Page 24 of Sharkbait
“The best guy!” Calliope corrects.
“He’s fine, I guess,” I mumble.
Geez. Leave it to me to choose the one guy on the planet who is incapable of a one-night stand. All I wanted was one night to be reckless and fun with no strings attached.
But this guy seems determined to get to know me.
“And we’re hiring strippers for his birthday?” James asks.
“No,” I correct and point at myself and the girls. “Weare not hiring strippers.”
“Alright, people.” Calliope gets her stern voice on. “Let’s get one thing straight. There is a big difference between stripping and burlesque-ing.”
“Ooooooh, burlesque-ing.” Mabel shudders again and claps her hands.
“Mabel. Are you going to do the shudder thing every time I say the word burlesque?” Calliope scolds.
“No. No, I’m not. Sorry.”
Calliope continues, “Not that there is anything wrong with stripping, of course, they’re just two very different practices. Louise, are you familiar with burlesque?”
“Yeah. It’s a variety show, typically involving a striptease. It’s usually comic in nature and seeks to make social commentary of some kind through parody and exaggeration.”
“Exactly!”
“Whoa,” James cocks his head at me.
“Oh yeah,” Calliope says, “Lou here knows all the things. FYI, if you’re ever doing a trivia night at the bar, you want this woman on your team.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” James smiles.
I stare down into my drink.
Calliope slaps her hands on the counter. “Alright, that’s settled. Burlesque it is! Comedy and nudity are two of Ralph’s favorite things, so it’s perfect.”
“He’s an astronomer,” I remind her. “Isn’t astronomy one of his favorite things?”
“True. Ooh, I wonder if there are any outer space-inspired troupes out there! Imma research!”
Calliope starts scrolling on her phone.
“You know, my college offered an Intro to Burlesque class,” Mabel says between sips of her drink. “And I have to say, now that I’m a nudist, I’m kicking myself for never taking that course.”
“Colleges offer burlesque classes?” I ask.
“Sure! Didn’t yours?”
“I don’t know. I stayed focused on what would make me a marine biologist. Didn’t do many extracurriculars.”
“Well, it’s good to be well-rounded. That’s what I keep telling Chloe. Now that she’s a junior, we’ve started looking at schools for her, and let me tell you, the smorgasbord of studies out there these days is just wild! Did you know NYU has a Taylor Swift course?”
We collectively shake our heads.
“It’s true!”
Chloe is Mabel’s teenage half sister. She just found out about her a few months ago. But because she’s Mabel and wonderful, she dived headfirst into building an awesome relationship with her.
“Ah! This troupe looks perfect!” Calliope squeals. “I’m sending them a message.”
