Page 36 of Sins of a King
“I’ve already answered that,” I evaded.
“Uh, no you haven’t.”
“Huh, I swore I already told everyone why I was here.”
She looked at me and waited, and there was no getting out of it. I sighed. “Just wanted to try something new.”
“What did you do before?”
“I worked in the history department at Columbia.”
“Scholar, huh?”
“Something like that.”
“If you want to try something new, you should think about performing.”
“Performing what?”
“Burlesque.” She smiled. “It’s super fun.”
“No. I’d be too nervous,” I said automatically. But that didn’t really feel true. A part of me was intrigued, this new part of me I was discovering ever since I’d been thrown into Flynn Campbell’s orbit.
“What if,” she began, “I taught you. In private. No one will know until you’re comfortable and ready to perform in public.”
“Why? Why would you do that?”
“Because I think you’d be good at it. Give it a shot.”
I smiled. “Okay. Thanks.”
Lacey walked into the dressing room, looking sharp and assessing. “Staff meeting in twenty minutes.”
“About what?” Alia demanded.
“About things,” Lacey said.
“That explains nothing,” Alia said to me.
I shrugged. “All will be revealed in twenty minutes, I guess.”
We finished our hair and makeup, but waited to change into our costumes until after the meeting. Heading out of the dressing room, we chatted with the other dancers and cocktail waitresses including those that weren’t working that night but had come for the meeting. We sat down at a cluster of tables and waited for Lacey to speak.
“Where’s Chelsea?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I haven’t seen her.”
Lacey frowned. “She’s supposed to work tonight. Has anyone spoken to her?”
All of us shook our heads.
“I’ll give her a call after,” Lacey said. “So, the reason for this meeting is because I want to discuss what happened the other night in the club when Alia was pulled off the stage by a man in the audience.”
There were whispers of shock from those that hadn’t been to witness it first hand. I kept my eyes on Lacey who was composed and steadfast. She waited for the murmurs to die down before she went on. “The man was high. We’re not sure if he brought drugs into the club or if someone gave them to him while he was here. I’m asking you to please be on your guard and keep your eyes open.”
“If we see something suspicious, we should tell you, yeah?” Shawna voiced.
“Exactly. Okay, everyone, that’s it. Thanks for listening.”
