𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐧┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐰𝐨

82. 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑀𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑌𝑜𝑢?

Cleo

I flushed the toilet and grabbed a wad of tissues to hold over my mouth. I crouched onto my heels and took deep breaths to relax my nausea. Going to work wasn't the best idea, I guess...but I wanted to maintain a little bit of normalcy before I was bedridden.

Stripping and dancing on the pole wasn't a problem tonight. The problem was when I walked into the dressing room and saw some weird bitch eating purple eggs. I had to speed out of there and into the bathroom to throw up from that smell.

I walked to the sink and wiped my teary eyes with a tissue. I washed my mouth out to get rid of the disgusting throw-up taste and adjusted my outfit and hair. I held my hand over my still flat stomach and took a deep breath.

"Go easy on me tonight, baby," I whispered. With one last look in the mirror, I walked out of the restroom and let out a sigh of relief when the girl with the pickled eggs was gone. I adjusted my make-up in my vanity and got into my zone before stepping back into the loud and crowded club.

I was done on stage tonight thankfully, so now I was just mingling. My feet absolutely thanked me for that. The purpose of the girls that were on the floor was to socialize and of course, get men to spend money. It was easy enough to get a man to spend money on anything...if you chose the right one.

I walked around the club and winked at passing people that were checking me out and I walked to the bar. Rich men always seemed to hang out here.

"Hey, can I get sparkling water," I said to Nick, the bartender. He smiled at me before turning to get what I asked for and I took the chance to look around. Plenty of guys were looking at me but I was looking for a specific type of person...

You.

My eyes landed on a handsome man that was sitting alone with a bunch of empty glasses in front of him. He sipped on his drink as he looked me up and down and I tried my best not to have a disgusted look on my face. It wasn't that he was gross, it was just that when I made eye contact with strangers, it was instinct for me to give them an attitude.

Nick set the drink down in front of me and I thanked him before making my way in the man's direction. I bumped into him purposely and gasped loudly.

"Oh no," I said dramatically. "I'm so sorry."

I grabbed a bunch of napkins from next to us and I wiped his arm where the water spilled. "It's alright, love. I got it."

"I'm sorry," I said as he took the tissues from my hands. "It's been a long night."

"I can only imagine," he said with a laugh. "I just saw you on stage."

I let out a small forced giggle and tilted my head as I batted my lashes. "Did you like what you saw?"

"I did," he said as he fully turned to me in his chair. "It looks even better up close."

"I'd love to stay here with you, but I have clients..." I said with a small smile as I pointed behind me. It's all in the eyes, Cleo. I believed the eyes to be the most important thing when it came to getting someone hooked on you.

Over the years I learned how to make someone feel like they were the most important person in the world...just with a simple look. It was the equivalent of making their world stop around them without letting myself fall into the same trap.

He and I locked eyes and I slowly made my smile falter as if this was as some moment that we were falling in love. Call it manipulation, but I call it payday. I was good at what I did, which was why I was the highest-paid stripper in Juva and The Underworld.