None of her friends or associates knew this, but Fujiko Mine had a side job as a stripper. She did it whenever there was a lull between heists and she wanted to keep a steady flow of cash coming in and have fun at the same time.
The Gold Club, located in the middle of the city, was well-known. Fujiko had worked there on and off for a couple of years now. She'd started out as a weekday afternoon dancer, but thanks to her sexy dance skills, had quickly moved up through the ranks and was now a weekend dancer on the night shift. The weekend night shifts were the club's busiest time and Fujiko would dance for hours at a time, with occasional fifteen minute breaks to rest and change costume.
Fujiko was a favorite of many of the regulars that came to the club. The "regulars" were the men who were there pretty much every weekend. These men were usually middle-aged or older, divorced, and were "rediscovering" the fun single lifestyle. The best part about the middle-aged men was that they were usually a bit more respectful than the younger ones, and they had more money to give as tips.
On one particular Friday evening, Fujiko was in the dressing room getting ready for the evening's shift. She wore four inch clear acrylic heels and a sequined hot pink string bikini. She was putting on her lipstick when the manager knocked and opened the door.
"Hey, Fuji, it's Mike Duff's birthday and he's got a private room with his buddies. He requested you specifically. You able to do it or do you got another private tonight?"
Fujiko glanced at him from the mirror. "I can do it."
"Thanks, babe." The manager left.
Fujiko put her lipstick back in her cosmetics bag and left the dressing room. Mike Duff had told her last week he'd be here for his fifty-third birthday with some friends.
"Room Two," said the manager. "Knock 'em dead, girl!"
"Thanks," said Fujiko with a smile, and knocked on Room Two's door.
"Hey there, Birthday Boy," Fujiko purred as she stepped into the darkened room.
"Fujiko, darling, you look beautiful." Mike patted his lap and Fujiko took a seat.
"Happy Birthday, Sweetheart," Fujiko said seductively.
"Oh, yes," said Mike. "And allow me to introduce you to my friends. This is-"
"Fujiko? Is that you?" said a familiar voice.
Fujiko looked across the table. "Lupin? Jigen? Goemon? What are you guys doing here?"
"We're, ah, working on a deal here with Mike," said Lupin, winking and nodding towards the man whose lap Fujiko was sitting in. "Our next heist."
"What? You're planning something without me?" Fujiko said, sounding hurt.
"We tried to find you, but you weren't around!" said Lupin, adding, "Now of course we know what you do when you're gone for weeks at a time."
"You'd just betray us again anyway," said Jigen, laughing as he lit a cigarette. "Remember last time?"
"Hmph," said Fujiko, and turned towards Mike.
"Miiike," she play-whined, gazing into his eyes, "They're not being very nice to me!"
"Ahh, Fujibabe, it's all right. Come, sit with us, have a drink." He grinned. "You can dance for me later, after they leave."
"Some champagne, please, madame," said Lupin, passing her the menu. Sighing, Fujiko left and came back. After a few rounds of drinks, a cake was brought in, and Fujiko and two of her coworkers sang "Happy Birthday" to Mike. Lupin and Jigen left the room with the other two dancers (Goemon mumbled something about needing fresh air and left the club through the back door) and Fujiko was alone with Mike.
"I'll give you the birthday special," she promised, feeling relieved that she wouldn't have to dance in front of Lupin and Jigen. Still, it annoyed her that they had found out about her secret job. She'd never hear the end of this!
As she danced and got Mike more drunk, she tried to get the details of the heist he was planning.
"So tell me about this deal you're working on with Lupin and the others," she said casually, wiggling her bottom on Mike's lap.
"Oh, I don't know, Fuji, I'm trying to keep all that…quiet. I don't even know if I'm going to work with them yet."
Fujiko turned in Mike's lap to face him, grinding up against him. "Oh, but I'm just dying to know. It sounds so interesting." She placed her hands on his shoulders and raised herself higher. Her ample cleavage was right under Mike's nose, and he stared down at it with a silly grin.
"Ah…don't want to mix business with pleasure…"
"But you already have, if you invited them to your birthday party," said Fujiko, rotating her hips against Mike's torso. "I normally work with them all the time. I don't understand why they would leave me out." Fujiko pouted her lips. "Please, baby. I'm just curious."
Mike giggled, red in the face, and reached for his champagne glass. Fujiko smiled. She herself had only had two glasses. It was against work policy to get too drunk ever since one of the dancers had hurt herself when she stumbled off stage during a pole dance, and another had thrown up all over a patron. So Fujiko had a reasonably clear head and Mike was basically trashed.
"Ah, all right, babes," said Mike. "I met up with those guys because I want them to help me rob the city bank."
"The bank?" Fujiko blinked. Lupin and the others hadn't bothered robbing a bank in a long time.
"Yeah, my ex-wife has a safety deposit box with a couple of family jewels in it. A few rubies, a sapphire, and a diamond. I'm sure your guys are used to more…uh…lucrative heists, but I wanted professionals to help me with this job. Sandy –that's my ex-wife- never checks that safety deposit box. For all I know, she's forgotten that there's even jewels in there. But if I can steal them and sell them, I'll get back some of the money she took from me in the divorce. Bitch even got the house." Mike sighed, suddenly bitter. "She came out of nowhere with those divorce papers. Fucked me over big time, and not in a good way."
"Oh, Mike, dear, don't worry about that stuff on your special day," Fujiko purred. "So that's all you're taking from the safety deposit box?"
"Yeah, well, that's all I know of in there that's got any value. Could be more things, I don't know. But yeah, I'm gonna steal the jewels and sell them and get some money back so I can get out of that crappy hotel and get myself a decent apartment. Of course, I've never stolen anything before and I don't want to get caught like a stupid amateur, so I hired your friends to help. They'll get a cut of the profits as payment."
"I see," said Fujiko, thinking. She wished she was a part of this. It sounded ridiculously easy. The rubies especially would bring in a great deal of money. She smirked. If she did work with them, Fujiko would take the jewels for herself and run, keeping all the money.
"So you know those guys? You said you usually work with them?"
"Yes, I usually do. But they didn't ask me this time." Fujiko pouted again. She was about to try and persuade Mike to let her work with them when Lupin and Jigen came back into the room. Lupin was red in the face and laughing in the arms of the blond dancer he'd left with. Jigen was alone and less drunk.
"All right, Goemon says he's getting cold out there, so let's finish up this deal," said Jigen. He glared at Lupin, who continued laughing giddily until the dancer saw Jigen's face and left.
"Ah, Jigen, you're just mad because your stripper got bored and left you!" said Lupin. "You probably didn't even get a boner, you-"
"Lupin!" Jigen snapped, and Lupin dissolved into more giggles. Jigen sighed exasperatedly.
"You entertain him while I finish with Mike," Jigen told Fujiko. She obeyed and sat with Lupin, who was so drunk and horny that he was content to sit with his face in her cleavage while she stroked his hair and listened in on Jigen and Mike's conversation. It sounded like a very easy heist indeed, and a lucrative one.
"All right, so it's settled," said Jigen, standing up and shaking Mike's hand. "We'll see you next week. Come on, Lupin." He pulled Lupin up and left the private room.
Fujiko knew she had a chance before they left. "Will you excuse me?" she asked Mike, and left the club through the back door.
Jigen was coming around the corner with Lupin on his arm, who was singing loudly. They both stopped in front of Fujiko, who was standing with her arms crossed. Her bikini glittered under the street light.
"Heeey, it's Fujicakes," said Lupin, grinning.
"What do you want," said Jigen flatly. "Your tip?" He and Lupin both laughed at that.
"This deal. I want in." said Fujiko, getting right to the point.
"No way. You fucked up the last two because you wanted to double cross us. No way are you getting in on this one. This is going to be an easy, one-shot type of job and it's too good of an opportunity to let you ruin. Besides, I always like helping a man get back at the woman who scorned him," Jigen finished with a nasty smile. "Come on, Lupin." They turned toward the car. Fujiko stepped in front of them again.
"Give it up, Fujiko. You're not working with us on this one."
"Come on, guys, this isn't fair. We're a team. We work together on everything. You just don't want me to work with you because you know you won't get as much money if there's an extra person."
"No, we don't want to work with you because you're a backstabbing bitch," said Goemon suddenly, stepping out from the shadows. He opened the back car door and helped Jigen place Lupin, who was still singing and seemed oblivious to what was going on, inside on the back seat.
"No." Jigen growled. He got in the driver's seat and started the car. "Better get back in there and keep dancing, because you aren't getting any money from this job."
Suddenly, there was a yell from the backseat.
"WAIT!" Lupin yelled. "If Fujiko wants to work with us, let her work with us."
"Lupin, shut up," said Jigen. "You're drunk. Be quiet and go to sleep."
"No, no, Jigen," said Lupin. "Fujiko would be a very…valuable part of our team." He beamed at Fujiko through his open car window. "I'll call you tomorrow, sweetheart!"
Jigen cursed and sped off. Lupin blew kisses to Fujiko out the window, who smiled and waved. She hoped Lupin would actually remember to call her, as drunk as he was.
The night air was chilly, and she shivered slightly in her sequined bikini before stepping back into the club.