Welcome to the M Chapter of Runaway: A Choose Your Own Adventure Novel. Please be advised, there may be adult content depending on the choices you make. Please vote for your choice and I will post the next chapter tomorrow. To start at the beginning of the story, click here or scroll through my blog for all my A to Z posts.
Your choice for M was to get some food!
“Let’s go get some more food,” she said.
“Mozzarella sticks? Mashed potato bites? Macaroni and cheese?”
“You’re teasing.”
“No, they were all on the menu, you just got stuck on mozzarella sticks and never looked at anything else,” he teased.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Fifteen minutes later, they headed out into the main room again.
“So seriously, what would you like to eat?” he asked. Aralyn picked the mashed potato bites since they sounded interesting and he sat her back at the bar, a few stools away from where she had sat earlier. She looked around for a clock but didn’t see one.
“What time is it?” she asked him.
He looked at his cell phone. “Almost eight.” Sure enough, people were filtering into the main area now. Some appeared with mussed hair, implying they had come from nearby rooms. Some seemed freshly washed like she and Sevy were. Some seemed to be coming in from work or home and were greeting other people as they entered.
“Are there a lot of regulars here?” Aralyn asked.
“Sometimes,” Sevy said. “We do have newcomers, but most people come once or twice and get hooked. They like coming back. I have to admit, we create a nice atmosphere.” She smiled and looked around. Indeed, people seemed to be enjoying themselves. “Excuse me a minute,” he said, “since I’m here, I might as well double as a barman for a bit.”
“Can I help?” Aralyn asked. Sevy looked at her questioningly.
“Do you want to do that?”
“Do I get to keep my tips,” she winked at him.
“Sure,” he said. “That’s fair.”
“Then yeah, why not?” she asked.
“Okay,” he said and opened the employee opening in the bar for her. “Come on back.” He briefly showed her where a few things were and let her attend to the customers who were slowly filtering up to the bar. Her food came out from the kitchen and she grabbed bites when she could.
She was feeling nervous and wondering why she had volunteered to help at the bar, but she noticed that the tips were plentiful and the customers courteous. She remarked on that when they had a moment together.
“I know,” he said with a smirk on his face.
“What do you mean?” she asked, but then they were both called away by customers. When they had another free moment, she repeated the question.
“If someone is a jerk to our staff, their membership gets revoked.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s in those rules and regulations you signed when you came in.”
“Huh,” she said.
“News travels fast when someone gets booted from the club, so it doesn’t happen all that often.”
“Interesting,” she said.
As it got to 8:30, Sevy started to appear annoyed, not at the customers, but just in general.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“Someone was supposed to be at the bar other than me,” he said. “Half an hour ago.”
Aralyn raised an eyebrow at him. “There would have been a lot of annoyed customers if no one had shown up.”
“Yes, there certainly would have been.”
“Can you handle the bar for a minute while I go see what’s going on?”
“Sure,” she said, but she wasn’t super confident about it. She had asked Sevy questions throughout the half an hour she had spent bartending. It was a system she wasn’t used to, and the food prep was not something she was familiar with.
Five minutes later, he came back through the door with an employee in tow. “Come on, Aralyn, we can go,” he said, and he pulled her out from behind the bar, leaving the employee to tend to the customers.
“What happened?” she asked as he dragged her onto the dance floor and pulled her into his arms.
“The bartender called in sick.”
“Oh, why didn’t you know?” Aralyn asked.
“Isn’t that an excellent question,” Sevy answered with biting anger. “Guess who was responsible for telling me.”
“That’s not a hard guess,” Aralyn said. “I can tell by the set of your jaw.” She trailed a finger a long his jawline. “It’s Sally, isn’t it?”
“Yep,” he said. “I’m going to talk to my business partner about this. She’s screwing up on the job now, too. It’s not just that she annoys me, but she’s detrimental to the company. He won’t like that. He may be a bit of an idiot when it comes to her, but he isn’t going to jeopardize the company.”
“That’s good,” Aralyn said. She realized that with the party in full swing, there should be people getting into the hot tubs but when she looked, they were all bubbling away merrily, empty. “No one’s in the hot tubs,” she changed the subject.
“I know,” he said. “Most people won’t get in until someone starts them off.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Yep, even though it’s a Jacuzzi party, people don’t want to be the first ones. It’s weird,” he acknowledged. She raised her eyebrows at him. “Yeah, it is weird, but that’s the way it is. Do you want to be the Nightlife of the club tonight?”
“The Nightlife?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s what we call the person who starts off the excitement in the club.”
Does Aralyn want to be the Nightlife of the club?
Yes or No
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J R Vincente 
Yes, she is the nightlife!
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no, she wants to find a quiet place to talk (or stumble across something else interesting)
Magician
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, Nightlife!
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Nightlife, nightlife, nightlife…
*chants*
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