บท 38: TONIGHT'S TRYST
Arthur grabbed him by the collar and yanked him. Then continued his words, "…but the next time you hire her to work for you, I will make sure your bar will be demolished." His voice was colder than the north pole. It only expressed how angry he was at Max.
Since customers were busy drinking and gossiping, they didn't notice the commotion. Moreover, things like that always happened in the bar. So, no one heeded it.
Max gave him a nervous smile. "Calm down. It's not that I forced her to do it or anything. I asked her help and she agreed."
The veins popped on Arthur's forehead. He stated, "I don't give a damn about your excuses. You are not allowed to get close to her let alone make her work for you. And mostly, you are not allowed to give her a free meal."
"Hold it right there. Why are you speaking as if she is your woman? There is no way, right? If you hook up with someone, even if it's temporary, you know the girls in the town will suffer greatly." Max was a bit confused by his customer's unusual behavior. Being curious and gathering information was his ability.
Arthur frowned. He didn't like when others showed interest in him. "Watch your mouth. I'm not committed to someone nor will I ever be."
Max squinted his eyes. It was the first time he saw Arthur losing his temper like this. That was unexpected. He couldn't help but ask, "Is that so? Then why are you being so overly possessive over that woman? It's not that anyone harmed her. She is trying to help her friend in need."
"Whatever it is, it's none of your business. If you don't heed my words, just prepare for the consequences." Arthur's golden orbs glowed with fire as if he was going to explode in any minute.
Max realized that this wasn't time to provoke Arthur any further. He raised his hand and coolly surrendered, "All right, all right, you win. Now please let go of me. I need to serve my customers."
Arthur gave him one last glare before releasing him. He moved his long legs to the backside of the bar.
"Geez, that was intense," Max commented while brushing off his shirt.
After changing her clothes, Veronica came out and saw Arthur waiting for her. She walked closer and said, "Arthur, I'm ready. Let's go."
Arthur nodded and both of them walked toward the library. After quite some time, he opened his mouth and demanded, "You should stay away from him. That guy is bad news."
Veronica looked at him in confusion. "Who? Max? No, he is a good guy. He offered me help when I wanted to find you. He even gave me free booze."
"Booze?" The corner of his eyes twitched. His mood got worse seeing how she defended that unworthy guy. He did his best to cool his head and stated, "There is no such thing as a free meal. He already made you work for him even though you were his customer at first."
Veronica couldn't understand why he said that. She told him, "Did you forget that I mentioned that he helped me to find you?"
Arthur reminded her, "You were almost sold and violated by a drunkard. Max must have got a huge amount of money for making you work there, even if it's for one night."
Upon hearing his words, Veronica was shocked. "H-how can that be? He always smiles and is so friendly. A person like that can't be that bad!"
Arthur let out a deep sigh. "A person who is very friendly for no reason has some kind of ulterior motive."
"Is it?" She tilted her head. "But in the temple, everyone who is soft heartened smiles a lot and they are super friendly. I wish I could introduce you to them."
"Really?" Arthur smirked. "I'm looking forward to it then."
Veronica couldn't say that she wouldn't be able to live there anymore. She hung her head and walked quietly.
Arthur didn't like this silence. So, he broke it again, "Seeing you without any injury means you weren't punished by the priests. I didn't know they let go of people so easily for breaking the rules."
Veronica answered, "Not at all. The rules in the temple are strict. I was going to be punished horribly. However, my savior came and saved me from the hellish sufferings."
"Your savior?" it quipped his interest. "Who is it?"
Veronica mentioned, "The Head Priest. He doesn't like punishment. Thank goodness that I was saved or else, I would be teaching and babysitting children starting from tomorrow." She shivered just thinking about it.
"Ahahaha! So that was your punishment? Teaching children? How amusing!" Arthur couldn't control his laughter since the punishment was super interesting.
Veronica sulked. "Oh, don't laugh! I'm not good with children and they just hate me. Nothing could be a worse punishment than this."
"I see, that's a painful punishment then," Arthur remarked. The punishment was quite justified in his eyes. Tonight, he just learned something new about the temple.
The temple's work was an absolute secret. And, the lifestyle of the priests was something that no one ever talked about. Although everyone was curious, they couldn't find an absolute answer. That's why most of the stories about the priests' lifestyle were nothing but rumors.
"Since you weren't punished, is that why you decided to sneak out again?" he asked.
"No, I came to meet you. I've got Sister Ruth's diary." Veronica showed him the diary that was hidden inside her skirt pocket.
Arthur was stunned. He didn't expect her to look for the diary and she even managed to get a hold of it. And here he thought that she could never achieve it since she was just too naïve. His eyes held some new found respect for her.
As he raised his hand to take the diary, Veronica hurriedly stepped backward. "You are not getting it. How can I let a man read a woman's diary?"
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