The bed had been delivered before the club closed at three in the morning, and she already had been asleep, when light from a flashlight woke her. She tried to shield her eyes from the light with a hand but failed to see who was behind the light, "What?"

  "Sorry night cat, security. What are you doing here at this time? Aren't you supposed to be with Roger?" The light was aimed at the floor now and she recognized one of the security team she had been training with during her self defense lessons, a stocky human with short grey hair, who had shown to be surprisingly agile despite his build.

  "Tanja kicked me out of Roger's home and told me to stay here", she explained and sat up on the bed, the blanket wrapped around her.

  "Tanja, huh. She's pretty good at making friends everywhere. So, you'll be here tonight?" he was lighting up the various corners of the room till he found her sports bag.

  She shook her head, "No, for longer, I think. She made me bring all my stuff here. There's nothing left in Roger's home. But actually if she spends time with Roger, I don't want to be there. Today I had plenty enough of her already for a whole month. I'll rather sleep here."

  "Yeah, I wouldn't want to be around her either," he agreed, "So, I'll mark the room as your room in the system then, and add a note not to disturb during the patrols?"

  She nodded, "Yes, thank you. Hey, before you leave. How does the day start in this place usually?"

  "Two from security are here all the time, in shifts," he explained and onmce more lit up all the corners of the room, "I there is something, you'll find us in the monitoring room. Usually nothing happens until the afternoon, when the cleaning crew arrives to get the place into shape again. If you feel, just join us in the monitoring room. Our shifts can be quite boring."

  "Thanks, yeah," she agreed, "It's a bit creepy to know this big place is all empty at night and I'm supposed to sleep here."

  "Ah no, don't you worry. We've got most places on camera, and we do patrols to make sure no one is hiding in a dead angle," he replied.

  "You have this room on camera too?" she asked.

  "Nope, that's why I was looking in here."

  "Right, thanks. See you in the morning then!" she smiled and gave him a quick wave before he left. The door closed automatically behind him and she felt the unease to creep up at her again. Even if they patrolled and had cameras, the place was big, and they were just three lonely souls in the big, empty and dark club.

  ----

  She was still in bed when she heard the door open with a light hiss. Sleepily she rose her nose from the pillow and blinked a few times to see better. She had no idea what time it was, and she didn't feel any better than the evening before.

  "Hello Vivian", she heard Roger's voice.

  She sat up, pulled her knees to her chest and clutched her legs, "Hello Roger."

  "How do you feel?" he asked and entered the room.

  "I'm ok," she replied with no particular intonation.

  "You sure?" he asked.

  She hissed, "What do you want to hear? That I'm miserable and scared to sleep in a huge empty building with just two security guards around? Or that I am happy for each moment that I'm out of reach of Tanja?"

  "More like that", he told her, sat down at her side and she hissed lightly at him once more.

  "I'll try to talk to Tanja so you can come home again," he offered.

  She kept clutching her legs, "She made pretty clear that she wants me gone."

  "I didn't expect that she'd ask you to move here, to save you the effort to commute every day," he explained.

  She looked at him, incredulous and ears perked up, "Is that what she told you?"

  "She's trying to run the club more efficiently, yes," he explained.

  She shook her head in disbelief, "Does she know that you are here?"

  "Probably? I told her I need to check some things at the club."

  "Roger, she doesn't want me to live here because of efficiency or something. I was in her way. She'll not agree to have me come back", she tried to put more power in her voice than usual.

  "What do you mean, in her way?" he asked.

  "See, maybe I'm stupid, but I'm not that stupid. You've been away a lot during the past days, past weeks, and then you're away a whole night and come back with a woman at your side. And her first action is to kick me out. It won't get any more obvious than that, will it?" There was more hissing in her voice than usual.

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  "I've been negotiating with her about the contract," he stated rather calmly.

  "Maybe. I know there is more. I could smell it yesterday", she let him know, still pressing her knees to her chest, arms held around.

  "Smell it?"

  She nodded, "Yes. You two have been together. I can smell it. Not so much on you but on her. It's easier to tell from a woman's scent. And that is why she kicked me out. I'm in the way. I'm competition."

  He remained silent for a while, "You'll keep this private, understood?"

  She shrugged a little, "It won't matter much Roger. Bruno has an even better nose than me and he fetched me from the loft yesterday. And if he didn't notice yesterday it won't take long till he does. And even your human employees will pick up the clues eventually. It just takes them a bit longer. Humans are good at this game, too. You know, tell who's with whom."

  "So you don't want to come home?" he asked.

  "At the threat of having my tail yanked again by her? No thanks. I rather sleep here and clean the toilets", she glared at him.

  "Clean the toilets?" He rose his eyebrows.

  "Yes, she assigned me to the cleaning team," she confirmed.

  He sat quiet for a while, and she added, "Let her have her victory, Roger. She'll just come up with some other punishment for me, if you try to do something about it."

  "But you are my companion," he tried to object.

  "Yes, and that is why she hates me. While our contract lasts, she can never be sure to have you all for herself. I bet a hundred credits with you that she'll be furious if you tell her you visited me. Cause we could have ... you know. Have had a good time together."

  He nodded slowly, "I see. Tell me if she hurts you again."

  "Just wait some, and you'll get complaints a plenty from everyone. She'd good at annoying people," she let him know.

  After Roger had left, she took a shower, got dressed and said hello to the security team. She even helped the cleaning squad to clean the tables in the club and eventually was happy once it was time for makeup, to be ready and on her position once the club opened. A few hours of what had become normal for her during the past weeks, and she had started to enjoy the time on her podium, flirting and dancing with strangers.

  And now, she had been dancing up on her podium, made eye contact with a random stranger on the dancefloor and they just tried to come up with responses to each others moves when she noticed someone approaching the bar, weaving through the crowd. He seemed familiar. In fact, the person looked terribly like Tom and wore a suit in the style that Tom used to wear.

  Her knees felt weak suddenly and she had to sit down. The man nevertheless had seen her already and with careful steps he pushed himself through the crowd towards her podium.

  She wanted to run but at the same time felt frozen in place. The man smiled at her and finally reached her pedestal.

  "Hey Vivian, it's not been easy to find out where you are now", he spooke up, easy for her to hear from the sitting position.

  She got on all fours to be more on eye level with him, "Tom, is that you?"

  He jerked for a moment, "Vivian?"

  She jumped down from her podium and with two quick steps she was close enough to hug him, "It's me Tom. The mobsters killed my voice. Different looks, different voice, but it's me."

  She just held him tight for a while her cheek pressed to the side of his neck, "Tom," and he rubbed her back.

  After long moments she looked at him again, "You've been restored."

  He smiled back and rubbed his nose to her snout, "Yeah, got the same body again. A few years younger."

  "And you've come to see me, after all what happened", her voice almost failed her, but this time not because of what the mobsters had done to her voice.

  He rubbed her cheek with a hand, "Sure. It wasn't your fault, even if it hurt a lot. I'm alive again, so don't worry."

  She pressed her forehead to his chest for a while before she looked up and spoke quickly, "Tom, the new manager here hates me. She'll yank my tail if she sees us this way. I'm not supposed to hug, not even chat with customers. I need to get back onto my podium and dance. I need your contact, so I can call you another time. I'll run and fetch my communicator. Wait here, don't leave. Right?"

  "Right", he seemed a bit overwhelmed, but she just sprinted around the bar towards the back rooms and it didn't even take a minute to be back with her communicator.

  "I'll explain everything once we can talk. Tomorrow afternoon. Let's sync contacts," she activated the pairing function on her communicator.

  He fetched his communicator from a pocket and it took just a few moments to sync their devices, "Good. If you want to talk, I must bring you up with me on the podium. No, come up with me anyways, so it looks like you've asked me to dance with you. That's what I'm supposed to do anyways. Alright? Come!"

  He nodded and she shoved her communicator into her slip, to hell with dignity, and jumped up onto her podium. Even after her operation her legs were plenty good for jumping. She waved, "Stand right in front of the podium, there is a lift in the floor."

  He nodded and followed her advice. She activated the lift and once he was in reach, took his hands to help him step all up, "Good. Sorry for the panic. Now we can talk." Quickly she deposited her communicator in a safe corner and grasped his hands.

  He began to move to the music and she joined in, soon smiling again, "I never thought I'd see you again."

  "Weeds don't die, you know," he laughed and smiled at her, "How long till I can have you again?"

  She kept her hands at his shoulders, "Five years, unless you want to try to buy me out of the contract."

  He put his hands at her hips, "Guess we'll have to wait the five years then. But we both have young bodies now, we'll still be young in five years. But you said something about problems? With your guardian?"

  She shook her head while they kept dancing, "Nah, he's ok. Well, mostly. No, the problem is, some woman is interested in him. Maybe rather interested in what he owns. I'm in her way. I'm not even living with him anymore, got a room here in the club now. Can't bring you there though, cause there are security cameras everywhere. But I know places from where I can call you without someone listening in."

  He nodded and for a moment she felt his hands on her bum and nudged his nose with her snout, "Easiest way to see me is to come and ask for a dance."

  "I would, but I soon must return to New Fairhagen. I'm sure we can talk now and then. Or text if you can't talk freely," he offered.

  "Texting will be good," she agreed, "Do you know something about the mobsters?"

  "Yeah, not really. Seems the police got them all," he let her know.

  She nodded and pulled him close for a moment, "Stay safe, please."

  He rubbed her back, "Sure thing, Vivian. Same."

  She looked up again with a smile, "No worries. There is always security in the house. It's weird to sleep in a back room while the club is all dark and empty, but I'm about as safe as I can be. Got my personal guards."