Page 8 of Triplet Tease

Peter, more or less, ruined my life by leavingme drowning in shit creek. He’d let me down big time when Ibelieved we were in it together, and that we loved each other. Wewere Siena and Pete, carving our way through the world.

We’d settled in a small town, gotten jobs,and worked all hours to save enough for a down payment on a house. Itwasn’t anything special. The tiny property in need of modernizationwasn’t in the best part of town. Nevertheless, everything I hadwent into it, and I’d been doing it up with my own bare hands.

While I believed we were building somethingtogether, he was tearing it down by secretly building up debts fasterthan our combined income. Peter took out loans in my name that I knewnothing about, and I never saw one cent of it. What he did with themoney, I don’t know. When I found out about it, he was long gone.It was what happened to other women, and I’d become one of thoseother women. I’d probably never trust a man again.

Before setting off to work, I ate a light meal.Whereas I’d usually pile on the calories to keep me going through along shift, those stirring butterflies kept me from eating my fill.

I arrived at the Lime Light a little early forwork. After entering through the open door and nodding a greeting toSean, the sole security guy who stood just inside, I went to thelocker room to change my clothes and stash my stuff. A few minuteslater, dressed in my work uniform of a black tee and black shorts, Iwent to lurk in a corner behind the bar.

To my surprise, Gill was already behind the barwhen I got there. She stood in the corner that I was aiming for,which wasn’t like her. If she were behind the bar, she’d bechipping in by serving drinks or cleaning up. Getting her hands dirtyand doing a little bit of everything made her a great manager. Shedidn’t ask anyone to do something that she hadn’t done herself.She knew every job in the building.

“Are you hiding from someone?” I asked.

“No. Just taking a few minutes break andwatching the new dancers. If I step nearer to the bar, someone willwant to talk to me.” She didn’t look at me but kept her eyesfixed ahead, watching the show.

“Sorry. Hint taken.” I turned and squeezedinto the space next to her. There was no need for me to rush out tothe tables with the tray in my hand, as my shift didn’t start for afew more minutes.

With long ebony black hair reaching to thefloor, Megan hung from the pole as if her knees were glued to it. Ihad no idea how she did that. Her expressionless face gave away noclue as to what she thought about as she did the elegant gymnastics.It wasn’t clear whether Megan enjoyed her pole dancing or not.

“You don’t have to do acrobatics. You canlearn to use the pole if you want to, but it is not essential.”Gill must have read my mind. “Look at Crystal out there, she neveruses the pole.”

With blonde curly hair scrunched up atop herhead and a big smile on her face, Crystal’s performance was a starkcontrast to the woman working the pole. She danced as if she were inher bedroom with plenty of space to move about to her all-timefavorite music, and looked like she enjoyed every minute of it.

From my position, I watched Megan with the samefascination as the people in the audience as if she was a circus act;I wondered how she did the things she did. When I looked at Crystal,I wanted to get up and dance with her. She looked like she was havingfun and wanted to share it. Both of them had worked at the Lime Lightfor a while, proving there was room for many performance types at astrip club.

Two new girls were dancing closer to the bar. Ididn’t recognize them, but I’d seen their names on the list inthe locker room, Scarlet and Jazz. They each had their own uniqueways of moving to the music and connecting with the crowd. They mightbe new to the Lime Light, but they appeared experienced; they must’vedanced somewhere else before.

“You’ll find a place for yourself up there,Siena,” Gill whispered encouragingly. “Do give it some thought.”

“I already have, and I’ll do it. If youneed more dancers, count me in,” I stated decisively.

“I always need new dancers. Do you want tostart tomorrow night?”

“Uh, y-yeah,” I stammered. Might as wellstart before I had time to worry about it or get out of it. “Won’tyou need time to find a replacement waitress?”

“Don’t worry about the bar staff. If youhave time to get some costumes, you can start tomorrow night. I’llput you down to leave early tonight so you can get to bed early andhave time to sort yourself out.”

“You want me to start soon as that, before Ichange my mind?”

“I don’t mind whether or not you do it, butI know you want the money, and this is the opportunity to turn yourlife around. Also, I’ll give you my number one top tip fornothing.”

“What’s that?”

“Bring a variety of comfortable shoes. Sexybut comfortable.”

“Right. Comfortable footwear. Got it.”

“And sexy, don’t forget sexy. You can wearwalking boots so long as they go with your sexy hiking outfit, knowwhat I mean?”

I nodded, but she wasn’t looking at me; shecontinued to look at the new dancers.

“You’re right,” I said. “Thanks.”

“Don’t work so hard tonight — let theother girls worry about the tables and the tips. You’ll more thanmake up for it as a stripper, so watch what the dancers are doingevery chance you get. You need to learn how to do that job in thenext few hours.”

Gill took a massive chance when she handed thejob to me on a platter. I didn’t even have to audition. I owed itto her as well as myself to do my very best. “I’ll tell Francescathat you’ll be leaving early.” Gill glanced at me and smiledbefore moving to speak to the chief of bar staff.

I watched the women in conversation for amoment or two before picking up a tray to start work.

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