The door’s unlocked. Not surprising; they keep it unlocked when someone is in here.
But what gives me pause is that there’s no one in the dressing room. No music playing from the stage that you can usually hear. No murmurs of people talking. It’s as if we’re closed. But we aren’t. Unless Tommy shut the place down.
It’s early, sure. Most, if not all, of the dancers should have already left to sleep for a bit before their next shifts. But the cleaning crew should still be here. The bartenders usually stay late, or early into the morning hours, to get everything set up for the next shift. To be 100 percent ready the second the doors open for the patrons to come in and look at the dancers.
But no one’s here.
Whatever.
I don’t have time to care. I need to get my stuff, hit a pawnshop, and get to the nearest bus station.
I put my bag down by my locker and start putting everything in it. Even if I don’t know where I’ll use the masks or half of this makeup again, it’s all I have.
This time I’ll do better.
I’ll be wiser.
I’ll make sure not to trust a soul.
Anyone could be a threat. I have to be smarter. No more attacks at my place. No unsafe workplaces. And especially no working for someone I might fall for.
Women.
I need to work for women.
Once I put the last brush in my bag, I stuff it under the chair and head to the ladder I use. There’s something haunting about being the only one in here. There are a few lights on, but nothing that lets me know anyone else is here. I wonder if they just forgot to lock the door or something.
I move quickly. It’s almost second nature. I already have most of the gear in my bag because I don’t leave it up, but I need to get the hooks that I use to secure me. It doesn’t take much; I learned early on how to set up the rigging and take it apart each night for fear that something or someone would mess with it. I only started leaving the main pieces up after Tommy took over.
I’m so stupid for thinking everything was going to start getting better for me. I trusted him and his whole camera thing.
Funny how the cameras worked for everything—except proving my innocence.
They said I stole from them. I didn’t.
Did I look at his books and see the money? Yeah. But either they’re lying to get me out, or they saw something that wasn’t true. Either way, I don’t trust them.
And if I don’t finish this quickly, they’ll probably say I’m stealing this too. Even though it’s mine. Half the reason Carl hired me was because I could bring everything with me. He didn’t have to supply anything or even train anyone to set up the system. I was a one-woman show.
A show that’s over.
“So much for being the Crown Jewel,” I mutter to myself with a last tug of the rigging to get it all down.
A noise below me pulls my attention, and I see that the door behind the bar, the one that leads to Tommy’s office, is open, light spilling out from the stairwell.
The thought of seeing Tommy hits hard, sharp and sudden. Even my knees go a bit weak. But should I go up there? Does he want to see me?
Do I want to see him?
I make my way to the ground floor and move to the dressing room. I don’t know if he saw me, though he could have with the view he has. I grab my bag, stuff the rest of my stuff into it, and turn to the back stairs.
A quick exit. That would be the smart thing to do. To just put this all behind me and never look back. To pretend that my days aren’t numbered. That when a gun goes off, it won’t be aimed at me. That my life will go on for years and not for the short time I have left, determined by Tommy’s family.
I never thought much of the future. Before everything, the plan was just to dance. Then it was to just get to the next paycheck. I never saw a future with kids or a home. Love wasn’t even a possibility. But for a second, I felt that. I felt that love, and loved with all my heart, for a few blissful moments.
But everything that was Tommy was a dream. A reality that wasn’t meant to be. Something to remember when the world turns cruel again. More so than it already is.
Right now, I’ve been turned out. Told to leave. Ignored by the one person I’d started to trust and seek solace in. It’s painful, but I’m also too close to the moment. I’m numbed by it. Just like when my parents died.
