8
Sable
Sweat.
That was all I could smell as I kept my eyes closed when the music started. I shifted to the right, swayed to the left, throwing my arms high in the air as I let my feet carry me across the stage.
When I opened my eyes again, the faces of the people in the club swam in front of me. All I wanted to do was tune them out and perform. My head was in a really fucking weird place tonight.
I spent the day touring apartment buildings because Anthony was about to drive me insane. He was getting worse by the day. Probably an attempt to drive me out without directly having to kick me out of his place.
The first place I looked at, I loved. Like most areas, there was always a housing shortage, and instead of building new apartment complexes, they were converting a lot of old motels into these super cute studio and one-bedroom apartments.
While the cost was a little higher than I wanted to pay, the apartments came fully furnished, were close to the mall, and extremely close to the bus line. It was the ideal situation.
I’d felt really fucking good about the place until I’d sat down to fill out the application.
The whole thing was routine: asking about my rental history and employment.
When the application asked for the name of where I worked, I sat there chewing my lip for a moment and debated if I should lie.
Did they really call and verify if people worked at these places?
If I had paid the rent on time, did it really matter?
In the end, I’d chosen honesty.
The leasing consultant had been nice enough, all smiles the whole time I’d been there until she started reading through my application. I knew I was fucked the second her smile dropped as she was reading over everything.
It was so stupid that I had a perfect rental history.
I’d never been evicted or had a late payment, but it didn’t seem to matter.
They see the name of an infamous local strip club and you’re already marked as less than.
It was so stupid. Just because someone sold their body didn’t mean they were a bad person.
I was friendly. I paid my taxes on time.
Shit, I’d even volunteered at the damn soup kitchen a time or two.
That was mostly because I’d hated how people looked down on me and my mom when we’d been homeless.
I wanted to show that people could be nice, but that wasn’t the point.
Taking off your clothes for money didn’t mean trouble.
The woman had said they’d call me with a decision later. I knew what that meant. I’d never been told that before. It was always a yes or no.
Then there was the second place I looked at.
It was bigger than the first, in a much rougher part of town, and I’d have to get all my own furniture.
I’d gotten rid of all of mine when I’d moved in with Anthony.
I hated that I had to start all over again.
The good news was that at least it was less expensive and it was a roof over my head.
The leasing consultant had said I could move in within a week.
Maybe that was a sign. When things were meant to happen and all that…
At least I was getting out of Anthony’s place.
The sultry sound of Two Feet’s voice floated through the speaker system as the words for Love is a Bitch washed over me.
I knew that the songs to which I danced weren’t typical, but I just wanted something I could move to.
Anything with a jazzy sound was perfect for me, and the crowd never seemed unhappy when I finished.
I rolled my hips to the music, running my hands over my chest and into my hair, giving it a tug before falling to my knees.
Someone in the crowd whistled as I writhed on the stage.
Maybe it was weird to have a male dancer because there was only so much we were allowed to take off in front of the crowd, and the women at least could take off their tops, but me and the guys often just wore really skimpy shorts.
No one complained, but I wondered what would happen if I let the snaps come undone on the legs one day and let the material fall to the stage.
How would it feel to stand there and be fully exposed for everyone to see? Did I really want that?
The song ended, and the lights cut out. Catching my breath, I panted. I made my way backstage, exchanging with the next dancer, and getting ready to do my thing in the crowd. I still didn’t feel like I was in the right mindset to be around people, but I needed to do something.
At least I secured an apartment . It just wasn’t what I really wanted.
“You okay?” Justine asked as I walked back into the dressing room.
It sucked that people could see that I wasn’t myself. I gave her a weak smile, shrugging. “I got my own place today.”
A smile spread across her face as she bounced over to me, wrapping me in a tight hug. “That’s amazing! Why are you so down about it?”
I told her the story about the place I actually wanted.
Anger flashed in her eyes when I got to the part about being denied because of my profession.
She’d had it just as bad before she’d moved in with her boyfriend, maybe worse since she was a woman.
It was bullshit that women had so much more to prove.
“I’m so damn sorry, Sable. But at least you can get out of Anthony’s place.”
I scoffed. “He’s been a real piece of work lately. Always telling me what is and isn’t appropriate to wear. You’d think he knew nothing about me when we got together.”
Justine squeezed my arm, but then left me to get ready for her own performance.
It took me another few minutes to collect myself enough to head out into the crowd. With it being a busier night, I only hoped that no one wanted additional services.
My focus was laser-sharp as I headed directly to the bar. Victor was ready for me, but he was just as good at reading me as Justine was. When I went to take my martini glass from him, he pulled it back, forcing me to look up at him.
“What are you doing?” I asked as I tried to grab for the glass again, only for him to pull it farther away. It wasn’t funny, and I certainly wasn’t amused by his antics.
“Talk to me. What’s going on in your head?”
I rolled my eyes, reaching for the glass again, this time successfully taking it from Victor. “Why do you think something is wrong?”
Victor raised an eyebrow before looking up and down the bar to make sure no one else needed help.
“I mean, come on. You’re always sinful as fuck up there on the stage, but tonight? You seemed like you were somewhere else completely. Your body was present, but your mind was wandering.”
I chewed on my lower lip, focusing on the pain of my teeth digging into the flesh instead of what Victor was implying.
This was my job, if people could tell that my heart wasn’t in it I was in a world of trouble.
It would make an impact on my tips and with moving into my own place... I needed all the money I could get.
“Sable?”
I looked up at Victor again, my shoulders sagging in defeat. “Today just didn’t go how I wanted it to go.”
He nodded, then cast another glance down the bar.
“What if I told you there was something here that could make today better?”
I snorted a laugh, taking a drink of my martini, waiting for him to tell me what he saw.
“Take a look down the bar. Someone you talked to recently just took a seat.”
Any other time, that would have made me excited, but I was still on edge from the creep over a week ago.
Besides all of that, I never let the same client pay for me twice.
This job was about selling sex, I understood that, but I was always worried that even if people were paying for me that they’d become attached.
My anxiety spiked, my heart pounding a little faster like I’d just gotten done dancing instead of standing, talking to my friend for a few minutes, but I looked down the bar and relaxed. It was the attractive man who had asked about me after the stupid creeper.
I still felt bad for maybe pushing a little too hard last time. People came into places like this for all sorts of reasons. Just because this was his third time here, that I recall, didn’t mean he was in the market to sleep with someone. The ring on his finger told a story.
But seeing him did put a smile on my face.
I took another sip of my martini before realizing that it was empty.
My smile vanished as I looked back at Victor.
He laughed as he poured me another one and handed me a bottle of beer as well.
I recognized it as the brand the man had been drinking the last time he was in.
“What’s this for?”
Victor shrugged. “He hasn’t ordered yet, but he’s gotten it twice. Safe bet that it’s what he wants.”
I nodded before taking a deep breath, walking toward the beautiful stranger.
This wasn’t like me. While I liked to flirt, I didn’t actively pursue people.
I waited for them to flag me down or show interest, but this guy had shown interest. At least he had before, and I’d chased him away by being too aggressive.
He sat with his back to the crowd, a baseball cap perched backward on his head. What the hell was it about the backward baseball cap that made your mouth water? But I needed to stop standing there and staring at him because his beer was going to get warm. No one liked warm beer.
It was just... gross.
I cleared my throat in an attempt to get his attention. It didn’t work. He only leaned further over the bar as if he were looking for Victor to come and take his order. You silly, silly man. I have your drink right here.
This time, I cleared my throat even louder—that seemed to do the trick. He turned to look at me, his eyes widening when he realized it was me.
“Uh, hi?” It came across as a question, but I didn’t want to let it show that it bothered me.
“Hey, you. Victor saw you come in, asked me to bring you this.” I held the open bottle of beer by the neck, allowing it to dangle between my pointer and middle finger.
It started to slide, the guy just sat there and stared at it.
If he kept doing that, I was bound to drop it.
Maybe this was a stupid idea. I shouldn’t have come over here to bring him the drink.
I shouldn’t have let Victor talk me into it.
Finally, he moved. Taking the bottle from me right before it slid from my hold, smashing to the ground.
“Thank you. Or should I be thanking Victor?”
I gave him a sly smirk. The stool next to him was empty. I nodded to it, asking if it was okay to sit. He looked nervous, shifting in his seat and looking around the room before he nodded and motioned to the seat, giving me permission.
“You can thank both of us?” I laughed, not really sure how to answer him.