The French people are hardly known to be a passionless people. Au contraire, their passion has come to dangerous spikes in several points of history. But fortunately, this is a now more tempered, moderate time. Even so, the French people want some excitement, especially after the pandemic has been hindering everyone for almost 2 years. That may be why the opening night for Belles Bêtes had such a huge crowd.
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For being built out of an old wine cellar, Belles Bêtes had been built up into a reasonably-sized establishment. It may not be as huge as the casinos in Las Vegas or Monaco, but it had more than enough space to accommodate its gambling floor. Probably the most notable attraction there were the roulette wheels, which were green and gold as opposed to the traditional red and black. The roulette tables were also simple enough for the people manning them. Since the French colony was still growing, there wasn't quite enough people to fill out the staff just yet. So some of the residents at Miss Juliet's mansion were helping out until more employees could be hired. Violet, Georgette, Olympe, and Blancheur could be seen working the tables. The roulette was simple enough as they just needed to call out the winning number. The blackjack tables might be too complicated and end up losing the house more money.
Of course, the main attraction at Belles Bêtes were the dancers. There were actually two separate stages for them to perform. There was the Land Stage, which more like the traditional stage for nightclubs. And there was also the Sea Stage, which was necessary because Abella, as a lionfish Animalian, needed a place where she could regularly swim and keep her skin moist. The Sea Stage was really a large tank of water where patrons could watch aquatic Animalians swim in alluring fashion. Though there were only two regular swimmers, Abella and Chablis. Though since Chablis was a frog, it wouldn't be too good for her to remain in saltwater for too long. As such, there was a shower nearby where she could wash off the salt. The shower was actually part of the stage, allowing guests the tantalizing view of the frog woman doing her rinsing underneath it. She didn't strip down completely, but it was more than appealing enough.
Like the gambling floor, there was still a shortage of workers at the dancing stages. Miss Juliet was strict about her girls only performing if it were completely voluntary. Though she underestimated how much the girls would want to perform. Fifi, Mia, and Gigi were rather eager to be up on the stage. While Dezirae and Vere assured Juliet that the girls would not be exploited, it was quite plain that the three girls were quite enthralled with playing the part of sexy vixens (differences in species aside). Juliet felt a bit of disappointment towards them. She had been educating these girls in hope they would attain a higher calling than simple maids. But it appeared that they aspired to be no higher than sexy maids. Well, perhaps when they've gotten it out of their system, they'll be more reasonable.
Miss Juliet did make one request about Belles Bêtes: that they added a piano lounge. If there was going to be a house of ill-repute and debauchery on their property, there had to be at least one room for class and elegance. The piano lounge was actually quite tastefully done, reminding a lot of people of Casablanca. It was certainly nice to be able to get away from the loud noises of gambling and the sensuous music of the stages for some quiet piano playing. Piano players weren't hard to find, though one named 'Sam' was still yet to be procured. Surprisingly, Miss Juliet herself came over to tickle the ivories on the first night. It was a bit hard to say what her motive was. Perhaps she was trying to establish a bit of dominance in her territory. Maybe she wanted to show she wasn't as straight-laced as everyone thought she was. Maybe she just wanted an audience to listen to her play. Still, she was not a bad player, though her choice of songs tended to be more classical.
Anyways, the first night of Belles Bêtes attracted so many people that it was certain the place would be a thriving business. Of course, there were still more employees to hire, probably make an expansion or two. The French colony itself would require some more housing beyond Juliet's chateau. But it was definitely a good first night for a new establishment.