Page 58 of Neverland

She shrugged. “Keep your blouse on for all I care. At least you’d still be helping.”

“She can’t,” Franco interjected. “These men have paid for entertainment. If they wanted a fully clothed waitress they’d go to a pub.” He turned his focus to me… well, my breasts. “Take your top off.”

“What?”

“Lucy, right now I have two staff members not doing their jobs. I don’t have time for childishness. Take your top off.”

Childishness was right. I still was a child. A few months shy of sixteen. I had Janice, my neighbor, show me how to make me look twenty-one with a few simple hair and make-up tricks. I’d forged my ID and no one had ever questioned me. Forging my ID and passing myself off as twenty-one was one thing, becoming a topless waitress in a venue where clients could feel me up when I wasn’t yet sixteen, was an entirely different story. A story I wanted no part of. But then Gerald’s face appeared before me. I owed three weeks rent and this could be my only option in attaining it.

“I’ll do it.”

“Great, take your top off and—”

“But only on one condition.”

Franco’s jaw twitched, and he finally lowered his iPad. “Yes?”

“I need you to pay me for the last three weeks. My rent is overdue and I’m about to be evicted.”

He considered my proposal. “Fine. See me at the end of the night. Now, for fuck’s sake, take your top and bra off and get out there before the asshole demands a refund.”

Katie disappeared through the curtains, but Franco remained, his eyes still on me. “Can I have some privacy?” I knew he was about to see me partially naked, but taking my clothes off with him watching just didn’t sit easy with me.

“You want that money, take it off.”

He wasn’t going anywhere.

Swallowing my pride, I unbuttoned my white blouse and pulled it over my arms. Franco continued watching but it had gone beyond the deal he’d made. Reaching behind my back, I unclasped my bra and again pulled it over my arms. Franco’s lips parted when he saw my bare breasts. I shifted awkwardly, trying to cover myself until I realized how ridiculous I was behaving. He’d see me throughout the night with my hands full and there’d be nothing I could do to stop him looking.

“What a shame you’ve been hiding those beauties for so long.” He licked his lips. “Katie’s about to lose a good chunk of her tips.”

~~~

The men in The Boardroom were gentlemen compared to Franco. I felt safer moving half-naked between thirty of them than I did being out the back with just one. I’d collected a good portion of tips and by the end of the night, with my three weeks’ pay included, I could even afford to pay another month’s rent in advance.

Katie finished counting her tips and slipped on a sweater. “I’m outta here, bitches,” she said while walking out the door.

Franco was doing a stocktake below the bar when I approached. “So, um… can I have my pay now? I need to get home before midnight.”

He laughed while counting the bottles of whiskey. “Why? Will you turn into a pumpkin?”

“No, my landlord needs it before he changes the locks on me.”

Franco shuffled to the side. “Come here and help me for a second.”

I gritted my teeth. I only had an hour to get home and he was chipping into that time. Relenting, I crouched down next to him. “What do you want me to—”

His hand covered my mouth, his body tackling mine to the floor. It had happened so quickly, it took a good moment before I gathered my senses. I screamed even though it sounded muffled, but I was desperate for this not to become my fate for the night. It seemed like I was constantly fighting for survival. I bucked underneath him even though he surrounded me, but he didn’t budge. His mouth clamped over my breasts, biting hard on the nipple. I felt the tears slip down my temples when I squeezed my eyes against the pain. His hard-on pressed between my legs and I feared I wouldn’t make it out intact. When his mouth moved to mine and he kissed me hard it was wet, sloppy, and repulsive, just how I expected it to be coming from Franco. I took the liberty of biting his bottom lip, tasting blood almost immediately and he released a high-pitched mewl before landing a brutal punch to my side. His fist connected with my ribs, leaving me winded and gasping for breath.

I rolled to the side and he rose to his feet, fingers gently touching his lip.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” There was something about his tone that even through my wheezing I could tell only spelled trouble for me. It was the same tone used by both my father and Uncle Brian before him.

Franco threw my blouse and bra at me, a cruel show of his dismissal and something worse. “Get the fuck outta here. And you can forget about your three weeks’ pay and tonight’s tips.

On my feet facing off to him and holding my clothes against my chest, I felt waves of both humiliation and anger. “You can’t do that!”

Franco scoffed while opening my bag and pulling the notes free. “Watch me.” And that’s all I could do as he stuffed them into his pocket.

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