Chapter Text
The dark-haired brunette scrambled through her studio apartment, papers, documents, clothes tossed everywhere- the place was a mess. "Shit shit shit!" She was about to tear her hair off her scalp.
"Oh. My. God! I swear I had it!" She slammed more papers onto her small dining room table. Pomni had been looking for the copy of a contract she signed. A loan she was approved for. She's in more trouble now… Did she really have a copy? Or did she completely gaslit herself?
As soon as Pomni threw herself on to a mess of a bed, she screamed her lungs out into a nearby pillow plushie. Tears stained the fabric. She dropped out of her college not too long ago to fly out to her home city for a serious family emergency. During that time period she had to call time off from her restaurant job as well. Unfortunately, management wasn't too great so they fired her on the spot instead.
Assholes… She wasn't able to do much in that situation anyways.
She finally calmed down from her crying session. Her puffy red and blue eyes locked up to the popcorn ceiling. 'Sigh' she picked up her small flip phone to check the time.
6:45pm hovered over a grainy image of a group photo as wallpaper. It's already dark out. The dim light from a floor lamp made her shadow filled apartment look more depressing within a span of two hours.
‘Grumble’... Her stomach ached. Does she even have food in the fridge?
A couple years ago she took out a loan for school, but now that she dropped out not only because of her disinterest in studying anymore, she used the rest of the loan for hospital and funeral bills back at home. Pomni has been back to her humble tiny apartment from the emergency trip since then. She misses her family, so she was planning to move back as soon as she could.
Girlypop felt deeply lonely. Pomni yearns to be around a group of people that can accompany her again. Sure, she had a few college friends here, but they’re all busy doing their own thing and are miles away from where she nested now.
Too bad she still owes the money back to whoever she borrowed it from.
Knock knock knock
Pomni laid there frozen as if whoever at the door could see her through the walls, not wanting to make sudden movements, like a prey hiding in a tall grass field from a predator. Her heartbeat picked up pace.
“Please please please, don't let it be them…”
She took a deep breath, wiping the remaining tears from her rosy cheeks. Might as well get this over with. She dragged her weak body towards the front door, grabbing a stool next to the door frame so her short stature could see through the peephole. A man in a suit, with a frog head with multi-colored swirls for eyes was waiting patiently while fixing the cuffs of his sleeves.
Yup, think that's them… She hopped off the stool, pushing it aside so she's able to open the door. Her milky white hands were trembling with anxiety as she reached for the handle.
"Miss Pomni?" The frog croaked. There were two other escorts with him. A woman with a yellow triangle head with purple lipstick, and a short ragdoll with a big feathered hat. Both posing in short blazer dresses.
"That's me…" She muttered. She's familiar with the frogman and the ragdoll. They were present when she signed for the loan.
"I - I'm assuming this about-"
He cut her off, "We overheard about your recent financial situation."
'Gulp'
"I swear– I promise I'll be able to pay it off! Just.. Please just give me more time!" Her hand on the doorknob was shaking so hard that you could hear it rattle. She felt like she's gonna burst into tears again.
The frogman sighed, he put his right hand on his chest as he tilted his head slightly, "Miss, we understand you're in quite a pickle. May we come in? We just want to discuss some things with you in private," calm and stern.
Inside? Fuck. First, a three hour mental breakdown. The place is an absolute wreck– Now uninvited guests from a mob family that could possibly pop a cap in her if she doesn't comply BECAUSE she was dumb enough to borrow a loan from them?? At the time, desperate times called for desperate measures.
She complied of course, stepping aside to let them in. She has been in financial trouble with them for a long while. She didn’t want to be dragged out of her apartment into a random basement because of a wrong move or say something stupid that will piss them off, right now. Door closed, she led them to her dining-living room section of her humble abode.
She stood in her kitchen with her sweaty, fidgety hands, only for the three newly found guests in her living room to stare at her. It was uncomfortably quiet with only the loose droplets from the faucet hitting the kitchen sink, making its debut in the awkward silence.
"Just letting you know, the C&A Family doesn't take situations like this too kindly. We're just here to suggest to you a couple of options to resolve this," The ragdoll cut the silence, crossing her arms. Pomni started to feel dizzy. She cautiously sat down at the dining table so she wouldn't fall over.
"My dear, don’t worry, we're not here to kill you…”The ragdoll reassures, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. “Unless you try to run away, then maybe~,” she giggled.
"The family was nice enough to offer you a job for that pretty little face of yours!"
A job? Wait- really? Pomni has been looking for work for the past several weeks. Is this a miracle? Or… is it too good to be true. Her head perked up with interest. Her bank account was barely in the three digits and was already behind on rent. She needed this no matter what.
"Wh-what do you mean? What kinda job?"
The ragdoll passed Pomni a business card with her gray stitched up hand. It's a contact number for management of one of the biggest strip bar cabaret clubs in the city, the Copper Spice Cabaret. It's a few blocks down from her apartment building.
Ramus Caine was the name attached to the card.
That must be the least violent way to threaten someone's life. Pomni blinked at her. At the corner of her eye, she could see the reflection of light bounce off a glock that was holstered onto the thigh of the woman with the triangle head. She could feel the concentrated eyes of her’s without even looking up at her.
"I… don't have much of a choice, do I?" she said as she meekly took the card.
"They're expecting a call from you soon, so don't disappoint. Or we might actually get you 'passed away'," the doll said while adjusting the cuff of her sleeve, letting out a small airy chuckle.
"Workin' until that loan gets paid off. Copper Spice is just one of the businesses the C&A Family owns. It's like we're helping you while you help us! Should be a fair trade~," the black-haired ragdoll winked at her.
This should be fine… Pomni has no idea what she's getting herself into but anything is better than nothing at this point. She had been eating nothing but the cheapest instant ramen packets as a diet for months. She's sure that the tips she makes at this place would put better food on her table at least. Pomni took another good look at the card. A job is a job… It’s a no brainer to accept it.
“When do I start?”
—
A couple of weeks later
2:30pm
It's her first day on the job. Pomni examined and posed herself in front of her floor length mirror of her bedroom area. She sported a white puffed short-sleeve blouse underneath a black suit vest, with a black bow-tie. She wore a black mini skirt with white thigh-high stockings, attached to a duo blue-red garter belt underneath said skirt.
She almost tripped herself in her black 5 inch heeled boots over the rug. She has a maroon colored apron, but she won't be putting it on until she gets to her new work place. It's cute…It’s something alright. Not much of her style but it's a uniform. Surely, her server experience should make today manageable.
Pomni wasn’t expecting to have a position as a server. It was a STRIP lounge with a cabaret burlesque room after all. She was mentally preparing that she was going to be forced to be a stripper. She never felt so relieved, but something in the back of her mind hints that she wouldn’t mind if she really had to. That occupation does seem fun sometimes.
She adjusted her indigo blue headband. It's still early, might as well treat herself at a cafe on her way there. This is technically a special occasion! Let's hope her bank account doesn't cry too much. Pomni grabbed her coat and tote bag, then replaced her headband with a knitted square beanie with a pom pom at both corners. It's cold out, a hot latte would be nice.
She exited out of her front door, making sure it was locked. She turned into the hallway–
Oof! She landed on her tush on the carpeted floor.
"Damn. You good?" A male voice chuckled.
She darted her head up to see who she bumped into, hoping to see a hand reach out to her aid. Nothing. Only having the figure walk down the hall to her right. A silhouette of a tall man with bunny ears swaggered away towards the elevator.
Pomni grumbled. She got up and readjusted herself.
Huh, what a great way to start off the work day…
Hot latte in hand and a ham and cheese croissant in the other. This was practically her lunch since this morning’s breakfast; a bowl of cheddar crackers. She munched on the yummy carbs while she was walking down the ‘party’ strip of the city. Many hotels, shops, bars, casinos, clubs and novelty water fountains tower over her. It’s only about 3pm and they already had all the flashing lights on. Pomni is still getting used to the height of her heels, but walking a distance much shorter than taking public transportation for miles to her former college sounds much more appealing.
She made it to the entrance of the Copper Spice Cabaret. She’s never really experienced places like this besides her interview and job orientation last week. She flipped her phone open to call her manager to let him know she was at the entrance of the building. She turned her back to the two different entrance doors to watch the cars pass while the phone was dialing.
“Hellooo~ Caine speaking!” Caine’s voice was deep yet jolly. It always catches her off guard.
“Uh, hey Caine! I’m outside, could you let me in– AAAAAH!”
The right door slammed open behind her. Damn, it was so loud, you could probably hear it echo down the street. She almost tripped over her heels again, dropping her flip phone onto the concrete sidewalk. Thankfully, it didn’t break.
“POMNI DEAR, YOU’RE HERE!!! WELCOME, WELCOME!” the familiar deep jolly voice roared in excitement as if Pomni was his favorite niece.
Ramus Caine was an intimidating looking man, until he opened his mouth– well– his head. His head is literally a set of jaws with eyes. With his association with the C&A mob family, she doesn’t question why he wouldn’t use illegal Shift Powder to manifest a more appealing appearance with ‘magic’.
She assumes he stayed the way he is because of his natural menacing features to keep the ‘big scary boss man’ look, even though he was only several inches taller than herself. He treated her as his own ever since her interview with him.
“Come on in! Let’s get your first day started!” He held the door open for her, gesturing to come inside.
Pomni picked up her phone. “Good afternoon to you too, Caine,” she chuckled nervously as she made it through the door, putting her headphones and phone into her tote bag.
She still wasn’t expecting this much positivity when she shifted her new life into this.