Scott changed the subject so he could hear more about what his mentor was up to these days. He mostly seemed to be flirting with widowed women in his neighborhood, golfing, and swimming.
Not a bad life. Maybe Scott should retire to Florida someday too. That was an awfully long way off though.
He would have to find someone to hand the club off to when the time came the same way Richie had. He seriously doubted he would have any kids to give it to.
Women were nothing but trouble. How was he supposed to find one he could relate to? Let alone want to spend the rest of his life with. That sort of thing seemed way too unrealistic. He hadn't even found anyone he wanted to spend more than a few hours with.
Maybe the show would get his mind off of what was going on at the club for a little while at least. That alone would make it worth going. He had been undeniably stressed lately and needed to relax.
Relaxing wasn't exactly his thing though. The only thing that did it was watching sports.
He liked going to games in person when he could but that didn't happen very often because they were always in the evening. Sometimes they ran late and conflicted with the club's opening time.
Scott didn't technically have to be there every day. The rest of his employees took days off but he had an awful lot of work to do and liked taking care of things personally.
He was going to have to take at least part of a night off to go to this show that Richie wanted him to go to. He supposed it was his mentor's way of telling him to take a break. He had been a workaholic too so he understood the urge to keep working. He was trying to keep his protégé from making the same mistakes.
Scott had made a lot of mistakes in his life but he didn't think working too hard was one of them. He found satisfaction in his work.
What could be better than being able to provide a good life for himself legally without having to worry about the cops coming after him? He couldn't think of anything.
===
Cherry managed to beat Ms. Pac-Man with Scott's help and still didn't understand the man. He owned a successful business so he had to be busy but he spent an awful lot of time he didn't have to helping out a total stranger solely because she asked.
He confused her but she didn't think he was too much of a threat right now because she hadn't hit The Wolves' Den since suspecting he was on to her. It was better to push him out of her head.
She had more pressing things to worry about. Like the online auction that was happening for a Coco Mocha Crème doll that still had all of its accessories, never been opened.
Cherry had been waiting ages for one to appear and she would cut her own ear off before she let anyone else get it! The auction was happening during daylight hours so she had to be on her phone ready to outbid anyone the whole time.
She knew a fair amount about online auctions at this point. She had gotten a lot of her dolls this way in an intense competition. If you didn't keep your eye on the bids the whole time, you could lose in an instant.
Her fingers were poised and ready and she hunched over her phone while sitting cross-legged on the couch. She was prepared to go into battle.
This doll hadn't been on store shelves in more than a decade and she wasn't the only one who wanted it. However, she was the one that wanted it most. She knew all of the tips and tricks by now.
First, she needed to wait to place her first bid to size up the competition. It had to be a strong one that others weren't likely to be able to top. There was no point in starting too low; that was an amateur move and she was no amateur.
Cherry also had to make her counterbids immediately so she would know who her competition was and the others would know she was serious about it. If she countered every bid that came in, less interested buyers would give up sooner or later. It happened every time.
Right now, she was in the middle of an intense bidding battle with a user called dolly_dearest. She had gone up against them before for a different doll and knew they had quite the budget to spend.
Unfortunately for them, it would never be as big as Cherry's because she saved a good chunk of her spoils specifically for this. She was willing and able to drop an obscene amount of money for a single doll and had the time and patience to win this bid war.
She ended up paying more than she thought she would but it didn't set her back too much. What mattered was that she won her doll.
"Coco Mocha Crème, come to mama!" Cherry crowed, jumping onto the couch and striking a victory pose.
She was feeling rather giddy. This deserved to be celebrated! She had energy to expend after all that and decided to get the pizza personally rather than have it delivered. She ordered it for pickup and got out of her pajamas to fetch it.
She put her hair in a side ponytail and wore a sundress with a pink top and white floral skirt and sandals. She normally didn't wear dresses outside of her nighttime escapades but this was the sort she preferred. Looser and longer because she wasn't trying to lure anyone in.