Crimes and Affairs || Wriolette

Chapter 3

'Le club? As in... the club?' Lyney asked.

Le Club was a club in Fontaine. It had many visitors and was known for its beautiful and vibrant design. It was slightly different from the rest of Fontaine's buildings, so it stood out among them. Its vibrant colors lit up every night. It was a beautiful scenery, indeed. The workers were rumored to be nice and good-looking. The music didn't disappoint either. Sometimes, it was so loud you could hear it from the streets. It was not Neuvillette's place to visit. As a busy man, he had no time for this type of place.

He never even had anyone to go to those places with, and he wasn't planning on finding someone any time soon. His job had never allowed him to have a partner before. Neuvillette looked at Lyney.

'Lyney, have you been there before?' It did seem like an inappropriate and awkward question to ask, but given the situation, Neuvillette had no other choice but to do so.

'I've been there a few times in the past, but it's not an appropriate place at all! Why would he bring Freminet there?! It's like he knows us!'

Not an appropriate place?

'Monsieur Neuvillette, we have to go find him immediately! Come on, hurry!' As he said this, Lyney was already out of the office. Neuvillette looked at Charlotte and nodded. They both also left the office, thinking of a plan on the way there.
They met with Lyney as well, and not long after, they've arrived at the club.

Just as Neuvillette imagined it, that club was huge. It was already dark outside by the time they've arrived at Le Club. The neon lights on the signs illuminated the entire place. Before Neuvillette could read the signs, Lyney spoke.

'Miss Charlotte, I'm truly sorry, but I think it's time we split up. Women are not allowed in here.' Neuvillette looked at him in pure confusion. A club that didn't allow women? Those existed?

Neuvillette thought for a while, then remembered about Lynette. 'Lyney, is your sister all right? What if Fontaine's Fear is planning on kidnapping her, too?'

Charlotte finally spoke. 'If I'm not allowed inside, then I can go look after Miss Lynette. How about that?'

Neuvillette smiled. Seemed like the plans were settled. They bid each other goodbye and split up. Only after Charlotte was nowhere to be seen, Neuvillette and Lyney decided to enter Le Club.

The music was extremely loud, and Neuvillette's eyes hurt so much from the flashing lights. He could sense a headache coming, so he closed his eyes for a moment. After a while, he opened them and looked around. What he saw was what left him completely speechless. Lots of men were inside, doing...  stuff. No wonder no women were allowed in there. Neuvillette never thought that these clubs existed in Fontaine, too. Seeing two men kissing and starting to undress next to them, he looked at Lyney and whispered.

'L-Lyney, what kind of club is this? Are you sure this is the right place?'

Neuvillette couldn't make up his mind. Why did Fontaine's Fear bring them here? This had to be some kind of trap.

Lyney took Neuvillette's hand and snuggled closer to him. Neuvillette was surprised, and he heard Lyney whisper back. 'Monsieur Neuvillette, excuse my impolite behavior. You may put me in court after we catch this criminal, but first, pretend to be into me. Otherwise, we can't get through.'

Neuvillette nodded. It was extremely hard to breathe, thanks to the strong smell of alcohol and cigarettes.  Neuvillette wasn't a fan of them, if one could say, Neuvillette actually despised both. He looked around some more, but all he saw were men having fun. He even saw some half-naked men doing lap dances to other guys. This place was truly interesting. How come Neuvillette never knew of it? It wasn't like he would ever step foot in it, but it was fascinating. His mind started to wonder. Lyney said he had been there before and that it wasn't appropriate.

At first, he thought it was a simple strip club, but now he learned it had more meaning to it. The two walked around hand in hand, looking for a blond man who matched the one in the photo. They walked around the entire place until they settled down at a random table. It was the only table that didn't have any men bent over on it. They both sat down and started whispering to each other.

'Are you sure this is the right place? We've looked around and haven't found a single match.' Neuvillette sighed. He still thought this was just a stupid joke and that Freminet was completely elsewhere, anywhere but here. Lyney sensed the elder was losing hope.

'He has to be here! We just haven't looked well enough. How about we split up? Once we're done, we meet here. What do you think?' Lyney did make a good suggestion. He was right. They couldn't give up. They've started to figure out who this man is, so they can't give up so easily. Neuvillette nodded and slowly got up. To think about it, Neuvillette was the only weirdo in there. He was dressed too fancy, and even Lyney had some skin showing. It was most likely the criminal saw them and left off before they could see him. It was so obvious they didn't come in that place for 'fun'.

When he saw that Lyney was gone, he made his way to the bar. It was the only quieter place. Of course, it wasn't completely quiet, but the music wasn't as loud as in the rest of the club. Neuvillette supposed it was like that so that the clients could order their drinks without having to straight up scream it at the bartender. He placed a hand under his chin and started to look around. Nothing suspicious, just as he thought.

'Hey there, what would you like to drink?'

A dark voice spoke from the other side of the table. It was the bartender, a tall and well-built man. Truly a good sight to look at. Neuvillette looked at the man and didn't know what to say. He thought maybe a drink wouldn't hurt.

'Uhm, what do you have here?' Neuvillette always thought it was extremely awkward to ask that question, but the bartender didn't seem quite bothered by it.

'Well, we have all kinds. If you're indecisive, then I suggest getting today's drink: Pearl Harbor!'

As far as Neuvillette knew, that was some vodka based drink. As he wasn't even interested in alcohol drinks, he felt like he couldn't decline the man's request.

'Bring me that one... please.' The white-haired man said. Neuvillette knew he had never given any interest in men. He never gave anyone a chance, actually. But the man before him was extremely handsome. His black hair sat perfectly on his face, his chest was well built, and his arms seemed like they could crush his head at any moment. As the man wore a tight buttoned up shirt, his features were even more visible. Neuvillette caught himself staring and looked to the side.

'Sure thing. I'll be right back.' He said as he turned around and started preparing the drink. He watched his every move intently. Not long after, his drink was done.

'There you are.' The man smiled and placed down the drink. Neuvillette was about to take out his wallet and pay, but he was stopped.

'No need to worry, it's on me.'

'It's on me?' Is he flirting? Was all Neuvillette could think about at the given moment. This wasn't his normal behavior. It was probably from the smell of alcohol and the atmosphere surrounding him. Such a stupid excuse.

'Thank you, but why?' Neuvillette asked. He was glad he at least didn't have to spend any more money. But why would he offer for such a thing?

The man simply shrugged and said. 'I haven't seen you around before, so I thought it'd be a nice gesture. Now tell me, is it good? It's my own recipe! I'm really glad it's today's drink.'

Neuvillette laughed at the man's way of speaking and took a sip. He was never a fan of alcohol drinks, but this one actually seemed all right. It wasn't too hard, it was sweet, actually. Neuvillette could say he actually liked it. 'It's really good. I like it.'

He coughed a bit before putting the drink back on the table. Neuvillette was afraid that if he drank too much, he'd start spinning around the room and make a fool out of himself. He could only wait for Lyney and give him the drink to finish.

'I'm glad you like it.' The man was incredibly close and once again smiled at Neuvillette. He was interrupted by a customer asking for a drink. 'Hold up, I've got work to take care of.' He said as he went to take another order.

The way he looked reminded him of something... or someone. He just couldn't get his thoughts right at the moment. All he could do was wait for Lyney to come back, hopefully with new answers to this case.