"His name was Rico, He wore a diamond, He was escorted to his chair, he saw Lola dancing there, And when she finished, he called her over, But Rico went a bit to far, Tony sailed across the bar, And then the punches flew and chairs were smashed in two, There was blood and a single gunshot, But just who shot who?, At the copa, Copacabana, The hottest spot north of Havana, At the copa, Copacabana, Music and passion were always the fashion, At the copa, she lost her love." ~ Copacabana song 1978 Written by Barry Manilow, Jack Feldman, Bruce Sussman.
Everybody was talking about the Atlas military coming to Vale. Every day the Vytal Festival drew closer and closer and the sudden appearance of General Ironwood's fleet outside everyone's homes was rather difficult to ignore. And ever more alarming than the heavily armed airships above our heads were the heavily armed soldiers patrolling the streets with rifles and full combat gear.
Already it was making trouble for the business. I remember turning on the news to see the General himself talking up how his forces would provide safety and security to the streets of Vale for the Vytal Festival. Believe me that if any of those news reporters had bothered to actually go out onto the streets they'd understand how nervous everyone was having them walking around our streets looking like they were ready to fight a war.
They weren't badges, those soldiers didn't have the ability to make arrests or stop crimes or obtain warrants like normal cops do. They didn't have any of the authority a cop would have, but they certainly had a bad habit of sticking their fucking noses where they didn't belong and getting away with just a slap on the wrist.
In a manner that couldn't be considered coincidence those jackbooted thugs took to patrolling most of our territory and the neighborhoods of Little Mistal and frequenting our establishments. A lot of these soldiers had pay that they were willing to throw around to drink or go to clubs but it wasn't an uptick in profit we were looking for.
Tony for example had one group of Atlas soldiers try sneaking into the back of his restaurant where he had a stash of some stolen SDC tech he was going to be selling off. They didn't find anything because one of the waiters and associates stopped him. But it got a little violent and Tony's busboy was slapped with an assault charge and denied bail while the soldier got away scot free claiming he was just trying to look for a bathroom and ended up getting harassed.
That led to a warrant being filed and the police looking through the restaurant. Thankfully Tony had people move the stuff beforehand but incidents like this happening put everyone on edge. When you got people carrying rifles coming into your establisments not giving a fuck who you work for it gets bad. So Roman called a sit down to ease everyone's tensions.
Sitting at a table inside the office space of the Duster Security Union courtesy of Tony I was getting an ear full of all the incidents that had occured in just the last couple of days since I got back. I sat close to Neo as we waited for Roman to arrive. I couldn't help but feel that too many eyes were glancing my way to take notice that a mere soldier such as myself was going to be sitting right next to Roman. I had originally tried standing with a lot of the other lower lever made guys but Neo wouldn't let me stand with them. I was Roman's man so I sat with Roman.
"They fucking stopped my trucks!" Paulie told the room. "They noticed a few of my guys stopping to offload them and they started asking questions! It's ridiculous! My guys swear they were motioning them with their rifles but of course the badges are believing those bastards! They weren't even breaking the law! They were just delivering flour to a bakery I own but they demanded to inspect the cargo! Thankfully there was nothing suspicious for them to find."
I too had faced some difficulties with this development. My bootleg DVD sales had taken a hit because the stands that were out in the street were being harassed by the soldiers. Some had apparently bought some of my bootleg disks but others had called the police for trafficking copyrighted goods. Thankfully the cops in Little Mistral were on the take and knew that those stands belonged to me and Toshi so they had stalled however they could but even bribes couldn't stop them from investigating. Not with the Atlas military breathing down their necks. So the stands were gone for the moment and I had to get Russel to talk to a few more store owners into selling them for me to make up for the lost profits.
It would have been a lie to say that I wasn't concerned about the situation myself. But mostly my mind was on the opening of the Moonstone that night. Naturally I was expecting quite a crowd, including many of the men within the room to attend by my invitation. I was going to be packed to the rafters with wiseguys and anyone who was anyone in Vale. I was having Franky fucking Martin sing, it was a pretty big deal.
The door opened and Roman stepped in with his usual swagger. "Good afternoon gentlemen, and Gentleman, I am glad you have come here today so we might speak about these bullies that are causing us trouble." He said, not even waiting to sit down before he spoke to them.
"Bullys is putting it pretty fucking mildly Roman!" Victor Stracci said as he slammed his hand upon the table. "They seized my private hangers for their bullheads! I got a letter from the Council explaining that they needed them… my entire deal with the Atlesians is now grounded!"
"And I am sorry for that Victor," Roman said as he got to his seat beside me, Neo pulled out his chair and he sat down opening his hands to them. "Did the Council offer you compensation for the use of your hangers?"
"That's not the point Roman!" Victor barked at him. "This is because of you and that arrangement you made with the White Fang! Those dust robberies went too far and now the Council invited Atlas to bring their army here and patrol our streets!"
Roman shrugged cooly at him. "What can I say Victor?" He asked, looking at everyone gathered around. "This deal came with some risks. You all knew that before agreeing to go along with this."
"We weren't warned that those risks included having a foreign military stomping around our territories," Bruce chimed in. "I was worried that the White Fang would attract unwanted attention but even you have to admit that this is too much heat."
"I didn't hear any of these concerns when your bank accounts got fatter," Roman reminded them. "And I distinctly remember warning you all that the Council would eventually take action."
"We expected that action to come with cops, institutions that we bribed to inform us and to act slowly and predictably so long as we kept them bribed," Tony admitted to him. "I'm still with you boss but we're dealing with soldiers now."
"Exactly!" Roman said to him. "Soldiers, not federal agents, not badges, simply grunts with guns. They don't have the same kind of power as law enforcement, meaning we only need to move the operation to ground. They cannot investigate or make arrests."
"Don Torchwick," Paulie said respectfully. "That might be true, but they're sticking their noses where they don't belong."
"So swat their fucking noses with a rolled up newspaper like the dogs they are!" Roman said to them. "What the fuck are you guys!? Common hoods!? You're mafia! You know your rights! If they cause trouble, walk away and don't give 'em nothing! If they're coming into your establishments then refuse them service! What are they going to do? Shoot your guys?! If they do then it'll put the entire city into an uproar."
Everyone was silent, chewing on that. "Shooting criminals might certainly be outside of their authority sir," I said to Roman. "But I'm sure that Atlas would be able to spin it to make their soldiers look like heros. Besides, even if it would be advantageous to have the General's men step out of line of their authority… no one really wants to get shot."
Roman chuckled at me. "You make a good point Jaune… but my point still stands. These soldiers have their arms tied behind their backs with enough red tape to hogtie a Goliath. " He looked over at the rest of the gathered Capos and other made men in the room with him. "I have instructed our lawyers to prepare for any cases involving these invaders and I assure you they are already polishing themselves up on Atlesian military and international law. If there are any more incidents we're ready to turn their own rules against them, we'll toss the whole fucking book. What's more we have friends in the press, the minute the General's men decide to throw their weight around we'll be ready to expose them for the classless thugs they really are."
Most of the room nodded along seeing the wisdom in his words. The trick here was playing to the weakness of the military and their status as a foreign army. But there were a few with their doubts in place, namely Victor.
"And what of this arrangement with the White Fang?" He asked him. "Doubtlessly Ironwood is going to be investigating however he can behind the scenes. I know for a fact that he has already assigned some lieutenant major to act as a police liaison."
"Our arrangement with the White Fang still stands, they have agreed to send us further funds considering the increased risk and I guarantee you I negotiated some rather lucrative terms for all of you." He explained to everyone.
"Money's no good if this deal lands us all in prison," Victor commented dryly and rather disrespectfully if you had asked me.
"You agreed to join Roman on this business venture," I told him. "If you're so concerned about ending up behind bars then a career change seems in order. Fact is we took the Fang's money so what choice do we have but to follow through?" I wasn't exactly pleased with the way he was speaking to Roman at the moment and while his concerns were certainly understandable he should know better than me the inherent risks associated in this line of work.
Victor snarled at me. "Don't you dare fucking lecture me about my business boy! I made my bones before your father even squirted you into your mother!"
Neo glared at him and moved only for Roman to hold up a hand for her to stop.
"Hey hey hey!" Tony said, standing up and raising his hands. "Come on fellas, we're supposed to be on the same team here. Jaune I like your spirit but you should know that you can learn a lot from someone like Victor here, he's been in the business a long time and he deserves to be shown respect. But Victor… Come on man, you are being an asshole here. Fact is whatever the Council wants to do about our business we're locked into this deal, the Fang isn't going to let us back off easily. Besides it's as Roman said, we're mafia, we honor our deals. It's about more than money, it's about honor."
Victor frowned at having a fellow Caporegime calling him out. "So what… you think we should continue with this little arrangement until we have huntsmen and cops breaking down our doors while the Fang skips town with all that dust!?"
"That's not what he's saying and you know it!" Paulie stated to him pointedly.
"What's more we're finished with dust!" Roman announced to the room. We all turned and looked at him as he let that bit of news sink in. "We're going to start moving everything per the Fang's request and move to procuring… other items that are sure to come flowing with the arrival of the Atlas troops."
"You want us to steal their hardware under their noses?" Big Tuna Sal asked him.
"Not exactly… I'll be handing that personally, and with a delicate hand," he assured them. "After all, dust is hardly useful without weapons or bullheads."
"And how exactly do you plan on doing this without drawing attention?" Victor asked him with narrow eyes.
"Though good old fashioned Atlas greed and incompetence," he said proudly. "I've already arranged for some faulty SDC paperwork to be doctored. General Ironwoods beancounters won't even notice that there were a few missing rifles here and there. I was hoping that what private hangars you do have left Victor could be used, after all I have plenty of bullhead parts coming in. They would hardly seem out of place in an aircraft hanger."
"What does the Fang plan on doing with all of this anyways?" I asked Roman.
"They're shipping it off to their various cells, mostly in Mistral where the fighting is strongest. I suppose when you're running terror cells all over the world this actually seems pretty insignificant." Roman explained to me.
I nodded, it made sense to me. After all that was what I had assumed for the longest time, the dust was just a part of a mass supply operation. I didn't believe that it would be staying in the city. The only thing I was left pondering was how Cinder played into all of this. But I wasn't about to ask him about that, certainly not in front of everyone else in the Family.
"I hope this meeting has eased some of your concerns about this recent development," Roman said to the rest of your room. "I know that many of you have already faced difficulties and I assure you the Family's lawyers will be calling you soon, not to mention a few journalists that will do what they can to influence public opinion on these matters."
The meeting adjourned with tensions mostly eased. Just knowing that Roman was addressing everyone's concerns and that the Fang was going to be dishing out more lien for the trouble was all that most everyone needed to hear. I was certainly convinced that Roman was in complete control of the situation. But what was really on my mind that night was the grand opening of the Moonstone Club, it certainly was mentioned more than once considering that almost every wiseguy in this room was invited there tonight.
"Hey Gent I hear you got Lenny Carson to open for Franky," Paulie said to me as I stuck around to shoot the shit with some of Roman's Capos. He was referring to a comedian that Mr. Fontane had booked to open tonight before Franky took the stage.
"That's right, it should be a barrel of laughs," I told him. "Are you going to be there?" I asked him.
"Of course it's your big night and I wouldn't miss it for the world," Paulie said to me. "Am I going to find you in Luca's old booth?"
"I saved that special spot for Roman," I told him. "Seemed like the respectful thing to do ya know?"
"Go ahead and take it for yourself Gent," Roman told me, coming up from behind with Neo beside him. "I'm afraid I have some pressing business tonight, so sadly I won't be there."
"Oh..." I said, a little disappointed that Roman was going to be missing out on the big night seeing the club packed in all its former glory.
"I'm - going - to - be - with - Roman - too," Neo told me with a disappointed look on her face. "I'll - try - to - come - by - later - tonight."
"Damn… that's disappointing, I was really looking forward to seeing that dress you said you got for the occasion. I'm sure Franky will be heartbroken that you won't be there." I said to her, I had actually been looking forward to spending the whole night with her. We hadn't had a ton of time together since returning from White Peak so I had hoped to make a date of it.
"I promise I won't keep her all night Gent, this business should be easy enough to wrap of before midnight," Roman assured me, giving Neo a little smile and pat on her shoulder.
"Then why won't you be coming?" I asked him, figuring that if he didn't need Neo the whole night he could certainly drop by himself.
"I need to keep a low profile after that business with the docks," he told me with a regretful sigh. "Franky singing certainly is going to draw a crowd along with a number of reporters, as much as I'd like to be there for your big night Gent, I'm afraid it's just not in the cards for me."
I nodded to show that I understood. "Well hopefully we get Franky back to sing a private show at the club for you."
"Oh I'm sure we can, he's a friend of the Family after all." Roman said with a smile. "But buck up Gent, it's your night so don't worry about having an old geezer like me around."
I nodded to him. "Don't worry I'm going to have a helluva night no matter what."
Neo gave me a confident nod. "Just - don't - have - too - much - fun - without - me."
"Don't worry, I'll be sure to save a few dances for you," I assured her, earning a grin from her.
I spent the rest of my day getting ready for the opening. I picked up a new suit from Marcello that I had commissioned for the occasion and went to a barber for a shave and a haircut. I had my blonde hair trimmed down and slicked back and every bit of stubble sheared off with a straight razor.
Going back into my home above the club I got ready, dressing myself and putting on my favorite tie with that hammer pin O-Ushi had gifted me when I got made and some of my best gold cufflinks. Looking at myself in the mirror I had to actually admit that I looked really sharp.
I came downstairs and found the club staff to be hard at work. Most of these guys were either brought in on Fontane's recommendation, union hires, or they were friends of some wiseguys that had asked me to set their pals up with a honest job. Fontane was downstairs directing it all, seeing that everyone was hard at work setting the tables out and directing the lighting crews and kitchen staff. No detail was left unaddressed by him.
I mostly followed him around to try learning a thing or two from him while he was ensuring that everything was perfect. "Man does this take me back… I wish I had known half the things I do now before opening this club up back in the day. I was fucking clueless when I first opened these doors."
"Well I'm glad I have some people with experience here with me tonight, I'd probably be a lot more clueless than you were." I said as we walked through the kitchen inspecting that all the prep work was coming along nicely. The food smelled divine.
"As fun as it is reliving my old memories… I'm not going to be able to hang onto this place for you forever," Fontane told me, tasting a bit of red sauce the chef had prepared, giving me a chance to taste and sign off on it as well.
"You're talking about the title of owner?" I asked him. Though I was the current owner of the Moonstone Club the legal paperwork still had Fontane listed under that title. It was a lot easier and less conspicuous for some guy with a mostly clean record and business license to be listed as the club owner. It certainly helped with taxes when those came along.
"I am, I don't want to sound like a wimp Gent but if that casino you're having your Mistrali friends set up in the basement is ever found while my name is on the deed it'll be bad news for me. And I'm not interested in spending my retirement behind bars." He explained to me.
"I have a few weeks before we open that casino," I told him. "Junior and I convinced Toshi to wait and see how the club functions for a little while and to scout potential high rollers."
"So take those few weeks to find someone you can trust, and make sure they're squeaky clean, you never know when someone's personal bullshit is going to affect your business." He explained to me.
"I'll be sure to find a good partner," I assured him with a confident smile.
Outside the club a line was already starting to form with the bouncers Tony had recommended to me who were currently under Cardin's direction to see that we only had nice clientele coming in. Eight o'clock rolled around and the doors finally opened up with those out front being allowed in with their names either on the guest list or being allowed in to fill up the rest of the club.
More than just opening up it was a chance to continue to connect with other players in the Family or the business. As Roman had instructed I claimed Luca's old booth for myself but I moved around the club meeting with people and seeing that everything was working like a well oiled machine.
A few reporters tried getting in with some flashy cameras and recording devices and I had the bouncers show them the door. Cardin at one point even broke a recorder with his foot and tossed a wad of bills at the guy before having Russel and Dove carry him out back to the alley away from prying eyes. The last thing we wanted was for Franky to be swarmed by the media. The only reporter who was invited was Lisa Lavender who was planning on interviewing Franky in his private room just before the show. Franky would talk about how much the Moonstone meant to him and how retired or not he had to sing here.
It was only until I watched the tables starting to fill up and people ordered a round of drinks did we call Lenny out to open with some nice comedy before Franky took the stage. I sat back and laughed at a few of his jokes but after having him audition for the Club I already knew most of his set. He was pretty funny and the crowd certainly thought he was a hoot.
I went over to the bar and ordered a glass of Glengoolie, ready to take my booth and relax for an hour or so when I heard a familiar voice call my name out.
"Jaune!?"
I turned to the side and found a pair of bright green eyes staring at me wide with disbelief. A beautiful head of bright scarlet red hair pulled up into a ponytail. She wore an elegant red dress that I had never seen her in before showing off powerful but feminine shoulders.
"Pyrrha!?" I exclaimed as she closed the distance to me in a flash and pulled me into a bone crushing embrace. I stood there stunned for a long moment as she hugged me something fierce. I could hardly say anything as she squeezed the air from my lungs.
"What are you doing here!?" She asked me, holding the embrace burying her face into my shoulder as her strong arms pinned mine to the side making escape impossible.
"I… I could ask you the same thing," I sputtered stupidly, stunned and more or less tongue tied to see her here of all places.
"Weiss invited me!" Pyrrha explained to me, finally releasing me from the bone crushing hug and looking me in the eyes with a bright cheerful smile on her face. This was hardly the way I had imagined seeing her again, in many ways I had figured I would never see her again.
"Weiss is here!?" I asked, feeling my heart start to beat a mile a minute as I imagined what that could possibly mean for me.
Pyrrha nodded excitedly. "She's really excited to hear Franky sing and invited me and Blake along."
"Blake!?" I asked. Blake who had seen me unmasked at that little incident at the docks? The absolute last person I wanted to see was here in my club. This was sounding worse and worse with every second.
"Here they'll be so happy to see you!" Pyrrha said, grabbing my wrist and hauling me off towards the tables, I barely managed to grab my glass of whiskey before she whisked me across the room over to a table where sure enough Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee sat together. Weiss was laughing at one of Lenny's jokes about his family dog while Blake looked bored and tired staring idly around the room.
"Sorry I didn't grab any of those drinks," Pyrrha said to them cheerfully, pulling me forward and turning their heads towards me. "But look who I found!"
I stood there like a deer caught in headlights as both their gazes turned to me and widened. "Jaune!?" Blake asked, her wide eyes narrowing slightly at me, that sent a chill down my spine. That didn't bode well.
"Uh… hey… how's it going?" I said, holding a hand up in greeting.
This was bad, not only was I suddenly face to face with the one person who might have seen me working with Roman but the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company was here for everyone to see me talking to. The heiress of the very company the Family had spent months robbing blind.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Weiss asked me pointedly, very clearly shocked to see me.
There was that question again, a question that I wasn't prepared to answer. "I uh… Well I work here." I said lamely using the only excuse I could come up with at the top of my head.
"You're not dressed like any of the other waiters." Weiss said, looking around at the rest of the staff dressed in white jackets. That comment cut me, it seemed that Weiss hadn't really thawed out very much in the time I had been away, at least not towards me. I resisted the temptation to brag about being the owner.
"I'm actually the director of food and beverages," I told them. That was what my official title was at the club for tax purposes, most of the money was to be collected under an alias.
"Here sit with us!" Pyrrha said practically shoving me into one of the extra chairs before sitting down herself and propping her head up on an elbow looking at me intensely. I felt like I had been thrust into an interrogation chair.
"How did you land that kind of job?" Weiss asked me.
"I'm friends with the owner," I said with a shrug. "I've uh… I've been working in a few different night clubs now."
"You don't need to tell us about that," Pyrrha said to me. "How… How have you been after Beacon?"
That was certainly a loaded question. "I… I've had my ups and downs," I said, it certainly was true enough. I just wasn't going to tell them about those particular ups and downs.
"So you left Beacon and called up a friend that owned a nightclub?" Blake asked me, her amber gaze practically boring into me. But so far no word about seeing me at the docks.
"Actually I had a union job for a couple of months, it was only after a while working a nine to five that I got into contact with Mr. Fontane," I answered her, "He had me working around some nightclubs mixing drinks before starting this old one back up."
"What does a food and beverage director even do?" Blake pressed. I honestly believe this was the most we had ever spoken to one another. Back at Beacon I think the most I had ever said to her was asking her to pass some ketchup in the cafeteria.
Pyrrha turned an eye to Blake. "Why are you questioning him like that?" She asked her defensively.
"I'm just curious," Blake said to her. "He goes from huntsman in training to… director of food and beverages at a nightclub. It seems like quite a leap you have to admit."
"It… is certainly unexpected," Weiss said, looking at my glass.
"It's alright," I assured Pyrrha with a wave of my hand. "I oversee the food and drink menu of the club and see that everything is properly in stock." That was certainly one of the things I had done with the club, most of the food and booze had come from Family owned businesses and I had designed the menu with Fontane adding a few things that hadn't been in the club seventy years ago.
"That's amazing," Pyrrha said to me. "So… this Mr. Fontane, he's an old family friend?"
"Yeah he's been pretty good to me," I said, smirking as I picked up my glass of whiskey and took a sip.
"W-what are you drinking?" Weiss asked me with a bit of shock in her voice.
I sputtered for a second before setting my glass of whiskey down. "Uh… single malt whiskey… Glengoolie twenty four year," I said, scratching the back of my head awkwardly.
"You're… you're drinking alcohol?" Pyrrha asked me.
I was so used to drinking around wiseguys and not having people in bars and clubs card me that it was easy to forget that I was actually considered too young to drink by law. "It's uh… it's part of my job, technically I would have to be twenty one to even have this job but Mr. Fontane helped me out."
"That's still illegal!" Weiss pointed out to me.
"Hey, this is my job!" I pleaded with her. "Besides it's not that big of a deal, in Atlas the drinking age is sixteen… don't tell me that you really care about me being a few years too young to drink here."
"Come on, it's his job," Pyrrha pleaded with Weiss.
"Fine, fine!" Wiess said not trying to make a big deal about it.
"So you designed the club's menu?" Blake asked me.
"I helped at least, most of this is based on the old original menu from when this place was first opened, though the Mistrali cuisine is new.," I explained, trying to ignore the intense stares that Blake was giving me.
"Mistrali food?" Weiss asked. "In this kind of club?"
"A lot of the investors are Mistrali so we thought it would attract them," I explained to them.
"So what would you like to recommend off the menu?" Blake asked me.
"I myself was intending on ordering a nice veal cutlet with mushrooms, though since you came as a group might I recommend the sushi platter, it's excellent," I told her with the most confident smirk I could manage. "And since we've agreed to not let my age get in the way of my job… I could recommend some red wine or sake to go with your meal. But enough about me… how are the rest of you doing? How's Beacon?"
Pyrrha looked away awkwardly. "Do you… do you really want to know about that?" She asked me awkwardly.
"Why wouldn't I?" I asked her.
"I… I tried calling you after…" she said trailing off.
"After I got expelled," I said, realizing that it really didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. "I lost my old scroll and all your numbers, it was stolen."
"Oh… I'm so sorry to hear about that," Pyrrha said to me.
"To be honest… I figured none of you would want to have anything to do with me anyways," I said, it was true, I had assumed that I was left mostly forgotten.
"No! I… Jaune I never," Pyrrha stammered.
"It's alright… I faked my way in. I had no business becoming a huntsman," I told her with a dismissive wave of my hand.
"On that we can agree," Weiss said coldly to me. "But… it seems you've been doing very well for yourself in this career change, that suit certainly tells a story."
I laughed nervously, of course Weiss Schnee heiress to the SDC would be able to spot a top quality suit. "Oh this old thing?" I said. "It was a gift from Mr. Fontane." The lies kept rolling out of my mouth, I had truly become a master of spewing bullshit. A part of me hated myself for lying so easily to these people that I had once called my friends.
"Hey Jaune, we have a little problem." A voice called out over the noise of the club from behind me.
I looked behind me and saw Cardin approach, he stopped when he saw just who I was talking to.
"You!" Weiss said as Pyrrha froze up, Blake's eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "What are you doing here!?"
I held up my hand to her. "He works here too," I explained to her. "He's a bouncer."
"Jaune helped me get this job, me and the rest of my team," Cardin said, quickly picking up on the lie and rolling along with it.
"Do you know what he and his gang of hoodlums did to Pyrrha after you left!?" Wiess hissed at me, glaring daggers at Cardin. "She was hospitalized!"
"I know, he told me everything!" I said to them, "But Cardin and I… well we're expelled together and we gotta stick together. Whatever happened at Beacon… well it's in the past now."
Weiss just scowled while Blake gave Cardin and I a weary glance. Pyrrha on the other hand looked rather uncomfortable, refusing to meet Cardin's eyes and staring at the table instead without a word of protest.
"Pyrrha…" Cardin said awkwardly to her, making her look in his direction. "I uh… before what happened you told me that Jaune here was twice the guy I was, and that it would have been better if he stayed and I was the one that got expelled. That really pissed me off but… now that Jaune and I are both expelled and he stuck his neck out for my team and I… you were right. He's a helluva guy and… for what's worth I'm sorry I did what I did."
Pyrrha finally met his eyes and gave him a weak smile and a nod a nod. It seemed she had accepted his apology as best as she could.
"Thank you for that Cardin," I said standing up. "But what were you going to tell me about?" I asked him.
"There's a little incident that needs your attention," Cardin said, smart enough not to mention business in front of Beacon students.
"Well uh… I need to see to this ladies, but I'll be around all night," I said to them. "You can tell me all about Beacon later."
"You'll be back, right?" Pyrrha asked me.
"Yeah I'll be around until closing, this place is going to be open till four," I said to them.
"Four!" Pyrrha exclaimed to me.
"Yeah… it's a nightclub after all," I laughed before parting with a wave.
I walked away with Cardin out of earshot of everyone else. "Are you sure that you should be hanging out with them?" Cardin asked me.
"I was ambushed," I told him. "And I'm not quite sure how I'm going to avoid them… they're here and I can't exactly kick them out. But let me worry about that. What's the issue you need to talk to me about?"
"Some Atlas officer came in," Cardin told me. "And he's refusing to leave."
"He's not welcome here, give him the boot," I told him. "I thought I made that policy clear."
"Yeah well he bullied his way past the guy in the front door, and now he's not getting out of his seat. And I figured you'd want me to avoid making a scene." He explained to me.
I saw his point. The last thing we needed on opening night was for us to call the police on some guy, and having my bouncers rough up an Atlas officer was clearly out of the question.
"Where is he?" I asked Cardin.
"Table over there," he said pointing across the room where indeed one of Ironwood's lackeys sat wearing one of his white uniforms. I took a moment to consider him, he even had a pistol on his belt. I looked at him for a long time considering the best way to get him out of this place.
Looking around I spotted a few familiar faces that seemed to be able to help. I walked across the bar and opened my arms to Junior and the Malachite twins. "Girls! Junior! I'm so happy you all came tonight!"
"Hey Jaune," Melanie said, looking over to Cardin. "Hey Beefcake!"
"Hey girls," Cardin said with a bashful little wave.
"Quite a crowd tonight Gent," Junior said to me with a friendly grin. "I'm glad to see my investment is looking well."
"Speaking of," I said to him wearily. "I got a problem I was hoping the twins could help me with."
I pointed across the bar to the officer sitting without a drink but laughing at the comedy show like he belonged there. "This guy slipped in and Cardin and I aren't really sure how to get rid of him without making a scene. And I figured since you're experienced with unwelcome visitors in a club you might have some wisdom to help me out."
Junior's eyes narrowed at the officer. "I see…"
"I'd appreciate your expertise on this kind of thing," I told him.
"Has he tried ordering any drinks?" Junior asked.
"A vodka martini, but I told the staff not to serve him," Cardin explained to him dryly.
"Apologize and send him a drink on the house, strongest you got," Junior advised looking to Mel and Mil. "Girls… I'm pretty sure you know what to do."
Melanie and Miltia nodded. "Got it," they said in unison. "Don't worry Jaune… we'll send him packing."
"What are you going to do?" I asked them.
"We'll give him a reason to leave," Miltia said with a dramatic bat of her eyelashes.
"Yeah, just give us a half hour, we'll get him nice and sloshed and thinking that we're going to take him home for a helluva good time. Then we just leave him outside, just make sure that he can't get back in." Melanie explained to me.
"That's perfect," I said to them, simple and effective and I knew just how powerful their charm could be. "I'll leave you both to it."
"Right this way Beefcake," Miltia said pulling Cardin along and leaving me with Junior.
"Can I get you a drink?" I asked Junior as we made our way to the bar.
"Certainly… you know what I like," he said as we stepped over and I got him a glass of Glengoolie neat just how we both liked it.
"Has Franky arrived?" Junior asked.
"Fontane told me he's in his dressing room right now. He should be having that interview with Lisa Lavender right now. He'll be on for another half hour," I explained as the two of us looked out over the packed club.
"Well from the first look of things your grand opening is certainly a hit," Junior complimented with a proud smile on his face.
"They're here for Franky not for the club, I just hope that when he's finished singing tonight that people will come back," I explained to him.
"Trust me they will," Junior assured me.
"How has the Clan been handling having Atlas soldiers on their streets?" I asked him, leaning against the bar and watching as the twins got to work on the officer, their charm was turned up to eleven. He didn't stand a chance.
"It's not as bad in Little Mistral, most of the people already agreed to deny service to their kind. But as I'm sure you've noticed with your bootleg business a lot of our street level dealings have had to be kept out of sight."
"At least it's temporary," I commented before taking a sip of whiskey.
"That's the one thing helping us get through this," Junior said, taking a sip of his own drink. "But let's save the business talk for later, I'm just here to relax and listen to Franky and some comedy."
"Well then let me show you to your booth," I said, leading him over to the VIP section and putting him in his seat leaving him alone to go about the rest of my business.
"Hey!" I turned and saw Weiss approaching me as I left the VIP section.
"Hey Weiss," I said, it seemed that I wasn't going to be able to blow her or the rest of them off that easily. "Where's Blake and Pyrrha?" I asked her, looking around for the two of them.
"They went to the bathroom," Weiss told me with a narrow look in her eyes. She looked over to Junior laughing at Lenny's jokes and back to me. "Do you know who that is? Who you were just talking to?" She asked me.
"Mr. Xiong?" I asked her innocently. "Yeah I know him, he's one of the club's biggest investors."
Weiss took a step closer to me looking around wearily. "Jaune he's… he's a ne'er-do-well!" She said quietly to me, almost whispering.
My face contorted with genuine confusion, "A what?"
"Jaune he's… he's a gangster! Remember that story Yang bragged about, about fighting in that nightclub? That's the guy! That's Junior." she told me in a hushed tone.
No shit, I thought to myself. "Oh really?" I said, feigning ignorance to her. "I'm sure that's mostly just an unfounded rumor. He's a very nice guy, and a pillar of the community."
"I don't know… but be careful around his type," Weiss said, leading me towards their table. "I would hate for this new career of yours to get you mixed up with the wrong kind of people."
It was clearly too late for that. But I just chuckled and pretended that her worries were unfounded. "So how have you been at Beacon? How's everyone been? Why isn't Ruby or Yang here?" I asked her, it was almost certainly a bad idea to continue talking to her but a part of me was interested in learning more.
"We've been getting along fine. Ruby isn't interested in dressing up and going out so she stayed in to play videogames with Nora, and Yang said this club and music wasn't her style so she declined. I will admit that we haven't been as close with your old team since you left," she explained to me, taking a seat and picking up her glass of water.
"Could have fooled me, getting Pyrrha to come out here tonight, you two seemed to have gotten closer," I commented, Weiss was always keen on being friends with Pyrrha. I was glad that Yang hadn't shown up at least, she was the last person I wanted to see Junior and if half the rumors about what she did to his club were true I'd be out of business before opening night ended.
"I had to keep asking her, she… she hasn't been quite the same since you left," Weiss admitted to me.
I didn't quite know what to make of Weiss saying that, I figured not having me holding the team back would have been a big improvement on things. I was sure that Pyrrha was probably having to shoulder the responsibilities as team leader without me and was probably doing a better job than I did.
"And Blake? She never struck me as someone to go out to a nightclub," I mentioned, curious about her. So far it seemed that she hadn't said anything to her team about seeing me, perhaps Blake hadn't gotten as good a look at me as I had suspected.
Weiss snorted, "Blake… Well Blake has been rather moody lately so I dragged her out here to have a relaxing night."
"She doesn't seem very relaxed," I commented dryly.
"She agreed to come here because of some rumors about this club and Franky Martin, it's mostly nonsense but I think seeing Junior here of all places will pique her interest at least." Weiss explained to me, laying it out vaguely.
That explained a lot, Blake was here because she wanted to investigate. Thankfully aside from some wiseguys here that knew how to keep their mouths shut she wouldn't be able to find too much, not unless she wanted to find a bunch of gambling equipment in the hidden basement.
"Hey you came back!" Pyrrha exclaimed, returning from the bathroom with Blake. The raven haired girl with her ears hidden by a bow gave me an icy stare before sitting down to my left while Pyrrha took the seat right across from me.
"So… any stories from Beacon?" I asked them in hopes to keep the conversation steered away from me.
Weiss and Pyrrha began to regale me with some stories. The highlight of which was about a food fight that had broken out in the caffettiera. I laughed along as they explained Nora using a pole with some watermelons and Yang wearing turkeys on her hands like boxing gloves. Blake hardly commented the entire time they talked to me. Eventually they ordered their food and I even managed to convince Pyrrha that it would be no harm to order just a single glass of wine with their meal. Even Weiss had to relent when I told her about the vintages we had stocked in the cellar.
But as the time passed the moment for Frank to take the stage, and Lenny took the stage. "Ladies and germs I'm sure that I've managed to bore you all with the stories of my ex-wife. But it is my pleasure to announce that the real reason you came out tonight has finally… finally gotten his hair just right and is ready to take the stage. Everyone put your hands together for the swing singer with a voice of velvet, out of retirement just so he can honor the club he started out in. The one and only Franky Martin!"
The light turned out and a spotlight turned on showing Franky with the microphone flanked by a couple of attractive dancers wearing flashy costumes with colored feathers. Franky broke out into song singing, Fly Me to the Moon while the dancers strutted their stuff beside him as the band blared their trumpets and other instruments. The stage was bathed in a cold blue light and I watched as the crowd cheered while others took to the dance floor.
I sipped the last few drops of my whiskey feeling rather pleased with myself. The crowd was loving it and I couldn't have hoped for a better opening, it was a hit. Many of the patrons stood up and clapped giving him a standing ovation, including Weiss.
"How about a dance, Jaune?"
The words came out and I almost choked on the last of my drink seeing that it had been Blake who had suggested it. I looked at her as her amber eyes seemed to glow within the low light of the club studying me intently.
"W-what?" Pyrrha asked, shocked by the sudden offer, Weiss looked equally surprised at the proposal. This was clearly the last thing any of us had expected.
I cleared my throat from the burn of the alcohol and Pyrrha passed her water glass to me and it soothed my throat. I thanked her.
"You uh… you wanna dance with me?" I asked Blake after cleaning my throat and gathering my thoughts.
"Is that a problem, Jaune?" Blake asked me, staring right into my eyes.
"Hey if…" Pyrrha started nervously.
"I'd love to dance," I told Blake, staring right into her eyes. I looked at Pyrrha. "It's a nightclub after all, I'd be a waste not to dance."
I stood up and offered Blake my hand which she accepted, leading her out to the dance floor. Our left hands clasped together and my arm on her waist we started to move, it was more of a waltz than anything. Blake wasn't the dancer Neo is. None the less we moved well enough together. While my eye had certainly been on Weiss while I was at Beacon I'd be a liar to deny that I certainly gave Blake an appreciative glance every now and then.
"I'll admit that this is certainly a surprise," I said to her, pretending that this invitation had nothing to do with the suspicions that she clearly held towards me.
"Jaune… what are you doing here?" Blake asked me pointedly.
"Like I said… I work here," I said to her, dodging the question.
Her eyes narrowed once again, I had never really looked into Blake's eyes very much but the way they almost seemed to glow in the low light of the club made the fact that she was a faunus quite evident to me, some things couldn't be covered by a little bow. "Listen Jaune… if you're in trouble… if you need help. You can tell me."
"What's this about, Blake?" I asked her, I wasn't going to let my facade crack.
She broke eye contact looking away. I followed along with the rhythm of Franky's music and spun her around before facing her once more. Blake squeezed my left hand, the hand that had a shortened little finger.
"What happened to your finger?" She asked me.
"That was an accident," I lied cooly to her.
"What kind of accident?" She pressed.
"I got that finger caught in some construction equipment during my union job, it was more than my aura could take so I lost it," I explained, it was a lie that I had prepared. Very few people bothered to give my left hand a close enough look to realize I was short a knuckle but I hadn't thought about her holding my hand and realizing something. Blake could be crafty when the situation called for it.
She frowned at me, clearly not convinced but with no way to challenge my story. "Jaune… I've heard rumors around town, mainly the docks. Does the name Gentleman mean anything to you?"
That put a bit of a hitch in my step. Blake having questions for me was one thing but I hadn't expected her to be hearing any rumors about me. "Should it?" I asked her innocently.
"Talking to some faunus on the docks I've heard rumors about some new player in the city's underworld… some guy they're calling The Gentleman," she explained to me. "He's apparently new but he's been rising fast and with all the right friends. And I heard that he's connected to this club."
"That's an interesting story," I commented to her. "But I'm afraid I have no idea who this Gentleman is or of any connections to this club. After all… I just handle the food and drinks."
Blake frowned at me, staying close as we continued dancing together to the sound of Franky's music. "Listen Blake… I appreciate that you're concerned for me. But believe me I have a good thing going on here, I'm fine." I told her as the song was starting to finish up. "No Gentleman, no gangsters. I'm just enjoying the simple life of a civilian."
Blake didn't say anything, her silence was enough to tell me that she wasn't quite satisfied with my answer. A part of her seemed like she wanted to say more to me but she bit back the words as the dance ended with the first song. That dance seemed to last longer than it was.
A finger tapped on my shoulder and I turned around to see Pyrrha standing behind me looking down awkwardly at the floor. "I'm sorry, but if... if you two don't mind… Maybe I can cut in?" She suggested to me.
I gave her a broad smile, I was happy to have a reason to get away from Blake. "That was a lot of fun Blake," I said, giving the faunus girl a smirk before releasing her hand to take Pyrrha's as Franky readied to sing another one of his famous songs.
Blake gave me a long charged stare before turning away. "Thanks for the dance Jaune." she told me strolling off the dance floor looking less than pleased.
I nodded to her as the next song started and I moved with Pyrrha. "What was that about?" She asked me, looking over to the table where Blake sat back down with Weiss. "She hardly ever paid attention to you before, and now she's asking you to dance?"
"I'm a bit confused about it myself," I lied to her. Blake wanted answers.
I spun her around on the floor as Franky sang Under My Skin.
"You're… you're a very talented dancer," Pyrrha complimented following my lead, it was a slow and rhythmic enough song that she was able to mirror my movements easily.
I chuckled, "I've been getting that compliment a lot lately, going to nightclubs has certainly let me show off what I learned growing up with seven sisters."
She smiled at me but it quickly faded, her eyes looked away from mine towards the floor between our feet. "I am so sorry Jaune," she said quietly.
"For what?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"For… I shouldn't have told Ozpin about you… I'm so sorry," she said to me, her eyes swelled up and I was left in the awkward state of dancing with a crying woman. "I've regretted it every single day… and every time I tried calling your scroll without you picking up I just kept thinking that… that you hated me." She sobbed and tears started running down her face.
"Pyrrha!" I said, giving her a little shake and looking into her red puffy eyes. "I never hated you… I was sad, I was upset but I never once hated or blamed you!" I told her firmly, I meant every word of that.
"I just… I did it because I wanted you to be safe," she said, unable to hold back the tears. "I… I miss you, we all miss you. Ren and Nora and everyone… it's not the same. I hate it!"
It was a bit too much, I felt awkward being out in the middle of the dance floor. We still swayed with the music but it wasn't a real dance. A part of me wanted to just push her away, go somewhere else and hide away from Pyrrha and the rest, I really shouldn't have been talking to them like this but my curiosity and emotions got the better of me.
"I miss all of you guys too, and I know you didn't want to hurt me," I assured her, giving a comforting pat on her back. "So don't worry about me… I'm fine, and I've done very well for myself since leaving Beacon."
She gave me a silent nod as the song ended. "How about we go sit down?" I suggested to her, she clearly wasn't in any position to dance.
"I don't want to go back looking like this," she said with an embarrassed laugh, smiling despite the tears.
"Here let's go get a drink at the bar," I said, pulling out my pocket square and handing it to her to wipe her tears away. You never know when you're going to need a pocket square until you need one.
"What would you like?" I asked her as we approached the bar.
"Uh… just a glass of ginger ale with ice," she told me.
I set the order along with another glass of Glengoolie. I handed her the non-alcoholic drink and we moved to lean against the wall just sipping our beverages. Hopefully after sending her back to Weiss and Blake I could slip away and avoid them for the rest of the night, I was certain that they wouldn't go up to the cigar lounge, I could wait there for them to leave, most of the wiseguys wouldn't be arriving till much later anyhow.
"Hey Jaune?" Pyrrha asked me tentatively, holding the fizzing drink in both hands.
"Yeah?" I asked her, taking a sip of my whiskey.
"You know… things are really busy at Beacon right now, with the Vytal Tournament on the way, everyone is preparing really hard and the school is full of students from the other academies," she told me.
"I'm sure it is," I said, not really sure where she was going with this.
"There's a lot of celebrating happening and… there's going to be a dance. And I was thinking… since you're such a good dancer. Maybe you would like to-." she explained.
"I'm leaving in a few days, I'll be gone for a couple of months," I lied flatly, crushing the idea before she could even finish it. I hated doing it but if talking to her at my own club was risky, going to a Beacon dance with everyone was out of the question. "Mr. Fontane wants me to help out with a club he's opening in Mantle."
"Oh… I see," Pyrrha said, the evident disappointment in her voice made my chest ache but I endured it. It was better for everyone if we stayed as far away from each other as possible. "You know… Ren and Nora are going to be awfully disappointed that they missed out on seeing you. Nora might try running down here herself."
"I'm disappointed too," I said honestly, as bad an idea as this was a part of me wanted to see them again, to be friends. But to their ignorance our paths had made us incompatible. Ozpin for all I knew had written me off as dead and I had come to peace with that. I was a gangster now, I was on the wrong side of the law and I didn't want to ever look at my old friends as enemies. "You'll give them my reguards won't you?"
"Of course, they'll be happy to hear that you've been doing so well for yourself… and maybe when you get back from your business trip we can see each other then," she told me hopefully.
"I don't see why not." I told her with a smile.
I wanted to punch myself in the face for saying that. Why was I trying to keep that hope alive with her? Why was I making this harder than it needed to be for me? I should have just bitten the bullet and blown her off but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was fucking pathetic.
Pyrrha beamed at that, pleased with my answer. I hated myself for making her smile. We stayed together with our drinks exchanging small talk, mostly with her telling me about Beacon, about how Ren and Nora still weren't together together and about the various classes they had. Much of it interested me but other parts seemed just dull, thinking about tests and grades seemed so small compared to everything else that was happening in my life at the time.
After Pyrrha managed to finish her drink and clear her eyes up I escorted her back to the table just as Franky stopped singing to give his pipes a rest and mingle a bit before. He spotted me among the sea of tables and moved over to greet me just as I had brought Pyrrha back to her chair.
"Hey Jaune," Franky said, flashing me one of his famous devil may care grins before looking at the trio of girls sitting around the table. Weiss particularly seemed flabbergasted to see the great Franky Martin walking right up and speaking to me. "I figured you'd be hitting the dance floor with some ladies, but I never expected them to be so lovely… or famous." He said grinning at Weiss who blushed and looked away awkwardly.
"J-Jaune… y-you know Franky Martin?" Weiss stuttered at me.
"Well uh…" I started awkwardly scratching the back of my head.
"Any friend of Mr. Fontane is a friend of mine," Franky said, he knew better than to say anything that would reveal the fact that I was the one that really owned the club or that I was involved with the Torchwick Family. "And any friend of Jaune here is a friend of mine. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
He held his hand out and Weiss accepted it, earning a kiss on her knuckles. "It's… it's very nice to meet you Mr. Martin," she said, turning crimson.
"Please call me Franky, I feel like an old man when people call me Mr. Martin," he said, kissing the hand of each girl except for Blake who refused to extend her hand to him. Franky didn't seem to mind giving Blake a warm smile to show that he wasn't offended. Smiling at them all he reached into his jacket for a pen. "Miss Schnee, Miss Nikos… I hate to bother you two since I'm sure you just came here to relax tonight but… my grandkids are big fans and they'd hate me if I didn't take this chance to get your autographs."
Weiss looked stunned for a moment, I figured she of all people wouldn't be surprised since she was a world famous singer in her own right. But I suppose Franky's reputation and natural charm was just like that sometimes.
"Well uh… I didn't exactly bring any headshots with me." Weiss admitted to him.
"Nor me, I'm sorry," Pyrrha admitted to him, embarrassed but flattered.
"There's a music store a couple of blocks down the street," I said to them, "And a grocery store, how about I send someone out to grab one of Weiss's albums and a box of Pumpkin Pete for you two to sign."
"That's a swell idea Jaune," Franky said. "If you two ladies would be so kind."
"We'd love to," Pyrrha said with a smile.
"But in exchange… could we get a couple of autographs from you?" Weiss asked him.
"Of course," Franky said with a friendly grin. "Here I got some headshots in my dressing room."
"I'll go get them," I said, seeing the perfect opportunity to slip away without arousing suspicion.
"Thank you Jaune," Franky said, giving me a nod and a smile.
I gave the girls a wave and stepped off letting Franky distract them as I got to the back stage. A few of the dancer girls greeted me as I moved past the open dressing room towards the green room in the back where sure enough there was a manilla envelope where Franky kept his headshots. I took a moment to breathe in the seclusion of the room before grabbing them and moving back into the club.
I spotted Russel and Sky lounging over by the pool tables and I moved over towards them interrupting their game. "Hey, can one of you guys do me a favor?" I asked them, holding up the envelope of headshots.
"Of course boss, what do you need?" Sky asked, sinking one of the colored balls into a corner pocket.
"I need one of you to bring these headshots over to Franky, also go and get a box of Pumpkin Pete and Weiss's newest album." I said, pointing across the club to where Franky was chatting it up with Weiss and Pyrrha like they were old friends, I noticed that Blake was hardly paying attention and that her gaze had actually spotted me across the club. She really was watching me like a hawk, meaning that I should probably avoid talking to any of Roman's wiseguys while she could see me.
"What do you need that stuff for?" Russel asked me following my gaze over the club. "Wait… is that?"
"Yeah it's them," I confirmed. "Don't worry, as far as they know I'm only the director of food and beverages. If any of them ask about me, just tell them that I'm overseeing some details in the kitchen or helping some of the club investors pick something off the menu."
"Shouldn't we just… I don't know.. Show them the door?" Sky asked me, setting his pool cue down.
"There's no need for that, just bring those things to them. I'll be up in the cigar lounge if anything comes up," I explained to them.
"Alright, I'll do it," Russel said, taking the envelope from me, "Sky was winning anyways."
"Yeah… besides I should hit up the bar, see if there's any ladies I can buy a drink for." Sky said with a confident grin and glance at the bar.
"Yeah good luck with that," Russel said with a roll of his eyes.
"Where's Cardin?" Sky asked. "I could use a wingman."
"Over there with the twins," Russel said, pointing across the club where sure enough Cardin was talking to Mel and Mil. The military officer was gone so I figured they had handled him. Cardin did seem to be enjoying himself, albeit awkwardly as I could tell that the twins were flirting with him even all the way across the room.
I gave the immediate area a quick look around. "Where's your girl Rus?" I asked him. "I figured you would have brought her along for this. This is a perfect night to take her out and show her off."
"She had plans tonight," Russell explained, scratching the back of his neck.
"Are we ever going to meet her dude?" Sky asked him.
Russel shrugged, "I don't know… I'm not even sure how serious we are."
"What's the problem? Are you afraid of her learning that you're a wiseguy?" Sky asked him.
"It's not that," Russel assured him, moving off towards the exit. "Don't worry about it. Point is I got nothing else to do so I'll get this stuff over to Franky and the girls for you."
"Thanks Rus," I said watching him leave before excusing myself to the second floor cigar lounge.
I'm not proud to admit that I spent several hours hiding up there from my old friends. Tony and Paulie arrived later and joined me up there for a good drink and some smokes. They all complimented me on the club. I watched from the overlook as Russel returned with both the cereal box and CD case so Weiss and Pyrrha both could give Franky their autographs before going back to the stage to continue his performance.
This was the last thing I had imagined for opening night. I had wanted to spend the night watching the show from up close in Luca's old booth with Roman and Neo and not worry about my past coming back to haunt me. Or Blake casting suspicious looks in my direction.
"So… I heard you were talking to the Schnee girl down there," Paulie said to me, taking a sip from his brandy glass as we watched Franky singing I Get a Kick Out of You.
"We used to go to Beacon together," I admitted to him, taking a draw off of my long cigar. One benefit of everyone knowing I was booted out of Beacon was that I had a convenient excuse to be seen talking to the students.
"I heard that the heiress chose to go there and become a huntress, any idea how much pull she currently has in the company?" He asked me with a sly look on his face.
"If you're thinking I can use my acquaintance with her to get those union contracts back up I'm afraid you're out of luck Paulie," I told him with a chuckle. "I don't know much but everything I heard in that school suggested that her and her father aren't really on speaking terms."
"That's a shame… I was hoping a Gentleman like you could work your magic and see about making an arrangement," he said with a chuckle and a shrug.
"Afraid not, I can't tell you how many times I tried putting the moves on her back at Beacon. That icy heart never really warmed up to me." I explained with a nostalgic chuckle. I couldn't say that I really minded now, Neo was the girl I had on my mind now, even if we weren't a real couple it meant something to me. I couldn't even remember when the last time I fantasized about Weiss was. It felt like remembering an old school crush, in fact that was exactly what it was.
"Yeah well you weren't a big shot back then," Paulie said with a laugh. "And a better dresser too."
"Yeah well she has no idea how much of a big shot I am right now. And I'm pretty sure a sharp suit isn't going to impress a rich girl like her." I reminded him, it wasn't like anyone was supposed to know that I had become pretty damn wealthy after leaving Beacon.
"That's probably for the best," he said with a pat on my shoulder. "Besides… I'm sure those Schnee bastards are going to be caving any minute now to my union demands."
"Oh really?" I asked him.
"Do you know how much military equipment the SDC produces for Atlas? They're having a hell of a time just moving their regular products and now they're having to help Ironwood's people move it into the city, believe me when we're done Jacques Schnee is going to be offering my workers dental and paid vacations just so we can move his product and steal whatevers at the bottom of the barrel. It's gonna be a victory for the working man."
"Can't the military just transport their own equipment, instead of asking the SDC for help? Especially since you seem pretty damn sure that they're going to look at your union?" I asked him, seeing one of the opportunities Roman had mentioned to steal arms from the military present itself.
"The Council agreed for the General to bring his army here, but they limited him to only five thousand troops, not including those machines of his. So I suppose that the General decided he wanted more trigger pullers and could outsource the logistics. Meaning we have a chance to skim off that spring."
"Makes sense," I commented, looking down and watching as the trio of Beacon girls left their seats to leave for the night. The bullhead station was only open till midnight so there was no way they'd be staying out that late leaving an hour before it closed down. I watched Pyrrha from the balcony as she moved out but went over to Cardin's table handing him something before leaving.
Blake was the last one to step out, for a brief moment she looked back towards the balcony and I could have sworn that for a moment despite the distance she saw me and locked eyes with me.
I had a feeling that my trouble with her had only just begun. There was no way for me to know just how right I was thinking that.
With the three of them gone I finally was able to go down and watch Franky sing from the comfort of Luca's old booth. I snubbed out my cigar and went down to enjoy the show watching as the crowd I had attracted tonight enjoyed their food or danced on the floor or drank their troubles away at my bar. Watching it all come together without any further distraction I couldn't help but smile at myself.
This was my club, and it was a hit. I'd just have to be careful now about my old friends coming in and out of here trying to find me. I had hoped that my lie about being out of town for a couple of months would be enough to have Pyrrha keep her team and RWBY away from here trying to find me. I'd have to tell the staff that if anyone came asking for me to tell them that I'm out of town. Any wiseguys that wanted to talk business would know better, and wouldn't just come around for a meeting unannounced.
"Hey Jaune," Miltia said, approaching my booth and sliding in with her sister and Cardin.
"Hey you two, thanks for helping me out with that Atlas officer." I said to them, happy to have their company.
"No problem," Miltia said with a smile. "But we were thinking… since we just did you a solid. Perhaps we could ask you for a little favor of our own."
I shrugged, "That's fair, what can I do for you?"
"We're thinking of bouncing," Melanie explained, sliding up close to me with all her seductive flair. "This club is nice and we're happy to be here for the grand opening and all… but the night's still young and this club isn't our scene. But we thought… we might borrow Beefcake here for the night."
I looked up to find Cardin looking awkward, unable to meet my eye. "I uh… I told them that I couldn't come along unless you gave them the ok." He told me sheepishly.
I actually laughed at him. "Relax, you can take the rest of the night off, if there's any more trouble I'll get the other bouncers to help out and earn their pay."
"Excellent, come on Beefcake!" Melanie said, leaning over and giving me a kiss. "Thanks Jaune!"
"We're going to take you to some of our clubs," Miltia said proudly.
"Give me a minute," Cardin said as they shuffled out of the booth.
"Aright but don't keep us waiting, there's plenty of other guys around her that I'm sure would enjoy leaving with the two of us." Melanie said with a little wave.
Cardin came close looking awkward, almost ashamed. "Are uh… are you sure you're alright with this boss… I mean I know you've got something going on with Neo but I figured…"
"Those girls go out with whoever they want," I told Cardin with a shrug. "I don't have any claim so don't worry and go have fun… Just don't expect anything serious with them… I'll probably be taking them out again one of these nights myself, and they'll be taking Neo out as well. And there's other guys in girls in their little back book."
"It just… feels kind of weird… ya know… sharing?" He said to me.
"It's a little awkward I admit, but it's not my place to tell you hands off," I said, putting it in the simplest terms I could manage. I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a roll of twenties handing it over to him. "Here… one thing you should know before going out with those two is that they don't like cheap dates. Have a good time, Beefcake."
Cardin took the money and nodded. "Thanks Jaune… also… Pyrrha wanted me to give this to you."
He pulled out a napkin and I looked to see that Pyrrha had written her scroll number down on it. I stared down at it and frowned.
"I honestly debated with myself if I should give this to you, the twins didn't think it was very strange to have a girl try to give you their number and I'm afraid they might have said a few things about you to Pyrrha. But I decided it was better to let you decide what to do with this." He explained to me.
"Thanks," I said, picking up the napkin and folding it away. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to be doing with it either. "Now go… they weren't exactly joking about being kept waiting."
Cardin nodded and left, I watched him leave the club arm in arm with the two girls and clearly not ready for what they had planned for the night. I felt a little strange and awkward, sure but I was used to the two of them going out with other people. Whatever sense of connection I felt for the twins I knew my place, I was just a friend that they fooled around with and nothing more.
But as Cardin made for the door I saw him and the twins come face to face with a face that I had been looking forward to seeing tonight.
Neo walked in in a white shimmering dress of Mistrali silk ornamented with pink embroidered flowers. I watched as Cardin and the twins talked to her for a moment and Cardin pointed her across the club to my booth. I gave Neo a little wave inviting her over to sit with me.
She smiled across the club at me and I felt all my worries vanish. She strutted across the club floor into the VIP section towards my booth. The backless dress gave an appealing look at her legs as she walked, and I could see that she had done her hair up for the night in an elaborate braided bun. When she reached my booth she cocked a hip and smirked at me. "Sorry - I'm - late," she signed to me.
"Fashionably late I assure you." I said, glad that I didn't have her or Roman around while my Beacon classmates had been there, that had actually been lucky on my part. "You look beautiful… just… wow that dress!" I said, figuring that Neo didn't need me to come up with any elegant words to tell her how much I liked what I was seeing.
"You - should - see - the - lingerie - I - got - on - underneath," she told me sinfully.
I laughed, whatever we had started back at White Peak certainly wasn't losing steam. A chill of excitement went down my body at the proposition, she really was showing off for me tonight. "I don't know if I can wait," I told her honestly.
"Then - don't," she said excitedly. "You - live - upstairs - after - all. Let's - go - up - and - you - can - see - right - now."
I swallowed and looked around at the club as it was in full swing. Midnight had passed but there was no sign of it slowing down, and I was still expecting more of Roman's guys to show up and at least congratulate me. "Right now?" I asked her, grinning like an idiot.
"We'll - be - quick," she told me with a wink. "The - night - is - still - young - and - I - could - use - a - little - relief."
I liked the idea myself so I downed the rest of my drink and stood up to go with her. "Alright, let's go!"
She nodded to me. "But - if - you - mess - up - my - hair - I'll - make - you - pay."
"Pay how?" I asked her.
"I'm - sure - I'll - think - of - something." She teased.
I laughed as she took my hand pulling me towards the stairs so we could go up to my place. "And now I'm debating whether or not I should."
She gave her silent giggle and flashed me a wink as we ascended the stairs together and full of excitement. The rest of the night became a pleasant blur as I tried only thinking about my new life.