shake mine. “I’m Tiffany Smith.” She gives me an over-exaggerated wink and I smile, knowing that’s her fake name.
“Eliza told me to look out for you.”
“Oh.” I frown. “Is she here?”
“Not yet, she doesn’t start until eleven when the club opens.”
I look around. “Isn’t it opened now?”
“No, no. This is just the starting crowd. Things don’t heat up until 11.30 or so.”
“Oh.” I wonder what heat up means?
“Let’s get you a drink and you can hang with me until Elli gets here.”
Jeez, I’m like the new kid at school who is assigned a buddy. I fake a smile. This is awkward. “Okay.”
She walks over to the bar and I follow her like a child. This place is freaking uncomfortable. She walks to the side of the bar and opens up the black, glossy door into the back of the bar and I stand still. “Come in.” She grabs my hand and pulls me behind her.
“Don’t be nervous,” she whispers over her shoulder.
“This is just so far out of my comfort zone,” I whisper back.
She smiles cheekily. “It was for me, too, when I started.” She turns and looks me up and down. “You a law student?”
I shake my head. “Med.”
She smiles.
“You?” I ask.
“Engineer.”
I smile my first real smile. “Is this place really shitty? Should I just run now?”
She laughs out loud as she turns and pulls me along the back of the bar toward the end. “This is the best job I’ve ever had. It’s not what it looks like.”
I widen my eyes and glance back at the girls serving drinks behind us. She pulls up a stool and sits me at the end so that I am looking out into the crowd but out of the way. “What do you want to drink?”
Fucking Tequila!
“Cointreau and Coke, please,” I murmur.
She smiles and turns back to make it, while I sit perched on my stool like a freak in an exhibition. The men have started to notice me. Some are making eye contact and giving me a subtle nod. I nervously nod back in acknowledgement. I can’t believe the caliber of men in this place.
It’s ridiculous.
You just don’t see men this handsome out and about, and if they aren’t good looking, they are immaculately dressed and scream of success. So even they seem attractive.
A bouncer comes to the other side of the bar. He’s blonde, big, and muscular.
“Hi, I’m Matt.” He grins and shakes my hand.
“Hi. I’m Vivienne.” I smile awkwardly.
“You starting tonight?”
He seems nice and friendly and I shake my head. “No, I’m just here to look. I don’t think I’m starting at all.”
He looks me up and down. “Elli won’t let you go. You’re too hot.”
My confidence gets a much-needed boost. I drop my head to hide my smile and tuck my hair behind my ear. I feel my face flush with heat. “Have you worked here long?” I ask, to change the subject.
“Yeah, about two years. Putting myself through college.”
“What are you studying?”
“Environmental science.”
“Third year?” I ask.
“Fourth, but good guess.”
I smile, relieved that this place isn’t half as awful as I imagined.
Tiffany arrives back over. “I have to go back to the door. You okay here for a while?”
“Sure. What do you do on the door?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “I’m the greeter tonight.”
“Oh.” I frown at her expression. “And this is a bad thing?”
“Fuck, yes. It’s so dull. I usually lap dance. But the door girl is off tonight.”
My eyes widen and she laughs at my expression. “I used to think that, too, but seriously… I get paid a stupid amount of money to turn on gorgeous men.”
I bite my bottom lip to stifle my smile. “So, you are topless when you dance?” I ask.
She shrugs. “No, we wear tops.” She smiles cheekily. “They are just completely see-through.”
“Oh.”
She throws me a wink and goes back to her position near the door, and I sit frozen still, hoping nobody will notice the nerdy girl at the end of the bar. Over the next half an hour, I have three more drinks while I watch gorgeous men arrive, one after the other. Some are in groups, others on their own. Although, even the ones who arrive alone seem to know others that are here. How does this work? Do these men come here to socialize? I bet a lot of them are married and this is their dirty little secret. I watch them all standing around the bench tables, down on level two and around the bar. The