Club Eden

Automatic timers pinged and red lights woke in their casings as bass tuned to an appropriate level. No one dared to move. Shuhei stood there, still in the informal clothes he’d left the mountains of Nikko in, as he faced the well dressed and intimidating man.

“Tried to kill myself. Didn’t take,” was all Shuhei replied.

Silence hung in the air as the inquisitor processed Shuhei’s answer. Then he burst out laughing.

“Really? What?!” the man sighed in annoyance.

“Why the hell did a failed suicide take three months?”

Shuhei inhaled, also annoyed.

“Does it matter? I’m here now, Reiji.”

The man named Reiji tilted his head to a damning leer. Red ambience bathed him in a frighteningly unpleasant radiance as strobes fired in the background.

“It matters a lot, old friend. We had a contract. You violated that contract. If I charge all of you a fifty thousand yen fee for being late to work, what do you think awaits you for missing an entire fiscal quarter’s worth of shifts and revenue?” he snarled.

“Plus, I had guys out looking for you. So that’s a fee as well.”

Shuhei’s gaze turned to some of the larger security that were standing there with their wrists crossed.

“Well, I’m sorry your tattooed colleagues couldn’t find me. But I wasn’t in Tokyo.”

Reiji’s lip pulled up in a slight sneer of rage.

“No, you weren’t. You know why? Because you got married. That’s why.”

One of the other hosts almost snickered, and was forced to cover his mouth. Others gasped. A beautiful blonde with dangling earrings and pressed bangs looked to Shuhei with a concerned gaze.

All Shuhei could do was sigh.

“What?” he asked.

“You got married. That’s why you’ve been gone. Here’s the story. Here’s the story for ALL of you in case it ever comes up!”

Everyone straightened themselves to listen.

“Our dear Shuhei is so incredibly famous, he was proposed to by a princess from a far off country.”

Reiji wasn’t speaking in jest. That’s what made it even worse.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Shuhei asked as he pulled at his left sleeve.

“No I am beyond serious,” Reiji growled.

“It can be a princess from the Middle East or Europe. Or an actress from Hollywood. A sacred priestess from South America… I truly don’t give a shit. All that matters is it was far away, and they were so in love with you they begged you to marry them. So you did. And you eloped that night. But…”

Reiji turned from his audience and faced the club down below.

“But in your heart, you couldn’t leave this club. Because no actress or royal compares to our customers. That’s what you’re going to tell these women!” Reiji commanded.

“Because if there’s one thing that these desperate, insecure girls want more than to be with the prettiest men in the world, it’s to be better than the prettiest woman in the world!”

Time was ticking. Soon the doors would be opening. Reality was truly back. House music slammed that truth into Shuhei’s skull through synth beats and subwoofer bursts. Heavy, slowed breaths of acceptance moved through Shuhei’s nose as he prepared himself to fully return.

“So, go change, superstar. Tonight, we welcome Shuhei back to Club Eden. I expect extra drinks ordered for everyone tonight, do you hear me?” Reiji asked.

“Yes sir,” the room replied.

They all dispersed to finish their makeup and rinse their mouths. Shuhei was left with Shin and the enforcers.

“I should have them fracture your orbital sockets right now, you emotional son of a bitch,” Reiji whispered.

“That would be bad asset management,” Shuhei replied.

Reiji chuckled as he raised his arms to embrace Shuhei, who merely froze in place.

“I missed you,” Reiji replied in an unnervingly sincere tone.

“Kids together and now here together. You should have told me.”

“Would you have let me leave for 3 months?” Shuhei challenged.

“Well, no, of course not. But I’d have given you a few days off…” Reiji smiled as he patted Shuhei’s jaw.

“You owe me a lot of money. Get dressed. I’ll draft up a new contract since you voided the last one. I’m taking fifteen million yen for this. And I’m raising my cut from fifty to seventy percent from here on.”

It wasn’t something Shuhei could challenge. This was all from an agreement made years ago on a bad contract. Trying to make a completely clean break would be too dangerous. They were paid in dirty money that could easily be traced if he legitimately tried to flee. All of that would likely lead to mutilation or worse from the shadier sides of Japan’s underworld.

So, all Shuhei could do was accept this punishment, and adjust his financial plans for this new hurdle. This would likely add a year to his timeline, but he didn’t care. Eventually he’d reach his goal and finally be able to vanish. No one would ever even remember him once he was gone. That was what he told himself. But then the memory of how her hands felt in his drifted into his mind.

Shuhei shook the memory away and made his way to the dressing room, where he was sure he’d find a suit. It was time to get back to work. Real Shuhei was fading. Shuhei the host was returning.