As soon as I got home I passed out on my couch. I stripped from the outfit I borrowed from Anika, and I couldn't even find enough strength in myself to make it into my bedroom. I crashed down and instantly fell asleep out of pure exhaustion.
I left the clothes in a pile on my living room floor and I woke up this afternoon sprawled out on my couch wearing nothing but a crocheted blanket and the black heart stickers that Harmony had given to me last night.
This morning of course I paid the consequence of sleeping in my makeup and I somehow already had a zit forming on my left cheek. So after breakfast, I did intensive face care and wore a pimple patch for the entirety of the day— including when I went out to go shopping with Ani.
She, of course, was laughing at the pink cloud patch, but I didn't care. I'd rather hear the laugh from her than hear a snide remark from a customer over a zit later.
Now that I know what the club is like it was a lot easier for me to pick out a few outfits. All of them were still way more revealing than I would like, but any tips that I make I get to keep for myself... so it might be worth it in the long run.
Anika and I weren't out for long, but it was long enough for us to spend a few hours shopping and to grab some lunch together.
I really enjoy hanging out with Anika when it's just the two of us. Don't get me wrong, I love when we are with Louis too, but there's something about girl time that I desperately need.
Growing up it only my dad and I, so I never really had a 'mother figure' to do typical mother-daughter things with. And when Louis started coming around more, my dad took him in as his, so it was like having a brother in the house.
Which is why it's nice when I get to spend alone time with Ani. For years it was only me, Louis and my dad, so it's nice doing girly things and having someone else to enjoy them with me.
Once Anika and I made it back home we already needed to start getting ready for the night. We didn't stay out for too long, but we were running a bit later than we had planned for.
Today I am feeling a lot more at ease than I was yesterday, so I opted to get ready at my own apartment and said that I could drive myself too.
Ani and Louis were a bit hesitant, but truthfully I really just needed to blast my own music while getting ready for work, and while I was in the car so that I could scream sing the lyrics and make myself feel better.
I've loved singing since I was a kid, even if I've never been good at it. Louis and I use to hold concerts for our parents in the living room, embarrassing ourselves, but still having fun while doing it.
Once we got older, I figured out I was completely tone deaf and couldn't hold a note to save my life. Louis, however, was an amazing singer and has only improved with time.
Singing to my music while getting ready was exactly the therapy that I needed. I bopped around, dancing in circles and swinging my head around until I was finally finished and ready to start driving to the club.
I continued with my solo concert, screaming to each song, taking the long way to the south side of town while enjoying myself.
Even with my many detours, and getting stopped by a train, I ended up arriving to the club early. But I'd much rather be early than late, so I was fine with it.
I sat in the parking lot and scrolled through my phone for a while, looking through social media and catching up on things that I have missed through out the week. Before I knew it the alarm I had set was going off and I was hauling my bag up onto my shoulder to start the few minute walk to the alleyway.
It felt a lot colder out today, though I haven't checked what the temperature is. But even though the wind is calm the bitter winter air is biting at every exposed part of my body and leaving a freezing chill across my skin.
Once I made it down the first alleyway, I skipped down the steps and walked up to the to the door of the club. I knocked on it just the same as Louis had yesterday and I waited for it to be opened. It was only a few moments before Dave tugged it open, giving me a nod and saying, "Nice to see you again."
"Nice to see you, too." I smiled.
"How'd last night go for you? Any trouble?" He surprised me with his questions.
I walked into the darkened room, watching as Dave shut the door behind me. "It was alright." I shrugged. "I didn't have any issues."
"Stick with Anika and Louis, and those two will keep you out of trouble around here." Dave said as he sat back on a stool placed next to the door. "They're good kids."
"They are." I smiled, "I've known Louis our whole lives. He's always looked out for me."
Dave nodded, "Good to hear. I wish more of the girls here had someone to watch out for them. I try to keep these drunken idiots in their places, but none of the other staff here seems to give a shit."
"Anika told me that you watch our for the girls, and I think that's a really nice thing for you to do." I gave him a smile. "I'm sure they appreciate it too."
A knock at the door caused Dave to turn his head towards the sound. He shrugged, standing up from his seat, "I met my wife here, so I know how it can be. The least I can do is look after you girls the best I can."
"Thank you." I smiled again, meaning it.
Dave gave me a nod, a bit of a smile on his lips before he turned towards the door to unlock it.
Leaving Dave to his work I made my way down the hall and into the main area of the club. Just like yesterday my eyes instantly started to water at the stagnant smoke, and I did everything that I could to keep the tears from spilling over and ruining my makeup.
Growing up my dad smoked, but he would always go outside to do it so the smell would never be in the house. Now that we're older, Louis smokes too but he's like my dad and he goes out on his balcony to smoke. He'll have a smoke or two in his car when we're driving places, but he always rolls the window down so that he's not suffocating me or Anika while we're going somewhere.
With that being said, I've also never been to a casino or a bar that allows smoking so I haven't been in places where the smoke is confined like it is here.
I'm hoping that Anika is right and that my eyes will adjust to it soon because the burning that the smoke causes is no joke.
When I got to the backroom Harmony was already inside applying last minute lipstick with a handheld mirror.
"Hey." She greeted me as I passed by her.
"Hey, how are you?" I asked as I opened my locker.
"Tired..." I could hear it in her voice as she replied. I turned my head towards her, watching as she set the mirror down. "I didn't sleep last night."
"Really?" I cocked my head back in shock. "I passed out as soon as I got home."
"Ugh, I wish." Harmony groaned as she placed her mirror and lipstick back into her locker. "I went out last night and by the time I got home the sun was up— which happens a lot, but I had a lot of shit to do so I didn't get the chance to sleep before coming here."
I couldn't imagine coming here and working on no sleep. I'm still exhausted even after having a full night sleep, so I don't know how Harmony is here.
"I don't know how you're functioning right now." I let out a breathy laugh while pulling my bottle of water out of my bag.
"I don't either." Her head fell back, eyes closed in pure exhaustion. "Zayn has dealing in a bar down the street, and they were having a celebration so I went out with him for a while. I should have gone home, but free alcohol always seems to win me over."
"Free alcohol? Where was my invite?" We both turned our heads towards Anika who had seemingly appeared out of no where.
"Loads of it." Harmony nodded, a hand pressed against her temple. "Too much of it."
"Still hungover?" Ani laughed as she tossed her stuff into her locker.
"Yeah, it's kicking my ass." Harmony admitted with no shame.
"When are you going to learn to tell Zayn you can't go out and party like that on nights you work?" Anika asked, shutting her locker door and placing her hands on her hips.
Who is this Zayn guy?
Harmony rolled her eyes, "That's not the problem. I can go out, I just need to learn how to go home at a decent time."
The sudden sound of music blaring caused us all to simultaneously take in a deep breath. I watched as Harmony dropped her head down into her hands, letting out another deep groan of dissatisfaction.
"Pull it together," Anika laughed, patting Harmony on her shoulder. "It's only a few hours."
Harmony rolled her eyes, "A few hours of blaring music and bitching customers."
Anika and I both laughed at her remark, though I felt a bit bad for Harmony. The music in the club is extremely loud, so I know her headache is only going to get worse and worse as the night progresses.
After a few moments all of us were quickly working on last minute touches to our make up and fixing our outfits, making sure everything was perfect before going out to start working.
Before I knew it I was out on the floor filling orders for all of the customers that were enjoying their show. Now that I knew what I was doing today and I didn't have to get any training from Anika I feel like it was going by a lot smoother.
Granted, I was still feeling out of place and I still hate the entire idea behind the club, but my job overall wasn't as scary as it had been yesterday. All I needed to do was smile, slightly flirt if needed, remember the orders and bring their drinks back to each customer in a timely manner.
Bottle service is definitely a big difference compared to what I do at the bookstore.
I think that the night had gone by surprisingly well. I had made a good amount of tips and some of the customers said that they had remembered me from yesterday— though I was also the only girl here with red hair so I'm sure that might have made more of an impression than I did myself.
When the lights finally dimmed for the main event of the night, that was when I finally felt the pit of worry start to form in my stomach. Louis' words from last night about how Carnage was tame during his fight started to play through my mind and I grew nauseous.
The image of the man huddled in his corner, holding his bloodied and broken nose flashed unwillingly through my eyes and I grimaced at the memory once again.
The way that Louis spoke of Carnage, it made me wonder if he was the reason for the growing death rate inside of this club. After seeing him fight and hearing how Louis talked about him, it would make sense to me.
"Are you fuckin' deaf?!" A voice calling out to me from the left caught my attention. "I want a goddamn beer before the show!"
I turned towards the man who was speaking to me. He had a pile of empty beer glasses on his table along with a pen and notepad in front of him. I couldn't read what he had been writing, but from what Louis has told me about the gambling, I'm sure he's keeping record of the fights.
"I'm sorry," I apologized, "I couldn't hear over the music."
The man looked at me like I had just grown a second head on my shoulder. "I really don't care." He said flatly. "Budweiser. And it better be here before the fighters come out."
Shit.
I nodded and quickly spun on my heel to make my way towards the bar. I flashed a look over the customers that I was serving for the night and made sure that all of them were set before I told the bartender that I needed one last Budweiser.
I tapped my index finger against the bar and watched impatiently as the bartender started to pour the beer into a glass. As soon as he slid it on the table towards me I was snatching it into my hand and calling out a "thank you" over my shoulder as I made my way back over to my rude customers table.
As I placed the beer down on the table just as the announcer came across the speakers to address the crowd. I smiled at the man, though my smile was mostly satisfactory with myself over the fact that I was able to give him his beer just in time.
"Have a good night." I said to the man before I was turning away and scanning my eyes over to the back wall trying to find Anika and Harmony.
As a fighter made his way out to the ring I quickly walked over to the two girls and gave them both a smile. "Hey.'' I greeted.
"Hey, Stella!" Anika beamed. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good. I think I'm starting to find a rhythm for things, so it's not as hard as it was yesterday." I said as I leaned against the wall next to her.
Harmony leaned up from the wall and looked over at me from the other side of Anika. "At this rate you'll be running circles around me and Ani in no time."
I laughed, shaking my head slightly. "Doubtful. I'm a complete scatter brain. I can only remember like three orders at a time— and that's if it's a single table."
Anika patted my shoulder, "You'll get there. It's only your second day, so don't beat yourself up over it. I think you're doing really well."
"Thank you." I gave her a soft smile.
The same intro music from last night caught my attention and I snapped my head towards the back door of the club where the spotlight was now shining. The crowd was so loud that I could hardly hear the announcer anymore, his voice was nearly drowned out completely by the people who were cheering for Carnage.
As the door swung open Carnage made his way out, dressed in the same unzipped hoodie and black shorts that he had been last night. He kept his head down, looking towards the ground as he made his way towards the ring and I realized that Harmony was right, he really doesn't pay any mind to the crowd.
I've seen on the TV as fighters make their way to the ring, and I always remember them looking up at the crowd or throwing their hands up in an attempt to get them going even more than they already were.
But watching Carnage was completely different. Yet all of these people still go so crazy for him.
"Alright, Carnage..." Anika brought her hands up in front of her, rubbing them together in anticipation. "Better win big tonight, because Louis owes me a fancy dinner date."
I laughed at Anika, rolling my eyes at her before returning my stare towards the ring where Carnage was now ducking under the ropes and stepping onto the mat. I watched as he copied the same routine from the night before, discarding his jacket and putting on his gloves that really didn't do anything to protect his hands.
In less than thirty seconds after he had stepped into the ring, the lights were going out, leaving everything in total darkness other than the ring once again, and I took this as an opportunity to analyze him in more detail than I had yesterday.
His hair fell in brown curls down to just above his shoulders, and I realized that his build was taller than I had previously thought. After seeing some of the fighters tonight I concluded that they were all around the same height due to where the ropes fell on their lower ribs. But Carnage stood a bit above their heights, which just shows me how tall the man he fought last night really was.
As the fight started Carnage and his opponent stalked their way towards each other. The man he was fighting tonight was about the same height as him, though his build was like a superhero straight out of a movie.
I swear his arm is bigger around than my head is.
They circled each other for a moment before they finally began to fight. Carnage was the first to land a hit, a solid one to the other mans stomach, though he didn't falter from the hit. Instead he caught Carnage on his cheek in reaction and sent his head snapping to the side.
My eyes widened in shock as I saw the hit, and I realized that Louis must not have been exaggerating when he said that Carnage's opponents on Friday nights are his warm ups for his fights on Saturday.
It was hard to keep my eyes on the fight, though I was finding it even harder to look away. I hate that I'm finding myself captivated by this, but even so I can't stop watching.
The way that they move and how they counter each others hits is on a professional level. I've never seen anything like it— not even from what I remember of watching fights on the TV with my dad when I was younger.
The way they move and how they take a hit is insane. You would think they feel no pain, though I find it impossible with how hard they are both being hit.
The fight had to have been going on for at least five minutes by this time. I could see that each of them were growing tired, their hits coming less frequently and their movements drawn down to a minimum.
I couldn't help the gasp that left me when I saw Carnage take a sharp hit to his jaw, his head snapping to the side as he took a hit to his stomach only moments after. The crowd erupted in boo's and I glanced around to see people jumping up from their seats and screaming all different kinds of profanities at the two men fighting.
"Here we go..." Anika muttered, her voice barely audible to me over the chaos.
I watched the ring intently to see as the two two broke apart from each other, but it was only moments later before Carnage was lunging forward, his fist colliding with the mans cheek roughly to send him stumbling backwards.
Carnage took it as the perfect opportunity to break in and start to land hits on the man. His foot jutted out, catching his opener by surprise and sending him down to the mat below.
Carnage didn't stop as the man fell. He towered over him, placing himself over the fallen man's middle and landing hit after hit against his face.
I watched wide eyed, full of fear as he repeatedly landed blows against the now bloodied skin. His hands were stained crimson, drops of blood scattering across his cheeks as he continued with his brutal attack.
Finally the crowd was screaming their cheers again instead of boos. Carnage had gabe them exactly what they had been waiting for, and it was like their screams of happiness were what finally snapped him back into reality.
His hand froze in the air, and even from this distance I could see how heavily his chest was rising and falling. He stared down to the motionless man below him, letting his arm fall down to his side.
After a few more seconds Carnage stood, stumbling back a step as he spat blood down onto the mat beside him. He kept his eyes on the man for a moment, and when it was evident that he was getting up, Carnage wiped the back of his wrist over his mouth and turned towards the crowd.
He raised a bloodied fist up into the air, red flecks visible and scattered across his body as he heaved in heavy breaths from his exertion. He scanned over the crowd, flashing his eyes from the left to the right quickly.
After only a few moments he dropped his hand back down beside him, picked up his jacket from the corner of the ring and ducked under the ropes to flee into the back room.
//
an:
i'm so excited for u to meet carnage hehe