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Zhao Chiying was almost positive she'd been given the wrong address for this meeting.
She stared blankly up at the shadowed building in front of her. The windows were tinted so dark that she couldn't even see inside, and loud music blared, muffled but still audible even from outside. This was clearly a nightclub, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't picture Shen Qiao choosing this sort of place for an outing between two friends.
A quick flip through her messages showed that this was indeed the address that had been texted to her. Zhao Chiying made an uncertain noise, debating whether she should go in. She finally came to the conclusion that it couldn't hurt to at least check it out. If it turned out to be the wrong place she could just leave.
She approached the door and opened it just a crack. Almost immediately she was set upon by a tall muscular woman dressed completely in black.
“I need to see your ID before you're allowed any further,” she said, holding out a hand.
“Oh, of course,” she replied. They clearly served alcohol, so naturally they'd need to ID customers. She rummaged through her purse and pulled out her wallet, opening it to her ID and handing it over. “Here you go.”
The bouncer held Zhao Chiying's ID up to the light and squinted at it. After a moment, she handed it back to her. “Thanks. Enjoy.”
“Thank you,” Zhao Chiying replied, accepting the wallet back. The bouncer opened the door for her and she stepped inside, immediately accosted by flashing neon lights, fog machines and ear-splitting bass.
And a few people pole-dancing atop a stage.
There is absolutely no way this is the right place, Zhao Chiying thought a bit hysterically, fighting the urge to bashfully block her eyes with her hand. Instead, she just dropped her gaze to the floor and made her way over to the bar. She'd ask the bartender quickly if they'd seen Shen Qiao, and then leave.
“Well, hello there.”
The voice was sweet and melodic, but something told Zhao Chiying that the owner of said voice was anything but. She looked up and was met with the sight of probably the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. She was behind the bar, leaning her elbows on it casually with her head tilted to the side. Her long hair was swept up into a ponytail and her low-cut red crop top was...was...
Zhao Chiying cleared her throat a little and practically had to tear her eyes away, returning her gaze to the bartender's now very smug-looking face. “Hello. Um.”
“This is your first time here, right?” the bartender asked with a grin. “Can I get you something to calm your nerves?”
“Oh, uh,” Zhao Chiying stammered. “No thank you. Actually, I'm here looking for a friend?”
It was probably just the light, but the bartender seemed to deflate a little at that. “Oh, maybe I can help you find them,” the bartender offered. Zhao Chiying finally looked at her name tag – just her name tag! – and noted that her name was Bai Rong. “I know just about everyone who comes here regularly, so it's easy to pick out the first-timers.”
“I would really appreciate that,” Zhao Chiying said, her shoulders slumping in relief. “His name is Shen Qiao. He's about this tall?” She tried to give an approximation for his height. “His husband might have tagged along, and he's a lot more distinctive. You couldn't possibly miss him.”
“Oh, I know Shen Qiao!” Bai Rong exclaimed, her face lighting up. “We met at uni. Good guy. His husband is an annoying fucker, though. I can't stand him.”
Zhao Chiying almost choked on her own saliva. “You're not exactly wrong,” she whispered, looking around nervously as if Yan Wushi would pop up out of nowhere just to spite her.
Bai Rong laughed. “I've invited them both over several times, but they've never taken me up on it. So, obviously, they're not here tonight.”
“Shen Qiao specifically gave me this address,” Zhao Chiying said, looking down at her phone with a confused frown. She sent him a quick message asking where he was. A few minutes went by in silence with no response.
“Well, since you're already here,” Bai Rong began, almost too casually, “you might as well stay and have a drink? I make a mean martini, if you're up for that.”
Zhao Chiying hesitated. She really should go, maybe try to get a hold of Shen Qiao and figure out what was keeping him. But, since Shen Qiao had decided to just ditch her, and he wasn't returning her messages...
“Okay,” Zhao Chiying replied finally, coming to a decision. “I'll have one drink.”
Bai Rong pumped her fist in the air. “Yes! Trust me, you won't be disappointed.” She gave Zhao Chiying a saucy wink and then turned around to start preparing her cocktail.
Zhao Chiying sat down at the bar. The music was as catchy as it was loud, and she found herself bobbing her head to the beat as she watched Bai Rong's skillful drink mixing technique. It was sort of mesmerizing.
“There ya go,” Bai Rong said, setting the drink down in front of Zhao Chiying. She leaned against the bar, an eager expression on her face. It was too adorable.
Zhao Chiying picked up the glass and took a sip. She couldn't help a small hum of satisfaction. “You weren't exaggerating, this really is good,” she commented. The martini was strong, but not too overpowering, and the flavors blended together nicely. All in all, it was absolutely delicious.
“I knew you'd like it!” The smile Bai Rong gave her in response to the compliment was perhaps the most genuine expression she'd shown all evening, in Zhao Chiying's opinion. It was somewhat sweet with just a tinge of pride for a job well done. Zhao Chiying found that she wouldn't mind seeing that smile again.
Another customer said something to get Bai Rong's attention, and she reluctantly left Zhao Chiying to go help them. Zhao Chiying sat somewhat awkwardly by herself, sipping on her cocktail and sneaking sideways glances at the bartender every now and again. After a few minutes, Bai Rong returned to Zhao Chiying.
“I don't think I ever introduced myself properly,” Bai Rong said suddenly. “I'm Bai Rong, nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Zhao Chiying said. “My name is Zhao Chiying. So, what made you decide to become a bartender?” Moreover, a bartender at a strip club, she thought. “And why this particular club?”
Bai Rong chuckled. “Oh, honey,” she began, and Zhao Chiying's face positively burned. She really would like to hear that word come out of her mouth again, perhaps under a different set of circumstances next time. “I own this club. I'm not about to let someone else run it into the ground because they don't know what they're doing.”
“Ah,” Zhao Chiying replied intelligently. “I apologize, I didn't mean to assume...”
“No, no,” Bai Rong interjected, waving her hands. “It's fine, you didn't know! And to answer your question...I inherited the building and a large sum of money from my guardian - may he rest in fucking pieces - and decided to invest in it. I'd worked in his bar before it was forced to close and the amount of harassment the employees had to endure there on the regular made me sick.” She shook her head, nose wrinkling in disgust.
“I wanted to make a better environment for the employees as well as for the customers. I rebuilt this place from the ground up. We have a zero-tolerance harassment policy here now, and as a result, people actually enjoy working here. It's a win-win.”
Zhao Chiying listened with a smile. “That's very admirable,” she said. “I've never been to a club like this before, but if more of them were run by women like you, I might actually feel comfortable visiting them on my own.” As it was, Zhao Chiying avoided bars and clubs unless she was in the company of at least one friend.
“Well,” Bai Rong said. “You're welcome here anytime.” She cocked her head to the side. “So what do you do for a living, if you don't mind me asking? If I had to guess...” She narrowed her eyes at Zhao Chiying, no doubt taking in her crisp, well-tailored suit. “I'd say you were in a legal profession of some kind. Am I right?”
“Wow,” Zhao Chiying laughed. “Guilty as charged. I passed the exam two years ago, so I suppose I'm still fairly new to it all. Recently I was accepted into a firm and have been mostly working on criminal cases. Nothing extreme yet, of course.”
“Gorgeous and a badass,” Bai Rong said, grinning.
Zhao Chiying, who had become a bit more used to the compliments Bai Rong kept peppering into her sentences, merely ducked her head and smiled, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “I wouldn't go that far,” she said, laughing.
They continued chatting idly for quite awhile. Zhao Chiying wasn't even aware of how much time had passed until she finally remembered to check her phone. No new messages, but it was almost two in the morning! She'd nearly forgotten why she was there in the first place.
“It's...it's, uh, getting a bit late,” Zhao Chiying stammered. “And I have to work tomorrow, so I really must be going.”
“Oh, alright,” Bai Rong huffed. “I suppose I can't continue coming up with excuses to keep you here all night. Maybe some other time.”
Zhao Chiying, for her part, had to exert an extreme amount of self control to avoid blurting out something foolish like 'is that a promise?' A bit reluctantly, she started to gather her things.
“Wait, uh...”
Zhao Chiying glanced up at Bai Rong, eyebrows raised. “Yes?”
Bai Rong didn't quite look shy, but she was certainly a lot less flirtatious than she'd been all night. “I was wondering...could I have your number? You seem like a really neat person and I'd like to get to know you better. Maybe over coffee or something?”
Zhao Chiying could count on one hand the number of people who'd asked her for her number. So she was, understandably, a bit flustered. “Oh!” She started digging through her purse, searching for her phone. “Of course! I'd like that.”
Bai Rong let out a relieved-sounding breath. “Cool!” she said cheerfully.
After exchanging numbers, Zhao Chiying finally bid Bai Rong farewell. She felt a bit bemused as she walked back to her car, still overcome by the unexpected events of the evening. Who would have thought it would turn out this way?
Zhao Chiying got a call from her so-called friend the next morning.
“Are you alright? You never showed up for our meeting yesterday,” Shen Qiao said. She could practically hear the concerned frown in his voice.
“I'm perfectly fine,” Zhao Chiying said. “Although I would have appreciated a little notice that we would be meeting at a strip club . I should be asking you where you were. I never saw you even once while I was there. I exchanged numbers with the cute bartender though, so at least I got something out of it.”
“A what ?” Shen Qiao croaked. “We were going to meet up at that little cafe downtown. I think you went to the wrong address.”
“Check your messages,” Zhao Chiying said. “That's the one you sent me.”
“But I never sent you the address, I just told you the name of...hang on.” There was silence for a moment, presumably while he checked the text messages, before Shen Qiao swore. He actually swore. There was an annoyed hiss of “Yan Wushi, your husband is going to kill you,” and then Zhao Chiying didn't hear anything else, because he abruptly hung up.
Zhao Chiying laughed. She'd have to thank Yan Wushi for his unsolicited interference later...if he was still alive after Shen Qiao was done with him. After all, it was thanks to him that she had a hot coffee date with an equally hot bartender.