“How are you even single?” she beams.
“You know, I ask myself that every night as I play X-box, in my underwear eating Cheetos and spray cheese from a can.” Her nose scrunches at the mental image I’m painting for her. “Or maybe it’s my lousy jokes and insane commitment to my work,” I offer.
“I guess I can see that.” She nods contemplatively. “So let’s carry on the ‘friends with casual kissing’ thing. I can do that.”
“And the occasional groping?”
Her mouth tips into a wickedly enticing smirk. “Not quite there yet,” she says.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” I point down at her hotdog. “Now eat up, you’ll be late for work.”
“HE KISSED ME.”
“And what did you do? Please, for the love of all that’s holy, tell me you kissed him back?”
“Oh my gosh, Lucy, you’re so dramatic!”
She slides her shades down her nose a little and makes a point of looking at me. “You’re just noticing this now?”
“Thank you for the ride, by the way, although you really didn’t have to, the club is literally just around the corner.”
“Like I was going to drive by after seeing you with Mr. I’m Too Pretty to be Real. Besides, I want to see where you work, and it will be good to catch up with Annie. I haven’t seen in her in a while.”
“It’s just up here on your left. You can stop just behind the bike; it’s my boss’s.”
“Nice. Anyway, quit stalling. Did you kiss him back?”
“Yes, sort of…why do you even care?” I ask, amused.
“Because he was hot as all hell, for one. But honestly, the last time I saw you, you weren’t in a good place. Danny really worked you over. When I watched you walk hand in hand out of the park with this guy, I hoped that this was maybe you turning a new page, and putting Daniel behind you. Which is exactly where he deserves to be by the way—asshole.”
Lucy loved Daniel. They got along great, had a lot of the same tastes and liked the same bands. Truthfully, they had more in common with each other than either of them have with me, but she’s the most loyal friend I have. I knew without a doubt as soon as I’d told her what was going on she’d support me over him. Not that I’d ever make her choose. “Well, there’s not really much I can tell you. We’re casual, that’s about it.”
“Wait, casual like just hang out and fool around? Or casual like convenient hook ups?” she asks as we make our way from the car to the club door.
Just then Callum passes and I whisper-shout to Lucy, “I don’t know yet. We’re casual as in fooling around!” His step falters and he looks over at us. “Hey, Callum…this is my friend, Lucy.”
“Hi Lucy.” He smiles, not stopping to talk.
“He’s usually much more friendly than that; he’s probably busy,” I tell her as I pull her deeper into the club.
“That’s your boss? Damn!” Her neck is craned as she traces the path Callum took back to his office.
“Maybe Annie can hook me up with a job here too,” she laughs.
“Yeah, he’s nice. It’s his apartment upstairs where I’m crashing. He’s a little intense though.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know; it’s weird, I can’t explain it. He’s super sweet one minute, and then brooding the next. I guess I just don’t quite know how to take him yet.”
Her smirk is instant.
“Not like that!” I chastise. “Jesus, you’re worse than Zane.”
“About that…I can’t believe he works here. I haven’t seen him since the night you passed out. I caught him doing the old sneak out on me while you were still comatose in your room. We’d laughed because I’d already been awake an hour, but didn’t want to leave some strange guy in your apartment that you probably wouldn’t remember. So I stuck around. I’d left him on the sofa sleeping to go to the bathroom, and when I came back he was halfway out the door.”
“Oh God, why didn’t you tell me that when I called and told you about him interviewing me? You know he’s around here somewhere now, right? And for Christ’s sake, don’t let on to Annie that you’ve slept together. She’s practically in love with him. I’m pretty sure he feels the same way about her too.”
“Calm down, Robz. It was one hook up. I don’t mind if we bump into him.”
“Okay, well, I need to go and get changed for my shift. Stay here, Annie should be in any minute.”
I make my way backstage, gathering my costume up for the first performance. All the while my mind is reeling about the kiss with Cole. Maybe this could be a good thing, like what Athena had said about the Death card in my reading. Maybe Cole represented moving on after the ending of my relationship with Danny. Whatever—I’m not about to question it too much.
I pull my romper off and change as the other girls filter in to do the same. I push all thoughts of Cole and Daniel aside and focus. Time to let loose and lose myself in dance. This may not have been what I’d dreamed of when I was younger, but the more I perform here the more I enjoy it. I’m still dancing, and visions evolve. I used to dream of Danny and I marrying, him being content with his music, and me dancing on Broadway. As I stand at the curtain ready to walk on stage now, I realize that I’m not that far from my dreams. Broadway is only one block away. I may have been painted into a corner, but I’m not about to cower down and admit defeat; I’ll dance my way out of it.
I stand in position between Lauren and Katie, each in our champagne flapper style dresses. My hair’s twisted underneath a short, sharp black bobbed wig to match the other girls, and we’ll be dancing to the house band for this number. The twenties theme is back in full force; the atmosphere crackles as a few overly zealous men’s voices whoop and jeer for the show to begin. The drums tap us in.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
The saxophones begin; the curtain draws back at the same time three spots illuminate each of us. We snap our fingers, hips pushed out to our left side, and one leg extended…and then shimmy to the beat. The sea of faces merges and distorts, fading to black as I relax enough to let the music take over and guide my movements. We’re in perfect synchronization as we walk to the edge of the stage, each extending one arm and pulling our gloves off, one finger at a time using our teeth. The tempo begins to quicken, the music thundering loud and brash as we launch into a complex routine of shimmies, turns, and pirouettes while navigating around the stage, careful not to bump into one another.
The alcohol I consumed earlier has my concentration working overtime, but I’ve got this. I know the routine, the timings and stage like the back of my hand. I’ve spent most nights when the club has closed and everyone has gone home down here perfecting each routine and making damn sure that I stand out for all the right reasons, and not for being the new girl. Our dresses hit the floor in perfectly timed succession, each being kicked up, caught and then thrown dramatically to the back of the stage. We move into line, each holding onto one another’s hips while our heads are turned looking out to the audience. Our feet work a string of steps, before we drop to the floor, rising languidly in one long exaggerated back roll and booty shake, still in line, each slapping the girl in front’s thigh. We tease and torment at the idea of our jeweled bras coming off. It’s enough to up the anticipation, but still allows us to keep ourselves under wraps. The band is reaching a crescendo as we fall back into line and Lauren’s bra drops, her hands rising to her mouth in a dramatized ‘Oops’. Katie’s hands cover Lauren’s breasts, and mine find my hips with a cheeky wink as the house lights dim and the stage darkens. The blackness lets us gather our clothing and quickly leave the stage in relative privacy to rapturous applause.