Mayhem Chapter 11 #2
By the time we were ready for the first dancer, we had our sheets and pens and were given a drink from the bar.
The first round, based on Astrid’s suggestion, was to have them come out to dance individually.
Once we’d seen them all and picked the top five or ten, depending on how many we were planning to hire, we let those who didn’t meet the mark go.
Those who remained would come out and dance all together on the stage to a song they had heard ten minutes before they danced.
We were testing their ability to work under pressure and in circumstances where they might have to improvise.
We had received a good number of applicants for the audition.
There were twelve. Some had extensive experience, others had some experience, and a couple even had none.
We invited them all to dance. Today, they would be stripping down to their thongs and pasties because we had to determine whether they could do it, in particular, the ones with no experience.
None of us judged these women for stripping to make a living.
Their reasons were varied and none of our business.
Some did it to take care of themselves and their kids as single moms. Others to catch a man who would take care of them.
Or some to pay for school, or something big they wanted, such as a car.
The first dancer was called to the stage.
She came out, and her music was cued up by Wade, our guy who managed the music and lighting for the dancers.
I had to admit, it was different to use an actual scoring sheet.
And it felt slightly weird to be watching women remove their clothes with my woman sitting next to me.
The weirdness wasn’t due to me finding myself attracted to the dancers and not wanting Astrid to know.
For me, no matter their bodies or what they did, those women didn’t hold a candle to mine.
I prayed Astrid didn’t think I was in any way interested in them.
It did, however, make me want to know what my Fury would look like dancing and stripping for me.
I scooted over and whispered in her ear, “I’m imagining how gorgeous you’d be doing that in our bedroom. I’d never want you to be seen by anyone else. You’ll be my private dancer.”
She whispered back, “Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Only I wondered what it would be like for you to be the dancer.”
Exchanging smirks, I thought there might be dancing and stripping in both our futures.
Even with them dancing only a five-minute set, time seemed to drag.
Eventually, they were all through, and we compared scores.
Then, we tallied and averaged the scores to determine the six we planned to ask to do the group dance.
We had planned to hire Sheri’s replacement, but having two would be even better.
Of the finalists, two had extensive experience, two had moderate experience, one had limited experience, and, surprisingly, the last woman had none.
She’d been a bit shaky at first, but she’d performed well, and her dancing was very erotic.
There was some grumbling in disbelief when we called them all out and announced who would stay.
I noted the shocked look on the face of the woman with no experience.
When we were done, the finalists were led to the back by Dusty while the ones not chosen left.
Dusty would be playing the song for them, and they’d be expected to come out and dance to it in ten minutes.
While they did that, we refreshed our drinks.
Since it was a strip club, we could only serve beer and wine, along with sodas, and a limited amount of bar food.
The food was due to the licensing in Virginia and the fact that they considered adult entertainment establishments to be restaurants as well.
I didn’t understand the law. I just made sure we adhered to the rules.
I didn’t need people up our ass or shutting us down for a stupid infraction.
We had fun while we waited because the old ladies got up on the stage and were trying to twirl on the stripper poles.
They were laughing and making us chuckle.
I hated to end their fun, but it was time for the group to get on stage.
Whistling to get their attention, I gestured for them to return to our tables, which they did.
The six finalists came out onto the stage.
They were redressed. They spread out to give themselves room.
The lights dimmed, and then the music started.
It was challenging to keep up with everything that was happening, but we managed to do it.
It was clear that, despite their experience, some individuals struggled to establish even a decent routine without extensive practice and time.
The stripper virgin stood out. Again, she was eye-catching, and it had more to do with the way her body moved than the fact that she was removing clothing.
While we discussed who we should offer the jobs to, the dancers were taken to the back by Dusty. The biggest argument was about the inexperienced dancer. A few of my brothers raised their concerns that she wouldn’t be able to handle the job when the place was packed.
“How do you think those other women got experience? They all started with none. They made it. She had some of the best scores. You can’t say no just because she’s never done this before,” Astrid argued.
“What happens when she comes out to do a real dance and freaks out seeing all the men and freezes? Or run off the stage crying?” Remus asked.
“Has that happened before?” Cheyenne asked.
All eyes fell on me. “It has.”
“And how did you handle it?” Alissa asked.
“We apologized, got a new dancer out there, and comped the customers’ drinks.”
“You didn’t go out of business or the stripper gods came to punish you?” My woman gasped.
I smirked. “No, that didn’t happen.”
“Then if it happens, it’s too bad, but you’ll survive. I vote for her,” Astrid said stubbornly. The other women agreed with her, and, combined with the men who also agreed, including me, it was decided to offer it to her and another woman.
We all got up to head to the back and announce the news. As we entered the dancers’ main staging area, the chatter died down. All eyes landed on us.
“I want to thank all of you for coming out today. It was tough to make a decision. We’ve decided to offer two positions. However, please note that in the future, if we have openings, we may reach out again to see if some of you would like to re-audition.”
I let that sink in for a minute. There were expectant expressions along with nervous ones. I hated to send anyone away, but I had to.
“The first offer goes to Bianca.” She was an experienced stripper. She looked smug as she smiled and accepted the mild applause and congratulations from the others. When they quieted, I went on to announce our other winner.
“The second offer goes to Aubrielle,” I said.
Her face registered her astonishment. Most of the others softly applauded. One murmured congratulations. I noted which one it was. There were a couple with expressions of disbelief.
I was about to let the others leave when one of the unchosen ones burst out, “You’ve got to be kidding. She’s never danced a day in her life. She doesn’t deserve this chance,” Whitney snapped.
“We’ve made our choices. There’ll be no arguing or changing our minds. Bianca, Aubrielle, stay, and the rest of you may leave. Drive carefully,” I stated.
There was a hustle as they gathered their things.
We stepped aside to let them pass. We’d wait for them to leave before giving the details on when we needed Aubrielle and Bianca back.
Dusty came over and was telling us she’d watched the auditions, and she thought Aubrielle was one of the best. She offered to work with her if she needed help with choreography or costumes.
Reaper was thanking her when we heard a cry of pain.
Whipping around, I found Whitney gripping Aubrielle’s arm and shaking her as she hissed angrily at her.
I was too far away to hear what she said.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I asked as I stomped over to them. Astrid was next to me, and the others were right behind us.
“Tell them,” Whitney hissed.
“Tell us what?” Ink asked. Whitney shook Aubrielle’s arm harder. The white-knuckled grip told me she was hurting the woman’s arm, as if her tight lips didn’t tell us that.
“Let go of her this instant,” I barked.
She did as commanded, but not happily. “Tell them what you told me, Aubrielle,” Whitney ordered.
“I-I want to say thank you for offering me the job, but I’m not able to take it. I made a mistake coming here,” she said so softly it was hard to hear her, even as close as we were. She darted a frightened glance out of the corner of her eye at Whitney, who wore a satisfied smirk.
“Aubrielle, why are you saying it was a mistake? You are a beautiful dancer. You can do this. We all started knowing nothing. And if you need help with routines or costumes, I’ll help you,” Dusty offered. She was one of the sweetest ones we had.
Aubrielle gave Dusty a surprised glance. “You would do that?”
“Absolutely,” Dusty assured her.
“Thank you so much, I—” Aubrielle replied, but was cut off by Whitney.
“You can’t do this. Tell them,” she snarled.
“You can’t make her give this opportunity up. You were told to leave,” Cheyenne informed Whitney.
“I accept,” Aubrielle said.
Whitney lost her mind. She shrieked and went after Aubrielle with her long claws extended.
I jumped to grab her, but I was beaten to her by my woman.
She latched a hold of the bitch’s long hair and yanked hard.
Whitney screamed in pain and backpedaled to regain her footing.
She slapped over her head at Astrid’s hand.
“Let go of me, bitch! I’ll slap your face off if you mess with me,” she threatened.
I held up my hand to halt my brothers from interfering, as I caught Astrid mouthing, Let me handle her.
“The only bitch I see in here is you. You keep your hands off her. She was offered the job, and even if she says no, you won’t be working here. We don’t want your nasty ass in our place,” Astrid calmly informed Whitney.
“Shut up, bitch. Who are you to speak for the Punishers? They own this place, not you. You might be fucking them, but that doesn’t give you the right to say what does or doesn’t happen around here,” the crazy stripper replied.
“You’re right. I am sleeping with one of them. His name is Mayhem, and he runs this place. But I’m more than his current piece of ass,” Astrid said, winking at me.
Tired of the arguing, Whitney had stopped wiggling and trying to reach over her head to scratch Astrid.
Instead, she whirled around to face my woman, who let go.
Giving a triumphant look, Whitney lunged at Astrid with those claws up.
The crazy woman made it two steps before she hit the floor, wailing.
My Fury had punched her in the nose. Whitney was making a racket, holding her nose.
“I’d advise you to stay down and to get yourself together and leave. If you say one more word or try any more of your shit, I’ll give you the ass beating you so desperately deserve,” my woman warned.
“You fucking slut, you’ll pay for that,” Whitney yelled before coming to her feet.
Blood ran down over her mouth from her nose.
She was livid. This time, she threw a punch.
Her weak fist, due to her long nails, didn’t make an effective punching tool.
Astrid’s fist, on the other hand, was perfect.
She kept her nails relatively short. When Whitney swung at her, Astrid sidestepped the punch and followed up not with a punch but an open-handed side chop, taking the woman in the throat.
Whitney bent at the waist, choking and gasping, as she held her throat.
“Fury, I think that’s enough. We don’t need the hassle of her going to the hospital. Let us escort her out, and then we can finish giving our newest dancers their instructions,” I suggested.
Astrid sighed. “All right, honey, if you insist, but I was just starting to have fun. You know I can do this all night. Go ahead, throw out the trash. She’s stinking up the place and ruining the happy vibe.”
Moving closer to Whitney, I lowered myself so she could see my face. “You messed with the wrong club and woman. Let me tell you, badmouthing my old lady earned you a ban from ever working here. That’s no piece of ass. She’s my wife. Get lost,” I growled.
I motioned, and Remus and Riot came forward.
They got a hold of Whitney under each arm and then snagged the bag she’d dropped.
They practically carried her out of the room.
She was half-bawling and half-swearing as they went.
When we could no longer hear her, I put an arm around Astrid and ran through the instructions we wanted to give Bianca and Aubrielle.
I also provided them with the necessary paperwork to complete and bring on their first day.
Both women thanked us again. Bianca went out the door first. Aubrielle hesitated. “Thank you for that. I hate that she caused trouble. She wanted the job here and hates that I got it. And thank you for standing up for me. I’ve never had someone defend me before.”
“Hey, no need to thank us. We don’t tolerate bullies. Take care of yourself and we’ll see you here on Sunday,” I told her. We’d start them out on a night when the crowd was at its lowest. They’d been told to come with a routine ready as well as costumes.
“Here, this is my number. Call me later, and we’ll get together to work on your dance and costume. Let me walk you out. Boss, you done with her?” Dusty asked me.
“We are.”
“Drive safely, Aubrielle,” Astrid told her. The others murmured goodbyes.
When they were gone, Astrid faced everyone. “I don’t know about you, but I’m famished. Who would like to get some food? Babe, you have time before you have to start work, don’t you?” she asked me.
“I do have time. I could eat. Let’s do it.”
There were a few minutes of suggestions and debates before we settled on a place. We left as we came, as a family.