âLadies, welcome to the Night Castle Host Club,â greeted coolly Malek as a group of twelve women entered. He winked at Callie who was part of the group. The women in her department at the university had decided to have a party at the Host Club that Malek worked nights at. Callie usually skipped out on parties like that, but since Malek had sworn to be one of the three men working that particular party, she decided to go. âIâm Malek,â said the raven-haired man with a strangely cold smile. Callie only ever knew Malek as an awkward introvert. Seeing him work here was totally different.
âIâm Joshua,â greeted a blond man that looking incredibly like you would imagine Prince Charming.
âIâm Corey!â chimed in a cheerful man, who looked somewhat more like a boy. He had to be at least eighteen, it was the only way he could work at this club.
âThis way,â ordered Malek as he and his partners led them to private area with three large couches.
âPlease, make yourselves comfortable,â insisted Joshua with a bow and a kind smile. The twelve women seated themselves. Callie sat with three other women on one of the couches.
âI hope Malek comes to flirt with us!â whispered Milly to Callie.
âDo you not know how this host club works?â Milly cocked her head.
âNot really noâŚâ She had never bothered to ask Malek about the specifics. She knew that he flirted with women and sometimes other men for tips, but she had no idea how this place worked.
âI had the kitchen make us some delicious sweets!â announced Corey as he sat in the middle of the couch where the older women were. They immediately began to fawn over him.
âLadies.â Joshua bowed to the women sitting on another couch. âMay I join you?â They accepted in squealing voices.
Malek suddenly knelt over Milly. He tilted her head up to meet his gaze. He looked at her with a dangerous expression on his face, unlike anything Callie had ever seen. âYou are a beautiful enough gem for me to want to add you to my collection,â he said in soft threatening voice. Milly blushed furiously. The other two girls also on the same couch as Callie and Milly glowered furiously at the girl getting Malekâs attention. Callie was just a bit shocked to see Malek being so forward. He was after all in a committed relationship with another man. She wondered if Jordan knew how Malek did his job.
Malekâs dark gaze suddenly turned to Carol, who was sitting on Millyâs other side. She went from angry to blushing furiously. She glanced away. Malek smirked. âDo I frighten you?â Carol was too flustered to answer. Malek chuckled and rose, backing away from the couch. He walked away from the private area to the dismay and confusion of the girls on that couch.
âFear not, ladies,â comforted Joshua. âHeâs simply gone to retrieve the cakes and other sweets from the kitchen.â
âYay!â cheered Corey, causing the women around him to fawn over him all over again.
Callie got up and chased after Malek. âHey Callie,â he greeted as she caught up to him by service window, his smile was normal again. âIf you wanted to try your flirting techniques out, youâre sitting on the wrong couch.â
âForget the flirting techniques I wanted to try, what the hell is up with your fliting technique?!â she demanded.
âCallie, this is a host club. We all take one aspect of our personalities and exaggerate it to create a particular character,â he explained. âJosh isnât really like that either. He was raised to respect and honour women, but heâs got more personality than that of a âPrince Charmingâ. Corey is silly and playful but heâs far more mature than his character lets on. And before you ask, yes, Jordan is aware of my methods.â
âOkay, itâs still weird thoughâŚâ
âYou are supposed to practice your flirting skills, I would suggest on Josh.â
âHow exactly am I supposed to switch couches? Wonât that look weird?â âAlso I donât really want to anymore!â she thought to herself.
âDonât worry, we planned for this,â Malek smirked. âGo back to the couch, weâll take care of it.â
Callie went and sat back down on the same couch as before. A few minutes later, Malek returned with a large tray full of cakes and chocolates and cookies and other sweets. Corey cheered and immediately jumped on the tray once Malek had set it down on the small table. Malek turned to Callie and leaned in to whisper in ear. âLook scared, like I said something that actually petrifies you.â
Callie wasnât very good at acting, but she figured she could manage scared. So she thought of the scariest horror movie her brother ever made her watch. Joshua noted the look and rose to pull Malek off of Callie by the collar of his shirt.
âProblem, Charming?â mocked Malek.
âMust you frighten these lovely ladies?â demanded Joshua.
âMy methods are none of your business.â Malek smirked.
âThey become my business when you disrespect and frighten our guests.â
âI would like to point out that my methods have a higher success rate than yours.â
âGuys!â interjected Corey. âDonât fight! Eat cake!â That was the cue for somewhat slow music to start up. Joshua walked past Malek and bowed to Callie.
âMilady, may I have this dance?â
âUh⌠sureâŚâ Callie accepted and Joshua pulled her up and started dancing with her.
âWhatâs your name?â asked Joshua as they danced.
âCallieâŚâ Her dancing skills were suboptimal and as soon as he distracted with her a question, she stepped on his foot. âSorry!â she apologized quickly.
âItâs okay,â he assured her.
âIâve got two left feetâŚâ
âYouâre doing fine, just relax.â
âIâm supposed to be flirting but where do I even start?â she thought to herself.
âYouâre very beautiful,â he stated.
âOh⌠thanks⌠so are you.â She suddenly realized what she said. âWait no! I meanâŚâ âThis is going wellâŚâ
âItâs okay, I know what you meant,â assured the blond.
âYou know, you really do look like Prince Charming.â
Joshua chuckled. âWell, thank you Lady Callie. Itâs truly humbling to be complimented by a beauty such as yourself.â
âDamn heâs good! Granted he does this professionally⌠Man why canât I think of any of the pickup lines I wanted to try?!â Callie was beginning to get frustrated with herself which was only worsening her ability to recall the flirting tactics and lines she wanted to try.
âWhatâs troubling, milady?â
âUh, nothing.â Callie forced herself to smile. âWhere did you learn to dance? Prince Academy?â
Joshua laughed again. âPrinces donât attend academies. We learn from our families.â The music stopped. Joshua backed away and kissed the back of Callieâs hand. âItâs been a pleasure.â
âY-yeahâŚâ stammered Callie. She glanced over at the couch she had been sitting on before and noticed that her spot had been filled by one of the girls that had started out with Joshua. She went and sat on the couch that Joshua had been giving his attention to.
âForgive us ladies, but we must momentarily be off to fetch everyone their drinks. In the meantime feel free to dance with Corey,â explained Joshua once they had everyoneâs drink orders. He and Malek left the private area.
âSo what do you think of her?â asked Malek as they leaned against the bar waiting for the bartender to mix all of the drinks.
âSheâs cute but she doesnât have any game,â admitted Joshua.
âI did warn you. You respond best to failed flirting attempts.â Malek shrugged.
âThat why you wanted me on this party with you?â He raised an eyebrow at Malek.
âObviously. Sheâs expressed a desire to try flirting a few times, so when she told me about this party I figured youâd be an ideal target.â
âCareful, Scary Malek is leaking through to Normal Malek.â
âScary Malek is part of Normal Malek. Anyway, their party is scheduled to end in an hour. Iâll see if I can get Callie to hang around longer. If you can give her a couple of pointers, I might be able to get her to try it on some of the other hosts.â
âYeah. At least there are no repercussions to flirting with a host.â They loaded the drinks onto two trays and brought them to the ladies.
The last hour of the party was spent mostly dancing. Each woman dance at least once with one of the men and most had at least two dances. As the women started to leave, Malek pulled Callie aside. âIâm breaking character twice with a client, so donât tell anyone. You should stick around, Iâve talked Josh into giving you a couple of pointers on flirting.â
Callie blushed. âOh man, was I that bad?â
âWell⌠it wasnât good. Josh has been doing this a long time, trust me, he can tailor a flirting strategy to you and you can try it out on a couple of the hosts here. Itâs pretty much the safest way.â Malek pulled Callie towards the bar where Joshua was waiting.
âYouâre going to make me stay arenât you?â she realized bitterly.
âChill, your drinks are on me.â
âOh, okay then.â She brightened and sat at the bar next to Joshua and Malek left to go handle some new clients. Callie ordered a chocolate martini from the bartender before turning to address Joshua. âSo⌠Malek says you can help my flirting game.â
He smirked. He was breaking character as well. âI tailor make all of new hostsâ flirting strategies,â he admitted.
âWell good luck with me. Iâm too awkward to flirt properly.â She shrugged.
âThen your flirting strategy should play into that.â Joshua turned so that he was facing the main club part where the hosts were dancing or flirting with the walk-ins. âNow, normally Iâd steer clear of any obvious pickup lines, but with you we should play it up. Some sort of obvious, but cleverly worded pickup line.â
âReally? I thought that would be bad ideaâŚâ Callie paused to think about it and take a sip of her drink.
âWell?â Joshua raised an eyebrow at her.
âAll the ones I can think of are terrible,â she admitted.
âThen thatâs perfect.â
âGreat⌠and after I drop a horrible pickup line?â
âThen comes the trickier part. With the hosts itâll follow a classic pattern depending on their character, but theyâll likely compliment you. As long as you donât target Malek or anyone else portraying a dark type. Youâll have to return the compliment with somewhat more grace than you did with me. After that, go with self-deprecating humour, puns, things that suit your personality. Itâll make it more natural to flirt and youâll find out quickly if the person youâre flirting with is someone you actually want to spend time with or not.â
âHowâs this for an opening line: âI wish our mouths could face off in the tongue Olympicsâ?â
Joshua laughed, nearly choking on his drink. âYeah thatâll work with the hosts and any guy you already know. Donât say something like that to an actual stranger, or they may take as consent to kiss you there and then. Okay see him?â Joshua gestured to a strongly built brunette man saying goodbye to some clients at the door.
âGo try flirting with him.â He sort of shoved Callie in the direction of the host. She cursed him and Malek under her breath but approached the host nonetheless.
âHey, I wish our mouths could face off in the tongue Olympics,â she said, blushing furiously.
The host laughed. âWell arenât you cute.â
âYouâre not so bad yourself.â Callie was shocked when that came out so naturally.
âIâm Caleb.â The host stuck out his hand. Callie shook it.
âIâd offer you a dance, but uh⌠I kind of have two left feet,â he admitted.
âNo worries, I canât dance to save my life.â
âDo you want to sit?â He started to lead her to a booth and they sat facing each other.
At the bar Malek rejoined Joshua. âYou set her on Caleb? You realize he might actually fall for her?â
Joshua shrugged. âYeah, I know heâs new at this, but he fits her flirting strategy best and heâll actually understand the puns she makes.â
ââŚso I looked round and the plumberâs pants were nearly at his knees!â concluded Caleb, finishing a story of an incompetent plumber doing work at his familyâs farm.
âGuess you could say he something of an ass,â joked Callie. Caleb laughed heartily.
âMaybe even a bit cheeky,â he added.
âDo you think weâre maybe making too many assumptions?â
âMaybe, but it certainly is fun to take a crack at it!â They both laughed as their puns got increasingly terrible.
It was closing time when Caleb and Callie finally said goodnight. Callie headed back to her apartment building. It was three oâclock in the morning but she could hear chatting coming from Jordan and Malekâs apartment. âMalek shouldnât be home yetâŚâ she thought to herself as she made her way to their apartment. She walked in to see Sean there. She was surprised as it was rare for Sean to stay up this late.
âHey Callie, how was the party?â greeted Jordan.
âIt was great,â she admitted.
âDid Malek manage to get you to flirt with any of the hosts?â teased Sean.
âA bit yeah. Although the last guy I talked to, Caleb, seemed less like flirting and more like punning.â She shrugged and plunked into the bean bag chair. Callie recounted to them the events of the night including her surprise at Malekâs flirting technique and that Joshua was the one that formed her flirting strategy.
As she finished up telling them about all of the butt puns she had made, Malek walked in. He poured himself a scotch and sat between Sean and Jordan.
âHow was work?â asked Sean.
âInteresting. Caleb has taken quite a shining to you, Callie,â admitted Malek with a sly smirk.
âWell, I am pretty great,â laughed Callie. âWe literally made butt puns for like an hour.â
âWhat do you think of him?â prodded Malek.
âHmm⌠well he gets my puns and finds me funny, but heâs a farm boy and a bit of a jockâŚâ
âBut he gets your jokes. Not many people outside this circle do.â
âTrue⌠well I did give him my number in case he wanted to hang out outside of workâŚâ
âYou gave him your number?!â exclaimed Sean.
âWas that bad? He asked for itâŚâ
âYes!â continued Sean.
âNo,â said Malek and Jordan in unison.
âCaleb is a nice guy, worst case, they end up friends,â noted Malek.
âHe is nice, but he did tell me that I suck at flirting,â admitted Callie. The others laughed.
âYeah we already know.â