The Gentlemen's Club

Chapter Four

Both Isabelle and Lily gave me confused looks and honestly, I couldn't blame them. They just assumed that I was dancing because the nice maid, er, whatever she really was, didn't explain anything.

"Okay, let's clarify the term, strippers," Isabelle said, "That we are not. We prefer the label, dancers. Besides, we get paid hourly with bids, not they typical cash that men throw at us."

Lily nodded and added, "And if you're not a dancer, then what are you doing here? The boss wouldn't fly a random chick out here for anything else."

I explained to them my unfortunate situation and they seem to understand it somewhat. They were still confused to why their boss, whose name I found out was Elijah Giordano, didn't do a thing like this very often.

All of their workers were vetted by the boss himself and especially weren't found in some shithole club in Louisiana.

Then again, Richard was indebted to the guy, so maybe selling labor was the only way to buy himself some time to pay it off.

"Look," Isabelle commented, "I don't think you're here to wait tables. If your boss traded you to another club, it's probably for a different job."

"But...I've never done anything like this. I don't even know where to start."

"Hence why Lydia brought you to us," Lily said, putting her hands on my shoulders. "Thanks, Ms.Cortez. We got it from here."

The lady left the room and the rest of the girls resumed trying on different lingerie and applying makeup. Lily and Isabelle escorted me through the room and into another that turned out to be a dance studio with six strip-er-dancer poles scattered around. Above on the ceiling dangled silk ropes, the kind you'd see at Cirque du Soleil.

"Do you have any history with gymnastics or dance," Isabelle asked.

"Gymnastics. Flips and stunts, yeah, no."

"Hm, I see we'll be starting from scratch, then."

"Um, what is exactly will I be doing?"

"Well here, the requirements for a dancer are gymnastic experience along with ballet training and a social skill course."

It seemed a bit much for a job in this field, but I understood. At the El Royale, the girls had to be fit and work out enough to stay healthy. It also made sense that a place like this would have higher standards. "So basically, be flexible and nice?"

"Pretty much, but it's not all smiles and high kicks," Lily said as she walked over to one of the poles. She grabbed it with both hands and hoisted herself into a side handstand, then spread her legs to form a split, all while spinning.

She finished the piece by returning to the ground and rose both hands for a pose.

"It's mostly about the presentation," she continued, "You need to know how to execute performances flawlessly."

I took a few steps forward, examining the room a bit more, trying to get comfortable being in here.

"And if I can't?"

They both exchanged a quick look.

"There is no can't here, Anna," Lily said, "We do what we're given. No exceptions."

"Alright," Isabelle, said, "let's start with basic flexibility."

~*~

After about two hours of training, the girls concluded that I'd need about a week of training before I make my debut.

After the training, I was brought into a classroom-like room where a woman named Mrs.Davina examined my behavior, posture, and Etiquette.

Apparently, my skills in the gym weren't the only thing I needed to work on. She critiqued everything from split ends in my hair to how wide my smile should be.