night.
Mutually-assured destruction, Daniel had said with an eerie grin. These places can’t survive if there’s even a hint of blackmail. And you should see the agreements they make the guys sign. Iron-clad nondisclosures.
Would we be there, if we thought there was any risk? asked Hawk, and I had to admit my friends were smart about this stuff.
So whatever this Jimi is going to ask me, it isn’t going to be for a million bucks to keep his gold-plated mouth shut.
“You like this kid?” he asks, hitching his thumb at the door.
“What’re you asking?”
Like him? What does that even mean? He fucking humiliated me in my own company, I can’t stop thinking about him, I don’t know what to do about him, but that doesn’t mean I like him.
A sigh, like I’m not letting him make his little speech. “Look, this guy’s a waiter, okay? Waiters are off-limits.”
“Clearly not. He led me back here.”
“Yes, twice, and he knows better than that. These rooms are for guests and…you know. Our model friends.”
“I don’t like your model friends.”
Jimi laughs like it’s the first time the thought has ever occurred to him. “Look, Mr. Raines, we’re a very efficient operation, you know? Rich men are here to meet beautiful boys, and we don’t want to waste your time setting you up with men you don’t like. But rules are rules. Besides, you don’t want him.”
“I didn’t say I wanted him.” Jimi has no right nosing into my business. It’s fucking embarrassing.
“No, of course not. A man like yourself, you could have the best. Top-shelf all the way. Not…y’know. Little ugly fucker like Finn.”
There’s something so nasty in that last sentence that it’s like being spat on.
All the embarrassment is burned away by anger. I get in his face. “You’re not a nice man, are you? No. You get off on that. You like having these boys be afraid of you. I’m not one of them. Fear’s not part of my vocabulary. You want to think very carefully before pissing me off.”
“We’re a business, Mr. Raines. I don’t come into your office and tell you how to build factories and robots.”
He’s doing that on purpose, mentioning what my business produces. He’s doing it to get under my skin.
“I’m out. Good night.”
“Nah, stay. Have a drink, on the house. Come on. This club is all about having a good time. You leave mad, what does that say about the place? We survive on word-of-mouth, after all. Look, forget about the waiter, all right? Rules are rules. Come on out. I’ve got some guys I want you to meet. Gorgeous men. Do anything you want. You won’t leave here unsatisfied, I promise you.”
“I’m not…I’m not a fucking…” What was the word? John? Is that what it was, when someone paid someone for sex? That’s what it felt like I was being talked into, and yet instead of my own anger and embarrassment, what I felt was a stab of guilt, knowing that Finn had to work in a place like this.
A place where your boss calls you ugly without thinking twice about it.
Does the man not have fucking eyes?
Finn was…
Finn was…
Yeah, stop right there buddy. Don’t think one thought further. That’s over. You’ll never see him again, and you knew this was a mistake, coming here tonight, and now you’ve proved it to yourself, so go home. Just go the fuck home.
“Wait, wait,” Jimi’s saying. “Let’s be real clear here. Nobody’s talking about anything…ah…untoward. Don’t misunderstand the nature of this conversation. I want you to be a happy customer and spend a lot of money on booze, and that’s it. Anything else, that’s your own lookout. I run a reputable business here.”
“Clearly,” I say. “Fuck you, and fuck your club.”
Jimi tsks. “Damn. Poor fella.”
“What do you mean?”
“Finn. Little Finn. It’s gonna be a shame when I have to let him go. Kid like that doesn’t have a bright future. Real messy financial situation he’s in.”
“Why the fuck would you let him go?”
“What, keep him here, after tonight? After putting you in a situation like this? He knew the rules, yet he broke them, and now I’ve got an angry customer threatening to walk out. I’m a businessman, Mr. Raines, same as you. I can’t have a troublemaker on the payroll. Poof, he’s gone.”
Goddamn.
God damn.
How did I just ruin Finn’s life, without even trying?
“Now don’t worry,” Jimi’s saying. “My boys will talk to him. They’ll give him the personal touch. You don’t have to worry about him showing