Page 54 of Alone

“You knew about this event last month?” I ask, also shouting over the music.

“Sort of,” he admits. “We were holding onto it in hopes that you’d make something of yourself.”

He bumps me playfully with his hip and we make our way into the large room.

It’s set up almost identical to our club, but there is no hallway leading toward a changing room. Probably because this place wasn’t actually meant to host a group of strippers.

Then, I see her.

Geani.

“Fuck,” I hiss, glaring at her.

“She won’t be a problem,” Tommy says, gripping my arm tighter. “Don’t worry.”

I look at him, shocked that he knows about the issues between me and Geani. Especially since he always seemed to side with her instead of me. I bet she told him something else about me.

Cunt.

Tommy leads us up to a long table in the front and I notice Megan, Amanda, and Leeah filing in behind us. We all take our seats after the men pull out the chairs for us, and Tommy waves a finger, causing someone to bring over a tray of drinks.

“Tonight is all about you ladies,” he says as the drinks are served to us. “Enjoy it.”

We spend a few minutes sipping at our fruity flavored drinks and looking around at the sparkling lights. It’s super nice here. Definitely a step up from our club, though I’d never say that to Tommy.

“What exactly are we supposed to do here?” I ask. “There’s no stage or anything.”

“It’s a pop-up stage,” Megan says. “They’ll clear out the tables in the front and expect us to be comfortable on a pole that isn’t tethered to the floor or the ceiling.”

“Fantastic,” I say. “Not worrisome at all.”

“You’ll most likely be doing the majority of the VIP rooms,” Leeah says to me. “So don’t worry your pretty little head too much.”

“I can do a VIP room with one of you girls too,” I offer. “It’ll be fun. Double the duty and split the cash.”

Their eyes all light up and they clink their glasses to mine in a toast.

Tommy rushes over to our table and looks at me. “I hope you’re ready for this,” he says. “We’ve already had two people request VIP rooms with you. And one of them is the biggest name in town.”

I swallow hard, feeling my throat go completely dry. “What?” is all I can manage to say. I wasn’t expecting things to take off so quickly. Part of me was hoping I could get a little tipsy before I had to entertain anyone.

Though I’m guessing the thousand foot poster with my bare ass on it has people wanting the best of the best.

Tommy nods and smiles as though he’s so proud of me all of a sudden. “Give the people what they want!”

“Alright,” I say, trying to pass it off as though I’m ready for this. Put my cocky face on. Strut my stuff.

I’ve got this.

“Oh,” he begins again. “But your first client is going to be Geani’s. She said she’s not feeling well and blew him off. So you’re all his.”

“I just saw her though,” I say, squinting at Tommy in confusion.

“Yeah,” he groans. “Then she scurried off to the bathrooms and that’s when I got the text.”

Ugh. Fantastic.

I roll my eyes at Geani passing off her hand-me-downs. I look at my friends once Tommy leaves to go get my first client. “I don’t think I’m ready for all this.”

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