“You’re taking this too far man.”
“They need to see professionals they can trust, right now they see me and a nerd in a band shirt and sweats.”
We sat in silence. I didn’t want to talk about it anymore because part of me knew he was right. I hated being told what to do, God knows how I made it so many years in the army. We weren’t in the army anymore. It was part of the reason why I wanted to start a company and not go into regular employment. We were calling the shots now, but it was still possible to fuck it up and end up back at square one. That was obviously an extreme situation, but I didn’t like thinking that if it happened, it would be because of something as trivial as my clothes.
“We have a shit ton of money anyway, even if that did happen.”
“If that is what you think, why don’t we pack it in then? Dissolve the company and go our separate ways?”
Whoa, wait a second. “Is that what you want?”
“I wanted to start a business that ends up being more than a flash in the pan.”
“Businesses fail all the time, man,” I said.
“Not because one of the partners did their best to sink it,” he replied. “Look, if you don’t care… you better start, okay? There’s two of us and I want to look like a legitimate businessman, not some wannabe who scammed his way into the big leagues and doesn’t belong at the table with the big boys.”
We had never talked about the longevity of the company since there was so much to do day by day, but I definitely didn’t want to give everything up just yet. Why was he so sore about this? We had known each other for a long time but Toby never had much to say about his life before he joined the army. The silence continued.
“Since when did you start going to strip clubs in the middle of the day?” I asked.
“Middle of the day is as good a time as any.”
Was it? I wasn’t sure. I didn’t spend much time in or around strip clubs, especially not in the middle of the day. The cab stopped and we got out. The club in the daytime looked fairly innocuous. I wasn't sure that strip clubs did much business at this time of the day. I followed Toby inside.
It was dark and the music was on high. There were scattered tables around a stage but not a lot of customers. No dancers were on the main stage but women in next to nothing who were clearly not the wait staff were patrolling the floor. Toby headed for the bar like he knew the place. I followed him. The person behind the bar was a redhead woman in a low-cut uniform. She smiled as we sat.
“You’re here early,” she said to Toby. “Should I get you a coke or do you want your regular?”
“My regular. Two,” he said, motioning at me.
“Your regular?” I asked. He didn’t answer me because a woman in shorts barely long enough to contain her dignity and a bra too small for her double D jugs jumped on him, embracing him in a hug.
“Toby, you’re here,” she squealed. Toby hugged her back, laughing. All right, so they were familiar, if not friends. I didn’t know why that gave me a weird feeling in my gut. Toby was a grown man and I by no means tracked his whereabouts, but it was a little surreal seeing my business partner being embraced by a stripper at three in the afternoon.
“Me, what about you? I didn’t know you did daytime,” he said.
“Oh, you know, sometimes you want to pick up a few extra checks. Besides, if I wasn’t working today, I wouldn’t have run into you,” she said, wrapping her arms around him again. The seat I was on might as well have been empty, they were so sucked into their own world. I had been to some strip clubs in my time, I was no prude, but I was pretty sure there were rules against putting your hands on the dancers.
“You tell me if you or your friend are interested in a good time,” she said before walking away.
“You know you’re always my first choice, Jenna.”
I waited until she was far enough away to not hear me.
“Dude.”
“What?” he asked. Our drinks, two neat scotches were placed in front of us.
“What the hell’s going on here?”
“Do I really have to school you on what goes on in strip clubs?”
“No, but you can tell me why these people treat you like family.”
“Oh, fuck off dude.” He got up and walked towards a table closer to the stage. I followed him, leaving the drink behind. What kind of maniac got drunk on scotch in the middle of the day? Apparently, my close friend and business partner Toby Anderson did. That just didn’t sit well with me. He had embraced being a young, rich bachelor in New York more than I had and this was probably part of that lifestyle but for fuck’s sake. I didn’t know how deep I wanted to dig into this part of his life.
“Whatever man, you do whatever you need to do here. I’m leaving. See you tomorrow.”