On A Boat

-Hargeon Harbor, on board the Epicurean-

Wearing a white long-sleeved button-up shirt and a navy blue knee-length skirt with black dress shoes, Diana was on board the gambling boat Epicurean. She was temporarily hired to fill a gap in the serving staff left by a member suddenly getting sick. Her job was to serve drinks to the wealthy clientele of the vessel, which was a two-deck luxury gambling boat that could hold 1,000 passengers. The clientele was a mixed bag. While some of them were nice to the staff, others were rude and felt entitled to look down on the staff because they too were not born into wealth.

Diana had been serving since late morning. It was mid-afternoon. She would have to serve drinks until the boat pulled into port late tonight.

"Hurry up with the champagne already!" A young blonde woman with a white dress, white shoes, and the fur of some unfortunate exotic animal draped around her neck demanded. Carrying a tray of glass flutes filled with champagne, Diana hastened to serve the woman. She was the wife of some real estate mogul named Larry Carrington and did not miss any opportunity to remind the staff whose trophy wife she was.

"It's about time! I've been waiting for five minutes! I'm Karen, the wife of LARRY CARRINGTON!" She complained bitterly.

"I apologize for the wait, Mrs. Carrington." Diana politely apologized. Karen did not look impressed. She sampled the drink, then flung it in Diana's face and slammed the empty flute back onto the tray.

"IT'S TOO WARM!" Karen shouted. Even though her face and shirt were soaked with alcohol, Diana kept her cool. She was on a job, after all. She was getting paid for this.

"I apologize, Mrs. Carrington." Diana apologized again.

"Are you some kinda robot? CAN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING ELSE? GET AWAY FROM ME!" Karen screeched. Diana did as she was told and walked away to serve an older man who raised his hand for service. She could hear Karen still complaining loudly about the warm champagne behind her.

"Here are your drinks, Mister." Diana said to him while lowering the drink tray to the shorter man's level. He was a shorter man with a receding hairline who wore a three-piece brown business suit with matching shoes.

"Ah, thanks Miss." He said in appreciation before sampling a drink. He gave a thumbs-up.

"Pay no attention to Karen. She's what people call a nouveau riche. She slept her way into money and she's showing off her newfound status." The man candidly commented. Diana kept a straight face.

"Don't worry, Miss. The drinks are fine. Karen's just... well, Karen." The man said to her. He finished the drink and gently placed the empty glass back on the serving tray.

"I went to business school with her husband. He's a good guy. I think he married Karen because of her..." He said before putting his hands up to his chest, cupping them, and moving them up and down to simulate large breasts. Diana got his meaning. The man noticed who he was talking to and quickly apologized.

"No offense, Miss." The man apologized to her for the implied insult.

"None taken, Mister." Diana accepted the apology. She was not insulted. Rather, she found the deft jab at the woman to be amusing... in an "uncle who tells dirty jokes" kind of way. However, now was not the time to laugh. She had more patrons to serve.

"See you around, Miss!" The man said to her. Diana nodded and turned to continue the job. She had to make it until nightfall.

[Word Count: 603]
[Total Word Count: 603/500]

-Midnight, Hargeon Town Docks-

The Epicurean pulled into dock at exactly midnight. All the passengers streamed down the gangway and started dispersing to go back to their homes. Unfortunately, it was not over for Diana just yet. She had to stay and help clean up the boat.

Diana spent hours swabbing the decks and cleaning the casino floors. She was even drafted into cleaning the women's bathrooms, which were all disgusting beyond words. Apparently some of the rich people were not fully toilet-trained or some of them chose to forget the training because someone else would clean up their mess. The blonde hated her life when she had to clean a toilet seat caked in... "earth tones." The workers drew straws to see who would get the job and Diana drew the short one... she took a deep breath and honored the agreement.

After the unpleasant job was complete, Diana washed her hands twice and finished cleaning the rest of the toilets before her shift was finally over. The end could not have come soon enough. She wanted to burn her clothing and buy new ones. With what she was getting paid, she could afford to do just that. However, when she went into the employee break room she was rescued by an older staff member who took pity on her and cast a spell that removed the scent and stains of bathroom cleaning from the blonde's clothing, saving her from having to buy new ones.

After that lucky break Diana collected her pay from a pleased supervisor, who promised that she would always have a temporary job on board the Epicurean if she ever wanted it. He noted that only Karen Carrington had any complaints about her; the rest of the passengers were complimentary of the blonde's serving ability. They also noted that she was unfailingly polite, even when a drunken and rude female passenger named Francesca Corlone fondled her chest and tried to kiss her in front of a casino full of players. Diana let the incident go because it was her job to serve passengers... she had completed the job and had collected her pay.

"Thank you for the praise." Diana thanked the supervisor before departing. Even though she had gotten more than she had bargained for, the job was complete. Now she was off to go sleep before waking up and looking for more work that needed doing.

[Word Count: 402]
[Total Word Count: 1,005/500]