Eclipse

15

Maya
If there was one thing I had learned about the elite clientele of Eclipse, it was that they were incredibly careless with their belongings.
It was a quiet Tuesday evening, and I was doing a routine sweep of VIP Lounge 1 after the guests had departed. That's when I saw it. Sitting right in the center of the plush velvet sofa was a sleek, matte-black leather briefcase with heavy silver latches.
I froze, my trash bag dangling from my hand as my writer's radar went into absolute overdrive.
A forgotten briefcase.
Instantly, my mind began constructing structural blueprints for a high-stakes thriller. What was inside? Jewels. It had to be stolen jewelry. A glittering velvet pouch filled with blood diamonds smuggled across the border, meant to be traded under the dim lights of the club. No, wait—a million dollars in unmarked cash! The payoff for a corrupt politician, neatly stacked in crisp hundred-dollar bills.
I crept closer, my heart hammering against my ribs. Or maybe it was a mix-up! Two club guests accidentally swap identical briefcases. One guy goes home expecting his boring tax documents, opens the latches, and suddenly finds himself staring at a fortune, completely altering his life while bumbling hitmen hunt him down.
The lock wasn't even coded. It clicked open with a satisfying snap.
Holding my breath, I lifted the heavy leather lid, bracing myself for the blinding glow of diamonds or the smell of cold, hard cash.
I blinked.
There were no diamonds. There was no money. There weren't even corrupt government documents.
Instead, the briefcase was neatly lined with molded velvet slots holding a collection of exceptionally vibrant, strangely shaped, neon-purple sex toys.
My dramatic thriller plot deflated instantly, replaced by sheer, unadulterated confusion. I leaned over the briefcase, squinting down at the assortment. I reached in and gingerly picked up a particularly elaborate, loop-shaped silicone contraption, turning it around in the dim lighting of the lounge.
"Where does this... even go?" I muttered aloud, poking a small ridged button on the side.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
The toy instantly burst to life, vibrating so violently in my grip that my entire forearm went numb. I gasped, frantically pressing my thumb against the button to turn it off, but my clumsy fingers only managed to shift it into a higher, significantly louder pulse.
BZZZ—BZZZ—BZZZ—
The heavy mahogany door clicked open.
I froze, the neon-purple device rattling furiously in my hand. Shion was standing in the doorway, a clipboard pressed against his vest as he checked on my cleaning progress.
He stopped dead in his tracks. His gray eyes dropped from my face, down to my vibrating hand, and then over to the open matte-black briefcase on the sofa.
For a fraction of a second, Shion's legendary, stoic armor completely shattered. A fierce, brilliant crimson flush crept rapidly from the collar of his shirt all the way to the tips of his ears. He violently choked on his own breath, covering his mouth with his fist as a loud, ragged cough escaped his throat.
"Maya," he choked out, his voice a full octave higher than usual. "What—what are you doing?"
"Shion, thank goodness," I said casually, completely unfazed as I held the rattling device out toward him like a microphone. "Do you have any idea how this is supposed to be used? Because the logistics of this shape are baffling my creative brain."
Shion closed his eyes, taking a deep, agonizingly slow breath. When he opened them, the blush was still dusting his cheeks, but he had somehow forced his professional composure back into place. He let out a long, thoroughly defeated sigh.
"At this point, I am not even surprised," he muttered, rubbing his temples. He stepped into the room, clicked the latches of the briefcase shut—instantly muffling the aggressive buzzing sound—and firmly grabbed me by the upper arm. "Drop the... whatever that is, back in the case. We're leaving."
"But—"
"No buts," Shion commanded, pulling me out into the hallway and letting the heavy VIP door click shut behind us. He looked down at me, his jaw tight as he tried to look stern. "This is a massive security breach, Maya. You do not open guest property. Ever. Follow me, and watch and learn what actually needs to be done in a situation like this."
I trailed behind him as he marched down to the security desk near the staff entrance.
"We found a forgotten briefcase left behind in VIP 1," Shion told the head security guard, his voice completely smooth and professional, without a single hint of a lie. "It was closed when we found it. We didn't open it."
The guard nodded, logging the item into the lost-and-found database. "Thanks, Shion. We'll keep it locked up until the guest calls."
The second we walked back behind the service bar, out of earshot of the rest of the staff, Shion turned to face me. His gray eyes were dead serious. "Maya, be serious for one second. What if that briefcase had contained a bomb? Huh? What if you had just detonated an explosive device out of pure curiosity?"
My eyes widened into giant, starry saucers. A massive grin broke across my face, and I practically slammed my hands onto the bar counter.
"A bomb!" I gasped, completely thrilled. "Oh my gosh, Shion! A bomb is so much better than blood diamonds or a million dollars! That is pure cinematic stakes!"
Before he could even process my reaction, I whipped my phone out of my apron pocket, my thumbs already blurring across a brand-new note file. Chapter 16: The countdown echoes through the ventilation shaft...
Shion stared at my flying thumbs, a look of profound, exhausted bewilderment crossing his face. He ran a hand through his dark hair, letting out a breath that sounded like a tire deflating.
"My hair is going to be completely gray before my contract here expires," he muttered to the ceiling.