My Most Precious Human

The Diamond Crown Casino was in a 45-story building. The gambling games were placed on two floors, but they were merely a part of the entertainment the Diamond Crown Casino was providing. There was an enormous theatrical part of the building with five stages prepared to accommodate over ten thousand people in the audience seats. The rest of the building was taken by banquet halls, conference rooms, swimming pools, wellness and beauty salons, and, of course, the grand, luxurious hotel. Knowing that it was easy to imagine how much money was running through this place every day. The sum surely had a number of zeros that could make a head spin.

Carla met me right outside the building. The casino's crew for the event took all of the dishes out of Carla's truck. She prepared every dish carefully in advance, putting it all on separate, ready-to-serve plates. All of her appetizers, finger sandwiches, and sweets simply needed to be unwrapped and taken by the waitresses.

After the truck was unloaded, some other employees led Carla, me, and all the other girls to the changing room, where we could put our costumes and prepare for the event. Before going inside, I had assumed that the event would be happening at one of the banquet halls, but strangely, the employees directed us to some corridor behind a massive door that had a top-quality security panel.

Carla didn't seem to mind the fact that we were going to some unknown part of the building. As for me, every red light inside of my brain started flashing. I stayed alert the whole way to our changing room, especially since the corridor we were passing resembled a super-secret facility more with each step.

Finally, we got to the place. The room looked incredibly professional as if we were all supposed to be a part of some spectacle. There were rows of make-up stands with mirrors and lights, and separate hangers for each costume. I would never have imagined that the waitresses would prepare for work in such a place. It was also slightly weird that they paid more attention to our looks than they were concerned with the food or drinks...

"This costume is for you," Carla announced as she handed me a fancy red dress with multiple elements to wear.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to imagine what the whole piece would look like.

"You are going to be the Queen of Hearts! Isn't the fabric great?! And those crystals on the headpiece shine like diamonds!" she called out, elated.

I smiled awkwardly since I didn't want to spoil her mood, but the only thing I saw in that dress was the corset with a deep neckline, and I knew that I would never feel comfortable wearing something like that. "And... what are you going to wear?" I asked, hoping to delay the moment of putting my dress on.

"I'm going to be a cute White Rabbit!" Carla giggled, showing her tight costume that resembled a playboy bunny suit.

"Wow... that's... courageous..." I laughed nervously.

"Oh, come on! It's going to be fun!" she sang joyfully. "Besides, I like observing how men lose their minds while looking at me..."

"Are you really ok with that?" I inquired hesitantly.

"Of course, it's all about the rule you can look but don't touch. I will not tolerate any harassment. If any of them tries something fishy, he'll find out how quick my slapping hand is..." Carla snickered cunningly. I faintly chuckled then glanced at my costume again. I have never worn anything this sexy in my whole life. Not to mention that I had hardly ever worn anything feminine. "Lilith... Don't be shy! You have an amazing figure. It's time to reveal some parts of it," Carla stated while winking at me.

I sighed and finally gave up. I clenched my fists to give myself courage. I put some tiny bits of make-up on my face, then started putting on the clothes. The piece had a short skirt at the front and long at the back. It revealed most of my legs. It was yet another thing that was making me uncomfortable. I took a deep breath and put on the rest of the costume, including the corset, the bolero with a high collar, and a headpiece that looked like a crown in the shape of a heart. As soon as I finished, Carla walked over to examine my efforts.

"You look hot!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down, "your make-up is lacking, but those emerald eyes of yours don't need a liner or smoky shadows to look alluring..."

Then she grabbed her make-up set, forced me to sit down, and made a few adjustments to my characterization. When she finished, I could barely recognize myself in the mirror, but I couldn't say that I didn't enjoy my new look.

Shortly after that, someone from the event crew knocked at our door and we were all led to the kitchen area where all of the dishes were already unwrapped and ready to be served to the guests. The party was about to begin. Carla described all of her dishes, giving us a basic knowledge so that we knew what we were about to serve, then each of us grabbed a tray and our real job finally started.

To get to the banquet hall, we had to pass another high-level security door. I could assume that the people invited to that event would be the richest of the rich people living in New Argent City, still, this level of secrecy began to give me the creeps.

Despite the fact that I had a lot of waitressing experience, I was nervous to the point where my knees were shaking before entering the main hall. Once the door opened, my heart started to pound erratically. I had to focus on a single step, but when I walked into the hall, I was quickly distracted by its beauty.

"Wow..." I gasped, admiring the luxurious interior.

I felt as if I had entered the French royal palace. It was filled with gold ornaments and white marble, and all of it was beautifully lit up by the enormous crystal chandeliers. Once I stopped staring at the walls and ceiling, I looked at the guests. They were all wearing masquerade masks while only the twenty of us, waitresses, were showing their faces.

It was getting harder to ignore the alarming signs. I felt some peculiarly ominous aura hanging in that hall. Then I glimpsed at Carla. She marched among the guests, wearing a bright smile. I knew that she hoped that our job would turn out perfectly, just like the taste of her dishes. She counted on me as well... I took another deep breath and walked deeper into the hall.

I carried a tray filled with shrimp canapes while slowly walking forward. I quickly noticed that the majority of the guests were men. They were all standing around the hall with drinks in their hands, but the strange thing about them was that they were hardly talking to each other. Most of them were sipping their wine, whiskey, or cocktails while... observing the waitresses. I found their stares more and more disturbing. Then I realized that almost none of them were actually eating. When I came over to propose something from my tray, I found them all wickedly smirking at me, or looking me up and down. A few of them briefly leaned over me like they wanted to sniff me, and when I stepped back away from them, startled, they started laughing. There was something in their eyes that made me shiver, and I wanted to get out of that place fast!

I spotted Carla and walked over to her. At that moment, even with all her positive attitude, she seemed restless and nervous. She kept the smile on her face, but it wasn't as bright and confident as before. I glanced at her tray. It looked just like mine, almost full.

"There is something very strange going on around here. I know you are not going to like this, but everything inside me screams that we should forget about the job and get the hell out of here," I said, whispering to her ear.

"I... I know, Lilith..."

I noticed her hands were shaking. I could see that she became more and more paralyzed by overwhelming anxiety.

"I will walk around to pass the message to the girls that they should use some excuse and head for the exit," I stated, still lowering my voice.

Carla slightly nodded her head then corrected the bright smile on her face, bravely trying to act as natural as possible. I wanted to warn the other girls, but before I even started, a strange bell rang.

Once the guests heard its sound, they all turned silent. Then the grand door opened at the end of the banquet hall, opposite the kitchen area. All the guests started heading in that direction, leaving us trying to figure out what was going on.

Suddenly, one of the employees who led us to the changing room walked towards us with a peculiar grin on his face.

"Ladies, you may now go back and leave the food in the kitchen area," he commanded, pointing at the door that we came from.

I could see that some of the girls sighed in relief. They must have all felt the ominous pressure filling the banquet hall. They seemed to regain their composure, but I became even more alert since suddenly I saw more of the casino staff heading in our direction. I only prayed that this time my instincts were wrong...