Arthur took the stage, the lights went down, the music went up, and the party started. A few women got too drunk for their own good by the night's end, but their friends took care of them. After her initial drinks, Beth abstained to keep from making a fool of herself with her subordinate around. On the job, Arthur was not drinking at all despite the many drinks offered to him. He lied about some company policy and stuck to it for the night until finally, it was time to go.
"It's been fun." He said to the woman who paid him initially. "Thank you very much." She said as she tipped him with even more cash. "Do you have a card or anything?"
"Uh..." He looked around. "Not on me, no, sorry."
"Well, if you ever need more gigs." She said as she fished a card out of her purse. "Call me. I do some event planning, things like this. If you have any catering experience, we're always looking for waiters, etcetera."
"Sure thing." Arthur nodded. "Thanks."
"Big plans for all the extra cash you made tonight?" She spared a glance down to his g-string.
"Maybe I'll throw a party." He joked with a careless shrug. "Seriously though, it's been fun." He waved his farewell and graciously took his exit.
"Such a nice kid." Beth's aunt said as she took the seat next to her niece after giving her card and tip to the stripper.
"Ugh." Beth sighed.
"What?" Her aunt asked.
"Nothing." Beth said with a shake of her head. "I'm just really not looking forward to Monday."
Arthur was laughing the entire way back to his apartment. It wasn't until he parked that he bothered to check his phone. He had missed messages from a few different people: Selene, Mindy, and his mother. He read his mother's first, hoping that whatever was there that might upset him wouldn't be enough to ruin his mood, and if it did put a dent in it, he could recover with the other messages.
Mom: She left her number and contact info. I'm forwarding it to you. Also, your father really wanted to talk to you tonight about a business opportunity. Do you have time to talk to him tonight?
Arthur thought about it for a moment. He pulled up his dad's contact info and sent him a text.
Arthur: Hey, Mom said you wanted to talk?
Father: Yes. You have a few minutes? I'll call.
Arthur: Sure.
No sooner had he hit send than the phone in his hand rang. He answered it and lifted it to his ear. "Hey, dad." Arthur said. "What's up?"
"How'd you like more free time?" His dad asked.
"Uh..." Arthur sensed a trap, but he wasn't sure why. "Are you into pyramid schemes all of a sudden?"
"What?" His father asked. "No. Don't be stupid. I had an idea."
"Go on." Arthur prompted.
"Wise guy." His dad muttered. "Look. Your mom and I are thinking about moving closer to the city. It's easier for work, a bit more expensive, but things are going well, and you don't visit as much as you used to."
"Dad." Arthur protested.
"Not a complaint!" His dad said immediately. "You're a grown man. You shouldn't be coming to visit your parents every weekend. You should be out there trying to make your fortune in the world."
"...Right." Arthur said.
"Right." His father agreed with himself. "So, my point is. Your mother and I are thinking about moving closer to the city, but your mother wants to hang on to the house for when we're older and want to retire. It's a nice neighborhood, we've already made a chunk of the payments, and if we sell it, we'll only have to repurchase it at a higher price later or be out of luck."
"With you so far." Arthur commented when there was a break.
"So, your mother and I want you to live here and manage the place while we rent it out." His father said, letting the statement sit for a second before continuing. "What do you think?"
"I..." Arthur paused. "I don't know."
"You don't know." His father repeated as if repeating the answer for his mother's benefit. "What do you mean you don't know?"
"I have a job." Arthur explained.
"What, that marketing job? That's not long-term, and we both know it. You're not even a manager there." His dad quipped.
"Yeah, but-" Arthur protested.
"And it's not like you'd be working forty hours or anything. We've got six bedrooms and a seventh in the finished basement that could technically be an in-law suite. The cleaning service comes once a week, and so do the landscapers. You could live here, not have to pay rent and have the Master Suite if you want it. You could vet the other tenants. They'll probably be other students at that college of yours. Just not a fraternity, you know? You'd get paid a share of the rents, and you'd be on call, more or less, to deal with anything that breaks or goes wrong. Like this back door that leads out to my patio that seems to have splintered shut somehow. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Arthur thought about it, doing some quick number crunching. "Who determines the tenants?" Arthur asked.
"You would, to a point. Your Mother would sign the lease agreements officially, but so long as they're fiscally solvent, and you're reasonably sure they won't throw any ragers at the house, we should be good." His father said.
Arthur was silent for a moment.
"Well?" His father asked. "What do you think?"
"I wouldn't have to pay rent?" He asked, just to verify.
"Well..." His father hesitated. He heard his mother's voice in the background. "No. Your mother says you won't have to pay any rent. So long as you take a drug test."
"A drug test?" Arthur asked, confused. "Dad, I'm not-"
"I know." His father cut him off. "But it's a legal thing."
"Uh-huh." Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'm not on steroids, dad."
"No judgment if you are." His dad assured him. "Well, none from me anyway."
"I'm not-" Arthur sighed. "Okay. Write it up."
"Okay?" His dad asked.
"Write up the contract. I'll look it over. We'll do it official and on paper."
"That's my boy." His dad said cheerfully. "You missed a good dinner, by the way. I had a steak picked out just for you. We were gonna celebrate the whole deal, assuming you said yes."
"Well, we'll cook it up when we sign the paperwork," Arthur said. "I still need to look over the contract before it's official."
His dad sounded genuinely pleased. "Good." He said. "You have a good night, son. We'll talk later."
And with that, the phone call was over. Arthur shook his head. His rent at the apartment was month to month, so that wasn't a problem. It'd probably take his parents a while to move out, though they'd probably leave most of the furnishings. He'd be about twenty to thirty minutes from the campus, which wasn't too bad. Moving away from Selene, though... well, he'd be lying if he said he didn't have an idea about that already. Their rent was monthly too, so maybe Kat and Selene would be interested in an upgrade? In a room of their own, of course. Moving in with Selene officially was... not unappealing, all things considered, but definitely way too fast. Right?
Speaking of which, he checked the messages from her next. Photos of empty water cups. Different cups to prove it. A quick video of her actually drinking the water, lifting her shirt up as she did so. A video of her eating some Chinese takeout to prove she'd eaten dinner. Not the most nutritious, but still dinner. Wait, did she order takeout? She was still just wearing the t-shirt and the heels in the video, nothing else other than her collar.
He scrolled through.
Slut: I got takeout like you said, and... I met Mindy!
He checked the message from Mindy.
Mindy: I made a delivery to your apt tonight. You weren't there! I met your friend Selene though. She was super nice! Looking forward to tomorrow! C u @ 4!
He had questions. He looked to his apartment window on the third floor to see Selene looking down at him with a smile and a happy little wave. He had a lot of questions.