Chapter 2 #2
I entered a dark hallway lined with closed doors until I saw a small, dim room.
Through the blinds, I saw a redheaded man hunched over a desk.
This was definitely the office Will and James were talking about.
I had to get him out of the office and make him leave the door open. I hid my hands in my hoodie sleeves.
“And who are you?” the guy asked when he saw me at the door. He doesn’t remember me, a point in my favor.
He’d actually seen me twice, but the smell of his breath both times told me that he’d been drunk or otherwise under the influence of something. His face was a lot younger looking than I remembered.
“I’m looking for a job,” I answered, trying to sound sure of myself despite my voice quivering.
“I’ve seen you before.” Oh no.
Intrigued, he got out of his upholstered chair and walked around the desk.
“I don’t think so.” I straightened my shoulders.
If I believed it, so would he, right?
“Where have I seen you before?” he insisted, getting a little too close to me.
The smell of the place, alcohol mixed with smoke, made my stomach turn. I tried to dodge the issue without breaking eye contact.
“Are you hiring?”
He looked me up and down from my blond bun to the tips of my black Vans.
“We’re always hiring. I’ll have you do a little audition. But I want to see you wearing something else.”
My courage had just gone out the window. Who was I kidding? This guy would eaten me for breakfast.
“The pay’s really high but not standard. Come on, get undressed. Show me.” He invited me to do this casually, as if this was a normal job interview.
“No, I was actually wondering about working at Tropical as a server, not here. That place is still yours, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but my brother manages it. I don’t deal with hiring fucking servers.”
I had a strange feeling. His voice wasn’t gloomy, and he didn’t look revolting, but he looked at me so weirdly that it made me feel uneasy.
How many minutes had it been?
“Even though, now that I’m getting a better look at you, you’d be too small to work here,” he muttered without taking his eyes off me.
“I know, but my mom lost her job and we need money.” I tried to play that card without really knowing where it would lead me.
He didn’t pay any attention to my desperate lost-little-girl act.
Austin opened a rickety locker resting on an equally run-down wall.
The place was luxurious, but his office looked like an old, abandoned garage.
“This was Eleanor’s. She ran off last week after stealing a client’s wallet.”
“Ah.”
“This should be your size. Put it on.”
All my swagger went up in smoke when the guy came closer to hand me the piece of silver fabric.
“Um, but you said . . . I mean, I said—”
“Go on, get changed. You can’t be embarrassed here because if you work here you’ll be spending most of your time half naked anyway. And not just in front of me.”
There was something vaguely cruel about the sneer he gave me. I was suddenly frozen. I couldn’t move a single muscle. I was paralyzed by fear. I’d really thought I could help the guys, but my armor of self-assuredness had just collapsed.
“Otherwise you already know that this job isn’t for you. There’s the door,” he finished as he went back to lock the locker.
I took advantage of the momentary distraction to pull my phone out of my jeans pocket. A text.
Hunter: Snap out of it. Have him give you a vape pen and ask him to come with you outside.
I looked up and noticed Ethan Austin was in front of me again. I struggled to meet his gaze.
Concentrate, June.
“Okay, you know what? I’d need to smoke first.”
I put the minidress under my arm as he shrugged, as if what I’d just said was totally normal.
“Let’s go.” We headed outside.
I texted Will: We just got to the main entrance.
“That’s where I’ve seen you. You’re Hunter’s girlfriend.”
“No.”
He squinted at me. The sun seemed to bother him too. He handed me a vape pen that I reluctantly accepted.
“I’m sure I saw you with him one night.”
This time he confirmed it decisively, then came closer to me, forcing me to back toward the wall. I was disoriented. I didn’t know his intentions, but what made me even more uneasy was the taste of the vape pen on my tongue.
“Did he tell you to come here?” he drawled as he stared at me.
“No, what do you mean? Do you have any beer?”
I needed to text Will again, and that would be impossible with the guy breathing down my neck. When Austin finally moved away to get something to drink, I breathed a sigh of relief.
June: Well, Will?
William: Stall. We might’ve found something
I forced myself to take a few sips of beer. It was bitter, and a colossally stupid decision because my head was spinning after two sips.
“What kind of beer is that?” I asked, staring at the unknown bottle.
“It’s a little stronger than the usual.” He smiled. For a second I thought about kicking him between his legs and bolting away like lightning, but since the other two were turning the place upside down, I’d wait.
“What is it?” I asked meekly, as he stared at me while stroking his beard.
“I’m looking at you. I like what I see.”
Damn it, it looks like it’s time to use the few karate moves I learned from TV.
I put the bottle on the platform when I felt a touch on my cheek. Austin slowly moved my hair out of my face, and I felt the urgent need to cut and run. He barely touched me, and neither Will nor James could make me stay there for a minute longer.
“Do you want another beer?” He pointed at the half-empty bottle, and I froze.
“Oh, no, no. It’s better if I—”
“It’s better if you come with me.”
I choked on my own saliva when he grabbed my arm and dragged me inside. Soon I found myself in a room I didn’t recognize, at least not right away.
“What—”
“Forget Tropical. You don’t seem like you can be a server,” he announced, pointing at the dress I was holding.
“What do you mean?”
“You could work here. Come here, I want to show you something. Maybe you’ll change your mind.” I thought about William’s text again and gritted my teeth a bit more.
Austin moved a big tarp separating the dance floor from a smaller, more intimate room.
The first thing that struck me was the glint of metal poles hanging like stalactites from the ceiling. I shivered, but a familiar sound suggested that Ethan Austin and I weren’t alone. A black curtain rustled. They were there. I had to distract him.
“So how about we—”
“Do you want to try it or not?” he cut me off, crossing his arms expectantly.
“Um.”
“Pole dancing requires certain training,” I heard him challenge me.
My reluctant expression made him suspicious.
“I see you’re an expert. Do you do it often?”
Behind Austin, the curtain barely moved, and I saw James cover his mouth to stifle a laugh.
Luckily the guy didn’t hear him, but he definitely heard me.
“Sorry, what’d you say?”
“I was saying . . . okay.”
“Put the dress on, I’m gonna get something else to drink.”
I watched him head to the room’s minibar in his wrinkled clothes while I stood holding the minidress. I lifted it to examine it and noticed it was so full of sequins that it jingled every time I shook it.
No, I definitely wasn’t putting that on.
“I hope you’re changing,” he urged unnervingly.
James moved the curtain again, this time to jerk his head at me not to do it. On the other hand Will gave me a thumbs-up behind him. He seemed so convinced that it led me to keep the ruse going.
My gaze went from the minidress to my anonymous and unattractive hoodie. When Austin turned back, William closed the curtain again. I felt my muscles freeze. They’re here; he can’t do anything bad to me. I threw the dress on the floor and looked Austin right in the eye.
“So you changed your mind. Do you want to be naked?” he sneered before plopping onto one of the leather couches surrounding the poles. “So?”
His intimidating tone made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Stall.
“I don’t think so.”
“I’m losing my patience, sweetheart. I’m giving you an ultimatum: Take off the hoodie or put the dress on. How the fuck else can I see what’s under there?”
All of a sudden, a metallic sound pierced the air, followed by a thud. Austin jumped up. “What was that?”