The Bet

      He considered all songs. Emily rolled her eyes and spit on the floor. Mace paused his scrolling through his tracks, his fisted hands shaking over the keyboard. He rolled his shoulders back, drew in a deep breath, and said through his gritted teeth, "Do NOT do that on stage."

      Emily smirked, happy to finally pull some reaction from her brother's friend. "I'm sure your stage has been covered in worse." His answering scowl notched her lips to a full on grin. Frustrating Mace was a definite bonus to this dare. A close second to the look that would be on Rick's face as she drove off in his 1972 Camero.

      "Quit being disgusting." His mouth opened, "Do you...", a rat-a-tat-tat from the studio door cut him off. "Hang on!" he called. Mace stood, walking around the soundboard to undo the slider bolt along the frame. "Do you even know what to do?" He pulled open the door, letting in a tall blonde woman wearing a cut-off blue romper. Smiling a greeting to Emily, who waggled her fingers back, she raised her eyebrows at Mace and pointed her thumb behind her.

      "Oh, come on! Again?!" he sighed. The gray haired man cupped his face in his hands and growled with exasperation. "Every. Damn. Week." Mace shook his head, "Fine." The blonde moved aside as he stomped through the doorway. From the hall he called back, "Ranelle, help me out with missy here, will you?"

      Missy? Emily thought, eyeing Ranelle as she circled her. How old was Rick's friend? She chuckled and put her hand out to stop the woman. "Allright, stop! What are you, part shark?"

      The blonde beamed. With a saucy wink she replied, "No. But, I've danced as a mermaid. Got a standing ovation from every trident in the house too!" Her dirty joke made Em snort, which in turn set off the stripper into a fit of giggles.

      Ranelle caught her breath, "So, have you stripped before?" Her twinkling hazel eyes knowing the answer.

      Confession time. Emily shook her head. "All you have to do is take off some clothes and shake your tits, right?" The peals of laughter from her new friend probably meant 'No'. Dammit. She knew she should have watched some videos first.

      He turned the corner and it felt as if his heart fell to the floor. Half of the tables were missing and his bartenders were high up on ladders, trying to hang a gaudy mirrored ball. He couldn't see the rest of his staff, and where were his dancers? Mace looked up at the men, who were carefully studying the ceiling, pretending they didn't notice their boss seething below them. He waited a moment, then strode off towards his office. "If you guys want to get paid tonight, you'll drop that piece of shit."

      The door to his office slammed open as the satisfying shattering sound echoed down the hall. A red haired demon flew from within, the hunger for blood shining in it's eyes. Three steps out, the monster skidded to a stop in front of Mace. It's arms lunged forward, grabbing the back of his head and pulling it down to place pink lipsticked kisses along his cheek. "Matthew! Where've you been hiding?"

      With a tight smile he hugged his business partner back. "Hi, Mom." He gestured behind him, "We've talked about the ball. Remember?"

      His mother waved her hand in front of her, the belled sleeves of her dress snapping with her frantic movement. "Yes. Yes. You'd have changed your mind once you saw it in action." She made to pass around her son, who sidled to cut her off. With a huff, his mother, hands on her hips demanded, "Why don't you fire those two? Klutzy bartenders aren't worth keeping."

      Keeping his canary smile to himself, Mace decided the two men deserved a bonus. His mother was going to be at their throats for at least the next month. "They're good with the customers." Before letting her continue to rant he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and said, "Let's get lunch."

      His mother nodded then stopped. She rocked back on her heels, clapped her hands together with excitement and demanded that he wait. "I've got a surprise for you!" Moving fast, she skipped around him, heading to the changing rooms. "You're not going to believe the deal I got!"

      Mace rolled his eyes. He really should have listened to his father when he warned him not to go into business with his mother. He followed behind her, hoping that she didn't have another stupid 70's ball, then stopped when he saw her 'surprise'.

      No. Just, no. He looked to his mother, her arms positioned like Vanna White's, then back to his 'surprise'.

      The cage in the middle of the room was surrounded by women in various stages of undress. Inside, Emily, his best bud's little sister, was awkwardly shaking her ass to Britney Spears. She wiggled, noticed Mace, then dropped low, flashing him her best attempt at a 'sultry' expression.

      Rick was going to kill him.

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Main image via pxhereFor the Weekend Freewrite 5/19/18 by @mariannewest.Thank you Marianne!

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