Day 9: In Which He Supports Local Businesses

Elsa was quite done with her job for the day. Some of her fellow workmates were being far too strict in spite of the unstable scenario they found themselves in, and she could not take any more of their nonsensical complaints. Going to the sliding door, she stepped outside to find her neighbor in the middle of a call, and he smirked, covering his phone with a hand.

"Hey. Off work already?"

Elsa nodded, sipping from her steaming mug. "I hate conference calls."

He chuckled. "What happened?"

She snorted. "Our project manager is turning out to be an even bigger idiot remotely than he was face to face—"

"Hold that thought," he said with an apologetic smile and straightened up, pressing his phone closer to his ear. "Hi, yeah, I'm still here." There was a pause as he listened to the other side. "Yes, I know it says on your website that you're closed right now, but I was wondering if there was any way I could still hire a dancer for a little webcam striptease show?"

Elsa couldn't stop herself from choking at his words. She coughed frantically, lungs being deprived of oxygen, nose stinging from inside, and hot tea spilled from her mug, burning her fingers and her upper chest through the layers of her clothes. She hunched forward, pressing a hand to her nostrils.

"Shit…" Jack cursed. "Are you okay?"

Elsa glared at him, eyes sparkling with tears, and hissed, "What are you even doing?"

He held up a finger for her to wait. On the phone, he shouted, "No, who are you calling a creep? That's so fucking rude!" He made violent gestures with his free arm. "My friend had to cancel his bachelor party, and as the best man, I was trying to find an alternative that could soften the blow… You know, because I'm an awesome guy like that!"

He listened some more as he pressed his fingers to his eyelids. "Sure, I'll send you an email. Thanks. Yeah, you too!" With a groan, he hung up and darted his eyes to the sky.

"What—" She snapped her mouth shut. She had a feeling she'd be better off not knowing what sort of ridiculous scheme he was planning now.

Jack shrugged. "Support your local strip club, am I right?"