The thumping sound of music and its loud bass could be heard from MAGNUS Nightclub.
People gathered and milled around the main entrance, waiting to be allowed to get inside. Despite the cold, everybody seemed like they were having a good time.
Except me.
Good time, my ass.
"What am I doing here?" I mumbled absent-mindedly while staring at Magnus's cool neon sign.
I pulled the hem of my red-wine mini dress down, trying to cover my legs, which were exposed to the cold weather tonight.
I couldn't understand how these women wear skimpy clothes in this cold weather and still looked glamorous and excited, while I stood and shivered like a limp leaf.
"Well... who am I to judge?" I mumbled again and then grunting because a waft of freezing cold wind just passed through my naked legs.
I already tried to come wearing my 'normal' clothes yesterday, but the security staff guarding the entrance wouldn't let me enter. It seemed that only people who look like going into nightclub were allowed in, and short, skimpy dresses were one of the dress codes around here.
Women sure had it hard.
It's no surprise because Magnus was one of the newest hot-spots in this town. As an exclusive nightclub in San Francisco, the premium membership couldn't be obtained by only paying the annual fees, which in my opinion was too overpriced.
Only rich people who have been selected by the management could get their greedy hands on those membership cards. One of the benefits of membership members was having free access in and out of this nightclub, while commoners like me had to queue for hours before we could set foot in Magnus.
I sighed while staring at the queue of twenty other 'commoners' in front of me. I almost gave up and thinking about going back to my warm apartment and sleeping between my warm thick blankets.
"Is my career worth it?" I muttered, staring reluctantly at two big bald men guarding the main entrance of Magnus. Every twenty minutes or so, only two people were allowed inside. Anyway, because it's the weekend this place must be packed with people.
Unfortunately, unlike these people, I came here because I have no other option.
My job as an investigative reporter was what forced me to wear a mini dress and high heels and queue at this damn curb on this freezing night.
Tonight I had a mission... to meet the owner of this club.
With no appointment, of course. Because no businessman in his right mind would welcome a reporter like me to have his rottenness exposed.
Sebastian Moran was the key figure behind the financial scandal of the current San Fransisco Mayor candidate, Bill Kovach.
Kovach had a history of corruption and embezzlement at Barclays Bank and I was one of the reporters who covered and wrote about the scandal.
It took long hours, lots of sweat, and frustrated tears before I could finish my report. But when I was about to make it, my editor at The Daily Wire said they couldn't publish my investigation report anymore.
The reason was very simple, the higher-ups in The Daily Wire wouldn't allow it. Looked like someone had gone to the trouble of silencing the newspaper where I worked.
Only one name came up while I was digging up some information about who had managed to silence an independent newspaper like The Daily Wire.
Sebastian Moran.
There was not much information or pictures of him on the internet. All I knew that Sebastian Moran was the new CFO of Barclays Bank, replacing his predecessor... Bill Kovach.
This nightclub, Magnus, was probably just his side business slash hobby.
Did I try to meet him at Barclays Bank where he worked? Of course.
Did I actually meet him? Of course not.
If I did meet him, I wouldn't be shivering in this place right now.
Forty-five minutes later, I was able to set my foot on Magnus. Thanks to the large crowd in front of me who decided to hit another place, so the queue line got shorter.
The music blared from all over the place. There were people everywhere dancing, grinding each other on the dance floor.
Dim lights and neon led illuminated the futuristic interior of this nightclub. I didn't pay much attention to the interior as my destination was the third floor of this building, which was the VIP area of Magnus and presumably the location of Sebastian Moran's private office.
After a few moments of looking for an opening, I decided to go up to the second floor and peek around the side of the bar, which was quieter.
Unlike the first floor which was filled with people because that's where the main dance floor was, the second floor focused on the private lounge for those who prefer less noisy atmosphere.
I ordered a glass of mojito without alcohol from the bartender while watching the staircase access to the third floor. A security guard guarded the gate.
Every VIP member who wanted to enter must swipe their membership card to a scanner machine attached on the side of the wall, then the glass door to the third floor would open automatically.
Looked like Magnus nightclub's security was very tight.
Suddenly I heard murmurs and several heads turned to two men who were just walked towards the glass door. One of them looked kinda familiar with his dark brown well-groomed hair and a pair of piercing blue eyes.
The kind of handsomeness that successfully turned heads around here.
He wore an obviously expensive tailored navy suit and a deep red tie. A glimpse of Omega watch and matching cufflinks graced his wrists.
Not the usual dress code for a nightclub...
You see, as a journalist who worked to uncover corruptions and politician scandals, I had keen eyes for expensive blings and things. This man dressed impeccably and screamed money and power from head to toe.
Where had I seen him before? I thought desperately to myself.
His cold blue eyes caught my eyes for a split moment as they passed me. His tall and well-built body and magnificent face certainly stood out and attracted this nightclub visitors' attention.
"Shaw... That's Nicholas Shaw!" I whispered to myself as I realized who the man was.
He's that thirty-something hotshot lawyer from Manhattan who's been working on big cases in the media lately... and always won every single time. He even built his own Law Firm with his brother at such a young age.
Suddenly Nicholas Shaw tilted his head and then looked right at me as if he heard me calling his name, even though we were quite afar.
I stumbled on my seat a little and then looked away from him. I waited until he went up to the third floor with his colleagues before glancing at the third-floor gate again.
Seeing a lawyer like Nicholas Shaw at Magnus made me even more excited. I bet he didn't come to this place to enjoy the atmosphere. Nicholas Shaw must be involved in Sebastian Moran's scheme, and my instinct told me that this meeting had something to do with Bill Kovach and his mayoral election.
Maybe Sebastian hired Nicholas Shaw as Kovach's lawyer...
Moran. Shaw. And Kovach. Three big fishes— No, there were three sharks in this little aquarium. All for me, ready to be caught.
I grinned excitedly.
Damn, now I definitely had to go up to the third floor so I could eavesdrop on their conversation. I bit my lip while staring at my only obstacle right now; the large security guard on the third-floor gate.
And a VIP access card.
I decided to go to the toilet to cool my head and plan ahead.
The women's toilet on the second floor looked very clean and tidy and there were no queues, unlike the first floor. There were only two other young women who were busy fixing their make up in the mirror.
I took a place next to them then opened my make up pouch to re-touch my faded red lipstick. I stared at my reflection and felt a little more beautiful than my usual self. It's been so long since I dressed up and polished myself.
Thanks to my Spanish heritage from dear mother— bless her soul, I'd been blessed with healthy-looking features and quite thick eyelashes that I was proud of.
Although I still had problems with my wild hair. I tried to smooth a wisp of stubborn curl on my temple with my fingertips and then gave up.
"Eddy gave me his VIP card. Do you want to try checking out upstairs?"
My ears twitched at the use of those magic words. VIP Card. I put my MAC lipstick back into my pouch and waited a moment.
"But you said there's nothing interesting on the third floor?" replied the other woman half-heartedly. "I want to dance, Poppy, let's go to the first floor."
"Well, there's nothing interesting on the VIP floor when I went with Eddy last week. But didn't you see the man that went upstairs just now?" 'Poppy' whispered excitedly.
I felt a little sorry for Eddy.
"Excuse me..." I smiled sweetly at them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but did you say you have Magnus VIP Card?"
The woman next to me frowned slightly. "And?"
***
My steps felt ten times lighter after I had Magnus VIP card in my hand. Even though I only had half an hour to return this card back.
My side job as a contributor to Glamour magazine somehow helped me in this desperate situation. Poppy, the woman I met in the toilet, was apparently an aspiring model who's still struggling to build her image as a model on Instagram.
Since we both seemed desperate, she was willing to lend me Magnus VIP card for half an hour if I traded it for a quarter-page coverage about her 'Instagram model' career in Glamor magazine.
Actually, my contribution to the magazine had nothing to do with Instagram models or anything like that. But well .. as I said before, I was desperate.
My journey to the VIP floor was very smooth. Even though the big security guard was watching me suspiciously, but as long as I have this magic card in my hand, he had to let me in.
The interior design on the VIP floor looked more luxurious and private than the two floors below. Each lounge was separated into cubicles to protect members privacy.
To my surprise there were barely any VIP visitors tonight, this floor felt a lot quieter than the other two. I almost ordered a glass of white wine at the bar, but I almost choked when I saw the price menu.
In the end, I just ordered a glass of cold cola which turned out to be six times the price of regular coke. It almost felt like extortion.
While sipping my cola I wandered around VIP floor, looking for Nicholas Shaw's handsome face. But he was nowhere to be found.
I was hoping he and Sebastian met up on this floor so I could eavesdrop their conversation.
Well, there's no way they would be so careless. He must be in Sebastian Moran's private office.
Next to the men's restroom door was another black door that has a 'No Entry' sign, I bet that door would lead me to where Moran's office was.
Good. If someone caught me I could just use the wrong toilet excuse.
With slow but convincing steps I slipped behind the 'Do Not Enter' door, the nightclub music immediately muffled as I closed the door behind me. The dim red light lit this long but narrow hallway, there was another black door at the end of this passage.
My heart started pounding nervously as I walked towards the door. Somehow my instinct told me to turn around and get out of this hallway. My hand held my cold cola glass tightly as I marched ahead silently.
My plan tonight was to sneak into Sebastian Moran's office and leave my recorder pen on his desk. It's simple. Everything would be fine... If I make it to the end. I took a deep breath before grasping the cold metal doorknob and then pulled it open.
My legs almost wobbled when I saw that the room was empty.
But this place definitely was not Sebastian Moran's private office because it looked like a small lounge with a black sofa. Around this lounge, there were three other doors I had to choose from.
I bit my lower lip while trying to pick one of those damned doors.
"Which one is his office?" I muttered with a frown as I watched the doors.
I decided to pick the door in the middle anyway, and ... bingo! Sebastian Moran's private office was indeed behind this door.
"What's with this immense luck I have with me tonight? It's almost scary," I told myself while laughing nervously. I took out my recorder pen from my bag and tucked it in the back of Moran's stationery holder.
Since I didn't want to challenge my luck any further, I went back to the door to get the hell out of here asap.
But it looked like my 'immense' luck just ran out at the worst moment.
When I stepped out of his private office the corner of my eye caught something that wasn't there before. I whipped my head towards the other door and froze instantly. A tall man was leaning against that door... and the man was none other than the devil himself.
"What... are you doing in this place?" Sebastian Moran's deep voice trembled with anger. It almost made me shiver.
I didn't answer his question. My tongue felt like a slab of useless meat so suddenly.
Sebastian Moran was standing just a few steps away from me with his tall and muscular body... almost naked and very sweaty.
He only wore a black tight boxer brief that slung very low around his waist. The cola glass in my hand almost slipped to the floor as my eyes lost their direction.
While I wanted to maintain my courtesy and keep staring at his angry face, the other shameless part of me wanted to explore his so-very-much-male and oh-so-naked muscular body.
Right now if my eyes could go in different directions at the same time, they definitely would.
Unfortunately, I was a naturally curious person... and also a virgin.
So screw courtesy!
My eyes slid instantly to his sweaty, muscular but lean body and stopped momentarily at scars on his six-pack stomach. Then slid further into a patch of thin dark hair in his lower stomach that disappeared into the band of his black boxer.
'Ludy, don't look down! Don't look down!'
Ah, I saw it...
God, do I have to confess at church tomorrow? I thought faintly as I continued to stare at his impressive body from chest to head. His pair of thick thighs and a bulge behind his boxer made my eyes stay longer than necessary.
This was the first time I had the opportunity to stare at a half-naked man directly with my own two eyes. It was definitely way more superior than staring at men's underwear adverts or porn. Not that I had lots of experience with porn videos though.
I started to understand why men go to strip clubs. Nothing beat the real thing.
"Still not finished looking?"