*Six Months Later*
As I stand in front of Panda in the same uniform I wore only a few months ago, I can't help but feel a lot more confident. The crop top is a lot tighter around my chest, showing off the abs I had been working on and the muscles in my arm quite nicely. The shorts are a little tighter around my legs and ass, shaping my butt to make it look bigger. Even with the panda ears, I can't help but think I actually look good in this.
Panda walks around me, looking me up and down as he lets his eyes following the curves of my body. He then stops in front of me and smirks at me. "You definitely fill out that uniform well, though you still look young. However, we've recently picked up some new costumers that will help us out with keeping your age a secret."
"Have you told them about Evan yet," Ryan asks. Ryan and Bryce are standing behind me in the middle of Panda's office, both of them telling me that they wanted to show me that they would always support me.
"Not yet, but I will tell them soon. For now though, I'm going to set you up to work in the late after noon, before the club actually opens. You'll be working part time, and setting up for the show, and training. You'll mainly be working with Bryce and Smitty for now."
"Smitty?"
"He's our bartender," Ryan tells me.
"Do you understand everything that I've told you," Panda asks. His gaze on me makes me feel small, and it feels as if he is trying to announce his dominance over me.
I quickly take a deep breath before I smile and say, "Yes sir."
"Good. Now, why don't you go introduce yourself to Smitty before you leave. As far as I know, you haven't gotten the chance to meet anyone else around the apartment complex."
"That's our fault, Jiggly," Ryan quickly says. "We were so focused on making sure that he got the right body type that we didn't introduce him to anyone else."
Panda goes around his desk and sits down. "It doesn't matter. Now is the perfect time for him to start meeting everyone, starting with the person he will be working with the most." He starts typing something on his computer as he then says, "Make sure to be here at one tomorrow, and I suggest coming up with a stage name as well."
"A stage name?"
"You know, a name that you'll go by if you ever go on stage. Something the costumers will call you. We don't have anyone here work without one."
I look behind me to Ryan and Bryce, and while Bryce is just staring at the ground, Ryan is smiling at me. "I go by OhmWerker, for a play on home wrecker, and Bryce goes by Kitten, due to him loving cats."
I look down and start thinking of what I could be called instead of Evan. As I start changing my clothes, many things start going through my mind, and somehow, my parents come back into my mind. I start thinking about the company my dad use to work for. He designed cars for them, and he was pretty much obsessed with all the details that went into making them, and told me about all the parts in them. Out of all of them though, one part sticks out in my mind. "Vanos," I say as I pull my shirt down.
"What," Panda asks. "What's a Vanos?"
"It's a car part that was used in the engines for BMWs. I want that to be my stage name."
Panda raises an eyebrow and looks at me, confusion written all over his face. However, he then looks back at his computer and says, "Alright, but we'll change the spelling up a bit so if people see your name, they think of you and not a car. We'll just add another S." He looks back to him computer and starts typing again. "Now, go meet Smitty and Bryce will take you home today. Ohm is on tonight."
"Yes sir," the three of us say before we turn and leave.
Ryan and Bryce are in front of me and I see that Bryce is still looking down with his arms crossed. Ryan gives him a small smile and says, "Why don't you guys have a cheat day and order a pizza tonight? And I'll ask one of the guys for a ride so you don't have to come back here." He then tries to put a hand on Bryce's shoulder, but the second he touches him, Bryce pulls away.
"Yeah, thanks," he says in a monotone voice. He then holds out his hand the second he reaches the bottom of the stairs, and Ryan sighs as he pulls out his keys and hands them to Bryce.
"Bryce, you know we're here for you. You just need to talk to us."
"I'm fine, Ohm." He then pushes pass him and walks out of the stairwell, and I have to run to catch up with him. Without looking back to make sure I'm even following behind him, he walks through the club to the bar on the side, just under Panda's office. He then sits on a stool and says, "Mind getting me a drink for the road."
"Well hello you too, buttercup," the bartender says, raising an eyebrow. The bartender is a young guy, looks to be just a few years older than me. Probably nineteen. He has fluffy black hair and brown eyes, and is somewhat tall.
He grabs a small glass and puts a single, large, roll piece of ice in it before he pours a brown liquor in it. He then slides it over to Bryce, who thanks him before he takes a snip. Bryce then points to me with his thumb and says, "By the way, this is Evan. He's going to be training with me to be a drink boy, and Panda wanted me to introduce him to you."
The bartender then looks at me and looks me up and down before saying, "Aren't you a little young to be working in a place like this?"
"Panda hired him, so it's fine," Bryce says before he takes a big drink.
"Okay, okay; I was just asking. It's nice to meet you, kid. I'm Lucas, but everyone calls me Smitty."
"I'm Evan, but I guess I should be going by Vanoss here."
Smitty chuckles and smiles at me. "You want a drink too? I can get you a coke or orange juice if you want."
"Sure, a coke sounds good." I pull myself onto the seat next to Bryce as Smitty grabs another glass, puts in the ice, and pours a can of coke into it.
He then puts it on the counter and slides it over to me, yelling, "Yeet," as he does so. I can't help but laugh as I catch the glass with one hand. "Good catch," he says as he walks over to Bryce and myself.
"You need to stop doing that," Bryce says, putting his now empty glass on the counter. "Panda is going to be pissed if you break another glass."
"We just got in an order of new ones, I think I'm fine."
"Whatever. Just get me another drink."
"I don't know. If you're going to be driving, I don't think I should."
"Just get me a rum and coke, light on the rum then."
Smitty raises an eyebrow and makes Bryce's drink, handing it to him once it's done. He then turns to me and starts talking to me, telling me about what the job is going to be like and eventually, we start talking about ourselves.
"Yeah, I have a bunch of games at my apartment. Once you get your own place, just let me know and you can borrow them."
"That sounds awesome; thanks in advance."
"Alright Vanoss," Bryce says as he puts his empty glass down. "Let's get back to the apartment before the club opens."
"Alright. It was nice meeting you, Smitty."
"I'll see you around, Vanoss."
I jump off of the bar stool and quickly walk behind Bryce as he leads us out of the club and to Ryan's car, which is parked in front of the club. We jump in and he instantly starts up the car and practically speed out of the parking lot. As we drive back to the apartments, I try to talk to him, but he seems to just ignore me throughout the whole drive.
Finally, when we are less than a minute from the apartment, I ask, "What's wrong, Bryce?"
"Nothing."
"I don't believe you. You've been acting different for two weeks now."
"What do you mean?"
"You won't talk to anyone anymore, not even Ryan. You give him attitude when you do talk to him, and you've been drinking a lot."
We then pull into the parking lot for our apartment complex and he doesn't say another word. He just gets out of the car and starts walking to the apartment without me. I hurry to lock the car doors and run to catch up to him. Once he walks into the apartment, he starts walking to the bedroom, and I yell after him. "Bryce, please, just tell me what's wrong?"
"It's none of your business, Evan," he yells at me as he walks into the bedroom. "Just practice on the pole or something! I don't care! Just leave me alone!" Once he's done yelling at me, he then slams the door shut, locking it behind him.
I sigh and shut the door behind me, locking it as well before I walk over to the TV and turn it on. I start flipping through channels before I get to the crime network and I stop. As I watch a couple actors recreate a crime scene and hear the real officers talk about how they solved the cases, I hear the shower turn on in the other room.
Weird. I thought he already took a shower this morning.