THE MOMENT
"Mr. Beelz, I couldn't...," May squeezed the roll of cash in her hand out of habit. But, she shook her head at her boss. He was a giant man in a black suit sitting behind a large obsidian desk. He was tall but a pair of thick, black horns added to his height. The tips of his horns wore grooves in the ceiling; and, May guessed it was a common problem. Someone had the foresight to install a stone ceiling. It made the office look almost like a cave, except for the carpeted floor and lightly decorated walls. She'd only been at the club for four months but she had enough experience to know how much money a roll like that was worth.
"First you help me with college, and then my dad...," she said. "You've already helped me so much." She stepped forward to place the roll of bills on his desk, but he held up his wide, red hand to stop her.
"This is part of that," he said. "If you don't deliver it to your father, I'm still going to. It's not a gift, it's a reward," he smiled. "I'm good, but I'm not good enough to get someone with a decades-old habit to stop drinking without greasing the wheels a little bit. He completed three months, that's rightfully his."
"Thank you!" May chirped. She dashed around and hugged his arm briefly. Her relationship with her father improved considerably since he gave up drinking. And now, she felt like they got a bonus on top of getting her father back. It also lined up with the unexplained week off he gave her. She hadn't asked for any time off, but when she asked him about it all he said was he thought she could use some time off. But now, it was becoming clear why everyone loved working for him.
"One more thing," Mr. Beelz said. "I know you're done for the day; if you have plans let me know. However, my son needs to discuss something important and he's due to arrive any minute."
"Okay," May nodded. She did not have any plans that she needed to rush to. "How can I help?" she asked.
"Thank you," he smiled. "His husband is coming with him, but he's not going to sit in on our conversation. Could you keep him entertained?"
"Happy to," May nodded. As soon as she agreed, someone knocked at the office door. She stood from her seat and opened the door to three people. A pale dark-haired man, a fair-skinned brown-haired man, and a pale green-haired woman. The woman also had a bright streak of red that stood out from the rest of her green hair.
"Eric! Arthur!" Mr. Beelz approached from behind May. ".. and Mundo?" The dark-haired man nodded.
"Hey dad," he said. "Mundo's got some new information you need to hear," he said as he walked in. The green-haired woman followed, but the other man stayed outside.
"Arthur, May here will give you anything you need," he said as May walked out.
"Thank you," he nodded as the door closed. Then, May and Arthur were alone in the narrow, dim hallway.
"How about something to drink?" May offered as she walked away.
"Sure," Arthur followed May through the hall and out to the bar. She slipped behind it as he sat on one of the stools.
"What'll it be?" she asked.
"Whatever helps me forget..," he said.
"Problems at home?" May asked out of habit. She nodded at the hall they came from. She wasn't trying to pry into her boss's son's personal life; but, she knew it helped to talk about things. If Mr. Beelz was talking to his son in there, maybe she could be helpful talking to Arthur out here. But, Arthur chuckled as she poured him a double shot.
"Home is the only place there isn't a problem," he smiled and grabbed the glass. "It's the universe that's screwed," he gulped the drink down.
"Yeah...," May nodded in understanding. "Life can feel pretty unfair sometimes." She poured him another drink. He grabbed the glass, but shook his head.
"Nope," he said. "I don't mean it in a, 'oh well, shit happens' kind of way," Arthur looked into May's eyes.
In the four months that May worked there, she'd seen quite a few fights. As nice as most of the patrons were, demons were demons and rough nights got pretty bad. She'd seen different amounts of fear in people's eyes; but, she'd never seen as much as Arthur had at that moment. He looked like his soul was terrified.
"Literally..," Arthur reached over and slapped his hand against the bar. "THIS." slap "UNIVERSE." slap "Is fucked." May regretted refilling his drink and decided not to do it a third time.
"Eric's great... he tries to keep it quiet. But, I know what they're talking about in there. I heard what Mundo said. He thinks I don't know what it means," Arthur chuckled. "You wouldn't know what it means. But, I do."
"Mundo? The woman with green hair?" May asked. Arthur nodded, then downed his second drink. "What did she say?"
"She said, 'The universe has been updated'," Arthur said.
"The universe..." May repeated. "...has been... updated?" Arthur nodded with an amused smirk as if to say, "told you so." Four months ago, May did not know demons existed. Three months ago, she did not know her boss was once Satan himself, until he had a heart-to-heart with her dad. He revealed his own regrets about leaving his family, and how he made amends. He ran the club because he retired from Hell to spend more time with his family. She'd met a lot of strange clients ranging from demons and vampires to orcs, fairies and more. May knew about the multiverse but the most important thing her job taught her was that she didn't know everything.
Arthur was shaken to his core, and the devil's son felt something was important enough to demand immediate attention. Something was going on. May filled Arthur's glass a third time, then grabbed one for herself.