The limousine stopped under the front porch of a nondescript concrete two-story building.
The building was painted black on the outside and was located in it's own fenced compound. There were few windows, and those select windows had been covered in solid drape from the inside.
Within the compound, there was a large parking lot that was only about a quarter full on this weekday evening. Of the cars parked that James could see, most were European, and all were expensive. There were no modest Japanese sedans or compacts here. Compared to the cars here, even Phil's old BMW would have looked simple.
Phil and James stepped out of the car, and James followed Phil towards large glass doors flanked by two marble lions. Outside, by the entrance, James saw two businessmen speaking loudly and gesturing on their phones. One was smoking. Both had their shirts slightly rumpled, and the ties loosely undone.
Beyond the glass doors, James could make out a small entry room with a long desk staffed by four men wearing suits. Each of the men wore a earpiece, and seemed to alternate between barking and receiving instructions. On the side of the desk that didn't meet the wall, there were two bodyguards in front of a velvet rope that was blocking off a single door. James could not see any other entrances or exits to the building.
As Phil walked through the door, all four of the staff stood up and bowed.
"Welcome Young Master Phil." They greeted in unison.
"No need to be so formal," Phil waved his hands as he beckoned for them to retake their seats, "Are my other guests here yet?"
"Not yet Young Master Phil. We are happy to announce that we have you in the Super VIP room. Would you and your guest like to enter first?"
"Yes. Please send my guests in when they arrive. Thank you for your hard work." Phil nodded politely.
The most senior-looking of the four men sprinted to the velvet rope and removed one end from a stanchion.
"This way please." He gestured to Phil and James, and led them in through the door. With the door open, sounds of revelry and singing could be heard.
As James followed their escort down the long carpeted corridor, he looked into a couple of open rooms. These rooms appeared relatively modest, and contained a large sofa and table. On the wall facing the sofa, there were large television screens, with karaoke systems connected to them. Each door was also numbered strangely. The first door he saw was numbered "8", and the next was "18". The numbering continued to skip through to "28", "38", "58"....
Finally, their escort stopped in front of a door numbered "8888".
Phil pushed the door open and led James in.
Unlike the other rooms that James had seen, this room was humongous. It was easily the size of the rec room in Phil's villa, and was gaudily decorated in gold. A long leather couch stretched along the span of the longer wall, with four large tables interspersed. At the front of the room, there was a small stage with a couple of poles stretching from the floor to the ceiling. On the front wall were multiple large screens synced to the same music video.
In a corner of the room, James saw two private bathrooms, and a staircase leading up to the second floor.
"What's up there Phil?" James asked, unable to restrain his curiosity.
"You'll find out later." Phil replied coyly.
"Come, sit down with me for a bit." Phil said once more, dragging James to the center of the elongated sofa.
There was a knock on the door, followed by five service staff entering and laying out a spread of fruit plates, shot glasses, and glass tumblers. Shortly after, two service managers wheeled in a cart with several bottles of expensive whisky and cognac and placed them in front of Phil. After Phil's inspection and nod, the service managers prepared two glasses for Phil and James.
"By the way James, have you eaten?" Phil asked as he took a sip from his glass.
"No, not yet." James said, a little disoriented by the spread in front of him, he had been too angry to eat the past day.
"Let's get you some fried rice. It'll help with the alcohol later." Phil said, gesturing to the service managers, who had both taken discreet positions standing on either side of the open door.
Five minutes later, a steaming plate of fried rice was delivered to the room. Phil waved at James to start eating and James obliged.
Maybe some guilt-free carbs and a night of hard drinking was what he needed to take his mind off of Gina.
After James had eaten his fill, Phil gestured to the service managers again.
---
Shortly after, a skimpily dressed woman in her early thirties walked into the room and sat next to Phil. She grabbed an empty glass and filled it partially with some of the cognac, before turning to Phil and toasting him.
James looked quizzically at Phil. Was this one of Phil's crew?
Phil noticed James' look and laughed uproariously. "James, this is Lisa. She is the head Mama (chinese for mother) here. You can just call her Mama."
Confused, James said obediently, "Hi Mama."
Lisa turned to Phil and teased, "First timer? He's so cute. If he doesn't find anyone later, maybe I'll take him for the night."
Phil broke out into raucous laughter again.
"Do you want to wait for your other guests, or should I call the line up in?" Lisa asked once Phil had composed himself again.
"Lineup works. We can do another one when the others arrive. My friend here needs to let off some steam." Phil said, gesturing to James with an exaggerated wink.
"That's good. I'll make sure he leaves fully relaxed today." Lisa nodded knowingly.
Lisa made a quick call and spoke a few words in a dialect that James didn't catch.
---
A troop of scantily dressed women walked into through the door and onto the stage. James counted quickly, there were over fifty of them. Each of the women had a number on their dress, and most were looking at him with predatory smiles on their faces.
"What's going on Phil? I thought it was just drinks and karaoke." James turned to Phil and asked.
"It is just drinks and karaoke. This is a KTV. Haven't you heard of them?" Phil said offhandedly.
"No... is this legal? Are you sure this is kosher?" James asked worriedly.
"It's fine. Haven't you heard of KTVs? Hostess bars? Noraebangs with doumis? A lot of business is conducted here. Relax." Phil reassured James.
James shrugged and turned back to his drink. Whatever floated Phil's boat, he guessed.
"Pick two James. If you like more, pick more. Don't worry about it." Phil instructed.
James looked at Phil with eyes boggling. The last thing he wanted right now was more woman trouble.
"No thanks Phil." James declined.
"Well, if you won't pick, I'll let Mama decide for you." Phil threatened.
"Do whatever you want." James said noncommittally.
Phil shook his head. It looked like James was incorrigibly infatuated with Gina. He would have to correct that today.
Phil turned to Lisa and exchanged a few hurried whispers. Lisa then barked out a couple of orders to the line-up and two of the women stepped out.
Phil then looked back at the line-up and picked out three companions for himself.
After the five selected women had stepped out, the others walked off the stage and out of the door. The last one to walk out turned down the lights and closed the door behind her.
The five ladies then walked to their partner and sat down. Since James had had two selected for him, one sat on his left, and the other on his right. Each took one of James' hands and started gently massaging them. Meanwhile, James saw Phil's third lady sit directly on his lap and lean forward to give him a deep, wet kiss.
---
Despite James' best efforts to resist, he was starting to show a bit of a physical reaction to all the attention he was getting.
Somewhere in the hour that had just passed, two bottles of hard liquor had been consumed. James had also drunk his fair share, with him being the beneficiary of toasts from his two arm-candies, drinking game penalties, and frequent top-ups every time his glass came close to being half empty.
With each drink, the inhibitions that James had held tightly were starting to loosen.
Fuck it. James thought to himself. She wanted to break up with me to go to fucking Harvard. It's not like I asked for any of this to happen.
[ System thinks you should let loose and reset your emotions. If you continue to carry emotional baggage, System believes you will eventually inevitably fail. ]
Even his system was encouraging him to let go and live life. In the face of this much temptation, with no reason to resist, James was only human.
James turned to the beauty on his right, and moved his hand to her bare knee.