Page 27 of Seven Princes: A Very Dirty Fairtytale

Claudia shook her head in amusement. “Seriously, though. What’s this for, Chas?”

“One of the patrons just kept tossing them at me and hollering as if I were some kind of circus animal. I barely tossed a glance his way, but I figured I’d get something out of it.”

Claudia raised an eyebrow. “He just tossed a bunch of one hundred dollar bills at you?”

“I’m pretty sure he even asked if I’d marry him.”

“What a romantic proposal. Very well thought out,” Claudia mentioned sarcastically as she handed Chastity the money back. “Well, as much as I appreciate being in on this whole plan of yours to seize the opportunity whatever it might be, I think I’ll pass.”

Chastity frowned. “Come on, Clo. You work too hard, and you’re not even having any fun. I know you enjoy being on that stage because you used to dance back in college, but you hate the way those men fawn all over you. At least the rest of us have something going for us.”

“I’ve got stuff going for me,” Claudia said defensively as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Books and drooling over fictional character do not fall under the category of going for you.”

A laugh escaped Claudia’s lips, unbidden. “Touché. However, I wasn’t just talking about that. You know that I’ve been saving up to get out of here. Someday, I’m going to do just that.”

“Yeah, you’ve been saying that for 3 years now, Clo. Sometimes, I can’t figure out if you’re hiding from something you want, or running away from something you’re afraid to want.”

Claudia let her hands fall to her sides, knowing that you couldn’t really get anything past Chastity. She was very shrewd and analytical. “Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters, sweetie.” Chastity eyed her sympathetically. “It’s not a crime to want to be happy, to strive for it, to even go after it on occasion. We are human after all.”

“I know,” Claudia said quietly as she stared at a fixed point on the wall. “It’s just not that simple for me. You know that.”

“I know that you wish you could change the past, but none of us really can. All we can do is make the best of the hand we’ve been dealt, and if we’re lucky enough, be able to change our stars.”

Claudia gave her a small smile. “If only we could. I don’t know, Chas. I used to believe that. Now, I just keep my head low, and hope life doesn’t throw any punches my way that I can’t handle.”

Chastity leaned over to get a hug and squeezed tight. “If life starts punching you, punch back. I know you’re made of sterner stuff.”

She pulled back and gave Claudia a wink. “Besides, with that ass.”

Chastity pretended to wolf whistle. Claudia smirked and did a little twirl. “Think it’ll make them fall on their knees?”

“Girl, they won’t even know what hit them,” Chastity replied, as an ear splitting grin made its way to her face.

“And that’s my cue to get going. Everyone’s meeting up afterward for dinner at Charlie’s, right?”

“You got it. I’ll see you there, Clo.”

Claudia sighed as she dragged herself towards the costume room and wondered what kind of outfit they’d put her in today. They pretty much came up with the weirdest outfits sometimes. On rare occasions, there were themes here and there. Sometimes racy themes, sometimes geeky, but almost always skimpy.

They rarely went for the classy approach unless it was someone they knew could pull it off. Tonight, much to her surprise, they put her in something classy. It was a figure hugging gold colored dress that fit her like a glove.

It had a plunging V-neck, and it was a little bit above her knees. It was definitely made to show off. The fabric was so soft, Claudia couldn’t help touching every few minutes after they put it on her.

She was a bit nervous going on stage dressed like that, but she took a deep breath, steadied her breathing and went onto the stage.

As soon as she stepped onto the stage, the lights were dimmed, and all the lights in the club went off. A single spotlight shone on her, and she waited for the music to begin. After anxiously awaiting her track, Claudia caught the eye of the stage manager back stage who was frantically waving at her.

She managed to read his lips and find out that there was a technical difficulty that they were working on getting solved. Claudia knew that she could either let this moment get to her, and it could affect the whole show, or she could smile and wing it like a pro.

She counted backwards from ten in her head until she felt a sense of calm radiate throughout her body and calm her erratic heartbeat. She began to laugh and joke with some of the patrons until some of the confused looks on their faces dissipated, and they began to believe that this was actually part of the plan. That she was doing some sort of routine act that would be followed by music.

They had no idea she thought sardonically to herself as she continued the ruse. Thankfully, the music came back in, and she got back into what she was doing, but not before she caught Archer Paisley’s eye.

He was sitting close to the front, and he was keeping a close watch on her, but that wasn’t what caught her eye. What caught her eye is the fact that he seemed to be completely aware of the glitch that had occurred. He was watching her with an amused smirk tugging on the corner of his lips, his eyes sparkling mischievously, and his arms crossed over his chest in a nonchalant manner as if he dared her to say or do anything that he couldn’t predict.

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