To have a day with purpose was an alien, distant feeling that Mai would have to become familiar with again. Somehow, it made her body work more efficiently than normal during the last six months. Beforehand, she'd sleep until noon and then drone her way through life but today, she woke up at a reasonable time because Geese's butler told her that she had to.
Granted, her eyes felt a slight weight from changing her entire rhythm, going to bed at a reasonable hour, and actually sleeping for a full night. With eight hours of rest, her body fought a brave battle to make her brain keep up, channeling unfamiliar energy through her every fiber. The day before, Mai had packed what she needed and dragged her belongings to Geese Tower.
Maybe Geese the old coot and his cronies had planned for this all along because it was rather fast how they were able to provide her with a ridiculously fancy hotel room, that was nicer than her apartment or any place she had ever lived. Mai didn't know how to feel about the fact that Geese Howard of all people had provided her with this.
Should she be thanking him for giving her a reason to get out of bed? Probably not; he surely wasn't doing it from the goodness of his heart. He probably just needed something to amuse himself with, the prick. Oh well, until she could get out of here, she'd be a good monkey and dance her debt away.
Besides Mai had a convenient reason to leave if she smelled even a whiff of crime coming her way. That way, she could keep herself somewhat loyal to Andy's memory. If he was still here, maybe she could handle her life better; maybe she wouldn't feel so hopeless and lonely.
Ugh, how she missed him so. His absence had caused a black void to spread over her, and it only grew bigger every day. King had mentioned something about the five stages of grief and said that Mai was in the fourth, which sounded like complete bullshit.
The suggestion almost made her furious. It caused bit of a rift in their friendship, hence Mai choosing to drink at a seedy bar instead. Andy was dead for good, and she knew it to be true. Didn't do anything but make the pain worse. Thinking of him again served to only pour salt on the wound.
Her greatest love had left the mortal world. Where was she to go from here?
Mai's whirlwind of thought completely blocked out everything from the world around her before something poked her shoulder. She blinked tears away and hastily wiped her face, remembering that she was standing in the middle of a casino and not in front of Andy's grave or the comfort of her bed. Billy had poked her with his staff. It wasn't as amusing as such a statement would imply, for he looked outright worried.
"You okay?" Billy poked her again and Mai shoved the staff away, only to find him poking her once more. If he tried to distract her from her grief, he succeeded – and subsequently angered her.
She hissed. "I'm fine."
"Did you listen to anything I said at all?"
"…No," Mai admitted, and Billy groaned. He took her to the middle of the bar and gestured around with the end of his staff.
"As a server, you just go between the bar, the kitchen, and the tables. Put the receipt on the tray so you know what table ordered what. Remember to smile when you take and serve their orders. People don't like crying waitresses."
Ignoring that soulless jab, that sounded deceptively easy. Mai looked at the various tables and noticed numbers edged into the tabletop as well as taller signs that had specific numbers on them. Suppose that made sense when Mai would be wandering about here later tonight.
It occurred to her now that she hadn't asked at all about hours or pay. Was she expected to work here for free? Did the contract mention anything about pay? Mai should have known this; she had just read the damned thing an hour ago. Against her own pride, she made a mental reminder of asking Geese once she caught him again.
From the entrance to the casino, a few cleaning ladies emerged, vacuuming, and dry-cleaning the carpet. The tables got a good wiping, and one tall lady went to carefully dust the numerous chandeliers present. The place already looked immaculate before their arrival but suppose things needed to be extra pristine when people came to gamble their rent money away.
Between the cleaning ladies, stood a black suit with spotless glasses; Hein, or whatever his name was had appeared like a phantom and headed directly for Mai and Billy. He moved with purpose, elegant yet rigid like a sentient piece of wood. It was a stark contrast to Billy's relaxed and informal gait. Geese, Mai came to find out, was a mix of them both.
"Oh hey, new guy," Billy waved, resting the staff over his shoulders.
"With all due respect, I've been working here for a year. Doesn't exactly make me the new guy anymore. Besides, that honor would go to the young lady," Hein pushed his glasses to the top of his nose. A flash of light from the modestly lit chandeliers obscured his eyes through the lenses. He spoke calmly and clearly, yet his actual tone was undefined.
As much as Mai didn't enjoy Billy's presence, he was at least easier to read than Hein. She just noticed now that there was a serving tray under his arm, and it appeared that he noted her attention. Immediately, he handed over the tray and Mai held onto it like she normally would.
She was well aware that such a posture was obviously wrong and so was Hein. His expression hardly changed as he took the tray from her again to demonstrate. He made it look so easy but that was probably just part of the training over at butler school or wherever people produced servants.
Then it was Mai's turn.
"Give me your hand," Hein commanded, and she did.
He put the tray in her palm and maneuvered her fingers around while he explained the science of holding a stupid tray. "Your index, middle, and ring finger will be the front guard while your thumb and little finger will keep it steady. Now walk."
Mai did as told, having to shift the tray to find the right point of balance so she wouldn't drop it when it counted. And she continued like that for the rest of that morning.
The rest of that day was spent on training with that stupid tray, drinks on, drinks off, with plates, with food and by the end of the session, Mai was ready to snap the thing in half and cram each piece down Billy's and Hein's throats respectively. Hein was strict but at least helpful.
Billy on the other hand was disruptive and way too opinionated. How Geese or anyone tolerated him was a mystery. Anyway, Mai got the hang of it fairly quickly, if there were any positives to it. Suffice it to say, she was deemed ready for tonight; just in time as evening rolled around and patrons began ever so slowly to pour into the casino.
An hour or so before, Mai was given the standard uniform waitresses had to wear; a black cocktail dress and black shoes with low heels. To top it all off, she was given a hairband with large black rabbit ears. Really classy stuff apparently. And now, as she stood in the outfit, watching people (mostly men) enter and settle directly for the slot machines, she felt weirdly underprepared for this task of hers.
Mai closed her eyes and took a deep breath before beginning the trek through the casino floor. Other waitresses were already in the midst of serving patrons so Mai could gather herself while she searched for a table to serve. Finally, she settled for one where a rotund man sat alone with a mean expression resting on his face. A black skull was tattooed on his shoulder. Honestly, Mai immediately thought of bikers from the sixties.
This man looked like he'd fit right in. Not so surprising that the other waitresses stayed clear of him; he could probably snap them in half with a mean look or the girth of his massive gut.
"Hello, what can I get you?" Mai asked in an overly sweet voice, which she had practiced for most of the day. The man looked up, still scowling, though his expression softened just a bit upon looking at her. He didn't smile, however. She wished he'd smile.
"Beer," he uttered, and his voice fitted him well. Mai wrote the order down, nodding, and smiled before returning to the bar.
It felt nice to just blend in with the rest of the bunny girls. No one paid attention to her or called her out by name. She was effectively a nobody and never before had she been happier for that. For one, none of her friends would to Geese Tower, and much better, she didn't recognize anyone present at the moment.
The bartender quickly tapped the beer before returning to the busywork of making cocktails. When she took the beer to the biker dude, she couldn't help but note how he stared at her. Well, so much for not standing out; it wasn't like the other bunny waitresses were hags.
They were good-looking, handsome women. Mai fitted well amongst them, and she seemed to have been the first one paying attention to the biker – assuming he was even a biker.
"Say, you look like you got a lot of talents. How do you this place?" He said, instead of thanking Mai as she put the beer on top of a coaster to spare the table.
"I can't say. It's my first day working here," Mai answered honestly with a dishonest smile.
"I bet you don't get paid much. You should join the Neo Black Cats. There, you're gonna get a lot more money."
Oh boy. One of those people.
"…Is that your dance troupe?" Mai asked, maybe a little cheekier than she intended. But it came across better than to inquire if that was the name of his street gang.
"Sort of."
"Thanks but no thanks. I think I like it here."
Mai didn't have of an opinion on that. The casino was a beautiful establishment when fully lit with its shiny chandeliers, red carpet, and calmer side areas. It was hard to think that such a place came from Geese Howard of all people, but the world worked in cruel, mysterious ways after all. And the look of the casino wasn't nearly enough to make her love this place. She was too busy pacing back and forth with drinks and muffins and whatnot anyways.
"Name's Jack. If you change your mind, drop by," the large biker said, pulling a napkin and a sharpie from his pocket, writing in crummy hieroglyphs the address of someplace here in South Town, and passed the napkin to Mai alongside a few dollars.
She resisted the urge to tear it into pieces and throw the money in his face but kindly thanked him and returned to work. She had to stuff it all in her bra when she went to the backrooms as the cocktail dress had no pockets, dang it.
From then on out, the evening passed on in a blur while Mai worked, though always aware of Jack's lingering stare when she had the misfortune of being within viewing distance of him. The efforts of being a waitress were effective in tiring her out and turning off her brain as a routine was quickly established.
She wondered if other waitresses had a similar experience or if they genuinely enjoyed working here. In the end, Mai didn't care. She was here on borrowed time anyway.
When Mai finally returned to her hotel room, she was beyond spent and the first thing she did was throw herself onto the massive bed and kick off her heels. Apparently, the cleaning staff had been here recently as a smell of scentless cleaning products lingered in the air and the sheets were soft to the touch, smelling of sterile washing powder.
A knock on the door surprised some level of awareness in Mai and she sat up on the bed, realizing that she was still wearing her waitress uniform. Before she could go and answer, the door clicked open, and someone emerged from the entrance with the door closing behind them.
"Good evening, Miss Mai," Geese greeted her with no emotion whatsoever. His eyes fell immediately to the heels that lay by the end of the bed. She didn't answer him, simply scowling at him in silence for daring to just waltz in like he owned the place…which he did but her feelings didn't care about facts.
"I own everything in here, Mai. Of course, I have a master key," he answered as if he had been reading her thoughts.
Mai's lips thinned. "That's an invasion of privacy."
"Invasion of privacy would be me entering without knocking. Anyway, how's your first day at work?"
"…Overwhelming," was the short and honest answer from Mai.
Working again, smiling, and being personable were all too overwhelming. But she didn't detest it; it did wonders to make her shut off her feelings and whatnot for a moment and Jack had been the only one giving her unsolicited job offers.
"You'll get used to it," Geese said and came a little closer to the bed. His hands were firmly shoved in his pockets, but Mai still pulled closer to the headboard by uneasiness, just to get away from him.
"That aside, the reason why I came is because you're going to join me and Billy at a charity gala by the end of the month. Thought I'd inform you ahead of time."
Geese Howard at a philanthropic event sounded like the biggest joke ever. It sounded even more surreal that he had asked Mai to join him. Although calling it asking was generous. More like shoving an order down her throat without considering if she even wanted to go or not. Oh well, since he mentioned gala, that probably meant Mai could get a nice dress. That would be a nice band-aid, yes?
"…You give a shit about charity?" Mai couldn't stop herself from spitting some snark at Geese. The way his shoulders slumped in tandem with the smile on his face made her wonder if he had gotten this question more than once.
"Orphans need food too," he shrugged which sounded like a convenient way of saying I don't give a flying fuck.
Mai narrowed her eyes, shifting away when he took a step closer to the bed. Him being here, alone with her, in a bedroom, sounded like a recipe for disaster. Geese were one of those people with an intense stare, which he employed ruthlessly like he was trying to intimidate her for whatever nefarious purposes. At least, it must have occurred to him that his presence made her wary and he stepped back, giving Mai some sense of breath again.
"…Ever heard of the Neo Black Cats?" Mai changed the subject, watching the smile drop from his face entirely in a way that suggested he absolutely had.
She had never seen Geese furious or even remotely displeased, just overall smug and overbearing. Now, she got the honor of seeing aggravation mar his expression as he countered her question. "…How do you know of them?"
This time, it was Mai's turn to smile. "Geese, it's rude to not answer a question."
"Alright, mother," he sighed and sat down by the foot end of the bed.
"Don't call me that. You're kinda old so it's weird."
Silence stretched between them after that as he turned to look at her. "…It's your first day so I'll let you off the hook for that. Your sharp tongue aside, the Neo Black Cats are a street gang. They tend to roam back alleys and beat up random people after robbing them."
Mai's smile widened. The scales of power between them tipped a bit as she now found out how to press his buttons. She might be working for him, but she would never give Geese the honor of seeing her sweet side. She owed that to Andy's memory.
"A guy called Jack said it was a dance troupe, I guess that's why he's not in jail?" Mai pulled her knees to her chest, curling her body. She felt the paper from the tissue and money rub against her skin.
"I don't know, Miss Mai. I do know that this Jack is Jack Turner and not someone worth your time."
It wasn't like Geese was either. Mai was just here to get him out of her hair.
"He gave me this by the way." she turned a bit so he couldn't watch her fiddle with the objects stuffed in her bra. Mai kept the dollars, those were tips, but she handed Geese the tissue with the address.
The distance between them was more than an arm's length and Mai liked it that way. For a moment, Geese simply stared at the tissue before opening his mouth and then spitting on it, crumbling the tissue in his hand.
"There. Out of the way. I take it you didn't wish to join either," he seemed so oddly proud of that act. It was wholly unsuited and gave him the demeanor of a young unruly brat.
"Why did you do that?!" Mai exclaimed, unsure if she should be amused or disgusted. He could have just thrown it out like a normal person.
"Why not?" Geese shrugged like it was normal. Suppose a suit didn't do much to hide one's immaturity.
"Well now I see why Billy tends to be so juvenile," Mai grimaced.
"I'm not always like that, Miss Mai," he smiled again. It wasn't a fake smile either. It seemed warm almost. Suppose Miss Mai was just a nickname to highlight that. Didn't help much. Didn't make Mai like Geese more. Was he being nice to her because he pitied her still? Did he treat all of his employees like that?
Oh well, Mai was too tired to ponder it any further, laying down and closing her eyes when Geese finally left.
Yes, that is indeed Jack Turner, the obscure big boy from Art of Fighting who turned his gang into a dance troupe.
Next time; charity and something quite unexpected, fast-paced happening.