After Markus and the rest of the goons leave the VIP room, I hang around the hallway of the bar and send a quick text to the group chat.

RJ: Yo. Got the grass from Markus.

Logan: AYOOOOOOO

Logan: RJ YOU THE BESTTTT

RJ: Lol

RJ: Lobang you're gonna love it

Audrey: omg! whoot whoot!

Huimin: OMG RJ THANK U

Audrey: so party this weekend?? at jon's???

Jon: oh nice nice

Jon: ya ok party at my place this weekend

Jon: sat?

Audrey: YES!

RJ: Ya ok

Logan: YESSSSSSS LETS GO BROOOO

Logan: RJ MY BRO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

Huimin: careful ah lobang xD later jon jealous

RJ: Lol

Jon: lol

Before I slip my phone back into my pocket, it vibrates again—a direct message from Jon.

Jon: yo thanks for buying

RJ: Ya np

Jon: by the way, how's tropic ah?

Jon: i heard the servers there super pretty

RJ: Okay only leh

RJ: So so

Jon: ah is it?

Jon: i wanted to go with some primary school friends

RJ: No

RJ: Don't come

RJ: Not worth it

Jon: oh. ok then

Heaving a small sigh of relief, I lock my phone and put it away. Without the light from the screen, my eyes take a while to adjust to the dark hallways.

This is the difference between Tropic Falls and the other bars I used to frequent. The bright neon lights and the deafening music are limited only to the small bar area at the entrance. The moment one enters the part of the bar where the actual services lay, the lights and music are immediately muted. Inside the VIP room, it even resembles the high-end private lounges my parents go to.

I have been hearing about this bar for a while now. It is not as popular among the just-legal drinking age crowd, and thus my friends and I have never visited. But they must be intrigued by the rumors. After all, Jon is already asking me about my experience, and I bet Logan will too, soon.

To be honest, this place is great. The room is elegant, the drinks are high quality, and the servers... Well, I am not too sure; I was only focused on one person.

But no one can know about this. Not Jon, not Logan, not any of my friends. I don't want them to come here. Not yet, at least. They cannot ever find out about Chloe, or Cherry.

Thinking about her makes me let out yet another grunt of frustration. Seriously, why is she working here?

It does not help that she was so shy around me, so I don't think she would tell me if I asked. I don't think she will ever open up to me.

But there is another person I can go to.

I march towards the bar area. The blue-haired owner is still sitting behind the bar table, manning a tablet and giving orders to another bargirl. I wait till she finishes talking before approaching.

"Hey there." Clementine—possibly a code name like Cherry—flashes a grin at me when she notices me. Her teeth are as bright as her hair under the neon lights, while her accent is as American as the Hollywood movies. "RJ, right? How are you enjoying your first time here at Tropic Falls?"

"Not bad," I admit as I take a seat on the stool opposite her. "But I have a question about my server."

Her lips tilt upwards. "Which one? Cherry?"

"Yeah. Cherry." The fake name tastes bitter in my mouth.

"Ah yes, she's very sweet, and very popular too, despite being so new." She seems to notice my grim expression. "Would you like to talk more about it in my office?" she asks as she gestures over to a room behind her.

Considering what I am about to reveal, I nod.

We enter a cozy office area and settle into armchairs on opposite ends of a small table. Clementine takes out a bottle of wine and, after I reject her offer, sets it down next to her.

"So, what about Cherry?"she asks.

"What's... her real name?"

Clementine chuckles. "I'm sorry, but I can't reveal it. It's one of our principles here at Tropic Falls."

"What do you mean?"

The tanned woman leans forward and taps her fingers on her face. "My girls are special to me, and I set up a lot of rules in this bar to protect them to the best of my abilities. And their privacy is one of the key things I protect. This job is dangerous, after all. I'm sure you've been informed about the mask rule, right?" Her expression darkens. "If you remove their masks, you will be blacklisted from this bar and all our associates forever."

Chloe did mention that. "Oh, okay, well, uh, I don't know if you know, but this Cherry you have here is a Junior College student and shouldn't be working at a place like this. If the school finds out about this, she might be expelled."

"Oh?" Clementine smiles, but her eyes are sharp as daggers. "And how would you know that? You don't even know her real name."

My brows twitch. "You don't need to know how I know, okay?" I fold my arms and maintain my glare. "You need to get her out of this bar."

"Or what? You'll get her expelled?" Clementine teases. "I'd like that actually, then she can work for me full time."

My head rears back, and Clementine chortles at my shock.

"Do you not care about your employees?" I demand.

"Of course I do, which is why I implemented the mask rule here. I need to protect my girls no matter what. You are not allowed to find out who they are, or to get them to take off their mask in any way. Or else, that happens."

I peer in the direction Clementine is gesturing at. Through the small window on the door, I can see a man struggling against two burly bouncers who are twice his size. His face is bleeding and his shirt is unbuttoned, and within a few seconds, he is tossed out of the bar. There is barely any commotion resulting from the skirmish; the quickness of it all sends a shiver down my spine.

This bar definitely takes its policies very seriously.

Swallowing my discomfort, I ask, "Uh... Did he try to take off a girl's mask or something?"

"That guy? Worse." Despite the scene that happened, Clementine remains nonchalant as she pours herself a cup of wine. "One of my girls agreed to a—how should I say this?—a particular type of activity. And he took it a bit too far."

A particular activity? Taken too far? Dread creeps up my spine. I think about the way Chloe smiles and sashays around the room, the way her voice changes into a high-pitched croon, the dress—the stupid, glittery, beautiful dress—that she wears...

There is no way this 'Tropic Falls KTV & Bar' is just a karaoke bar.

"What the fuck? Are you fucking pimping them out?" I let my rage pour out into my voice. "I can sue you, you know that? Prostitution is illegal without a license in Singapore, and she definitely does not have one!" At least, I really hope not.

Clementine swirls her wine glass before taking a sip. "Hey, if my girls are interested in accepting extra money for extra work, who am I to stop them? I am just here to make sure they are as safe as possible."

Extra work. I clench my fists and slam them on the table. "Chloe is barely eighteen! Why the fuck are you letting her do this?"

"First of all, who is this Chloe you're talking about?"

"You know who I mean," I growl through my gritted teeth.

"No, I don't." Clementine's voice is now as icy as a snowstorm. "We don't have a Chloe here. Bring this up again and I will kick you out immediately."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I need to calm down. I will achieve nothing if I piss this woman off—as long as Chloe is here, I need to be able to visit this place again.

And I need to get her to stop.

"You know, if you are so concerned about Cherry, maybe you should tip her." Clementine's lighthearted tone returns. "The more you tip, the faster she will quit this job."

"Oh." I blink. "She needs money?"

Clementine laughs. "We all need money, honey. Even your friend Markus."

"He's not my friend," I grumble, but guilt consumes me. Sometimes I forget that people do crazy things for money. While I just... pay people to do crazy things.

I straighten my pants as I ask, "Why... Why does Chlo- I mean, why does Cherry need money leh?" And needing it so desperately to work here too?

"Why don't you ask her yourself when you come back? You know, when you come back, you'll be entered as a regular, and Cherry will earn twenty percent more serving you. It's sort of like a commission bonus," Clementine says with a wink.

I roll my eyes. "And then let you take most of the money I pay for her? Yeah, no thank you."

Another chuckle escapes her throat. "Tip her, then. Although, if you just give her money, she still needs to work her hours. She still has to serve other customers." Clementine's eyes seem to glitter in mockery. "Unless you don't care about that, of course."

That is exactly what is driving me crazy and this woman knows it. My teeth clench against the stream of curses I want to let loose. "When does she work?"

"Every single day of the week."

Fuck, every single day? So tomorrow, too? I have tennis tomorrow. Wait, everyone has their CCAs tomorrow. Does Chloe not have any extracurriculars?

"You know, she was working in a bakery when I first saw her," Clementine adds with an exaggerated sigh. "I can still remember it like it was yesterday. Well, it was only a few weeks ago. She was so cute and working so hard, that I just had to scout her. All I said was the hours earned and the typical tip people get, and then she showed up the next day! And it's been great ever since."

I lower my head. It seems that Chloe really needs the money. Shame and regret pushes out the anger within me. I don't have the right to get so upset with her. I have never needed to do anything to get money.

I whip out my wallet, only to realize I've given all my cash away to Markus.

"Need more?" Clementine nods towards an ATM tucked right outside her office.

I walk over to the ATM and withdraw two hundred dollars. It is a fat wad of cash, but I spent way more on some stupid weed.

"This is a lot," Clementine remarks as well.

"Can you give it to Chl- I mean, Cherry? But... don't tell her it's from me." As I watch her insert the cash in a pink envelope, I add, "Eh, if I find out you didn't give to her, I'll report you and your bar, okay?"

Clementine winks at me. "Sure you will, Miss JC Girl who just bought drugs. But don't worry lah,"—The Singaporean colloquialism sounds so foreign and misplaced on her American tongue.—"I will never steal my girls' tips. Oh, Cherry will be over the moon tomorrow."

I nod and finally exit the office. When I take out my phone to read my messages, all my emotions and thoughts amplify and dance crazily across my mind.

Logan is spamming my WhatsApp with the crazy plans he has for this Saturday's party. Using Champagne in our beer pong game, getting some premium chocolate shipped over from Japan, asking his dad to give him a bottle of limited edition wine from his cellar...

These messages would have excited me normally, but now I'm just disgusted by them.

Everyone I know, everyone I grew up with, splurges on things without caring about their finances. Meanwhile, Chloe is choosing to work in a place like this to make ends meet.

Life is so unfair.