When The Rich Son Falls

Twenty Two

“You’re back early,” Mandy said with a welcoming smile as Topher entered the lobby and walked straight to her desk. Bruce, who had just gotten down the stairs, looked equally surprised to see him.

“Don’t tell me James kicked you out already,” he said, sounding quite disappointed. “I thought he wouldn’t do that for at least another day.”

“I was not kicked out, for both of your information,” Topher let them know. “I got bored. There’s nothing to do in James’s place and his neighborhood, and now he’s off to help out with some festival thing or whatever then he has some social s**t to attend to. So, I’m bored.”

“That’s Mr. Popular for you,” Mandy stated. “James always has a lot on his plate.”

Topher sharply inhaled and raised a finger. “Ah, you see, the popular kids in my world are mostly the douchebag jocks who are built like me. Not the kind introverted ones like your boss man.”

“Well, thank goodness we don’t live in your world,” Bruce said. “Here at Mariner’s Bay, it’s the good people that get the most credit. It incentivizes everyone to be better versions of themselves.”

“And is this the better version of you?” Topher poked fun at him. Bruce didn’t get offended; instead, he approvingly scoffed at Topher’s low-key insult.

“You should help out with the festival,” Mandy suggested. “Lots of people are usually there until early evening. Preparations are just by the beach. You can’t miss it.”

Mandy made it sound like it was such a nice thing to participate in, but the thought of going to the beach to help out when he wasn’t required to do so just didn’t have a ring to Topher’s ear. So, he replied with a dismissive “Eh” before completely changing the topic. “Anyway, what are you folks up to for fun tonight?” he asked, sounding like he was expecting intriguing answers. But all he got in return were: “I don’t know, take a nap before I actually go to sleep?” and “I’m going to have a spa day with my boyfriend.”

Even Mandy’s supposed “spa day” apparently didn’t even include going to an actual spa, but just using hydrating face masks and then watching TV while sipping lemonade. All of which didn’t exactly fit Topher’s definition of fun.

With a huge sigh, he made it known that he was disappointed and wailed to the both of them, “Come on, people, it’s a Friday night! Don’t you go to bars around here? Go clubbing? Chug a few bottles, sip some margaritas, make out with people you’d regret in the morning? Do you have any sort of nighttime festivities?”

Mandy thought about it for a second. “There’s a club a few blocks away, but it closes in a few hours. Places usually close around 10 o’clock here. Barely anything is open 24/7.”

“Oh, dear god,” Topher horrifically muttered. “So, there is no proper night life around here? Nothing? No raves?”

“There is one a few towns over. It’s a bit far, and,” Mandy hesitated for a second, glancing at Bruce, “none of us really go there.”

“I’ll take it. I’ll take anything,” Topher desperately said, despite the looks on the others’ faces clearly indicating that it might not be the best idea.

“It’s called Mystique,” she said as she wrote down the address on a piece of paper, “but it’s kind of known for having a, um, a bad rep.”

“A club that’s named after a blue femme fatale from X-Men doesn’t seem like such a horrible thing,” Topher countered.

“I guess? Well, we don’t really know what kind of crowd it has but I think it’s the loud type of place that serves drinks that you’re looking for.”

“I heard it’s dark there and the people are a bit… too rowdy,” Bruce piped in. “And I think you need some kind of ticket to go in?”

“Exclusive and quite disreputable,” Topher muttered to himself with a growing smile on his face, clearly not affected by any of their words of caution; if anything, his interest only grew. “Come on, you guys! Looks like we’re all going clubbing tonight.”

Mandy and Bruce never did go with him, as they decided to stick to their calming Friday night schedule made of rest and sleep. Topher, however, decided to push through with his one-man journey and took a cab to the place called Mystique.

In his past life, he would have searched for its reviews and only would have gone if he were sure that the place had, at least, four stars; but things were different now. There weren’t any cameras waiting for the Topher Stevens to show up, and even if people were to recognize him, the most they would think would be that he was someone that “kind of looked like that Stevens guy”; for why would someone like him be in an unknown club in a town like that?

Topher liked his odds, and he even liked them better when he finally arrived at his destination.

Mystique seemed to be an unassuming establishment on the outside. Its metal entrance was a backdoor to what looked like an old warehouse in the middle of a quiet town that reminded Topher of Hell’s Kitchen in the comics; but it was heavily guarded by two large men who almost didn’t let him in since he didn’t have the “ticket” they were looking for. Thankfully, Topher knew how most of the world worked, and as soon as he produced a large wad of cash, the two men merely exchanged looks and let him in even though he was wearing his “incognito” clothes.

Behind the door, Topher was met by another person who welcomed him by handing him a domino mask. With a curious smile on his face, he put it on without question to replace his sunglasses. Then, he took off his face mask and hat, and had to walk a long dimly lit hallway. The further he walked, the louder the music and the wider his smile became. Once he reached the curtains at the end, he parted them and stood there in awe.

The club lived up to its name. The people inside had halves of their faces covered with similar domino masks, and boy, were they all having a good time. Flirting, grinding, drinking, kissing, dancing, illegal substances—everything seemed to be present that it made him feel like he was back home.

It seems that every town has a 1% that needs their own den of iniquity, Topher thought, and this was theirs.

He couldn’t believe such a place existed that he did not know of, especially considering that it was just a cab ride away from the boring ol’ goody-two-shoes Mariner’s Bay. A thought about giving Mandy and Bruce a huge thank you gift the next day entered his mind, but it was soon erased when a woman in a gorgeous, body-fitting, black halter dress and five-inch heels approached him and lightly traced a finger from the bottom of his ear to his jaw line to the bottom of his chin.

Just then, he thanked his past self for changing into a nice button-up shirt and a blazer before getting a cab.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before,” the woman whispered in his ear.

Topher would normally get himself a drink first and go do a lap around the club before settling with someone, but times were different. It had been a week of nothing. No kissing, no humping, no s*x. The closest he had gone to doing anything remotely s****l was getting carried out of a sauna room while wearing just a towel around his waist, and he found that to be the saddest story ever.

He was thirsty, and he wanted to get his fill.

So, he put on a smirk and replied in a low voice, “I’m just visiting. Maybe you can give me a tour before I leave?” as he placed a hand on the woman’s waist and gently squeezed.

It was probably the most forward he’d been, but at that point, he didn’t really care, especially since it seemed to be working. The woman returned his smile and grabbed his hand, saying, “Come on, then. Let’s grab a drink on the way.”

They had just taken a step towards the bar, when a guy hurriedly crossing their path accidentally bumped into the person next to them that was holding a half-empty glass. The drink, naturally, spilled mostly on Topher’s pants and on the floor. The owner of the drink didn’t mind and continued to grind with whomever. The guy who caused the accident gave a small and unapologetic “Oops,” and went on his way; but it was the person the guy was holding hands with that took the time to mutter a proper, “Sorry about that,” before he was quickly dragged away.

Topher was about to take out a handkerchief when he suddenly stopped and realized that the voice of the man that apologized sounded familiar. Very familiar, in fact, no matter how impossible it seemed.

“Are you okay?” asked the woman that Topher was with.

“Y-yeah,” he answered, although he was standing on his tiptoes, trying to look over the crowd to spot where the previous men had gone.

There. They stopped with their backs turned, just by the end of the bar. The guy in front called and whispered something to the bartender, and the bartender handed him something under the table in return, while the man Topher was eyeing cautiously looked sideways.

Even at a distance, Topher’s intuition was ringing, but it was only when they were about to leave the bar and the man turned around to give the bartender a tip that Topher finally confirmed it. Even with a mask and dim lighting, Topher recognized two things on the man: the smile that he showed to everyone except Topher, and the nice shirt that he packed into his bag earlier that day.

There was simply no mistaking it.

Topher’s jaw hung open, and for a second, he completely forgot that there was a very hot woman that wanted him, just waiting for him and still holding his hand.

“Are you alright?” the woman asked again, making Topher’s eyes snap back towards her. He was presented with two choices then that would’ve led to two completely different outcomes.

But his curiosity got the better of him. Even if he was 90% positive, he had to make sure.

“I am so sorry,” Topher apologetically said as he quickly pulled his hand away, leaving the woman behind as he rushed into the crowd.