Chapter 1 1

"This man is just taking too long," I grumbled under my breath while tapping my pen on the desk.

I was wasting enough time as it is, listening to a lecture I already read a lot about and the man had nothing new to offer on it. I was standing up by the time the professor said the last sentence.

My back strapped over my shoulder and my notebook in hand, i left the class of murmuring students through the back door. I was already late.

This professor for the semester's course was always so damned slow, i groused in my head.

It was already 5pm now and yet i had not been able to go grocery shopping or get my nails done... it was a long list of things I had to do. I quickly reached the bus stop and just in time too, because the bus had just arrived.

"Ticket please," the driver said and I handed it to him. He punched a hole in it and handed it back to me and I moved in to find a free seat at the back of the bus, where I wouldn't be disturbed.

I was proud of being able to support myself through college. Now I was in my last year of being a business admin major. If only the job that I had was something i could openly talk about.

Being a stripper was the only thing that could pay my bills in the way i needed them to, and it was where i had met my boyfriend, so i couldn't be so ungrateful.

The bus stopped right in front of the grocery shop and i hurried out. I had to be at home within the next thirty minutes if I was going to be able to get my nails done on time. It was either that or I would have to ask one of the other girls in the club to do them for me quickly.

They always did a shoddy job and I didn't trust anyone but myself to take care of doing my own things - makeup, nails, and hair.

I used the self-checkout counter and speedily scanned my provide, paying with my credit card and leaving the grocery shop in quick strides.

The first thing I did once I got home was to replace my glasses with my contact lenses, which served to amplify the glow of my eyes more.

They were gorgeous eyes, according to my manager, and made me look exotic. It served to increase the allure of my face, and I could understand why no one could ever link the idea that daytime me was a glasses-wearing, sweatpants and jeans and hoodie clad girl. Eve, my persona for performances, was anything but a quiet, introverted girl from college.

Before I had a shower and began to do my hair, I heated up the frozen pizza meal I had gotten, grating extra parmesan cheese on it before eating two delicious slices. Usually I ended up not eating until I got home after work.

So this was the only chance I would have before then. Contrary to what most people thought, most of us working at the strip club never left our homes with a face full of makeup. It would be a dead giveaway to the neighbors too much.

I waved Mrs Dedrick who watched me leave from the third floor with a polite smile. She always gave me those looks and I didnt have the nerve to ask her why. "Where to?" The taxi driver asked me as I boarded, and I gave him the address.

The way he hesitated after hearing it made me want to roll my eyes at him. If he wanted to judge a paying customer then that was his choice.

Seconds later he shifted his car into gear and began to drive, muttering something I didn't care to listen to under his breath. I was used to others' looks and whispering behind my back or under their breath about me and my work.

Of course they never had the courage to say such things to my face, because most of them were cowards.

I had lost both my parents who were both only children of their parents, and had been plunged into a world of no one to hold onto, who would support me and care about me.

For me to keep myself going this far on my own was an accomplishment to me, no matter how I did it. As the taxi rolled up to the strip club, I saw the neon signs loud and clear. Delight's Strip Club, the signage said, along with the image of a woman in lingerie.

After laying the disgruntled driver my fare, I quickly exited the cab and rushed towards the back door, passing by the dimly lit entrance which had a short queue of about four or five men waiting for the bouncers to search their bodies.

I spotted the platinum blonde hair of my boyfriend though, as he searched the body of one of the men. As if I had called his name, Charlie raised his head and spotted me. Our eyes met and I felt warmth and joy from seeing him.

"Hey," I mouthed at him with a smile and he gave me a nod and a wink. My boyfriend, Charlie, was a charmer. I liked everything about him; his six-foot height, and his bulk that made me feel so safe and protected.

Even his crude humor that I could only shake my head at with a rueful smile when he spouted jokes.

I often wondered if he cared that his girlfriend was a stripper but once when I asked him about it he shrugged and simply replied that he had dated an escort once, and he was used to the life of girls like me.

I didn't want to think about that too much, but I was only happy he loved me as I was. But I had to take my mind off him, for I was shortly prepping for my set.

The other girls milling about were loudly talking about one thing or the other and it made for good background noise.

The bass of the music pounded through the entire club, even in the dressing room I could feel it. And it was igniting a fire inside me, like it always did.

Gone was the sweatpants set and I put on the black lace lingerie set and black platform studded heels for the stage performance I would be having.

It also came with matching satin gloves and a mask. I applied dark red lipstick and I liked the way it put everything together.

I was ready.

And I heard my name being called.

Time for Eve to dance.