Same Bitches - Post Malone

44

Lux turns back to the bouncer who looks like he is about to cry - the man is at his wit's end. She knows Austins clubs are crazy, but even this is a little insane. The women in line look almost desperate to get in - they are fucking begging.

"I am on the VIP list," Lux says. "Me too!" a chorus of women shout out and jump on her bandwagon. "You understand why I have a hard time believing that," the bouncer says pointing to the line.

"Just check."

"Fine. It's not like I am busy. What's your name?" the bouncer asks pulling out a clipboard from behind a podium.

"Lux Lenox."

The bouncer freezes and stares at Lux then frowns and cocks his head. "You...uh...you have any proof of that?" he asks, his voice a little nervous now. Lux scratches in her bag and pulls out her driver's license then hands it to him. "Well, I'll be..." he says and calls the other two bouncers over who also ogle her driver's license too. "You are Lux?" the bouncer says with a surprised face.

"Seems so..."

"Sorry, you were not what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?"

"Well for starters, you are classy."

Lux looks down at her outfit. She is wearing black ankle boots, black leather pants, a black lace bodysuit, and her caramel-colored Frenchy lapel knee-length coat. Her black hair sits in her neat sleek bob and her nails, as always, are to perfection - still French tipped, still long, still sharp as fuck.

What the fuck is this man on about? She looks like every other woman here.

"I look like every other woman here."

"Really?" the bouncer asks and looks into the line of people, Lux looks too. One woman has a tight yellow mesh dress on, Lux can see her nipples and her unshaven magic place - she does not want to go to any of her magic shows.
"Well maybe not every woman..." she mumbles.
"You are on the list, Miss Lenox," the bouncer says suddenly and steps to the side giving her easy access to the club door. "You go easy on our boy now, you hear," she hears him say as she passes him, the line of people expressing their disgust at her getting in. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Go easy on their boy? Austin?

"If it makes you feel better I think you look like a whore."

"Thanks, Louis, it helps. I am going to cut the call and phone you when I am done."

"Don't you fucking dare! Hold me up so I can see!"

Lux turns her camera around and then holds her phone to her chest. It's so loud and busy in the club that if she did not have her earpiece in she would not be able to hear Louis. It's hard to move through the crowd and with the dim lighting she can't see shit. She tries to get to the walls but the sea of people makes it almost impossible. She can see shadows on the walls that could be tattoos but she can't get close enough.

"Go to the bar."

"I can hardly put one foot in front of the other. How the fuck do you expect me to do that?"

"Just go to the fucking bar, Lux!"

Lux trudges through the crowd, it takes her forever and she has to constantly dodge drunk happy people - it's a fucking nightmare. If she had a club there would only be two rules - no one would be allowed in and if anyone did slip by a bouncer they would have to remain sullen-faced and quiet. Eventually, she makes it to the bar, and as if mother nature had finally taken pity on her she finds an empty seat. Whether or not she stole it when a drunk guy leaned over to talk to a woman is not important.

"What you want?" the bartender comes at her. "I want to stop fucking up - you got a glass of that?" Lux asks. "We are out of that," the bartender says with a smirk. "Yeah...just give me a white wine," Lux says but the bartender grimaces.

"What?"

"The owner is having a bit of a hard time and took a baseball bat to all our cases of white wine, our new order has not come in."

"The owner sounds like a child."

"He is a man baby, but he's a cool guy. Beer?"

"Sure."

Lux watches as the bartender walks off to get her a beer. Her eyes roam around and settle on the huge copper-covered wall behind the bar then she squints and leans forward. Fucking hell. It's covered in engravings of all the tattoos she had done on Austin - every single one of them. "Look at the bar top, Lux," Louis says in her ear. Lux looks down. The bartop is copper too and again there are hundreds of tattoos engraved on them. She recognizes some of them, but some she does not. She knows they are all her's because there is a small L.L. and her logo stamped next to each piece. They are all different sizes, some large and intricate while some are small and pretty simple - but all displayed beautifully.

She leans down with her nose almost touching the bartop as she inspects them. She can see he has used a machine to etch them on, but they have not been taken away from her hand. "Lux Lenox," the bartender says placing a beer down in front of her. Lux sits up and frowns at her - how does she know Lux's name? "The tattoo artist. Her name is Lux Lenox. Her studio is two blocks down," the bartender says then hands her a business card. She sees what the bouncer was saying about the business cards being handed out like candy. "If you look around, on the walls, the pillars, and the dance floor you will see her designs," the bartender says. Lux turns and looks at the dance floor, the floor is black with cracks in it that lets the lights underneath filter up. When she looks long enough she can make out that it's the full front piece she had done on Austin.

She turns back and looks at the bartender who is still looking at her with a grin on her face - a million bargoers are screaming for her attention but she is focused on Lux.

"Are all his clubs like this?"

"Yup."

"What would you say if I told you the tattoo artwork is stupid?"

"I would tell you to not let my boss hear you say that - you'll be banned from the club."

"Who is Lux Lenox to him?"

The bartender smiles and leans on the bar, rolling her sleeve up slowly. "Just his tattoo artist...mine too," she says showing Lux her arm and then standing straight again. "You take care now, Lux," she says with a wink and walks off. Lux does not remember her but it looks like that tattoo of hers is a good five years old.

"Excuse me, ma'am," a stressed-looking man comes up to her. Lux's eyes flick to him. "You have been asked to vacate the club," he says, keeping a safe distance from her. Lux watches him and then sees his eyes shift to the left quickly before they land back on her. She looks to the left and sees Austin standing in a cordoned-off area with a beer in his hand glaring at her, his face highly annoyed. He shakes his head lightly at her. He says a million things - I don't want you here, Lux - is the loudest. Lux sucks her lips in then looks at the bar and nods as her eyes dance over the tattoos. She suspects they will all be gone soon, maybe replaced with dark cherry wood.

"Ma'am."

"I am going," Lux whispers, standing up. She does not look over at Austin again, she can't. She wishes she could hate him like she did last time, it makes living without him so much easier. But, she can't - no matter how much she tries, that asshole can't make her hate him. She hates him for that.