Chapter five

Favorite Crime

Saturday night was busy, and Mickey was getting alerts from the computer from the bar of song requests from customers. He knew that Scott and Derrick were from England, and they came to Greece to start a life together.

He liked them better than her thought he would, and they both gave good tips to play the odd set for them, even if they weren't here for the girls, they took care of everyone.

"Your drink," Scott entered the booth with Mickey's lime soda, and placed it down carefully away from the set up, "Also…" He put the notes into the tip jar as he glanced down to the stage, "Harley is performing good tonight." He smiled.

Mickey never made a habit of watching the sets, but he glanced down to notice that Cassandra was not bad at what she did, but at the same time he didn't want to stare too long.

Scott laughed at this sight, "Mickey, you can look at her, she's a beautiful woman…" He tapped on Mickey's shoulder.

Mickey did a double take, "Does Derrick know?" He said.

"Ha," Scott playfully pushed him, "Just because I don't find myself wanting to fuck women, doesn't mean I don't appreciate the beauty of them." He now headed out of the booth.

Mickey kept focus on the set, playing on. He could see the screen of his phone lighting up as he saw the notifications keep coming every few minutes, he picked it up to read the message, and he wanted to throw the phone. Chloe was saying she wanted him home early, she wasn't going to let him sleep in as they were having the party, and he promised he was going to help.

He typed his reply, he wasn't going to be leave early, he wanted to get the most from Saturday night. He placed the phone down for a second before the phone started to vibrate across the deck.

He pushed his earphones off in frustration, "Now isn't a good time." He said trying to get away from the noise, but it was loud everywhere.

"Mickey, you promised me!" Chloe was hard to hear him over the loud music.

Mickey wanted to scream, but kept it together, "The people coming are your friends." He put emphasis on saying your friends, he didn't want the stupid party in the first place, and the fact that Aspa had at the last minute asked them to look after Hector for the weekend while she went on a holiday with her new boyfriend.

"I asked if you could help me, and you said you would Mickey!" Her tone was getting to the one that Mickey hated her using. He knew she would resort to talking to him like he was a child. "Mickey, I am…" He didn't hear the end as he hung the phone up and blocked her number from contacting him.

He placed the phone down trying to push the brewing foul mood that was coming onto him, he pushed his hair back putting his earphones on getting back into his work, he wanted to make sure he got good tips, that he was showing Dimitri that he was the best.

Mickey never usually watched the sets, but in his mood now he wanted to watch, he didn't know if it was his own way of saying fuck you to Chloe, or just wanted to distract himself from dwelling on the mood. At this moment it was a bit of both seeing that Cassandra was finishing off her main stage. He found himself putting everything into her last song that was on her playlist, a song called River by Bishop Briggs, and while he could see all the men pushing more money on the stage for her to pay them the most attention, Mickey could understand why. He knew to Cassandra it was all about the money, these men were just walking pay cheques to her.

Cassandra didn't know what had happened partway through her set, but she knew something in her music was different as she picked the money from the stage knowing that Dominique was after her, she picked her robe up, heading off into the back seeing that Dominique had a big grin on her face.

"What?" Cassandra asked putting on her robe, she was going to take a break, but she wasn't in a rush as she watched the other woman getting herself ready.

Dominque flexed her wrists, "Mickey has been watching you," She pointed out, "And I mean I've never seen him watch anyone before."

"Shut up!" Cassandra put the notes into her bag, "I mean, it's his job." She pointed out starting to head to the stairs where the DJ booth was.

"Whatever you say," Dominque listened to the startup of the tracks she given Mickey to use tonight, and she headed off onto the main stage.

Walking up the stairs Cassandra didn't know what to expect, and she kept telling herself she was planning on coming up here to have her break anyway. This had nothing to do with what Dominique said to her, Mickey was her friend, and he was in a committed relationship.

"You alright up here?" Cassandra asked as she closed the door behind herself.

Mickey took the headphones off, he turned to smile at her, "Harley," He knew no one would hear them up here, but he liked addressing her by her stage name. "What do I owe the pleasure?" He asked wondering if she noticed he'd been watching her dancing.

"I had a spare twenty minutes," She stood beside him glancing down to the main stage, the view from up here was the best. "Just thoughts I'd see my favourite DJ," She placed her head on his shoulder for a second, it wasn't unusual for her to do this now.

Mickey smiled softly; he knew her well enough to ask her. "I need a favour." He said quickly.

"What do you need?" She asked moving her head so she could look at his face.

"I need a place to crash tonight," he said keeping his attention on the music. The last thing he wanted was for Dominique to beat him for messing her set.

Cassandra brushed a hand into his hair from the back, "Sure," She stated while tapping the top of his head, "You're welcome any time." She now headed for the door; she didn't want to ask too much as she left him to carry on working.

While the rest of the night carried on, and the only people to come back where either Scott, Derrick or Dimitri. Mickey did calm down from the fight on the phone, and when he counted his cash at the end of the night it was a good one, he knew now that Dimitri would spend closing hours in his office on a Saturday doing the final count of the safe, and he was doing the books to make sure everything was good.

"Here you go," Derrick put a shot glass in front of him.

Mickey found he liked the shot while counting money, it was something everyone did here, and he was noticing he really was part of this family. "Thanks Derrick," He did the shot placing it back on the bar. "Am I a cunt?" He asked honestly.

"No," He poured another tequila in the shot glass, "I mean I knew some cunts, and you are not one." He pushed the shot glass forward. "Why ask?"

"I got into a fight with Chloe, she doesn't like me working here." He took the shot placing it back. He knew she trusted him, but she was uncomfortable with women dancing practically naked for money.

Derrick shrugged, "I can't relate," He shrugged glancing over to Scott doing the inventory count, "He's the reason I work here." He pointed out.

Mickey glanced down to Scott, "How did you know?"

"That this wanker would be my forever?" Derrick glanced to his husband.

Scott snapped his head up seeing the two men. "I can hear you two!" he shouted from behind the bar.

Derrick laughed, "He was the one after the evil cunt," He said, "I guess being with someone wrong for me, helped me know what I really wanted."

"Also, I have a massive cock!" Scott joked feeling Derrick playfully slap him on the ass.

Derrick sighed, "It really is that impressive." He held his hands apart showing a gap which insinuated the size.

"Too bad he's not for the ladies," Cassandra joined them placing her bag on the table, "I would love to stay and explore to excitement of Scott's cock, but I have given my rent, and I am ready to go." Her eyes going over to Mickey passing him some notes. "Dimitri knows you're coming home with me."

"Oooh!" Derrick said with a grin.

Cassandra felt Mickey taking his wages from her, "It's not like that!" He said.

"He's crashing on my couch," she said as she put her jacket on feeling better in her own clothes.

Scott was to his feet now, "Couch, or crotch?"
Cassandra picked up a bar cloth throwing it at him, "Shut it!" She felt Mickey taking her arm pulling her away from the bar.

Mickey felt good with the fresh air of the outside world, he smiled to Cassandra, "So how did you get to work?"

"I don't live far, so I walked." She noticed that he was walking towards a scooter, and she watched him handing her a helmet.

Taking it from him she put it on, he got on first, and she sat behind him wrapping her arms around him.

Mickey listened to her tell him her address as he started the Engine. The ride to her place was quiet, and she really didn't live that far from the club, and not that far from where he lived too.

When Cassandra opened the door, they walked into the place quietly. "Don't worry about the mess," She thought of what Chloe did when seeing her place, but it seemed Mickey was the opposite as he sat down on the couch stretching out.

"What mess?" He asked with a grin.

She felt comforted by his tone, "Thank you." She headed to the kitchen getting two bottles of beer, she passed one to him, and opened the twist cap sitting with him.

Mickey opened the bottle placing the cap on the table, "I'm sorry…"

"Is this about Chloe?" kicking her shoes off placing her feet up on the couch as she curled them under herself, she sat so she could be facing Mickey resting her elbow on his shoulder.

Mickey caught her eye, and he glanced away from her, "I was going to tell you," He started. "I just thought if I said it, you'd think I was being that guy."

Shrugging her shoulder, "I kinda guessed when I saw her picking up Hector." She rested her chin on her wrist watching Mickey's face, "But it's not about you not tell me about her, but have you told her about me?" she was honestly trying to be supportive of him.

He couldn't meet her gaze, and he drank a large sip of the beer trying to think of something to say, but his silence spoke volumes. "I just wanted something that was mine," He stated, "And I thought if I told her about you, and her knowing you." He sighed, "you'd turn into our friend, and I just wanted you to be my friend."

"I think we are going to need something stronger," getting to her feet she headed to her cabinet taking out a bottle of vodka and placed it on the table getting two glasses.

Mickey watched as she poured the drinks out, she got back into being comfortable on the couch, "Okay, I am ready." She knew it was going to be a long morning.

He downed the vodka pouring himself more, he told her the story of meeting Chloe, and the events of the year that followed. Mickey liked how she listened to him; she was drinking slowly, listening to him without interrupting.

She kept listening, felt bad for him, and she knew he wasn't perfect, but everything he did, he did it for her. Cassandra knew this from Chloe's side, but hearing both sides made her feel bad for both of them. "Wow," She poured more drink out.

"Well, I just feel like if I keep trying my best, things will change." He picked his glass up. "It's as if I am pushing a boulder up a hill."

Cassandra placed the glass to her lips, she held it there a second before drinking, "It's hard."

"What about you?" Mickey asked feeling he'd talked way too much about himself, and he could see her playing with the ring around her thumb. "Was that his?"

She stopped twiddling the wedding ring, "Yea," she said. "I miss him…" She tried to keep it together, and she felt Mickey placing an arm around her. "But he's gone, and I'm still here."

"I…" He started but felt her push him back.

Cassandra brushed a hand under her eyes, "We just had Kali, and I thought everything was perfect, we have this plan to start our own club, we was going to do everything fifty, fifty." She didn't like the memory now, "He wasn't feeling well, and I thought it was because of him working late hours with Dimitri and helping me with the baby…"

"Oh," Mickey didn't know, but then he knew now why Dimitri cared about Cassandra so much.

She smiled, "Dimitri, he made Angelino go to the hospital, and when he got the diagnosis of cancer. He was pretty far into it." Cassandra bit her lip, "He didn't want to try treatment to fight it, he was tired, and weak." Her hand went into her hair taking a sip of the drink. "So, he ended it on his own terms." She placed the glass down.

Mickey didn't want her to talk about it anymore, he could see the pain in her eyes, "Hey…" He pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her holding her close. "Don't talk about it." He rested his cheek against her hair breathing her in.

Cassandra's face nestled into his neck, feeling his pulse. Her fingertips holding onto his shirt keeping him close to her, she didn't cry, but felt relief in talking about it. "It's hard for me," She exhaled taking into his skin, "I know I should move on, but I feel like I'm cheating."

Mickey closed his eyes; he wasn't sure why. "So, you've never…"

Cassandra inhaled the smell of him, "I've not been with another man since, and I keep thinking I'd never be again."

Mickey pulled away from her, he couldn't stop staring at her as she now started to laugh, "I've never said that out loud." She kept laughing. "I mean I've probably got the biggest collection of vibrators." Her hand covered her mouth trying to stop sharing.

"Are you okay?" He asked holding her at arm's length.

Cassandra caught her breath, "Sorry, I am getting drunk, and clearly over sharing." She calmed down.

He brushed some of her hair from her face, "What do you think Angelino would say?"

"He would be," She pulled a face, "To ómorfo louloúdi mou, giatí afíneis ta pétalá sou na marathoún kai na eísai tóso lypiménos. (My beautiful flower, why are you letting your petals wither and be so sad.)"

Mickey nodded, "That sounds," He tried to think of the words, but noticed his hand was still playing with her hair. "I don't know."

She burst into giggles, as she not thought this much of Angelino in a long time, "He used to call my," Her eyes going to her lap, "My vagina." She tried to stop laughing, "It was his special flower."

Mickey had to laugh also, "I think I can agree with him." He watched her face as she started to rest her forehead on his, and he brushed her cheek.

Cassandra closed her eyes, feeling his breath on her face, she moved slowly, his fingers playing with her hair sending an electricity down her spin.

Mickey felt his pulse burning on her, she was warm, and he wasn't going to fight the rush of feelings as he slowly brushed his lips to her bottom lip. The second he did it, he thought she would push away, but her lips embraced his, pulling herself closer to him, her hands wrapped around the nap of his neck, her lips opened to massage on his bottom lip, he pulled her to his lap using his tongue to slip against hers, as the kiss gained speed, his ran his hands down her back holding her ass, as she kept the kiss strong, he stopped suddenly.

Cassandra jumped off his lap feeling her hands to her chest, her body was tense, but at the same time feeling awful for what she let happen. She didn't even notice as Mickey picked his jacket up, not saying anything as he rushed from the apartment, and all Cassandra could do was sit on her couch feeling like she was going to need a cold shower.