Deflation fills me. I can’t do this. Who am I kidding? “Thanks for the opportunity but—”
She cuts me off. “Come tonight. See how the club operates, meet some of the girls and then make up your mind.” She takes a credit card thing and swipes it through a machine. “This will get you through security.”
I fake a smile and take the card from her. “Thanks.” I am so not coming tonight. I stand. “Thanks for the opportunity, though.” I smile as I head toward the door.
“Ashley?” she calls.
I turn back to her.
“Take what you want from life. Make it work for you and not the other way round.”
My eyes hold hers and I feel like she can see into my soul.
“Just come and see,” she urges. “You have nothing to lose.”
I nod. “Okay. I’m just looking, though.”
She smiles and shakes my hand. “See you tonight.”
I sip my Coke as I sit at the table in the restaurant with Owie and Jenna. My mind has been in overdrive since my job interview this morning. Owen is playing on his iPad and Jenna is sipping her wine.
She looks around excitedly. “I love LA. So many gorgeous men everywhere.”
I smile and raise a brow. “Me, too.”
“You have been very quiet since your interview this morning. Tell me more about it…” she asks. I haven’t had a moment alone with her since I went this morning. Owen has been in ear’s distance the whole time.
I blow out a breath and start to stab the ice in my glass with my straw. “It was okay.”
“And…?”
I frown and gesture to Owie. She shuffles around in her bag and pulls out some coins. “Owie, can you go and try and win us some chocolates from the vending machine in the kids play area?”
Owen’s eyes light up in excitement as he snatches the coins from her and runs.
Jenna’s eyes fall to my face. “What happened?”
“Oh, Jenna, what a fucking disaster.”
“Why?” She frowns. “It sounded so good.”
“It… It was good.” I stammer. “Like two and a half thousand dollars a night good.”
“What?” She frowns. “Doing what?”
“Lap dancing.”
She smirks into her drink.
“Apparently, they are an exclusive gentlemen’s club and you get your own bouncer. The man aren’t allowed to touch you.”
She sips her drink as she listens.
“And the pay is two-hundred and twenty-five dollars an hour over a ten-hour shift.”
She frowns as if suddenly interested. “And you don’t have to touch them at all?”
I shrug as I stab my ice in my glass again. “Who knows? They probably make you fuck table legs.”
She giggles around her drink.
“They asked me to go and check it out tonight.”
She frowns. “What time are you leaving?”
I screw up my face. “I’m not going.”
“Why not?”
“This is where you are supposed to be the adult and tell me it’s a ridiculous idea.”
She shrugs. “You should at least check it out. It couldn’t hurt? That’s a lot of money.”
I roll my eyes.
She leans in so nobody can hear us. “Listen, I just want you to have some fun. I don’t care if you damn well sleep with them. Nobody knows you here. Get out there and enjoy life.”
“Ugh. Can you hear yourself?” I cringe.
“Ashley, since you had Owen, I have watched my positive, strong best friend wither away to become a shadow of the former girl I once knew.”
My eyes hold hers.
“Stop punishing yourself for falling pregnant. I don’t want to see you stay at home every Saturday night eating mac ‘n’ cheese and watching Finding Nemo, while struggling to pay every damn bill. You are a fantastic mother, Ash, but please put your needs first for a change.”
“I wouldn’t change having Owen,” I argue.
She grabs my hand over the table. “I know, baby, and I know you tried to make it work with Andrew. I’m just asking you to check it out and give yourself the opportunity to meet new people.”
“Who would mind Owen when you go back to New York?” I sigh, defeated.
“That’s six months away, and besides…” She shrugs. “I could maybe get a place here. I have nothing dragging me back home. Who knows? Mr. Perfect might come here looking for me?”
I smirk and stab my ice cubes with my straw once more.
“That’s ten thousand dollars a month, Ash. Imagine what you could do with that? We could go to Hawaii.” She grins.
I blow out a breath. “I can’t lap dance for shit.” I shake my head.
“Sure you can. You can practice on me.”
I laugh into my drink. “I am not practicing lap dancing on my best friend. That’s just going too far.”
Owie bounces back to the table. “I won a Snickers Bar.” He shows us excitedly.
Jenna finishes her drink. “Come on, we need to get going.”
Owen picks up his iPad and book.
“Mom’s going to work tonight, kiddo, so it’s just you and me. Let’s get some ice cream on the way home.”
“Yes.” He beams.
Jenna’s eyes scan me up and down. “We’ve got to find you something to wear.”
I scrub my hands down my face. “Oh God, it gets worse. Shit’s getting real.”
4
Ashley
I sit in my car and watch the large, heavy front doors of Club Exotic across the street. It’s 10pm and my nerves are pumping under my surprisingly calm exterior.
“Ashley, what are you doing here?” I whisper to myself.
With each man that arrives, my heart rate goes up another twenty beats per minute. These are no sleazy street guys. They’re middle aged, handsome men in expensive suits. My mind goes back to the little sales pitch Madam Whorehouse gave me today.
And that’s exactly why we want you. I don’t want stripper wannabes. I don’t want people trying to be discovered to be famous. I want attractive, sexy, and intelligent women who know what they want from life.
It all sounds too good to be true, but I could never imagine doing this. I get a vision of myself half naked, writhing on a stranger’s lap, and I cringe and bring the car engine to life again. I can’t do this. Who am I kidding? I steer the car out of the parking lot and pull out into the traffic. Her words run through my mind again:
Think about it, Ashley. Two and a half thousand dollars a week for one shift.
What holidays could you take your son on? What car would you drive? What designer clothes could you buy?
I blow out a deflated breath and pull into Starbucks. I need some time alone to think. I would love a cocktail somewhere, but I’m not going to a bar alone. I park the car, get out, and walk in deep thought.
“Welcome to Starbucks. What would you like to order tonight?” the young, chirpy male assistant asks.
I scan the lit up menu board behind him. “I’ll take a caramel latte and a chocolate mud cake, please?”
“Sure.”