I Hate Myself for Loving You

You would expect the owner of the one of the biggest rock and roll joints in the whole of America to be some kind of care free rock fan who loved nothing more than to party. But the owner in question is the complete opposite. His name is Herman Gottlieb, and even he couldn’t tell you how he came to own The K-Science Club.

K-Science was an almost legendary establishment for two reasons. All of the strange and mysterious drinks you could buy and get drunk on after one shot (the most powerful beverage being the Almighty Kaiju Blue), and of course the fact that any rock band couldn’t truly be considered a rock band until they had played there. Cherno Alpha (the “Russian Rockers”) had powered to stardom after just one gig at K-Science. Gypsy Danger are making their way up in the world now as well, after playing two killer back to back shows at the club.

Every night was a sell out and drinks were sold non-stop but despite the clubs huge success recently it had fallen on hard times. Somehow they just weren’t making enough money to support the staff and keep the building standing.

Herman sat at his desk in a private room above the club; the quiet thump of the music could still be heard even from this secluded area. He rubbed his forehead groggily, letting a stressed sigh pass through his lips as he looked at the stack of unpaid bills in front of him. How they’d managed to spend this much money in just one month shocked him too no end, but the money all adds up. Five broken amps, fifteen shattered chairs and forty-eight broken or missing glasses! That’s not the worst of it either; about 2 weeks ago all of the lights in the ceiling came down during a show, along with the tech manager Newton. Herman had instantly offered to pay the medical bills even though working for him doesn’t include free health care; he had always just really liked Newt. All together the club had over spent thousands and Herman had no idea how they were going to keep up the business now. The thought of losing the club almost made him sick to his stomach. The thin German man had never been considered cool or admired by anyone, but because he owned The K-Science Club it was like he was a God to all the rockers out there.

Also, if he lost the club, then what reason would Newton have for keeping in contact with him?

Herman stared at the bills for a long time, thinking of any way they could make the money back quickly, but for some reason nothing came to mind. He groaned loudly and rested his head on the bill covered desk, closing his eyes for a moment to clear his thoughts. As much as he loved the loud happy atmosphere that filled the club every evening, he wished that right now it would just stop.

Eventually the sound started to fade and there was a moment where it all went quiet, but Herman most certainly did not fall asleep. No way, he’d never do something as improper as that.

He was startled from his definitely-not-asleep state by the loud bang of his office door opening and an overly awake for three o’clock in the morning Newt bursting through.

“Hey man, the clubs closing for the night and- Whoa! Sleeping on the job? I knew you couldn’t just do work up here!” Newt laughed as he walked over to the desk and leant in front of it, grinning happily at his boss.

“I was not sleeping Newton, just looking closely at a few of these letters and-“ he was cut off by Newt pulling a bill off his forehead which had gotten stuck when he had rested on the desk. A quite blush of embarrassment spread across Germans cheeks before he noticed that Newt was reading the bill. He hadn’t wanted anyone to know about the money troubles. He reached out and tried to snatch the paper back but the shorter man jerked his hand away quickly “Newton please, that is confidential information.”

“You didn’t tell me we were in the shit…” He sounded so betrayed “I let you pay for my hospital bill! Man, that’s not fair! Look I’ll pay you back then we’ll be okay wont we?” Newt started at Herman with a serious face, which really didn’t suit the usual happy-go-lucky man.