Page 6 of Stained
“She wanted a hostess to keep her company. Is that not part of my job?”
“Listen…” Susan brought Alicia halfway down the stairs and lowered her voice. “Do not attempt to please that woman on your own. Do you understand?”
Not really, but what was Alicia supposed to say? “I understand. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Susan’s face immediately softened. “I’m not mad at you. You simply must understand that it’s not a good idea to hang aroundthe guests like that – especially the owner – until you’ve gotten your feet wet. There are many subtleties here. One false step and you riskeverything.”
She never expanded upon that. Instead, Susan insisted that they get back to their work. Guests would continue to arrive until around midnight, when people were more likely to leave. Sure enough, midnight rolled around, and their jobs greeting guests were, for the most part, over. What the next two hours would be dedicated to was checking up on the guests still there… and the most unpleasant aspect of the job. Namely, cleaning the private rooms.
Over the course of that night, Alicia helped Susan clean three rooms, each one more disgusting than the last. When she wasn’t avoiding bodily fluids, she was pulling plastic sheets off beds and disinfecting the tools of the BDSM trade. Susan warned her that it often looked like a sexual war zone in these rooms over the weekend. Thursday was nothing. Thursday was just people getting off.
Susan did most of the dirtier work while Alicia checked for alcohol stains and kept the cleaning supplies organized. By one in the morning, however, the club was mostly dead. The rooms were totally empty once a Chinese diplomat escaped with his new American friend.
“I desperately need to take a break,” Susan said after the cleaning. “Be a dear and tidy up some of the VIP rooms over there? I have no idea what might have happened in them, but it’s nothing you can’t handle by now. If it’s really a dilemma, come find me in the break room.”
Alicia took the cleaning supplies to the first of three VIP rooms to have been occupied that night. Sure enough, the usual suspects emerged. Trash?Ha! I wish it were just trash!Napkins were joined by condom wrappers and other napkins covered in… she did not want to know.Ew.
Fatigue caught up to her after the second room. Music thrummed in the club proper, but back here it was a bit quieter… peaceful, really. Low lights. Black lights. Comfortable seating. Alicia thought about taking a break herself, but she would be out of there soon enough. She could wait to sit down on a comfy sofa until she got home. With any luck, Candice would still be up and they could watchFriends.
The final room wasn’t that dirty. Certainly nothing disgusting, unless one counted snot-covered tissue.By now, that’s awesome.To be on the safe side, Alicia sprayed down the stripper pole as she did in every room, picking up a clean washcloth to wipe it.
Once she finished, she let her hand linger on the pole and took one quick swing. Alicia wasn’t athletic enough to do anything more than a couple with her feet still planted on the ground, but she giggled at the sudden rush it gave her.
“Having fun?”
Alicia tripped at the sound of that deep voice. “Oh! I’m… sorry, ma’am.”
She stood up with a start, hands clear of the pole. There, standing in front of the closed door, was Ms. Moreau, still bedecked in a perfectly tailored outfit and smelling of that flowery aroma that somehow made her more commanding. It’s that damned jasmine. Forever and ever that damned fucking jasmine!
“No worries. You know what they say about all work and no play.”
Should she nod? Feign ignorance? Did this count as a big dilemma? How should Alicia announce it?
Was Ms. Moreau coming closer? She was coming closer.Fuck. What do I do?Alicia struggled to maintain a poker face. Hard to do when one of the richest women in the world was slowly advancing on her. Moreau stayed a good distance away, butshe had such a commanding presence that she was the one swallowing the room whole, not the other way around.She’s like a black hole, isn’t she?Soon enough, Alicia would be pulled into the inferno that was Danica’s bright eyes.
Danica crossed the room, slowly, keeping a respectful distance between herself and Alicia as she approached a long cupboard. She gestured to the keyhole. “Mind opening this for me? Unfortunately, I don’t carry that same ring of keys you have, even though I own this place.”
Alicia pulled out her keys. Inside the closet was a collection of bottled drinks that waitresses could grab on the fly.We’re supposed to write down every time someone takes a drink.She looked at the small pad hanging by the door as she inserted the key. Danica leaned against the wall next to her, that perfume killing the senses.
“Thank you.” Her hand brushed against Alicia’s as she helped herself to a bottle of beer. The refrigeration inside the closet made Alicia shiver. “Here. Let me get that.” Danica picked up the pen dangling from the pad and marked her own acquisition. “Don’t want you getting in trouble your first day on the job because the owner made off with some complimentary beers.”
Alicia opened her mouth, but no words came out.Shit. What do I say to the boss?
Moreau popped the lid off the bottle and handed the whole thing to her. “Want some? You can have the first sip. You probably need it after a night like tonight.”
“No, thank you.” Alicia cleared her throat. Finally, she could speak again. “That’s kind of you, ma’am.”
Long lashes fluttered. “Not many people call me kind, that’s for sure.” She drank some of her beer before pushing herself off the wall. “You must not know much about me, Ms. Colbert.”
There was something special about the way she said her name. It wasn’t accented, but it was… emphatic.“Miss COL-bert.”Harsh at first, but tapering into an unheard softness. Alicia never thought much of her name before. It was there. It was hers, but it was also her parents’. Was Colbert that rare a name? No way. Alicia went to high school with another Colbert, and they occasionally tried to figure out if they were related. Going back three generations, however, never brought up any genetic crossovers.
Maybe it was rare. Danica certainly made it sound exotic.
“You’re right, I don’t know much about you, ma’am.” She had heard of her in the news. The general media. Danica wasn’t a household name, but she owned enough property in the area to be spoken of in business articles. Personally, though? Alicia had only vaguely heard of Danica Moreau. Not until she got this job had she considered an actual person behind the name.
Danica leaned in closer. For someone who had taken more than a few sips of beer so far, no one could smell it on her breath.That’s how close she’s standing. I can smell her breath!“May I warn you, Ms. Colbert…” Shivers tore through her. What? What was that about? “That your coworkers have been warning you about me all night.”
Alicia tilted her head, the cabinet finally locking behind her. It was true. Susan was dedicated to keeping Alicia away from Ms. Moreau in such an intimate way.Wait. Was this intimate? Surely, it wasn’t that special…
