Impress Me Not: Neon Underground

Chapter 12

"Melvin," Rita asked, coming into his office. "Are you going to head home any time soon?"

"Possibly," he answered. "Why haven't you left yet?" He was just finishing up on his paperwork for the business. While he had gotten a loss that night from the room he was staying in, he certainly made up for it in his sales of everything else. He was glad that so many people enjoyed his club. There had been many who had told him it was the one place they felt they could truly be themselves. And because of the bouncer's watchful nature, many people left reviews saying that they felt safe.

"I was just a little worried about you," she gave him a shy smile. "Can I come in?"

"Take a seat," he offered. "Why are you worried?"

Rita had been one of his employees for a long time. She enjoyed dressing however she liked and answering people's questions about their private rooms. She used to be a pole dancer at a strip club before coming here after getting too many stalkers from that job. Now she mainly wore suits because that was what she was the most comfortable with. Melvin didn't mind. She took on many tasks in the club, but stripping was never one of them.

"You were in there for a while," she answered, rubbing her arms nervously. "And you still looked pretty mad when you got out. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine, dear," Melvin assured her. "Just taking care of some trash."

"You know," she said. "I know that you like making people face their consequences and everything, but sometimes it's not worth it. Sometimes all it's going to do is make you angrier and angrier while they still learn nothing from it."

"I know, Rita," Melvin sighed. Then he looked back up at her. "You think I took it too far, don't you?"

"I mean, I didn't hear anything from the room," she shrugged. "And he was still able to walk out of the club. I'm not really worried about him, though. I'm worried about you. I don't want you to get so obsessed with him because of your anger or anything. I mean, it's not really my place but-!"

"Rita," he stopped her. "We're all family, or in the very least, friends here. You don't need to say it's not your place. I will always hear what you have to say, okay?"

"You're really sweet," she said. "I just wish you could see that in yourself someday."

"Maybe sometime down the line," he smiled. "He's not going to come back, Rita. I already told him that he's not allowed to."

"And you meant it, right?" She raised a brow. "Because knowing that man, he might just try and test your words."

"I'm sure he got the picture," he told her. "Now go home. You're going to need to get some sleep for tonight's shift."

"You should listen to your own advice sometimes," she told him before leaving the office. "Make sure you take care of yourself, Mel. Whatever you're mad about, it's not worth losing sleep over."

"Thank you," he told her, watching her leave. She was still rather young, but she had a lot of wisdom in her. He supposed it was because she had to grow up fast when she was younger. Too many people experienced that, unfortunately. He was one of them too.

He was furious then, and that rage was hard to quench. He had let out most of it that night. Mateo was just trying to get to him, he knew. But it still didn't mean that those words couldn't hurt him. The last thing he ever wanted to be called was a cheater.

The punching might have been too far, but Mateo took it too far with what he said too. By the end, they both seemed to be calmer. He could tell that Mateo had enjoyed his attention. Melvin hoped that it haunted him for the rest of his days. He wished that Mateo would never be able to get turned on without rope tied around his wrists, and the pain of whips against his back. He wished that the man would be in denial about it for many years, before finally cracking.