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Living in Los Santos, the possibilities of unusual encounters with strangers is much higher than Blaine County, though Mati couldn't deny that living with Trevor in the desert didn't have it's abnormalities. It felt comfortable to go back to her roots in the city for a while, giving her enough space away from Trevor to not go crazy. But sometimes the strange people she came across made her feel like she had been going crazy.
She couldn't say she was used to it, but the amount of catcalls and derogatory comments towards her made her blood boil. That's why she had her mace, although she could definitely kick anyone's ass if necessary. Trevor always wanted her to carry around a small pistol when she went to the city, but life-threatening weapons were out of the question. Besides, she didn't like purses and her pockets were full of carrots, her phone, and a wad of cash.
Mati could say she was never one to really party, but through a friend of a friend of a friend on LifeInvader, she was invited to check out a new nightclub that opened in Del Perro, close to the beach, one of her favorite places. And as they say, curiosity killed the cat— Mati couldn't resist going, even on pretenses to take a breather from Trevor (and maybe let him go wild with his own fun for the night).
As Mati rounded the corner, she could tell the line into the club was quite long, even for a newly established business. And it wasn't moving. Mati pulled up her invitation on her phone as she walked around the line to the bouncer near the entrance. With one look at the bright color of the invite on her phone, the bouncer nodded towards the door, letting her in. People still in the line made crude comments towards her, but she left the hate outside as she descended a few flights of stairs into the heart of the club.
The bass from the music pounded in her chest as people swayed and moved around her in unpredictable ways. Dancers with neon paint on their clothes and body hyped up the crowd, and dry ice creeped around Mati’s ankles. The second level of the club revealed a bar and a more comfortable seating area, as opposed to the cheap bar stools near the smaller drinking areas.
The only thing that bothered Mati was the amount of smokers in this part of the club. She had been clean for a while now, but being surrounded by the smell was almost too much. She needed to control herself. Finding her way over to the bar, Mati took up an empty seat and ripped open the bag of baby carrots.
“Well that's not something I expected to see in a nightclub.”
With one carrot in her mouth and another between her index and middle fingers, Mati looked to her left where a man, much too excited for his own good, bobbed his head to the music.
“Are you liking the club? I'm guessing you had one of the invitations.”
Mati slowly nodded her head. “Did you send them out?”
“Some of them! We even air dropped invitations around the city but most probably got swept up by street cleaners.”
The man was too talkative for her liking, and he was just plain weird. Mati wasn't anticipating he'd hover for so long, even after a bit of trying to ignore him.
“This is great, right!?” He shouted, looking at her.
“Sure. I don't really come to these types of things.”
“Clearly. Why are you eating carrots when you could be shaking what your mama gave ya!?”
“I don't want to relapse. Smoking is a bad habit.”
“Why don't you just vape, then?”
“Vape?”
“You're a former smoker and you haven't vaped? It's like one of the hottest things right now! Here try mine!”
The man reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a stick that reminded Mati of a kazoo. As much as Mati tried to refuse, she ended up with it in her hands. The man explained it was just water vapor, no tobacco at all, but he had a cotton candy flavor on it. One hit and Mati was hooked. It felt so good.
“Yo, where can I get one of these?”
“Go on Electrotoke and if you use the code Lazlow you'll get 10% off. Anyways, I gotta go party! See you around!”
That name sounded familiar, but Mati couldn't pinpoint where she'd heard it before. With her carrots now gone, what better than to treat yourself to a drink. The whole experience wouldn't be the same without at least one drink, so Mati kept it simple by ordering a whiskey shot. Wanting to go back down to the dancefloor to enjoy the music before leaving, Mati took three wobbly steps before passing out before she even hit the ground.
“Fucking hell…”
Mati opened her eyes to find herself kneeling in front of a toilet full of what she hoped to be her own vomit. The stinging feeling in her throat led her to believe it was, or just a bad case of irony. She couldn't recall getting here in the first place, though.
“Oh, honey, you're going to ruin your boots sitting on the floor like that.”
Mati wiped her mouth, standing up and flushing the toilet before finding another man standing behind her. At least he had more fashion sense than the last guy. Mati nodded to the guy on her way to the sink, but again, she was not left alone.
“You look like you have money. I can feel it.”
“Can I help you?”
“Tony Prince. I run this joint, mostly.” He offered a hand.
Mati dried her hands, “Matilda Vaanderhuut.”
“You radiate something I just can't quite put my finger on. Are you some famous person Lazlow invited?”
“I'm definitely not famous,” Mati laughed. “Just got a lot of money, and a lot more that’s not mine.”
“I knew it. Come, let's go to the VIP room and talk.”
Following a stranger in a strange place to a new, strange place could be unsettling for many, but Mati was self-claimed to be really good at reading vibes, and she could tell this guy was probably harmless. It was all she could hope as she passed through the door reading VIP. The atmosphere of the room was much different than the rest of the club. The rhythmic beat from the bass could still be felt, but it was calm here. The ambient lighting and neutral color tones made it feel sophisticated and clean, a sense of lifestyle Mati somewhat longed for.
“Drink?”
Mati shook her head, politely refusing Tony’s offer, “Not after what just happened.”
“Rough night already, huh?”
Mati stood in the middle of the room with crossed arms and a look mixed is confusion and displeasure. “So what are we doing here? What am I doing here?”
“You come to party, no? You’re made of money so you party with me, baby!”
The man from earlier busted through the door, interrupting Mati and Tony’s conversation, if it could be called that.
“Party train, coming through!” Yet he stopped when he saw Mati, “Oh, hey, it’s you.”
“Great, you two met already.”
“Sorta. Did I ever get your name?”
“Mati.”
“I’m Lazlow.”
“Get out of my face now, Lazlow. We’re talking.” Tony said, shooing him with both hands.
Lazlow was either bad at following simple instructions, or chose not to do so, and instead went to the counter of booze.
“Sweetheart, tell me one thing. You say you’re not famous but got the cash to probably hire a deep web hitman to take out all the guys in this club that dared look at you the wrong way. Am I right?”
Mati slowly nodded. He was probably right.
“Of course, Tony knows money. So, if it ain’t all yours, then whose is it?”
“My psychotic boyfriend’s.”
Tony chuckled. “And where is he?”
“You ask a lot of personal questions, don’t you?” Mati interjected, yet answered the question anyways, “He’s fuck knows where, doing fuck knows what.”
“I don't think you know psychotic, lady.” Lazlow piped up.
Tony gave him a stern look but allowed him to have his piece before he changed his mind.
“I met a psycho once, and he was not very nice at all.”
“Clearly you haven't met Trevor Philips.”
The color in Lazlow’s face drained. “T-Trevor Philips? THE Trevor Philips?”
“Who is Trevor Philips?” Tony asked.
“He's the fucking psycho!” Lazlow yelled. “You're dating the psycho!?”
“You know Trevor?” Mati smirked.
“He's a horrible monster!”
“I'd love to meet him.” Tony said.
“No, no, no, no, no, Tony. This guy is absolute evil.” Lazlow insisted, hanging off Tony.
“Any man with money is a friend of mine.”
“This whole type of thing isn't Trevor's style,” Mati explained. “That's why I'm here.”
“How does he even have any money, he looked homeless…” Lazlow paced in the room before stopping to take a hit from his vape.
Mati pointed at him, “Can I?”
“Here, just keep it. Keep that crazy man away from me. You stay away too, you're probably just as insane!”
Lazlow left the VIP room in a hurry, leaving Mati alone with Tony and a vape. She could only wonder what Trevor did to make Lazlow fear him so much. It would be a good story for later.
“If we're talking multi-millions here, you and me could start something up within the club. Use it as a central hub for whatever you want or need, more money, weapons, whatever.” Tony gestured between them.
“Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass this time.”
Before Mati could leave, Tony insisted she take his number just in case she changed her mind. She figured she’d never end up here again, but she could be the wonderful girlfriend she was and pass the information off to Trevor, or hell, Franklin or Michael if they were interested. Mati just wanted nothing to do with any behind the scenes schemes.
With the loud, pounding music of the club behind her as she stepped out onto the night street, she felt a twinge of emptiness inside her. Maybe it would be best to head back to Sandy Shores tomorrow after waking up.
Trevor being gone was nothing unusual, nor was the unanswered messages or refusal to answer any of her calls odd to Mati. As she told Tony last night, he was fuck knows where doing fuck knows what. As long as he came back at some point, preferably not in a body bag, Mati didn’t mind. With Trevor gone at the moment, it was a good time to clean the place up a little and unpack her bag from her night out. Mati found Lazlow’s vape pen hidden amongst her clothes and couldn’t resist the temptation. One hit wouldn’t kill her. Or a couple.
“The fuck is that smell?”
Mati looked into the kitchen to see Trevor waddle in, unusually silent.
“You’re back earlier than I expected.” He said upon seeing her.
Mati had wide eyes, exhaling a cloud of vape smoke as she stared at Trevor.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“Are you smoking?”
“No.”
Trevor took the vape from behind her back, giving her a disappointed look. “Where did you get this.”
“Funny story actually. Do you know someone by the name Lazlow?”
“Oh for fucks sake.”