The Club Owner

Juliet was very eager to meet this Daniel. She knew that she wouldn't right away be able to ask him to many questions about what was going on around the club without coming across as suspicious since she was new. But the sooner she could get acquainted with him, the quicker she could move in that direction.

"What kind of person is he?" Juliet asked Richard as led her out of the office and further down the hall rather than going back the way they had just come from.

"You will find out when you meet him in just a few minutes. I don't think that you will find him bad company to be around." Was the reply from the other. He already had texted Daniel to let him know that he would be coming with company and would prefer if the other was discrete about certain things he said and asked about. He could tell Daniel's curiosity was piqued by the request but didn't press him for details since he was going to be finding out the reason why soon enough anyways.

Juliet continued to be amazed by the size of the club which was much more spacious than she had expected. She could still hear the music faintly, but guessed that there was some amount of sound proofing going on back here based upon the fact that she could only vaguely hear the base coming from "Uptown Funk" that was being blasted from the speakers on the front dance floor.

Knowing that she was likely going to have give an accounting of her events to her boss as well as an overview of the club, she tried to make as many mental notes as possible as to where all the nooks and crannies were, how many rooms appeared to be around back, were doors left open, locked, or were their signs to let others know when rooms were occupied.

After a few short minutes, they stopped in front of a mental door. Pulling a card out of his wallet, Richard swiped what appeared to be a master key in the card slot which Juliet didn't miss.

"Perks of being on good terms with the Club owner." Richard told her as he motioned for her to go in ahead of him.

"You guys must be really close for him to give you access to such a thing." Juliet commented as she looked around the reception area that they had entered.

"He would probably say that we are on better terms that what I would agree to." He replied as he approached the reception desk where a woman was standing waiting patiently to find out what business they had.

"Daniel has already been expecting you. Refreshments and such are already in the room and the door is unlocked." The woman told Richard who nodded his head.

"Very good, thank you." He once again motioned for Juliet to follow him. Walking past the desk she didn't the curious look that the woman gave her as though she was trying to figure out what a stranger was doing with the man in front of her.

"How nice of you to come!" was the greeting that two received the moment that they stepped into the office. Daniel was much of a friendly and effusive person than Juliet had imagined an owner of a club such as this to be.

"You already knew I would be here because of business." Richard replied as he made his way over to one of the sofas, sitting down casually while showing little regard to the other man in the room.

"Of course I knew that you would be but in this case I was talking to your female companion. Should I assume she's the same girl that you mentioned on Saturday." Juliet fixed Richard with a quick glare although he seemed to be completely unaffected by it.

"Yes she is. You can refer to her as Ember." Juliet almost protested until She felt club owner who had come over to greet her grab her right hand.

"Ember is it? What a lovely name for a beauty with such fine red hair." The kiss was gently and not overly affectionate or smarmy as she dealt with from other man in the past. "Please feel free to sit down and help yourself to some refreshments and snacks while we chat." He told her ushering her over to a lounge chair not far from where Richard was sitting. She didn't object to this as she sat down and picked up one of the shot glasses, knocking back the drink in hopes that it would help to steady her nerves.

"I brought her along because she might end up being my partner for the project that you asked me to take on." Richard explained as he turned over one of the larger glasses in order to pour a large amount of amber colored liquid from a bottle sitting on the table next to him in it. Swirly the glass lightly, he took a deep drink from it before setting it back down.

"Oh, is see, so you two must still be a negotiating stage." Daniel replied seeming overly excited at this news. "If you do agree, I suppose I will have to thank you in advance as you might be the reason for changing his mind." He turned his attention to Juliet when he said the last part, but before she had a chance to ask him what he meant by this, Richard was already talking again.

"While she would make the work easier, she's not the reason for my change of mind. I decided that I could do with something extra to use my time on, plus it would mean I could back some of my work hours during the day."

"Is he always this stiff and difficult?" Juliet asked, finally speaking up. Her question caused Richard to cast her a look that clearly said he was unamused by her question.

"He's just very professional and likes to make sure that people know his true intentions and don't get any mistaken ideas when interacting with him." Was Daniel's reply. "But since you're the one who's going to be working with him, whether you decide he's difficult or just very genuine and inprofessional is up to you."

"Speaking of difficult, did you find any more information out about that problem you were having? Considering this girl may be working with me in that area but has no previous connections with anyone else in this club, I think it is fair to let her know." Juliet perked up when she heard this, could it be that this difficult man was actually trying to be helpful to her job? Daniel seemed a little uncertain as he looked between his friend and the other girl before he finally spoke.

"I suppose you're right. First to answer your question, no. I have asked for a little checking into some of the newer members around here, but nothing suspicious or helpful has come up yet." He sighed as he ran a hand through his before turning his attention to Juliet to explain the issue to her. "We have had a bit of an issue with someone illegally setting up a hiding camera in the VIP appear and capturing videos of some of the risqué interactions between VIPS and their partners. Everything here is consensual of course and we try to keep it private while legal, but at the same time some our guests here would prefer to keep certain aspects of their private life in the dark in order to avoid damage to their image."

"Was the goal to target someone specific or?" Juliet asked, but all the club owner could do was shrug his shoulders.

"That's what I am still trying to find out. We do regular checks for such things wiretaps and hidden cameras in the rooms each week. We found one and suspect that there was more than just that. However, no one has suddenly stopped coming and no videos appear to have been leaked so it's kind of turned out to be a dead end for now." He took a pause from talking to take a drink "Of course you wouldn't have to worry about anything since the area you would be working in hasn't been open up to anyone yet since it's a new project." He assured.

"I still don't quite understand what exactly it is that I would be doing if I agreed to this job." Juliet huffed. "Why don't you explain to me since he wouldn't?" She asked of Daniel, certain that he would be able to tell her what she wanted to know since it was his project.

"Didn't I tell you already that I expect you to go home and look it up yourself? You will only draw strange and inaccurate conclusions if you do not find the information you are seeking on your own." Richard immediately shut down the conversation with his statement before he even gave Daniel a chance to explain anything.

"I was asking him, not talking to you." She retorted giving him another glare.

"And I'm the person that you are going to be working for if you chose to take this job, so I expect that even in such situations you will listen to me when I tell you to do something." Was the sharp response she got in return.

"Maybe I will change my mind then."

"It would end up being your loss, not mine. If you're changing your mind, I expect you to leave the contract on the table here before you go." He motioned to the spot in front of him as he picked up glass again to take another drink. Daniel who was remaining quiet while sipping his drink was finding the situation to be increasingly amusing. Juliet bit the inside her cheek to stop her temper from coming out.

"You're on a very thin line with me on this, but I will look at it tonight and reply tomorrow. I want your phone number though so I can text you my response."

"You will get that only after you agree. If you decide to take on this job, come back here tomorrow at Seven and try not to be late." Richard told her. She really couldn't with this man if he was going to keep being like this.

"Fine. I will leave now then so I don't end up wasting any more time on this." Juliet replied, annoyed with the situation as she stood up. "Thank you for having me, and I hope we can get the chance to talk more in the future." She told Daniel offering him a polite yet tight smile which returned.

"The pleasure is mine and I am sure if you end up working here, we will get to see each other rather regularly." Juliet took another one of the shots off the table and drank it quickly before she turned to leave out the door, she came from which was on the side Richard was sitting. She stopped before she got to the door however and rummaged through her purse. Turning around to face the other she laid down some dollar bills and change on the table in front of him before turning around and leaving without another word.