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It had been a hectic Wednesday evening shift but then again, every shift was hectic at the hottest and most exclusive restaurant in the city.
Jin looked around the dining room and saw that every single table was full and none of the diners looked like they were going anywhere. All except for one table for two that was reserved for a very special person and their wife.
She looked at her reservation list and saw that there were only three couples left to come in. There was also a large group waiting at the bar. It was six men in suits and they all looked very important, but they hadn’t bothered her which she was very glad about. They seemed content to sit, drink, and wait.
The door opened drawing Jin’s attention back in front of her.
Two young women walked into the restaurant.
One of them was wearing her jet black hair back in a bun, her bangs framing her face, with a black and red suit. The other, who was clutching her hand and whispering something into her ear had her chestnut brown hair cascading in waves around her shoulders and over in front of her form fitting pink dress.
She was also wearing some of the most extravagant jewelry Jin had ever seen. It had to be fake because the sheer amount of gold and diamonds on this girl’s neck, ears and wrists should have been enough to buy the entire restaurant and then some.
Both girls were gorgeous, carried themselves confidently and every man at the bar greeted them both warmly.
Aristocrat’s daughters, Jin thought, wrinkling her nose. She had developed a distaste for Caldera’s oligarchs and their offspring in her time in the food service industry.
While the men waltzed around the city like they owned the place, which they probably did at least in part, their children were always worse.
Jin knew the type of the two girls who’d just entered.
They were most likely spoiled, snobby and entitled. Never working a day in their lives and never planning to. They wore extravagant clothing and fancy (oftentimes fake) jewelry to make themselves look as much like money as possible without dressing up as the coins themselves.
They pretended to have power but in reality all they had was loud words and rich daddies.
“Reservation for Azula for 7:30,” the girl with the dark hair said, placing one finger down on Jin’s podium. She had long acrylic nails that were cerulean with small flame patterns curling upwards.
Her fingers were adorned with gold rings too, in a way that would be extremely tasteful except for the fact that Jin would bet her day's wages on the fact that they were just gilded.
She narrowed her eyes at the girl and she narrowed her eyes right back.
“I see that you have a reservation but unfortunately all of the tables are full. The wait will only be a little while,” Jin said as politely as she could.
Something about the way this woman was watching her was extremely unsettling. It was like she wasn’t even seeing her as a person.
“I see an empty table over there,” Azula said, pointing at a singular table in the center of the restaurant that was empty. She smiled as she said it but her voice conveyed only malice despite the sickly sweet tone.
“That’s reserved,” Jin said.
“Well I made a reservation,” Azula replied, placing her hand on her chest.
“It’s extra reserved,” Jin said, looking at a scrap of paper on her stand. ‘Leave a table open for Dragon Inc. CEO.’
“For who,” Azula asked, leaning forward a little. Everything about her made Jin want to step back and cower.
“‘Zula,” her companion said, taking her hand and tugging a little. “We can wait for a table.”
“Why should we,” Azula said, “when there is already a table open.”
“They’re saving it for someone,” her companion said.
Azula rolled her eyes.
“I just want to know who it’s for. I’m not going to rush the place and sit down at a table saved for someone else,” she said. With the hand the girl was holding she pulled her to her side and wrapped a hand around her waist.
“A very important person,” Jin said shortly. At this point she was just praying for someone else to come in so Azula would have to go sit and wait like everyone else. Unfortunately the door remained closed.
“I know important people,” Azula said.
“‘Zula stop.”
Azula turned.
“What’s wrong Ty,” she asked, noticing the girl was blushing deeply.
With the hand that wasn’t around Ty Lee’s waist, Azula ran her thumb nail along Ty Lee’s chin and tilted her head towards her.
“I’m just making conversation,” Azula said, dropping her hand. “It’s all very harmless.”
“You’ve never been extremely harmless,” Ty Lee murmured.
Azula chuckled and pressed a kiss to Ty Lee’s forehead, careful to leave all of their makeup intact.
“If you have to know,” Jin said, deciding this was the best way to get rid of Azula and Ty Lee, “the table is reserved for the CEO of Dragon Inc and his wife.”
Ty Lee’s eyes widened and Azula raised an eyebrow.
“That is a very important person,” Azula said slowly.
“Yes,” Jin said. “Now you see why I can’t give you the table?”
Azula nodded.
“You can’t just subvert the CEO of Dragon Inc.”
“Would you mind taking a seat at the bar please and just waiting for your table,” Jin asked.
“Well now I just have a few more questions,” Azula said.
Her patience running out, Jin looked pleadingly at Ty Lee hoping she could make Azula see sense. However her disposition was completely different to how it had been just a few moments ago.
She no longer looked shy, red, and embarrassed.
Now Ty Lee was standing straighter and prouder to be on Azula’s arm and was looking very interested in Azula’s question.
“What,” Jin said exasperatedly.
“What do you know about the CEO of Dragon Inc.”
“Well I know he’s very rich and has a bit of a short temper. He’s also a lot of a genius. Ever since he took over the company he’s really turned it around,” Jin said, reciting what her boss had told her when she came in to work that day. She had also been warned that this man had the power to essentially end her life and to seat him as soon as possible.
Everyone in Caldera knew about Dragon of course, but not many were acquainted with the intimate details of the person who ran the company.
“Do you know the CEO’s name,” Azula asked.
“I can’t say I do, but there are two more reservations after you so I would assume it was one of these two,” Jin said, looking at her sheet.
Azula looked mock shocked. She turned to Ty Lee.
“Do you know the name of the CEO of Dragon?”
Ty Lee nodded.
Then Azula turned to the men at the bar. Jin hadn’t noticed that they were paying attention to the conversation. Now this stupid aristocrat girl was going to make her look bad in front of important customers.
“Do you fellows know the name of the CEO of Dragon Inc?” Azula asked.
All the men at the bar nodded. A few were smirking. One opened his mouth to provide the name but the guy next to him slapped him and he didn’t say anything.
Jin knotted her brow in confusion.
“Can you humor me and do a quick search on your phone for the name of the CEO. I feel like it's an important thing that everyone in this city should know. Plus when they come in,” Azula said, leaning right into Jin’s personal space, “You’ll know to seat them right away.”
She leaned back very quickly, leaving Jin shaken.
“Wouldn’t want to accidentally make them wait,” she said with a smile.
“I can’t go on my phone during work,” Jin said. She was beyond fed up with this girl, and her girlfriend, or whatever, wasn’t any better. Ty Lee seemed amused by the whole encounter ever since Jin had said who the table was reserved for.
It was probably the highlight of these girls’ week to terrorize a hostess. Too bad their power ended there. Honestly, Jin felt bad for them. They carried themselves like they were people of great import. Too bad she was confident that it was all a facade.
“Fair point,” Azula said. She turned to the girl at her side. “Ty would you mind looking up the CEO of Dragon Inc and showing Jin,” she asked.
Ty Lee smiled and nodded. She pulled out her phone and Jin noticed it was in a case that had the Hermes logo. Another knock off, she thought.
She would have called her boss a while ago to get these rude girls ejected but she had been told she had to cater to people like this. You never know who you’re going to anger, or who’s father.
Tapping something into her phone Ty Lee turned her phone around and showed it to Jin. She scanned the page and then looked up confused.
“Is this some kind of joke,” she said, looking down at the phone and back up again.
Azula tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.
“Let me see that love,” she said.
Ty Lee turned the phone around. Azula brought her hand up and held the back of Ty Lee’s stroking the skin with the pad of her thumb. She glanced at the phone and nodded.
“Not a joke,” she said to Jin.
“But that means…” Jin trailed off.
On the phone screen was a Wikipedia label that read CEO of Dragon Inc and a large picture of Azula underneath. Although she was dressed and done up differently, it was still clearly her.
“Surprise!” Azula said joyously, “I’m the CEO,” she said, her tone getting darker. “And this is my wife,” she added, kissing Ty Lee’s cheek, causing the girl to beam.
Jin’s eyes widened a lot and she looked at the bar. The men sitting there were giggling.
“You had lots of details correct,” Azula said, waving her hand. “Short temper, big money, you forgot to mention gorgeous wife but I’ve heard that one too,” she said. “What you had wrong was the gender, it seems.”
“I-I am so sorry,” Jin stuttered. Her assessment had been all wrong. Not only had she just crossed the most powerful woman in the city, arguably one of the most powerful women in the world, but she’d done it while being so sure there could be no repercussions.
Now, everything was up in the air. Even if Azula had just been toying with her, Jin was sure that even one word from her wife could leave her unemployed. Unless Azula was genuinely mad, then she was unemployed anyway.
Additionally, the assumption that this girl hadn’t worked a day in her life was far off the mark as well. Jin could just imagine that at that height of success being sassed by a hostess at a restaurant at the end of the workday wasn’t something she would tolerate very well.
“Can we sit now, I’m really hungry,” Ty Lee asked.
“I think we should be able to,” Azula said, glaring at Jin but keeping a false, disconcerting smile on her face.
“Of course, I’m really really sorry,” she said, grabbing two menus and almost running back to the empty table.
Azula led Ty Lee behind her at a stroll.
When they reached the table Azula pulled out Ty Lee’s chair for her and sat across.
“I’m so sorry,” Jin apologized for a third time.
“It’s all real by the way,” Azula said, instead of acknowledging the apology.
“What?” Jin asked, confusion building.
“I saw you eyeing the jewelry, the clothes, the phone case,” Azula said, running a finger over Ty Lee’s wrist. She flipped her hand over and intertwined their fingers.
“It’s real gold and real diamonds.”
Jin felt like she was going to cry. She thought of the openly dirty looks she’d given these women. She was so fired.
“I-” she started.
“Stop apologizing,” Azula said, picking up the menu. “It’s annoying, just like your voice, just like your face.”
Tears built in Jin’s eyes.
“What’s your name by the way,” Ty Lee asked, she was still smiling pleasantly.
“Why,” Jin whispered.
“I’ve never met anyone named Why,” Ty Lee said. Her words carried less anger and aggression than her wife but Jin’s nerves were too far past shot to comprehend.
“It’s actually Jin,” she said.
“Oh,” Ty Lee said, turning back to her wife.
Jin stood at the table as tears dripped down her face.
“Can you please go back to your job or something,” Azula said, turning to her. “You’re ruining the atmosphere.”
She turned and ran back to her podium, tears streaming freely down her face.
“Well that was fun,” Azula said to Ty Lee as they both placed their menus down.
Ty Lee grinned back at her.
“At first I was a little concerned with you bullying her but when she didn’t know who you were I changed my mind,” she said.
“I’m glad you did. I thought it was an overall good time. A great start to date night,” Azula said.
A waiter brought over two glasses of wine.
“From the gentleman at the bar,” he said.
Azula and Ty Lee turned to smile at Azula’s security detail who waved back.
She loved sending those guys places before her just to see the judgements people made about them, as well as to have a bit of an audience in case she made a scene.
“Cheers baby,” Azula said, raising her glass. “I love you and I love making stupid people cry with you.”
Ty Lee raised her glass and clinked it against Azula’s.
“I love you too. To many more people put in their place.”
The two girls giggled and sipped their wine.