Appointments || DNF

chapter eight ✤

George and Dream jumped apart. It was one of the waiters who had wheeled the table into the room. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the two of them but said nothing.

Dream picked up his apron which he had thrown onto the floor and quickly tied it around his waist. Then both he and George left the small room and walked into the kitchen. Neither of them said a word to each other.

In the kitchen there were now about seven other people, all with white aprons tied around their waists. The girl with red hair was starting to give out orders, it was clear that she was the one in charge.

It wasn't long before both Dream and George had trays in their hands. George's tray had a bottle of tequila and four shot glasses, while Dream had champagne on his.

They walked out of the kitchen together, down a corridor and then into the main room. The main room was huge and everything about it screamed money, old money. There was only one table, a large round one and it was positioned in the centre of the room.

Around the large table was a group of men, around twenty altogether. Dream and George separated; Dream was to take the champagne to the men on the left of the table while George was supposed to go to the right.

As George got closer to the table, he realised that the men seated around it were gambling. 

They were waitressing men playing a game. 

The table was littered with chips, cards and dice, which made it hard for George to lay down the glasses and pour the drinks without spilling anything.

As George poured drink after drink, topping up glasses of men who had drunk the liquor only seconds ago, he watched Dream who was opposite him. He wanted to get Dream's attention, he wanted a smile, a nod, a wink, anything at all.

But Dream was focused on pouring out the champagne, not on George.

Most of the men weren't interested in champagne so Dream left heading back for the kitchen. George had to stay out longer; the men were much more interested in the tequila.

Once the bottle was finished George headed back into the kitchen. Other waiters had come out carrying different drinks on their trays but Dream hadn't come out and George wanted to know where he was.

As soon as he entered the kitchen his eyes darted from person to person trying to seek Dream out, he wasn't there though. The girl with red hair shoved another tray into his hands. This time it had a bottle of gin on it, something George knew was going to be popular around the table.

He walked back to the main room and started serving out the gin. Suddenly Caden, the man who was supposedly running this whole event, waved him over. George could feel himself start to sweat.

The red-haired girl had told them before they had started handing out drinks not to talk to any of the guests, she made it clear that they wouldn't want to speak to the waiters.

Caden held out his little glass and George began to pour gin into it, stopping when Caden raised his other hand.

With a single finger, Caden then motioned for George to come closer so he could speak to him. George bent down, bringing his ear closer.

"Things are going well for me George, you might all be leaving here with a lot of cash." Caden whispered.

George didn't know how to respond; he was scared to talk, so he didn't. He nodded his head and then continued to pour gin into empty glasses that needed refilling.

When George went back into the kitchen, the bottle of gin being empty, he was immediately sent out again, this time to pick up any glasses that had been abandoned or needed cleaning. There were empty glasses everywhere.