★NINA★
"Oi! Can I get a cleaner for this table, please?"
I didn't know where the sound came from, but I still yelled in response, "Sure! Give me a few seconds, please!"
I quickly cleaned the table and scurried around the tiny bar/restaurant, looking for whoever needed the cleaning. I found an old man waving with a smile on his face and approached him.
"Oh, someone's made a mess," I joked, and he chuckled. I leaned down, using the rag in my hand to gently wipe the beer off the table so it wouldn’t land on him.
"Oh, aren't ya beautiful? You look like my daughter," the elderly man said.
I raised my eyes to him with a smile and shrugged. "She must be beautiful then," I teased, and he burst out laughing.
"Oh dear, she is! And young too," he responded, and I nodded.
"What's your name?"
"Nina, sir," I replied. I was done with the table, but the floor needed mopping. "Let me quickly get the mop and wipe this away!" I winked at him, and he laughed.
That’s what I was good at—making people laugh when I hardly had anything to laugh about.
I found the mop and bucket of water where I had left them and returned to the man’s table.
"Nina, my daughter's name is Natalie. You two sure would make good friends," he said, gulping down the rest of his beer.
"Sure would. I'm pretty friendly myself," I said, squeezing the mop and drying off the water before mopping the floor.
"I haven't seen you around here, Nina. Are you new?" he asked curiously.
I shook my head. "I wouldn't call myself new. I've been here for a year, but I've never seen you. Are you a regular?"
"Sure thing, Nina," he chuckled, patting his big belly. "Silver Jug's beer is too good—can't miss it."
His words, coupled with his actions, were so funny I couldn’t help the laugh that slipped past my lips.
"Indeed," I said, shaking my head and continuing my work. "Alright then, sir. It was lovely talking with ya."
I winked at him, picking up the mop, bucket, and table rag.
"Oh dear, I hope to see you sometime soon." He shuffled in his pocket and pulled out a twenty-dollar note. "Here's a little tip for ya."
The speed with which I took the money was quite embarrassing.
"Thank you, sir. Hope to see you again," I said, giving him a final wink before heading to the small toilet.
I dropped the bucket on the ground, hung the mop on a railing to dry, and walked to the sink—where the other workers who didn’t like me were—to rinse the rag.
"Look at her, flirting with a man old enough to be her father. Has she no shame?" One of them—a blonde beauty—snickered, not caring if I could hear her.
I wondered how they even saw that when they were supposed to be serving tables.
"Of course, she doesn’t—oh! Is that a twenty-dollar bill? The Filipino bitch even collected money," the redhead beside her laughed out loud.
My hands tightened around the rag, but I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of a response.
Filipino bitch.
Of course, I was Filipino, and that was the nickname I’d gotten because, apparently, nobody—my boss included—liked me.
"The start of a new business—a whore. She has the face for it anyway," the blonde continued, shaking her head.
"Ha! I wonder why Mr. James is still keeping this slut. She doesn’t even do anything," the redhead said, applying lip gloss the same color as her hair.
I sneaked a peek at them from the corner of my eye—they were doing their makeup.
"I heard it’s because he wants to fuck her. I mean, the slut has nice boobs and ass," Blondie said, shaking her head before fully turning to me. She caught my sneaky glance and smirked.
"Tell me, Manalo, you got some boob job over there, right?" She chuckled, and the redhead followed.
I just pressed my lips together, squeezing the rag to dry it before hanging it beside the mop.
"Such a harlot. Let’s go back to our spot, Mika. At least we're not cleaners," the redhead sneered.
After a few seconds of packing up their makeup, they left the toilet, and I heaved a sigh.
I pulled out my tiny phone, its screen cracked like a spider web, and checked the time.
It was twenty minutes to midnight—the time the bar closed.
I sighed, put my phone away, grabbed another rag and mop, and returned to my usual position in the bar in case anyone needed a cleaner.
I spotted Mika and Cheryl—the blonde and redhead—at their usual spot behind the bar counter, practically flirting with any man who crossed their path.
There goes me being a whore.
It was obvious Mika and Cheryl just wanted to get with anything rich that walked on two legs.
I shook my head and pulled out my phone again, opening my banking app.
I was so fucking broke I was sure the bank owners would be calling me soon to block my account.
It was sitting at a solid zero point zero.
---
After the bar had closed, I changed into the t-shirt and shorts I had come in and left.
The walk back to my tiny flat took another twenty minutes.
As I reached my building, I swiftly avoided my landlord—whom I owed six months’ worth of rent.
Dodging him was successful.
I unlocked my door, slipped inside, and plopped onto my bed.
Sleep took over.
