Chapter Two
Charley
Everyone is looking at me. It might not have been the best idea, but it stopped the fighting. I can’t stand fighting, and seeing women tearing at each other like that just brings back bad memories. It wasn’t really a conscious thought to break a bottle, but I needed it to stop.
And the two bikers trying were doing a really bad job.
Only now I’m looking down at the mess and the label on the bottle. Oh God, this is going to come out of my pay. And that is a huge chunk of change.
I’ve dropped enough trays over the last week, I’m surprised they haven’t already fired me. Ellie has been good about it, though another waitress has been helping me practice. She doesn’t look as easygoing now. Hopefully, that has more to do with Stella starting a fight.
The interruption has given Beast and his friend opportunity to break up the fight and separate the girls. He has pushed Stella into the booth and is guarding her from getting up.
The other guy, the cute one who throws out winks like dollar bills, is watching me with a frown. He’s probably pissed about the champagne too. My gaze goes back to Stella, there is blood on her face where Lily has raked her nails down it.
The fight has been brewing for a while. Ellie was trying to handle it, guess Stella lost her faculties for a minute if she tried to hit Ellie.
I’ve only known Ellie for five days, but I already like her. She’s been nice to me, even if she’s still refusing to let me dance. Which is why I came here in the first place.
I’m lucky to have the job they gave me. If they hadn’t, my next stop was the club a few blocks over. I did my research, and although Elegance was my first choice, I was fully expecting to be refused a job here. The thought of dancing at a place called Fantasy Island made my skin crawl.
But I need money, and as much as I hate the thought of it, dancing at a place like this is a way to make it fast and easy.
If taking your clothes off in front of a room full of strangers is easy.
I’m still working up to it, which is crazy given I came here planning to do just that. Part of me is glad Beast won’t let me dance.
I’m twenty years and nine months old, and he still refuses to let me dance. He really doesn’t live up to that name. At least, from what I’ve seen of him, and the other girls all rave about how great he is.
Given he hasn’t come over here and yelled at me or fired me for smashing that bottle, I have to agree.
There is still time. He needs to sort out Stella and Lily first.
Max comes out from behind the bar with a brush and shovel set. I take it from him, even though he offers to brush up the glass for me. This was on me, so I thank him but get on with it, he brings a garbage can out for me to dispose of the glass, then a mop and bucket to wipe up the alcohol.
Some of it got on my legs, and my shoes are soaked. They're the only pair of sneakers I have until payday. I’ve asked Ellie for an advance, she said I need to get through seven days before they consider it. Almost there.
If I don’t get fired.
Like Stella just did. Ellie was going to do it anyway, but it’s come from Beast, and she’s not going to swing on him.
In the back of my mind, a small kernel of hope starts to build. They’re down a dancer for tonight. It’s too soon to go ask, right?
The hot biker escorts Stella back to the dressing room to get her things. Ellie is talking to Lily and doesn’t look happy about it, but she rubs her arm at the end of their chat. I’m glad she didn’t get fired too. I like Lily. Some of the other dancers haven’t been as welcoming.
They think I’m entitled because I wasn’t turned away when they said I couldn’t dance. Beast gave me a server job. I’m not like that, it’s not annoyance that I’m not getting what I want. It’s disappointment and frustration.
The place I’m staying is loud, cramped and I barely get enough sleep, it was all I could afford when I got to Baltimore.
Luckily, I have access to this place early, so can sneak in for a shower before the others arrive for their shift.
It’s been a long hard road getting here and I’m not out of the woods yet but for the first time, I feel like I’ve landed somewhere that is going to get me out of that apartment and into my own place, somewhere safe where I don’t have to barricade the door before I go to sleep.
“It was good that you wanted to stop them fighting, but maybe grab one of the cheap bottles next time,” Max says, taking the mop to wheel away from me.
“I’ll try to remember that,” I say with a sheepish shrug.
He’s been nice to me too. I genuinely do feel lucky to have got a job here. Once he’s gone and the other girls have gone in back, Ellie finishes up her talk with Beast and heads toward me. I wring my hands together behind my back, trying not to show any fear.
Ellie doesn’t really appreciate anything but straightforwardness. She is no-nonsense, fair but easily irritated if someone is being dumb. I straighten my back and try to look like I’m not desperate. It’s a look I’ve perfected recently.
She leans against the bar and looks where there are still a couple of upturned chairs. Beast is setting them straight, the rest of the girls have gone in back. The other hot biker is back there too. Probably getting a blow job.
Oh, I heard him make that comment the other night. Foolishly, it was the reason I tripped and dropped the tray, up until that point, I’d had no mishaps that night.
“Floor is still sticky,” She taps it with the toe of her expensive shoes a few times.
“I’ll get the mop and do it again,” I tell her.
She blows out a heavy sigh and looks at me. Here it comes. There will be no tears. I’m not crying in front of anyone ever again. That can come when I get back to my shitty room where no one will hear me over the thumping music at all hours of the night.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she says, tilting her head to study me. “There is an empty slot for a dancer.”
Well, I did think about that earlier, but not that she was going to raise it now.
“Beast won’t let you take it. He’s made that clear.
And it’s not just about our rules, Charley.
It’s state mandates for anyone performing in a club like this.
You have to be twenty-one. He won’t do anything to bring down sanctions or fines on Elegance.
Before you ask, yes, you’re not old enough to drink alcohol, but he has ways around you serving it, so that isn’t the same thing. ”
“That’s fair.”
“However, I have watched you practice. You’re very good at dancing.
Don’t look too excited,” she cuts off what I was about to say.
“Being a dancer and being a stripper are two different things. I know Beast makes everyone refer to us as dancers, but that is because he’s too polite to call us what we are. ”
“If you think I won’t be able to do it-”
“It’s not that I think you won’t be able to.
I know you won’t. I’m going to assume you’re not a virgin?
” A shake of my head answers that intrusive question.
“So someone at least has seen your tits.
In an intimate setting, that is all fine and dandy, but shaking them around on a stage, with men leering at you, is the total opposite.
“When you start out at Elegance, you do a couple of sets three times a week. You don’t get to give private dances until you’ve been here a year. Anything that goes on outside of that is done on your own time,” she gives me a pointed look.
And it’s timely that she mentioned it, because the hot guy has come back into the room and gone to talk to Beast.
I’m still not sure she isn’t going to fire me, but I don’t think she would stand here telling me all of this just to ask me to leave.
There is no point arguing with her about whether I’d be a good stripper versus a dancer. The thought of it does terrify me, the problem is, I’ve had it in my head for over a year now that it is what I need to do to get where I want to be.
Dammit, I’m going to end up being a waitress. Unless I can prove myself. Well, I’m nothing if not determined.
“I’ve seen girls come and go over the years,” Ellie continues, her eye on Beast. “Some good, some terrible, some far better than this place.”
“Which one do I fall under?”
“Not sure yet. It’s not terrible at least,” she lets out another sigh. “You have what? Four months until you’re legally able to dance?”
“I’ll be twenty-one in December.”
“Hmm,” she fixes her hair and eyes me. “I’m going to give you the key to one of the back rooms. You can only use it out of hours and when there is someone else here to keep an eye on things.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask if she is serious but that sounds like something a kid would say, so I nod instead, trying to look as if this is something I am very grateful for, rather than jumping up down and thanking her. Ellie wouldn’t appreciate that.
“When you think you’re ready, Beast and I will watch you.”
That draws me up short. It’s more that he’s my boss rather than a man watching.
Ellie gives me a sad smile.
“It’s fine. I can do it,” I cut off anything she was going to say.
“We’ll see. Get the mop and clean this again, we don’t want anyone wearing two hundred dollar shoes feeling like they’re in a college bar tonight.”
Not even the thought of cleaning up can dull the excitement. I’m going to prove her wrong, and that she is right to put her faith in me.
After another long shift serving drinks to rich men and the occasional miserable looking woman, I head to the dressing rooms to change out of my uniform, if you could call it that.
It’s one way to get used to people staring at my body. My ass practically hangs out the bottom of the shorts, and the apron does nothing to keep my boobs under control.
It’s not exactly against the rules, but I have little satin covers over my nipples. To keep them from poking through the fabric if I get cold, not because I’m scared of anyone seeing them.