Cletus sat at the table in the break room, looking at Mimzy sitting across from him. The chairs they were sitting on were metal fold-up chairs, which Mimzy absolutely despised. Cletus could see her discomfort as she shifted around in her seat trying to get comfortable, wishing that this room had one wooden chair. The former cherub thought he could use this to his advantage. After all, maybe this discomfort could make her more honest.
"This doesn't look like a shrink's office," Mimzy said.
"And how many shrink offices have you seen?" Cletus replied.
Mimzy was about to say something but then stopped to think. "... ya gotta point there." She wasn't wrong though. The Hazbin had no room dedicated to therapy, so Cletus settled for the break room. "Have ya eva' done anythin' like this before?"
"Not while someone's life wasn't in danger, no. Honestly, it feels different without the pressure."
Mimzy sighed, I really hope it wasn't a mistake comin' here. She thought to herself.
"I see you're wondering if it was a mistake coming here," Cletus said, which shocked Mimzy.
"How the fuck did ya know!? Can ya read minds!?"
"Not exactly. I just make educated guesses based on body language, tone of voice, that kind of thing. Listen, I might be new to this whole therapy thing, but we all gotta start somewhere."
"Ain't that the truth."
"Oh, so you can relate?"
"So what if I do? What the fuck does that have to do with why I'm here?"
"You never know. Why don't we start with your career when you were alive?"
Mimzy scoffed, she didn't have much of one on Earth. She explained that when she was little her parents would take her to a vaudeville show any time one would come touring in her hometown. Seeing all the fantastic singers perform there made her want to become one herself. Then, when she was older, the Roaring 20s happened, and with it brought the Jazz Age.
This new type of music resonated with her, so she made it her goal to become a jazz singer. However, the surrounding speakeasies were very picky about their singers. Every time she would audition, she kept getting comments like, "You're too fat." or "You're too short." Needless to say, it caused her a significant amount of stress. That was until someone introduced her to opium.
The moment she smoked that first bit of Easing Powder, all her worries went away. She soon became an addict, using the money she made as a waitress to buy the ever-growing price of the drug. This eventually led to her overdosing on it, sending her straight to hell.
"So, you never worked in the jazz scene on Earth?" Cletus confirmed.
"Nope, wasn't until I came down here that I finally got my shot. And here I am now, tha' biggest jazz star in Pride!"
"Looks like you got what you wanted, eventually."
"Yeah, I did. I should be happy, and I was when I started. But now… I don't know, I'm not feelin' it anymore."
"Are you perhaps tired of it?"
"No, I love performin', can't imagine doing anything else. When I'm on stage and doin' my thing it's beautiful. But now I feel like shit every time I hear the crowd cheer."
"Hm, I see. I bet you feel frustrated that you can't figure out why."
"Damn right, I'm frustrated! I've worked my ass off ta' get where I am! I'm the shinin' star of hell and I deserve it!"
Cletus noticed a bit of defensiveness in her voice, then he came to a hypothesis. "Could you perhaps be… ashamed of your fame?"
Mimzy perked up, "What da' fuck do ya' mean?"
"I'm just detecting a bit of… insecurity in your bragging. Maybe you actually don't believe you deserve this fame."
Mimzy stood up from her chair. "Of course I deserve it! This was my dream, and I worked hard for it."
She was getting agitated, which meant that Cletus was on to something. Still, he wanted to make sure he didn't drive her away. So he tried to soften his stance. "I'm not saying you didn't. But I want you to think about this for a bit." Mimzy sat back down, humoring the cherub. "Ok, so you're famous here in hell, you sell out every time you perform or whatever. You got what you wanted, but it definitely wasn't so when you were alive. I'm thinking maybe you getting what you want here and not on Earth has something to do with your guilt."
It then hit her like a freight train as a chill went down her spine. That's exactly what it was! This realization triggered a memory of a social gathering she went to last year. It was a gathering of other famous sinner musicians, sitting on their fancy chairs and drinking the most expensive champagne they could afford. There were some sinners who didn't talk about their life when they were human, either out of shame, indifference, or for whatever reason. Then there were those who would talk about their life on earth constantly, especially the ones who were hotshots when they were alive (as well as the ones that thought they were). The demons at this gathering were the latter kind.
Mimzy would hear them talk about their tales from their lives before death, throwing parties, living on the wild side, and even revolutionizing music. Yet here she was, a waitress who died of an opium overdose. Whenever someone would ask what she did before death, she would say half-truths like going from speakeasy to speakeasy. That was when this sense of guilt came over her, for she realized she did absolutely nothing with her life.
Mimzy turned her head down, lost in her own memories. Cletus grinned, proud of himself for making a breakthrough on the first session. He let her ponder her own thoughts for a bit, and ponder them she did. How could she live with this knowledge for so long without going down a career-ruining spiral of depression?
Suddenly, a lightbulb went on in her head. She remembered exactly how she lived with it: drinking herself into forgetting it! A smile came over her face as she knew what had to be done. When Cletus read her intentions, his smirk disappeared and was replaced with a look of concern. "Do not do what I think you're going to do." He said.
"I don't know whatcha' talkin' about," Mimzy said, feigning ignorance as she got up from her chair. "Nice talkin' to ya, little guy. This gave me a lot of things to think about soooo… I'm gonna go do that."
"Wait, don't-" But it was too late, Mimzy had already left the room on her way to the bar. Cletus leaned back into his chair and gave an enormous sigh. He wanted to chase after her, but he of all people knew that therapy wasn't something that could be forced on someone. He only hoped that she would remember the reason why she came here and come to her senses.
A bright smile came over Mimzy's face as she walked up to the bar and sat down. She was surprised at the number of drinks there were on the shelf behind the bar. From how basic her room was, she had assumed the budget of this place wouldn't allow them to be fancy. But on the shelves, she saw various types of alcohol, some of which were even served at the high society gatherings she went to.
"Bartender!" Mimzy said to Husk, who was behind the counter and cleaning the inside of a glass with a washrag. "Get me a tequila!"
Husk simply groaned as he put his glass down and reached for one bottle behind him. Mimzy then heard a voice from behind her… the voice of someone who sounded like they were on the radio. "Make that two, Husker!" Curious, she turned to see where the voice was coming from, only to be left speechless by the demon that walked over and sat next to her.
For a moment the entire room faded from her vision, her sole focus being on the man. Of course, she recognized him as non-other than Alastor, the Radio Demon. She had heard the tales of him and had even seen him from afar, but looking at him up close like this made her notice how… handsome he was. Alastor turned to her and that's when she noticed his smile, which only made Mimzy's heart skip a beat. This was the look of a dapper gentleman, one that only existed in novels or some of the vaudeville shows she saw as a kid.
"You must be Mimzy!" Alastor said "A pleasure to meet you! I'm a fan of your work!"
If she was still alive, her skin would turn pure white like it is now, frozen stiff upon hearing that. "Y-you are?" she said.
"Indeed," Alastor took her hand and kissed the top of it, which made her scream on the inside. "And I must say, you look as ravishing here as you do on stage."
Mimzy felt like she would faint, thankfully Husk came by and served each of them a glass of tequila. Hoping it would calm her nerves, she took one massive gulp of the drink before slamming it back onto the bar. It loosened her up just a bit, however she worried that drinking an entire glass of tequila in one gulp would be off-putting to Alastor. So she turned to see if his expression changed, but it didn't. The rumors were true about his smile as well, it's always on him no matter what.
"I-I didn't know you were stayin' here too." She said.
"Oh, don't be confused, my dear. I'm not a guest," Alastor took a drink from his glass. "I'm simply funding this place and helping to spring it up a little! Speaking of which, how are you enjoying it!?"
She then remembered the reason she came to the bar in the first place, which made her tense up for a completely different reason. "It's… it's really great! You really did… spring up the place."
"I'm glad you enjoy it!" Alastor said, seemingly unaware of her tenseness. "Also, since you're here, how's Rosie doing? I haven't seen her in a long time!"
"Ah, she's doin'-" Before she could finish her sentence, another realization hit her square in the face, which once again made her freeze up. Rosie was her overlord, the woman who promoted her stardom in exchange for a percentage of her earnings and being her minion.
"Oh god," She thought to herself, "Is she the only reason I got famous? Am I just nothin' without 'er?" Once again she was going down that spiral of self-doubt.
"Are you alright, my dear?" Alastor said, which snapped her out of it.
"Oh yeah, I'm great! Rosie's great too!" Mimzy turned her attention to Husk. "Get me another one!"
Husk took her glass and began pouring another round. "Well, that's wonderful to hear! I should visit her sometime. Anywho, I hope you enjoy your stay, and that you find the key to your inner happiness!" Alastor said before finishing his drink, getting up, and leaving. Mimzy gave a loving sigh as Husk put her drink in front of her. She then looked into the liquid and saw her reflection. Mimzy certainly found the key to something, but it wasn't happiness. It was more like the key to a room full of doubt and insecurity. Hopefully, the alcohol would make her regret disappear.
Mimzy took another massive gulp of her tequila. "Another one!" She said as she put her glass down.
"Yeah, I know what you're trying to do." Husk said, "So that's all you're getting."
"Fuck you, asshole! Fine, I'll just go get my own." Mimzy got up from her chair and left the bar, stomping her feet. Husk just rolled his eyes and started cleaning the counter.
