Seven followed Tiffany past the many stages to the rear of the building, where she freely opened the solid brown door marked “private.” The walls vibrated with the sounds of a better decade as he closed the door behind him. The office continued the décor of the main room. There was a pinball machine in the corner and the room was far brighter than the business area. A large man was wearing reading glasses and sifting through a large pile of cash on the desk in front of him. He lifted his head to see Tiffany as she sprinted across the room to his location. He quickly stood and met her halfway. He was a mountain of a man, at least six feet two and three hundred pounds. His gray hair was receding but cleverly concealed with a nicely styled combover that was hair sprayed in place. His hands were huge and reminded Seven of the big foam fingers worn by FSU fans at the football games. There was nothing foam about his hands though. They were fat, rough looking, and decorated with a single pinky ring on each hand. He was wearing a dark-colored sweat suit and sneakers without socks. It could have been an eighties outfit to promote the club, but Seven correctly assumed that this was just Joey D.’s weekday wear. He checked every box in the eighties middle-aged Italian Guido category.
Joey and Tiffany met in the middle of the room and instantly engaged in a tight embrace. Smiles and genuine joy was exchanged at they met. “Did you see Billy and the girls? They were all excited when I told them you were coming by,” he said.
“Yeah, I saw them when I came in. It’s so good to see you, Uncle Joe, you look great; have you lost weight?”
“Yeah, my doctor told me I had to trim down so he put me on this fucking program thing. I’ll tell you ’bout it later.”
Seven stood off to the side of the room and enjoyed the sound of “Dr. Feelgood” penetrating the walls as the two of them completed their encounter. Joey turned his attention to Seven. Another