Man of Veracity- Finished

3 Juliette

It's a typical Friday night; the place is packed with rich men but all they look like are dollar signs to me. Brandi, our coordinator, messed up the shows and instead of currently being on stage right now, I'm waiting for Candy to finish up. I was hoping to finish early tonight so I could go home and eat some chinese food. I know it doesn't sound like much on a friday but it sounds heavenly to me.

"Heaven, you're going to have to start wearing some color other than Black. Jensen's getting real irritated with your emo rendezvous you put on" Brandi yells.

I only every wear black, one, because its simple. Two, because I don't know what color looks good on me. I've only ever worn black since the accident. Black to hide in. Black to bleed in. Black to cry in. Brandi throws a piece of clothing at me.

"Put it on now because you're on in 5."

I hold up the article of clothing. It's a red and black corset and from the looks of it, two sizes too small. My tits are going to fucking spill, literally, all over the fucking stage if I put this thing on.

"Get a move on"

The corset barely fits, I had to get Dixie to help lace me up. I'm afraid to breathe because I feel like the sucker will bust open any minute. How the fuck am I supposed to dance in this? Breathe, Juliette. It's Friday, you like Fridays, don't you? Well, you like the money Fridays bring you. I take another deep breath in and position myself for when the curtains open. The Weekends "One of the girls" comes on overhead. The curtains open and I walk towards the front of the stage swaying my hips from side to side. I reach out for the pole and seductively move my hand around to where I'm now in front of the pole and slide down to give the crowd a view of my almost non-existent panties. The crowd starts to whistle. I make my way back up to a standing position and turn away from the crowd. I close my eyes. Don't you dare cry, Juliette. Deep breath, remember? I turn back around and open my eyes to make eye contact with another set because these kinds of sharks? They love the eye contact. I glance up to the private rooms rented out, those are our most generous clients. There's a shadow of a man standing at the window; the tinted lights accentuate his large figure. And I know I make eye contact with him because the large body stills, and I dance for him in that moment hoping it'll pay off at the end of the night.

"Heaven, Jensen wants to see you in his office." Brandi says.

"By myself?"

"You're the only Heaven here, aren't you?" Brandi bites back.

I nod and head towards Jensens office at the back of the club. I take slow even steps. Why would Jensen want to see me privately? I've never been to his office, not even when Brandi hired me. I've only seen him in passing. I even wore a different color tonight as he requested. I feel my heart rate bounding. My hands start tingling and my legs feel like jello. I halt my steps and take a deep breath in as I approach the closed door. I knock twice.

"Come in."

" It's Heaven, you wanted to see me?" I say quietly.

Jensen is seated at his desk. He stops what he was doing and stares at me in silence. This is awkward. Should I run? The door's right behind you, Juliette. I startle at his voice.

"You made me a very rich man tonight, Heaven"

I release the breath I was holding. 

"Someone was very pleased with your performance tonight. " Jensen throws an envelope on his desk. A thick envelope. Is that what I think it is? Speechless, I take small steps towards Jensen and reach for the envelope.

"Ah ah ah" his voice immediately halts my arm.

"My place, my money."

"My job, my money" I throw back and I immediately regret it. I don't even know what this old man is capable of and here I am spitting fire back at him. His eyes widen like he's surprised at my tone.

"My, my. Our Heaven, isn't so heavenly at all, is she?" he says with a smirk.

Jensen's hand clasps my wrist and I start to panic. It takes my brain a couple of seconds to catch up with what's happening. My breathing starts to increase. I try to tug my wrist back. His grasp tightens and I jerk a little harder. He eventually releases me with a chuckle. 

"My club, my earnings. And because that pretty little mouth made too much noise, you're only getting a portion of it. "

What the fuck? A portion? I was the one dancing on that fucking stage. I was the one initiating  the damn eye contact. I was the one that lost herself a little more each time I stood on that filthy stage. 

"That's un-"

"One more word and I'll stuff that fuckable mouth with something to keep it from moving"

I immediately shut my mouth. Oh, this little piece of shit. But I pick and choose my battles, so I keep my mouth shut because even though this fucker is only giving me a portion of what I earned, I'll take it.

I rush to the counter right as Jackson opens the divider. Jackson is the pharmacist at the CVS across my apartment that I've been going to for a couple of months.

"Heaven, you're here early."

"Hey, Jackson. Yeah, I needed a refill on my medication."

I'm already a couple of days late. I had to carefully space my insulin out so it would last me until I had enough cash to pay.

"Of course. Let me pull you up, give me one second while everything loads."

I wait quietly while he types my information in.

"So, how's your morning?"

"Ok, I worked until early this morning so I'm tired. I'm going to go home and crash."

"What do you do again?"

"Oh, this and that. I just pick odd jobs up."

Jackson looks at me quizzically.

"Would these odd jobs allow you to catch a dinner some time with me?" 

I look at Jackson. He's tall, built like a swimmer, has dark blond hair and kind blue eyes. He always greets me with his smile revealing perfectly spaced white teeth and maybe. Maybe in another life, I would have taken up on his offer. Because what well-educated man would want to take a stripper on a date? None, so I smile softly and politely decline, feeling like scum. I could've said yes, maybe butter up to him and show him everything his smile wants to offer; a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, 2.5 kids and a golden retriever dog. He'd be an easy meal ticket to a good life. But Alex is too kind and I'd be the lowest piece of shit ever taking advantage of his kindness. 

"Ah, ok. That'll be $3206.00 even" he says awkwardly. 

I place the measly portion Jensen gave me last night and combine it with my earnings from the other nights on the counter. I had just e-fucking-nough. With $4 to spare. I should have chosen to be the lowest piece of shit. But that thought alone made me feel like one.