Dissonant Harmonies (Reneé Rapp x Reader)

The Strip Club

The inside of the strip club was exactly as depressing as one would expect on this hour on a Tuesday. There were only a few other patrons besides us—a bartender engrossed in inventory-taking and a lone older man slumped in a corner, seemingly asleep with his head resting on his hands.

Reneé and I took seats at the bar, and when the bartender noticed us, she put away her clipboard and approached us with a friendly smile.

"Hey," she greeted, leaning in slightly. She appeared to be in her forties, with straight blonde shoulder-length hair and a leather vest. She reminded me somewhat of Lil from Coyote Ugly. "What can I get you girls?"

"Hi, I'll just have a white wine," I replied.

"As if," Reneé protested almost immediately, wrapping her arm around me in a sideways hug. She then turned to the bartender. "Hey Jessica," she began, noticing her name tag. "We'll have two of your strongest, yet cheapest shots."

Jessica glanced between the two of us with a smile before nodding and grabbing the shots. As she handed them over, I brushed Reneé's hand off me and turned to face her.

"Why couldn't I just get a wine?" I asked curiously and slightly annoyed, a feeling that seemed to accompany every interaction with Reneé.

"Seriously? Ordering wine in a strip club is like ordering a salad at McDonald's," she stated matter-of-factly.

Jessica placed the shots in front of us, their almost chemical green color making me recoil slightly. I tried to hide my disgust as Reneé reached for her wallet, but Jessica stopped her with a tap on her arm. "It's on the house," she said.

"Seriously?" Reneé responded excitedly.

"Yeah. Besides," Jessica added before grabbing her clipboard, "there are no strippers here until 4 PM, so consider it a sort of refund." She chuckled at her own joke.

"Oh, that's okay. We're not here for the strippers anyway," I quickly interjected with a nervous chuckle. But Jessica just pointed to the neon sign above her that spelled out 'STRIPPERS' without even glancing back at me.

"She brought me here," I said, pointing towards Reneé, but she just laughed.

"Why are you trying so hard to convince her otherwise?" Reneé frowned, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"I don't know??" I replied genuinely surprised. I nervously chuckled, feeling the need to emphasize that I wasn't here for the strippers. "Let's just get this over with," I said before grabbing the shot glass and downing it in one go, followed by a grimace of disgust. "What the... Ugh, what the actual fuck."

"Okay, rude! We were supposed to do that together," Reneé scolded, but her scowl quickly turned into laughter as she couldn't contain herself seeing my reaction to the shot from hell. She then took her shot and downed it. "...oh wow," she managed to say, struggling to contain her reaction.

"I know," I replied with a laugh once the initial shock wore off, knowing exactly how she couldn't even find the words to describe the taste.

"That's strong and cheap," Jessica laughed from the other end of the bar. "Want another one?" she asked, completely amused.

"Absolutely not!" I replied loudly and clearly. "Do you have any recommendations for something that won't give my esophagus chemical burns?" I asked her. If I was going to be doing shots all afternoon, I might as well make them good.

"I got you," Jessica said before turning towards the liquor shelves. "Any preferences? I've got vodka, rum, tequi—"

"Tequila," Reneé immediately interjected as soon as the option was laid out. "What?" Reneé glanced toward me, noticing my amused expression.