#58 Cherry Cocktail

Half way through Cherry's set on stage she caught sight of Jacqueline Bloom at the bar.

When her set was through, Cherry headed back to the dressing room. She passed one of her girls covered in Freddy Forever's blood waiting to go into the shower.

"Is Ellie in there, now?" she asked the crimson girl.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good, you're on after her Trixie so hurry up and get cleaned up when Ellie is done."

Cherry hung up her clothes and put on a little black dress, conventional by strip club standards.

Jacquie faced the bar mirror and sips on an opaque green drink. Cherry slide up next to him and took a seat.

"Well hello there, stud. Couldn't sleep? I figured after our little adventure in bed you'd be in a coma."

"I don't sleep much anymore, Cherry. My demons are closing in."

Cherry smiled with her lips still pursed. She playfully pushed her forehead into Jacquie's arm to try and make him smile. He just sipped from his drink again without really even noticing. She looked at him more closely, narrowing her gaze.

"What demons, Jacquie?"

"When was the last time you saw Simon?"

"The *funeral, why? When was the last time you saw him?"

"The funeral, Cherry. I think Simon is dead. I think Gillingham had him killed for helping Vasquez.

"Gillingham, killed him? Simon is his number one guy, though."

"Nope, that's me now. We had a meeting about it a little while ago. He just said Simon was unreliable and I was in. I think he manipulated things to get me more time with my son."

"How is he?"

"Amazing, which just makes everything so much worse. I think there is serious evil within the Syndicate's plans. Of course, I've always known what we do is wrong. We do bad things. We all have our own demons that pushed us into Gillingham's arms and I think mine are making me into something awful, Cherry."

"What can I do, Jacquie?"

"Nothing. Keep doing everything as normal. I just wanted you to know. I'm going to figure this out. I'm going to get some answers. Gun Bearers are supposed to just do their assignment. Enjoy the money and the women that Gillingham throws at us."

"Simon sure did. He enjoyed all aspects of the job."

"Not at the end, Cherry. Something changed him. I know he went to work with Lee Fook. I think that had something to do with it."

"The Lotus Wolf?"

"Yeah, the Gun Bearer Executioner. I think he told things to Simon that made him go against Gillingham?"

"That fuck? Why would Gillingham's little lap dog use Simon to go against Gillingham. It doesn't make a fucking bit of sense."

"It does if you figure the lap dog thought he was helping Simon. Fuck he was probably the one that killed Simon. I bet he thinks that was helping Simon too."

The two sit in silence. Jacquie finishes his drink.

"Cherry, I gotta go. We probably just fucked up talking about this in the club."

"Fuck'em."

"I'll call you if I find anything out."

Jackie hesitates to go in for a kiss. He backs away and the decides to just lay one on her. He kisses her. Her lips follow his to make it last a little longer. He's gone when she opens her eyes.