Erik's Inheritance Ch. 11

"I own a strip club."

She sat bolt upright, her face aghast, "You what? Get out. You? How did you pull that off?"

"Pure luck. I had an uncle, whom I didn't know, die and leave me everything; house, van, club, all of it."

"You're fucking kidding."

"Not in the least. It makes a hell of a lot of money, but it doesn't look like much. I haven't figured it out yet but I am slowly. The place is in shambles and I'm working to fix it up."

She took down another pair of heels; open toe style with straps criss crossing the top of her foot. "Bitches man, bitches will always make money."

Erik chuckled. "Yeah. I think it's more than that. I expect there's," he paused, looking around for emphasis despite being in the walkway of shoes, "illicit activity, occurring and I'm just scraping cream off the top."

Valerie pressed her hand to her chest and let her mouth drop in a feigned expression of shock, "Illicit activity?" Her voice took on a mock prim tone, "Why I never could imagine being associated with such things in my life, especially at an establishment of such esteem."

He chuckled, "I know, who could ever imagine?"

"What do you plan to do with it all?" She asked, putting the shoes in the cart.

He followed her to the athletic shoe aisle, "I haven't made fully fleshed out plans, I need to deal with the property at some point but I'm trying to focus on the club because it's my money maker. I had to quit my job to make this work, but it's paying off."

"I'm sure all of the tits you get to see every night are painful to see." She slipped a set of Nikes on, then put them in the cart too.

"Terrible, absolutely the worst ever." He said, chuckling again.

They checked out and she made for Victoria Secret down the main walkway of the mall.

Walking in, Erik's nostrils were caressed with a perfume. It drew him in and made him look around for its source. Female bodied mannequins, partial and full, hung out in small clusters all around them, near large, oddly shaped and tiered tables with neat layers of bras, panties, and other things he had no idea were. An idea occurred to him, almost planted by the store itself.

Valerie had already started looking through things, pushing the cart through several little alcoves and loading things up in the cart. It was already full and she had underwear of varying pastel shades stacked on top.

"Are there any carts inside the store?" He asked her.

She was holding a bra, checking size, "Near the front I think, why?"

"Keep shopping, I'll be right back."

Minutes later he cruised through the store impulsively grabbing anything that caught his eye. He grabbed bras, panties, gowns, robes, lotions, and perfumes. A tiara had a price tag on it and he took that too.

He found a tiny alcove in the back corner of the store. One table held a shrine of pink, sky blue, and violet furry handcuffs. A single torso mannequin wore a delicate pink collar with a rose gold ring, and pink lacy bra and thong set. Narrow stands ran along the sides with a small selection of floggers in feminine colors, and other collars in different colors. A stand of candles was on the back wall, next to what looked like an alchemist's chest draped in white lace.

He took a little of everything.

Meeting up in the middle of the store, they walked towards the register together.

"Shit, how many girlfriends are you buying for?"

"I think I'm up to ten at the moment, not counting you."

"I can't believe you're going to spend so much money on them. Did you grab anything for yourself?"

"Let's get real here, it's all kind of for me. Without them, I couldn't make money in the first place and right now, I'm trying to make a real impression."

"Why? I mean, they aren't anything but dancers. They aren't even technically employees, are they?"

"They are still human beings whom I want to feel good about working for me. Take care of your people, and they will take care of you and your customers."

...

The entire backseat of the rental pick up was full, bulging with bags from the mall. Erik had to pull up to the entrance so they could load everything. Getting to the apartment, he was glad only half of it had to be unloaded. On the last trip up the stairs, Erica's door popped open.

"Need a hand?" She asked, leaning out the door.

"No, last trip up." He replied, breathing heavily with four bags in each hand. He mounted the top of the stairs.

"That's good. It looks like a lot of work." She stepped out and leaned against the wall. "Aren't you supposed to be opening soon?"

He went inside, "Yeah, need to get going actually."

She followed him around and leaned against the door frame of his apartment.

Valerie came out of the bedroom and stopped, surprised. "Oh! Hi."

"Hey," Erica said, nodding her chin at Valerie.

Erik introduced them, then faced Valerie and issued instructions to her. "I have to go to work. Shower, get dressed, eat, whatever you need to do. I'll leave some cash and the address for you to call a cab. Be at the club by five. Can you do that?"

"Yes Sir. Happily Sir." Her smile beamed at him.

He went to the kitchen and set some money out, then found an envelope and wrote the address down. Turning to go, Erica was still in the door.

"Everything alright?" She asked.

"Just in a rush because I'm behind." He looked at Valerie, "Need anything else?"

"No Sir." Valerie replied, but she didn't move.

"Okay, I'm going to go. I'll see you when you get there."

Erica swung to the side as Erik approached the door. He shut the door, locking it.

"Everything alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I was going to borrow a cup of sugar but I can see you're not baking."

Erik stopped dead. "What's really up?"

A storm crossed her face, then she closed her eyes, pressed her hands to her face and took a deep breath. When she dropped her hands, "I just needed a friend, but you're busy. I'll be fine."

"Why don't you come to the club tonight? We can talk then, I've got private spaces we can hang out," He lifted his hands to the side in a shrug, "and I mean, tits are always nice."

She laughed, "Tits are always nice." She considered for a moment. "Okay, I'll do that."

"Awesome, I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah," her lips curved up at the end in a tiny smile.

...

Erik watched Allen set the last bag on the stage after helping him carry everything inside. "Yo, I can't believe you did all of that, that's crazy. These girls are going to go insane."

"I know man. I hope half of it fits, it would suck if only like two of them could wear anything."

"I bet they'll love you just for tryin man. Tomorrow all of t'other dancers in town are gonna show up to work for you."

"I wouldn't mind, we could use more dancers. I'm about to expand the club anyway."

"Really? What do you plan on doin?"

"I don't know yet, I want to ask the girls."

Ken was the next to arrive and he made a big deal out of the bags before heading to the kitchen to start preparing for the evening. Miguel, his new bartender, came in but he just waved. Bob slipped in and went straight to the kitchen without noticing either of them standing there.

Bethany was the first dancer to arrive, coming in just before three o'clock. "What is all of this noise?" She said with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. She wore grey sweats and a black hooded sweatshirt with her hair in a dark messy bun.

"It's presents!" Erik said, lounging nearby in one of the chairs.

"Presents?! From who?" She approached the stage where everything was set up.

"From this guy," Allen said after a silent moment, raising both of his hands over Erik's head and pointing down on him.

Bethany turned and faced them both. "You got us PRESENTS?!"

Erik smiled and nodded. He didn't want to parade it around like it was a big deal. He knew it was and he knew it would make them all super happy. Their smiles and excitement was enough, especially since he was going to get to see most of them wear some, if not all of the things he bought.

Suddenly her eyes narrowed, "Wait. Why did you buy us presents?" It was a playful suspicion that came across the rest of her face. "What's wrong?" She started towards them, walking him down "What bomb are you gonna drop on us? Are you closing the club? Are you gonna ask us to do something crazy? What's your angle? What are you up to?" She stopped in front of him, the small table between, and slammed her hands down then leaned over the table at him.

"Woah woah woah," he put up his hands, "no angle, I just wanted to be nice. I thought you all would like the stuff and could use it somehow."

"Nice huh?" She rolled her tongue through the inside of her cheek. "Nice." She looked to the side then back at him. "Real presents? Free? No strings attached?"

Erik shook his head, "No strings, just don't mind me while I stare at you like everyone else does."

She stood up straight and put her tongue between her teeth, "Isn't that why everyone comes around?"

"Pretty much." Erik agreed.

Bethany looked back at the bags, then back at him, "Is there a limit to how much we can take?"

"I have no idea what's there honestly, if it's useful or sexy, or anything. There's all kinds of stuff, so, don't be greedy until everyone has gotten to look through it."

"Yay!" When she turned back around, she leapt at the bags and started looking through them in a frenzy. Approving sounds came from her and her excitement grew.

Over the next hour, one by one his dancers came in and they each had similar, if slightly varied, responses. Shock, disbelief, suspicion, excitement and joy.By 4:15 pm all nine dancers had shown up. At 4:30, the first customer trickled in.

In Erik's mind, it was going to be a good night.