Unfold

Chapter Fourteen (14)

Terry came into the back of the house. "What's your problem? Those girls were nothing but kind."

Jean couldn't hold the anger in any longer. "Do you know who they were?"

Terry put her hands on her hips. "It doesn't matter, you leave your problems at the door when you come here to work. I have not been a fan of your behavior lately."

Jean started laughing. She had to turn away from Terry because she was laughing too hard in the absence of humor.

"I don't see what's so funny."

"What's funny," Jean said, knowing there was no turning back. "Is that I've spent six years of my life here, my life begins to fall apart, and you decide that I'm unfit to work here. After six. Damn. Years."

"You better watch your mouth," Terry said, clearly getting angry herself. "I suggest you take off early tonight."

"Oh, gladly," Jean said, not believing the words that were coming out of her mouth. She was losing it. She grabbed her purse off the hook and roughly shoved it up on her shoulder. "Next time, try asking me about what's going on in my life instead of assuming I'm behaving this way because I feel like it."

"I'll see you Thursday," Terry said. "With a better attitude."

Jean turned around and pushed open the door. "We'll see."

People in the dining room glanced in her direction as she bee-lined across the room and pushed open the door. Jean laughed again when she saw Ametta and the girl apparently named Megan standing by their car talking. Today couldn't get any worse.

When they looked at her, she couldn't help herself.

"Haven't you done enough to me?" Jean said, sounding more desperate than she intended to. She paused with her hand on the handle as she looked over her car at them. "Don't ever come back when I'm here again."

Megan's eyes narrowed, and Jean could hear the attitude in her voice when she started to defend herself "Um, we were just trying to get some coffee and—"

Jean slammed her car door hard, cutting her off. She peeled out of the parking spot, startling them when her wheels squealed. She picked up her phone.

When Brooke answered, she couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth.

"Get me the job."

***

Jean couldn't remember the events that had caused her to walk into Carmella's Gentleman's club that night. She should have learned her lesson from the other night, but she found herself throwing back shots with Brooke in the car. There was no way she would drink once she was in there. If she possibly got drugged at the college bar, then she was definitely getting drugged here.

"I don't know about this," Jean said as they pulled into the parking lot. She was just upset earlier, she didn't actually want a job at Carmella's gentlemen club. She didn't even want to walk inside a place like that. "You know I wasn't serious earlier."

"I know," Brooke said. "But relax, we're just checking it out tonight, right? Don't think about working here. You're just checking it out."

The shots helped and Jean walked through the door with Brooke. The music was loud and the lights were dark and flashing. There were stages with multiple girls dancing and men crowding around to watch. She saw one girl laughing as she sat on a guy's lap. She looked genuinely happy to be there.

Jean barely had time to process her surroundings when Brooke pulled her behind the bar. She turned Jean around to face the three guys who were sitting at the counter.