What an unusual name! So, Ver, where do you live?"

"Ah, I live around. Please excuse me. I have to serve other customers," saying that, Veronica quickly left that room.

After coming out of the room, she leaned against the cold wall and let out a deep breath. 'That was close,' she thought. 'I have to be more careful next time.' She reminded herself to be careful and turned around to leave. However, she bumped into someone.

Veronica's heart nearly flew out of her chest. Her legs almost gave out in nervousness. She panicked and quickly bowed to apologize, "I'm very sorry. It won't happen again. Please forgive me."

The man in front of her said nothing. He looked at her in silence for a while before letting out a low growl. "Hmm."

Only after that man walked past her, did she raise her head again. She didn't dare to look behind. She served a few more customers before excusing herself to take a short break.

However, she faced trouble even before she could fully enjoy this short break of hers.

She was serving drinks in the casino when a customer called out for her, "Pretty girl, are you new here?"

Veronica was started and glanced in the direction of the sound. She saw a customer was sitting there alone. His dress-up made her think that he was rich. She carefully stepped forward and answered his question nervously, "Y-yes."

The man was drinking and playing cards alone. No one bothered him either. As if he liked to have a quiet time on his own. His eyes shone as he heard her reply, "Goodness, no wonder I've never seen you here before. I like your eyes. Gorgeous! What's your name?"

Observing his jolly attitude, she relaxed her shoulders. She didn't notice that she was holding her breath. "My name is Ver."

The man commented, "Your name is unusual too! Well, no one actually uses a real name here. I like your name. It's unique."

'Eeh? No one uses a real name here? But why? Name is one's identity. They should proudly announce their names.' Veronica pondered and but then had a second thought, 'Who am I kidding? I'm also using my nickname here. I guess, it's better to have another name in a place like this.'

"Don't just stand there, sit," the man suddenly told her.

Veronica quickly replied, "Ah, I'm sorry. I'm not allowed to join with the customers at the table." The maidens who dressed her up, told her all the things that they were allowed to do. She had to maintain them so long as she was working here.

The man objected to her claim, "That's not true! If a customer asks for some company, Morina's maids accompany us all the time. You can ask others if you want."

Veronica looked at other maids and they slightly nodded to confirm his claim. Only after that, she said, "Then, I'll accompany our customer but I cannot sit during work. I'm sorry."

The man didn't seem displeased at all. "Stubborn girl but I like it. Since you won't sit, drink with me."

"Drink? What drink?" Veronica asked.

"This is red wine. It's one of the expensive ones. Since you joined today, let's have your welcome party by drinking. Come on, drink up!" The man shoved a glass full of red wine toward her.

She looked at the red colored drink and inquired, "…Am I allowed?" In her heart, she was excited to try this new juice. The juice she drank before was so tasty. She wouldn't mind tasting another drink.

"Of course, I already paid for it. Drink up!" The man encouraged her.

With great interest, she chugged the red wine. She finished the whole glass in one gulp. The sweetness washed over her mouth and gave her a jolting surprise.

The customer spoke in a concerned tone, "Hey, Ver, are you okay? You shouldn't have drunk so much. If you don't have tolerance, you will become drunk…"

Right after he said that, her head swirled as if the world was spinning around her. "Huh?" She abruptly stood up and glanced at her hand. She was seeing everything double.

The man was really worried, "Ver, are you okay? Maybe you need some rest."

However, Veronica didn't hear him. In her drunken state, she walked away. Sometimes, she collided with someone but she didn't bother with them. She found the balcony not too far away and headed in that direction. She took some deep breaths and inhaled oxygen. Fresh oxygen helped her to slightly clear her head.

While she was standing on the balcony to get some fresh air, someone grabbed her waist from behind. She yelped in surprise at the sudden assault.

In her panic, she lost her footing and her back clashed against another body. She looked behind only to find a drunk man standing too close for her comfort if she could say.

The man's face was flushed and he smelt like the drink she drunk a few moments ago. She looked closely and noticed that it was the same man who offered her a drink.

"Umm…." She was confused and didn't know what was happening.

The man spoke in a slurred tone, "You pretty girl… you should know what it means when a man offers you drink and you drink it."

"Huh? What does that mean? I don't kn…" She couldn't finish her words before she was practically dragged by him. She frantically looked around but could not find anyone who could help her.