Chapter 44: Christen the Club

Schuyler

Garret moves, allowing us to walk past him into a long, dark hallway, illuminated only by rope lighting at the bottom of each wall. Midway, a spotlight brightens the black wall with the word “Fringe” in deep red paint. Calvin points to the opposite wall where a plaque declares this the selfie station. It invites patrons to take selfies for social media and use the tags #Fringe, #FringeDesMoines, and #FringeSpeakeasy. In large, bold, red font, the plaque instructs guests to shut off their cell phones as Fringe is a phone free club. It further explains that any patrons caught using a phone may not return or use the Fringe app for 12 months.

“The guests will receive the new password by noon each day to use that night. As our popularity grows, we’ll only send the password out to 250 people per day to ensure we don’t exceed our 300 person capacity,” Calvin explains as we make our way to the end of the hall. “The bouncers at each door will keep track of the number of people entering