Chase followed Ken back down the corridor. They went past the posters once again, Chase making a silent comparison between the Ken Doll poster and Ken himself.
"So you're a dancer, huh?" He asks, breaking the silence.
"Mmhmm," he responded with a nod of the head. "I also help out the boss with certain things. I'm sorta his secretary," he smiles at him.
"I see."
His voice sounded much more buttery and smooth in person. He had such a clear, deep articulate voice that he certainly wouldn't mind constantly hearing. His demeanor was also very professional despite his occupation here. It was no wonder why he was chosen to be a secretary.
They turned a corner and walked into a room that was labeled the "Dancer's Room".
The room itself was about the size of a hair salon. There were mirrors on one side and racks of clothing on another. There were no dividers for privacy when changing, so some of the men went behind clothing racks to change. From his sight, he spotted about eleven dancers in total. There was much chatter inside along with some clothes being thrown around. Chase instantly recognized the dancer he saw onstage pushing one of the guys into the open, naked. He stands idly beside the ginger as Ken attempted, in vain, to get their attention.
"Ahem!" he clears his throat, though none of the other dancers seem to notice through the commotion.
"AHEM!" He repeats, growing impatient with the loud noise.
The noise dwindles to a mere whisper, some of the dancers peeking behind the racks to give the secretary their undivided attention.
"Oh, hey. What's up Kentucky?" the one known as Rodeo greets with a smirk, leaning casually against one of the racks. He was now wearing leather-clad pants, though he was still shirtless. Chase can make out his features a lot better from here: tanned, golden-caramel skin tone with a nice, lean body type.
"Don't call me that," he demanded before continuing. "We have a new dancer-"
Chase flashed him a glare before Ken corrected himself.
"A potential dancer. He's gonna try it out for a night," he continues as if he never even uttered the mistake to begin with.
A large, muscular Native American man steps from behind the first rack, a concerned expression overtaking his chiseled features. His hair was dark and shoulder-length, tousled to one side. He was one that was the most casually dressed, though still shirtless.
"So what does that mean for us? Where are we going to fit him in our schedule?"
"Well Chief, we'll just fit him in between yours and Tantalis' performance," he replied, going towards the little white board and making some changes. "We usually keep a dry-erase board to remind ourselves of the routine for the day," Ken leans over and whispers to Chase with a sly smile.
Satisfied with this response, Chief nods and goes back to what he was doing, presumably searching for clothes to change into.
Although everyone seemed very busy, they seemed affable enough that he may get along with them as coworkers in the future. He did feel pressure in the pit of his stomach, though. Who could blame him? Here he was being thrusted onstage to perform a dance despite originally coming to interview for a bouncer position. He was flattered that the boss found him attractive enough to be one, but it did raise a red flag for him.
"So, you planning on dancing, huh?" Rodeo asked with a raised eyebrow. He was wearing shiny, black latex pants now, making his way over to Chase with a whip in-hand. He put an arm around the taller guy, forcing Chase to have to stoop down to his level. "You got a name yet?"
From his nickname, Chase would expect Rodeo to have more of a Southern accent but it wasn't too different than what he would have imagined it to be. His voice was deep and rough, but very seductive. Definitely a bad boy type of dancer.
"Um, no. Not really," he flubs, flustered from having this very attractive man near him. He wasn't expecting him to be this friendly nor being able to meet him so soon.
"Ah, it'll probably come to you. Or we can help you come up with one," the male suggested, smacking him on the bum, which earned him a frightened jump. "Nice ass by the way."
"Zayn," Ken growls, shooting him an icy glare.
"Alright, alright, I'll let him get changed. Hey uh, you," he says to Chase. "You're up in fifteen minutes. That means you have five minutes to choose an outfit and ten minutes to come up with a dance routine. Everyone make sure you find him a good outfit," Rodeo states, gesturing toward the racks of clothing.
Ken squints his eyes, "Isn't it my job to tell people what to do?"
"Nope. That job belongs to the boss," he snorts, giving a quick flirty wink to Chase before going to a clothes rack. "Hey, I think you can borrow some of Lionel's things. Come here."
Chase bites his lip to stifle a little smile as he follows him to the rack. He winces, however, at the array of outfits presented to him. Most of them were skimpy- fishnet tops, thongs, and assless chaps. He just couldn't see himself wearing any of this stuff without making him blush.
"Do you have anything here that's at least halfway decent?" Chase questioned, rummaging through the clothes. Zayn exchanges glances with Ken before both staring at him, deadpanned.
"It's a fucking strip club. Even if you do find something 'decent', it's gonna come off anyways," Ken retorts.
"Uh... okay?" Chase furrows his brows at the other's sudden sharp demeanor.
"Here, lemme help you," Zayn takes the Caribbean male's hand and guides him through the racks. He shuffles through the clothes before pulling out a black suede vest along with some distressed jeans. "What type of underwear are you wearing?"
"Huh?" Chase reacted, perplexed. "Um...boxer-briefs?"
"What color?"
"Uh." Geez, what color underwear was he wearing? He undid his pants to check for the color. However, it seemed that someone had already snuck his way behind him, gripping his pants from behind and yanking it down, pulling the boxer-briefs down with it and exposing his uh... 'lower regions'.
"Hey!" He exclaims, turning a deep shade of red before retreating behind the clothes rack. Ken reappears next to Zayn, giggling along with him and the other dancers.
Chase's facial expression went from one of embarrassment to anger in a matter of seconds. What the hell was wrong with them? They didn't need to see what he had. Hell, he wasn't even sure if this was his official job yet. If this was how they got down, he wanted no parts of it.
"At least we know the color of his underwear," Rodeo smirked, nudging his ginger cohort.
"I'm leaving," he snaps, pulling up his pants and trudging towards the door.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Ken hurried over to Chase, stopping him. "Look," he stifles another giggle. "I'm sorry, kinda. I didn't mean to upset you, we were curious," he shrugs.
"That's not the type of shit you do to someone you just met," he scolds before reiterating with emphasis: "I'm leaving."
Chase turned to go, but felt a hand on his shoulder. He sucks his teeth, spinning back again to glare at him.
"Listen. Can you please just feel it out? Just for tonight? I feel that you would be a great addition to the club," Ken flashes him a small smile. "Please?"
The island boy narrowed his eyes for a bit, attempting to read him. He was annoyed, but the petite ginger seemed genuine. Plus, he was curious to see how this night was gonna play out. He sighs.
"Fine," he rolled his eyes, earning a brighter smile from the male. "But on one condition. No more of these antics, aight?"
"You have my word," Ken shakes his hand with a little bow. "Now that you're staying, I came up with a name for you!"
"Already?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Mmhmm... Wanna guess what it's based on?"
"Uh," he was a little too frightened to guess but instantly got the hint when the ginger's vivid, green eyes kept flickering to his crotch. He scowls.
"What? Oh c'mon, it's a nice size! Big, too. You can actually give Rodeo over there a run for his money. I mean-"
"Alright, I get the point," Chase interrupted him before it got too awkward. "So...what actually is the name you thought up of?"
"...Black Mamba."
Now it was Chase's turn to wear the deadpanned look as absolutely nothing, not even a groan was heard from him.
"Oh c'mon Chase, be a good sport~!" Ken calls to him as he turns to grab the clothes and change behind the rack.
Soon he stepped from behind the rack and into the open where everyone can see. He had removed his shirt, so he was wearing nothing but the suede vest over his torso. The jeans felt snug against his lower body and clung to his hips quite nicely. The boys couldn't help but marvel at how nice his body looked. It was evidently muscular thanks to football.
"Oh, very nice," Rodeo applauds. "Turn around."
He rotates around, stiff. His cheeks were a deep shade of scarlet now- he wasn't used to this type of attention.
"Ah, that fits very well," Rodeo nudges Ken, in which he nodded in agreement.
"Alright, great! How much time do we have left?" Rodeo looked up at the clock and frowned. "Shit, we don't have a lot of time." He walked towards Chase and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Looks like you'll just have to wing it."
"I have to what now?" he pushes his head forward, hoping they'll say sike.
"You uh...," Zayn rubs the back of his neck, awkward. "Ya kinda don't have time to practice."
There was a slight pause before he abruptly turned around and started taking off all the clothes he changed into.
"WAIT CHASE-" the guys rush over to stop him.
"Chase! Wait, hang on-"
"Nah, I quit! I'm good, I'm not taking this job," he insists, struggling in vain to take the clothes off.
"Chase, relax," Zayn murmurs, passing by the others and cradling his chin in his hands. "You can make a fuckton of money. Just try it for one night, I know you can do it."
Chase stills, shutting his eyes. He exhales sharply before making his decision.
Just one night, Chase, one night. You take the bread and you leave and are never heard from again.
"How am I gonna wing this? What do I have to do?" he asks, finally.
"Well, first off you gotta loosen up," Chief points out, referring to Chase's hunched shoulders.
"Okay," He loosened up a bit. "Then what?"
"You dance! Utilize the stage! Interact with the crowd!" Ken piped up, dancing around the room.
"Yeah, what he said," Rodeo pointed to the ecstatic ginger before leaning in and whispering: "He really loves his job."
Chase chuckled in response before sighing. Well, he did dance a lot when it came to Carnival. He was also really good at rolling his hips. Yeah, he could do that. But what about the music?
"Alright. Very well. But what exactly would I be dancing to?"
"Up to you. What do you prefer?"
"Hmm." He had to think long and hard on this one. He wanted to stand out and be different. He was sure they played the usual pop music and maybe some R&B. But maybe they haven't tried...
"Dancehall."
"Dance...hall? What's that?" Ken asks, curious.
"I think that's like reggae, right?" Zayn speculates.
"So... Bob Marley-type music? That doesn't sound very appealing, to be honest..."
Chase facepalmed. Of course. That's what pretty much everyone who wasn't familiar with Caribbean music thought of.
"Noooo...There's different types of Carribean music. But that's DEFINITELY not the type I was thinking about," he chuckled a bit.
"I see," Ken nodded slowly. "Well I'm certain you would know more. Here," he went over to a little drawer and pulled out a Post-It note and a pen. "Write down the song you had in mind and I'll bring it to the DJ."
Chase took the items and wrote it down, giving it back to Ken.
"Thank you!" He smiled before leaving the room and heading towards the DJ.
It wasn't long before Tantalis, the dancer that was onstage came through the door.
"Alright champ, get ready because you're gonna be up," Rodeo led Chase out of the room and towards the area backstage.
The area was barren aside from the thick velvet curtain that divided the backstage area from the actual stage. Although the stage appeared to be smooth, the flooring backstage was rougher and wooden. Chase could spot a few raised floorboards with the naked eye that were against the wall.
"So when you enter, you're gonna enter through the middle," he indicated with his hand. "Your cue to go on is when the DJ announces your name and the music starts to play."
"Okay," he took a deep breath. His chest felt so heavy, he couldn't help but feel nervous. What if he messes up? What if the crowd doesn't like him? Oh well, he was going to have to cast those feelings aside.
"You're not gonna be up for no more than 2 minutes. Remember to carry yourself with confidence, charm, and sexiness. Got it?" Rodeo asked.
"Uh huh," he nodded in response, listening to Ken's suave voice entertaining the crowd.
"Good! You got this kiddo," he gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving.
This wasn't what Chase was expecting. All he could do was peer out from behind the velvet curtains as bright lights lit up the shiny, navy blue stage. Surrounding the stage was a sea of spectators, whooping and hollering- waiting to be entertained by Damon's Paradise's newest dancer: "Black Mamba".
It was time.
As soon as he heard his name and the music starting to play, he stood up straight. He strutted through those velvet curtains and was greeted by loud squealing as he flashed his pearly whites, his God-given dimples very prominent in his face as he began to gyrate his hips to the beat. He made his way to the very front of the stage, sinking down to his knees. Money was being thrown at him now, he could see the green notes littering the stage. He tuck his thumbs in the loops of his jeans, pulling it down just a little past his V-line. Some women had reached out to touch his abs. He rolled his stomach in-tune before he went forward on all fours to kiss one of their hands. He flashed a charming smile before getting up and pulling off the vest, throwing it into the crowd.
Although the crowd was going crazy, he couldn't help but feel his integrity slowly dying inside. If his family, or even his peers from school ever caught him doing something like this, he would be in so much trouble.
After what felt like eternity on stage, he was finally done- the DJ introducing him one last time before the next act, which was Chief. He went backstage and back inside the Dancer's Room where he was instantly greeted with praise.
"Holy shit! You were fucking amazing out there!" Rodeo puts an arm around him.
"You did great, Chase," Ken compliments.
"Oh, uh...really?" Chase blushed, rubbing the back of his head, bashfully.
"Mmhmm. How did you feel?" Zayn asks as the other men go silent awaiting his answer.
"I uh... I'm a little panicked but it didn't feel too bad," he shrugs. "It's gonna take some getting used to if I decide to work here."
They nod understandably to each other.
Suddenly, two workers came in with two large duffle bags and gave them to Chase before leaving. He looks up to the other guys as a sign of confirmation before opening the bags. His eyes widened as he discovered they were filled to the brim with money.
"Holy shit," he whispers to himself as he starts counting out the money. He already calculated at least $400 and he hadn't even made it halfway through the bag. Someone working for minimum wage, part-time would never come close to this kind of money!
"Wait, aren't I supposed to give some back to the club?"
"Well, typically Boss collects 10% of your earnings. You count it at the end of the night, take the percentage out for him and keep the rest. However, since it's your first day, he pardoned it," Ken explains. "You also have to pay a flat fee per shift to dance per shift which luckily is only $35. Events nights are higher, of course."
"Yup. You're considered an independent contractor so you get to make your own schedule. If you decide that you wanna cut your losses and not come back, that's okay too. But considering that Boss didn't deduct anything or charge you on your first day... I reckon that he may like you, Chase," Zayn teases.
"Ah," he gets flustered. He didn't think he made a good impression; it wasn't like he really spoke to Boss to be honest.
"Well Chase, if you do decide to leave it was nice having you here with us," Ken smiles. "Just make sure you bring back the duffle bags when you clear all the money out of it," he adds. "I'll let you change."
Chase nods, rising to his feet and moving behind a rack to change.
Just one night, Chase, one night. You take the bread and you leave and are never heard from again.
But was that what he really wanted to do? The money was great! And even though his coworkers were annoying, they seemed nice enough to work with. He found himself really wanting to see them again.