The only lights you were gonna find were the dying street lights. Everything else seemed to be plunged in an abyss of darkness. Somewhere you didn't wanna go.
The star of the street was Olympia, the beacon for all people to unite. Whether you were rich or poor, Olympia was the place: everyone wanted to work there and everyone wanted to be there. I happened to have a job at Olympia at the time, and I got it when the club was just getting started. I'd been in there for nearly 4 years at that point, and it was safe to say that I had seen a lot. Whether it was drunk idiots getting into fights, ladies attempting to steal things, or people so wasted that they couldn't walk, I had seen it all. On this particular evening, however, my life turned around.
"Evening Joe!" Joe was the bartender at the time. He and I were good friends for a long while. "Evening Coco, have you seen Ella?" Ella, my old friend and a server at the time, was another waitress who had a reputation for being late. "Honestly, are you surprised she's not here yet? Ella is always late" We laughed. Five minutes later, panting and stumbling all over the place, came Ella. Ella was a very happy person; she was very content with her life. She had a boyfriend, a nice apartment and dogs too. Her day job was a dance teacher, and she loved it. That was another person I was very envious of, though I never said so. "Late again Ella?" Joe said in a sarcastic tone. "Sorry Joe, I just had some news that's all!" I raised my eyebrows. "What kind of news Ella?" She shuffled her toes a little, then looked up at us. "Me and Tom have been trying for a baby as you know, and-" My face lit up. "I'm pregnant!" We both yelled our congratulations and hugged her tight. Still, my envy often gets the better of me and a twinge inside of me made me even more jealous. I wish it would just fuck off sometimes, literally.
"No more extra little shots for you then!" Ella laughed. "I'll come back you know, I'm not gonna quit." Now it was my turn to laugh. "You better not." Just as I was chatting with Ella about the baby before our shift started, Joe came over to us. "Ok, so who's the lucky person going into the VIP room tonight!" Both of us groaned. "Those rich bastards can serve their own drinks, I'm not in any frame of mind to get my ass slapped by some 50 year old man." Ella snapped. "Well you'll be glad to know that it isn't you today Ella." I looked up. "Is it gonna be Katie or Lou again? They like them." Joe traced his crafty fingers down the sheet. "Only one server tonight... that's odd." I started to polish a few glasses myself whilst waiting for a few orders to take. Joe gasped after a second. He looked up. "What Joe?" He gulped. "Get your ass in gear Coco. You're up." I had only ever been into the VIP room once, and they didn't let me in there because they thought I was some kind of hooker. I tutted. "Alright then, give me the drinks." Joe shook his head. "They've opened a new personal bar in there now, but they're still doing the swapping servers thing. You're gonna serve drinks in there for tonight." I rolled my eyes: how hard could it be?
I strutted in my leather boots, tight little black shorts, bustier crop top and the cat eyed server mask towards the infamous VIP room. I knocked on the door, showed my clearance to the guard who was eyeing me in all the wrong places, and entered the building.
Lights of a thousand colours flashed everywhere. Music boomed from golden plated stereos and fancy sound systems too. People dressed in the most magnificent yet bizarre things I had ever laid my eyes on. The spiral staircases led to lit seating areas with lap dancers and private compartments. Body guards circulated everywhere, and people's diamond encrusted jewellery gleamed in the strobe lights. But the most attractive thing of all was the bar. The half circle bar had diamonds in pale blue encrusted all over it in a variety of shapes and sizes. Steam came off the surface, and pale blue LED lights lit every corner of it. Behind the seating area of the bar was shelves of frosted glass with thousands of spirits and drinks on it that barley anyone could afford in the real world. Since it was against the wall, there was also a statement piece above these shelves; what looked like shards of massive blue diamonds spreading up the wall was a montage of diamonds and blue mirrors to create an effect. The bar tender was very different to Joe: he wore a sparkling gold sequin suit and a purple wig that went up like a mr whippy. He wore visor styled black sunglasses and laughed without a care in the world as he shook up cocktails in his happy place.
As I walked up to the bar my mask fell off, and I heard it crunch under a sea of peoples feet. I knew I would get trampled if I bothered to look, so I didn't try. I glanced around very quickly, and it had completely disappeared- great. I approached the bar, my awe still painted on my face. "Hey, I'm here to ser-" The bartender looked at me and laughed his infectiously happy laugh. "Darling! What on earth are you doing here? The stage is that way!" He smiled an extremely happy smile and pushed me away towards the stage. Ok, now I could panic. I had absolutely no idea what to do. As I stood perplexed and anxious in the crowd, I was pushed by dancing people towards the stage. I took a deep breath- at least back stage would have been better than where I was. I got up and walked over to the stage, and disappeared behind the curtain.
Ladies all sat at magnificent dressing tables powdering their noses and giggling amongst themselves. I shuffled in, trying to stay invisible but I failed miserably. "What are you doing here so late? We were expecting you hours ago!" A pompous looking woman yelled that to me. She was tall, dressed from head to foot in gold garments and accessories and had thick, cakey makeup all over her face. She wore a sequinned gold maxi dress, and gold eyeshadow to compliment her ridiculous attire. Her lips were large and red and her hair was puffy in a 60s hair do and that same lilac purple as the bartender's. "My husband is getting a shouting match for this-" I interrupted. "Sorry, but how do you know me?" She looked bored as I asked her that question. "You're the new recruit for Brittney's position. We fired her. I didn't bother with an interview I just said "send the prettiest girl from the bar" and you're what came." I looked surprised to say the least- they thought I was the prettiest girl in the bar? "All I want you to do is sing for me. That's it. Then you can mingle in the club." I was speechless. "S-sure!" She threw a costume at me. "Put that on and then we will sort out your hair and make up." She was very direct and very demanding, but still, she thought I was the prettiest.
After a hair transformation, manicure and pedicure, make up bling and costume perfection I looked like someone from a red carpet fashion show. The party went quiet as the music did, and the velvet curtains opened wide. Dancers all went to their stations at the back of the stage by poles in little slinky red dresses. Then I walked down the middle. My hair was high and puffy, and the glossy brown colour contrasted with the dim red strobe lights. My dress was red, but tight and glossy, and my heels were red, chunky and extremely tall. My hoop earrings jangled a little, and my eyelashes could touch the ceiling. I grabbed the microphone and began to sing. (Feeling good- Nina Simone)
"Birds flying high,
You know how I feel.
Sun in the sky,
You know how I feel.
Breeze drifting on by,
You know how I feel.
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life,
For me.
And I'm feeling good."
My voice was low and husky and I closed my eyes softly as I sang. My voice can reach the high and low notes of any piece- my gift in life. The rich audience all stared in awe at the new girl, clearly with a new found delight as I sing very well. After singing "and I'm feeling good" the short music break came on, the red lights brightened and the dancers began to dance. I continued to sing the song, and people became more hooked to the sweet sounds of my voice. I very much got into the music, and by the end of the song people were cheering before I had even finished. One thing I always loved and still love is singing. As I slowly walked backwards off the stage with the rest of the dancers the lights went off and the room went dark, but the whoops and cheers which boomed through the building were plenty enough to put a smile on someone's face.
As I came back into the backstage area I was heavily congratulated by the pompous woman. "Magnificent! Beautiful! Divine! You must come here every time now!" I stopped short. "You mean I'm permanently hired?" She squealed a little and nodded. She fumbled around in her pockets and handed me an envelope- my pay for the job yearly. "I casually opened it and nearly dropped it at the ridiculously high salary I would be receiving. "300,00 pounds a year!" I was stunned. I looked around at the unfriendly glares I was getting from the dancers around me, and I quickly exited the stage. Little did I know what was coming next.
I stepped out onto the dance floor, still in my costume and made up, and I was surrounded by billionaires galore. Money was being handed to me from all around, and I found that my purse couldn't even accommodate all of it. I thanked the people the best I could, and stumbled backwards into somebody. I turned around to see a 6 foot 4 man with defined features staring down at me. He has olive skin, chocolate brown hair and sharp green eyes. His tight black polo shirt showed his rippling muscles and toned arms and abs, and my knees went weak. Feeling extremely embarrassed, my face went pink. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry-" I stammered. I fell through the crowd to a quiet little area near the fire exit, where I took a moment to breathe. Just then, a hand touched my shoulder. I spun around, alarmed. A ginger haired freaky looking middle aged man approached me. "Hullo darlin'" he slurred. "Come on and give us some sugar." I was revolted by this man. Not only was he drunk but he looked vile too. I stepped backwards and struggled to walk in my ridiculously high heels. "Sir, stay away from me." He looked angry by what I had said, then and grabbed my arm. He threw himself towards me and I tripped backwards, using my free arm to scratch his eyes. He yelled in alarm, letting me go as I fell. He then kicked me several times on the floor and thumped me- there wasn't much I could do, my ankle broke. I covered my face and shook as he cut off my wind and made me vomit.
He was about to throw a punch to my face when I heard a very large thud and saw him lying next to me, unconscious. My mouth spewed out blood from one of his blows, and I coughed as my eyes fluttered shut. A pair of strong arms came underneath me, and I was lifted up and held tight to someone's chest. That's all I could remember as I passed out.