happen.”
“Well like I said yesterday, it’s really uncommon for Angel to miss a meeting like that, so whatever it was I’m sure it was important. But Rhys passed on the message from Angel that you’re going to be working the same shifts as me. I think Angel knows you’ll probably feel better having a familiar face on the floor.” She’s distracted for a minute as she picks up a box by the door and reads the label on the top. “We’ll be working together for a while until you get to know some of the other girls. It’ll be great.”
The tension coiling in my shoulders gives way at her words and I grin. I’ll definitely like working with Shelly. I’m already stepping way out of my comfort zone working somewhere so public, but Shelly has a natural way about her that immediately puts me at ease—I’m glad to call her my friend.
She takes her time and explains the different sections of the club and tells me about the customers I need to watch out for, and the ones who receive the VIP treatment. All of this, I find out, is neatly organized into separate folders that are kept in the staff room for us to access at any time, but she assures me the longer I’m here the easier it will be to recognize everyone by name or face.
When she’s finished, Shelly looks me up and down and plants her hands on her hips. “Well, you certainly dressed the part. I never woulda’ known that was hidin’ under your baggy hoodie.”
My face heats, and despite her words I pull at the cuffs of the long sleeve black V-neck that I picked up at the thrift shop in town. Clarise let me borrow a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and I paired them with my broken in black Chuck Taylor high-tops. Still, I thank her even though anxiety is beginning to weave threads of uncertainty through my chest.
“What will I be doing tonight?” I ask. If I can get into it and start working, hopefully I’ll be able to keep my mind off my other problems.
“I made it clear to Angel that you didn’t want to dance, and that’s not an issue at all. So we’ll start tonight with you shadowing me as I wait tables for an hour or so, then we’ll let you try a couple on your own. Sound good?” She pulls out a small notebook and pen from the pocket of her skintight mini skirt and hands them to me without waiting for my answer. “We’ll start with section two, it’s usually the quietest.”
For the next two hours, I trail behind Shelly like a lost puppy and watch as she ends up covering not one, but two sections, both full of rowdy and disorderly men. I’m entranced at the way she fights off unwanted touches and attention without making the men feel like they’re being turned down. They frown and pout but with a few whispered words their smiles are turned right and they’re once again eating from the palm of her hand.
My feet nearly cry in relief when she tells me it’s time for a ten minute break. “So what do you think so far?” Shelly asks as she hands me a bottle of water and we sit side by side at the relatively quiet end of the bar. I open the top and take a mouthful, not realizing how thirsty I was. Shelly brings her own bottle to her lips and as she swallows, someone calls out from behind the bar.
“Yo, Shell.” The bartender who looks way too young to be working here, waves a hand in our general direction.
When Shelly looks up, he nods his head toward me. “Boss is here, wants to meet her. Said to send her up.”
Shelly smiles wide and jumps down from the barstool before she grabs my hand and drags me through the crowd. Looks like it’s time for my interview.
We enter through the same staff door as earlier and make the trek up the stairs for a second time tonight. Only this time when we reach the top, we turn right toward a door I didn’t notice before.
Shelly glances at me and her face softens. “You don’t have anything to be nervous about. I’ll wait out here until you’re done, okay?” Before I have a chance to respond, Shelly raps her knuckles against the door three times and opens it without waiting for a response.
Didn’t anyone ever