Just as I was about to decline meeting with this Queen guy, I watched as Alex face lite up and waved her arm. “Queen!” When I turned around I was in complete awe.

Walking into the bar was someone who walked as if he owned the place. From the limited visibility of the club lights, I could make out this guy was wearing a black long sleeve turtleneck shirt, under a loose pink crop top. He even wore fishnet socking, under a pink mini skirt. But what really stood out were the gemstone covered high heel boots and the fully covered motorcycle helmet.

I watched as Alex ran over to the guy and started talking to him. I couldn’t hear what she was telling him, but I don’t think I cared. Especially when I couldn’t stop looking at this guy’s legs. The way it was clear he knew how to showcase what he had without screaming insecurity. Maybe I wouldn’t mind spending my birthday with him. Perhaps a good night stand was what I needed to celebrate becoming 30.

As I watched Alex and the guy walk over to what I assumed was the VIP rooms, I felt someone shoving my shoulder. I looked to my left and saw it was Victor who was trying to get my attention. “Careful there. You’re smiling.” I shook my head and went back to watching the direction Alex went.

Eventually Alex returned and she was holding a bag. “Ok, big boy. Hand it all over. I’ll put them in our staff locker room.”

“Hand what over?”

Alex held out the bag closer to me. “Your tech, obviously. Comms, wrist skin band, neural sync, retina mods, pulse sensors. Anything that tracks, records, connects, pings. Dump it.”

“What a ridiculous—”

“Sorry, boss, but that’s his rules. Non-negotiable. Especially when I went through the trouble of getting him to come. And don’t worry about paying for anything. It’s my treat, as a birthday present. So, you get to just enjoy yourself.”

“Whatever.” I started to remove my wrist skin band, that was on my right wrist. I even took off all 5 of my keyboard control rings; sometimes I forget to take those off after work. I tapped just slightly in front of my ear and disconnected my retina mods and neural link. Which caused my eyes to go blurry for a few seconds. I really need to remember to carry my glasses so I don’t have to deal with this type of headache. Afterwards I handed over my phone and my ankle bracelet, that made me feel strangely heavy. “The watch stays on.”

Alex started to close the bag before leading me to the room she and that guy went. “Fine, but the moment you’re inside you better take it off.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” She opened the door to a basic room. Inside had a small pole dancing stage, a lounge couch, and a mini bar. Which seems to have a decent amount of alcohol selections. And there he was, cleaning glass and setting up his station. I wonder if he’s just going to be eye candy, or do what I saw the other dancer do.

“Have fun boys.” With that, Alex left and closed the room. And if I wasn’t mistaken, it sounded like she locked the door. What was going on? Somehow the room now felt heavy and as if I was trapped. I looked back to the helmet guy… If I recalled his name was Queen. Either way, he was still cleaning glass.

I eventually walked over to the stool in front of the mini bar and just watched Queen point at some of the liquor bottles. Perhaps checking to see if everything he needed was there. Which I don’t mind, since I got to indulge in shamelessly staring at his legs. Those high heel boots did wonders for him. I wonder where he got them. Better yet, I wonder how tight his—

Suddenly Queen slammed a glass bowl in my face, which threw me completely off guard. “What the—” He slammed it again and then pointed to my watch. “Seriously? I’m not taking this off.” Queen slammed the bowl one more time before pointing at the door. “So, you’re really going to kick me out if I don’t remove my watch?” A flash of blue light zipped across his helmet. The fuck.

This was now a matter of if I really wanted to go through with this. I could easily walk out and just enjoy any of the other guys out of this room. But the way Alex stated how difficult it was for her to get Queen to come was what kept me in place. If this really was her birthday present to me, I might as well enjoy it. Even if this guy was stubborn.

“Fine.” I went about doing the one thing I haven’t done since I became CEO of Dragon Corp 10 years ago. I unlinked my watch from my wrist, fully removing it from my internal nano link. The moment I did there was a few drops of blood that pooled around where my watch and nano link synced. I practically forgot about that detail. And just then I heard my AI assistant.

“Link has been removed. Full Disconnect activated. Good night, Mr Draven. I look forward to your return.” After that, everything went quiet. I no longer heard stock updates. Or my email notifications. No dig of contracts being revised. I don’t even hear my calendar informing me about upcoming meetings. It was all just quiet.

I looked at my watch and at the bowl. A part of me wants to relink and walk out of this situation. Especially since I don’t know what to do now. The quiet is strange and uncomfortable. Is this what other people deal with when they aren’t running a multi trillion-dollar company? And now I’m left wondering if I even like this.

I looked up at Queen and found myself swallowing saliva I didn’t realized had formed. With a deep breath and a shaky hand, I chose to stay and see what happens. Maybe this was Alex’s real birthday gift.