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“Four days? How much do you need? ‘Cause, honey, you probably got better luck at gettin’ a second job under the table than tryin’ to get the boss to give you any extra shifts. He ain’t giving anybody overtime right now.”
“Second job like what?” I bit out, giving her a side eye glare.
I didn’t think she’d suggest anything illegal, but this was the Southside of St. Louis so one could never know. Her smirk put me on edge, the mischievous glint in her gaze telling me I wasn’t about to like her suggestion.
“The strip joint down a couple blocks over is always looking for new dancers. You get cash the night you work. No waiting a few weeks for a paycheck. Don’t even have to be good on the pole, just need to look good in their outfits and serve drinks to the customers. They’d definitely take you as a shot girl”—her gaze darted down my body, and a shiver worked its way up my spine at her perusal—“if you think you’re up for it.”
I opened my mouth to give her ahell no, but she didn’t stick around, her tinkling laugh mocking me as she strutted away.Bitch. I sighed, going about the rest of my work until Rupert came out of the back office. I hadn’t even known Donny’s father would be in today, but a rush of relief hit me.If anyone will hear me out, it’d be him,I thought,hopefully. He wasn’t alone though. I mentally cursed as soon as I saw that he was talking to Donny, but as much as I didn’t want to be eye-fucked anymore for the day, I needed to get more shifts. I counted backwards from one hundred to calm my mind. The stress of potentially being evicted was making everything worse.
“Mr. Brutello?” I murmured when I reached them, holding off until there was a pause in whatever they were discussing. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”
“Hey there, Mary. Looking good today.” Donny’s pervy gaze stayed on my face for once, but his tongue still darted out, wetting his lower lip when I looked over at him.Ew.
Forcing a grin, I held back the urge to turn around and go back to work. “Hey, Donny.”
“What is it, Miss Peterson?” Mr. Brutello’s tone was curt as he looked down his crooked nose at me. Shit, he wasn’t in a good mood.
I stood my ground, though. I had to. “I was wondering if there would be any open shifts coming up this weekend?”
“We’re fully-staffed—”
“Is there any way to possibly switch a shift? I can talk to whoever is supposed to be working…”
“No, it’s far too late to make any changes to the schedule. Now, if you’ll excuse us.” With a scowl and a dismissive hand wave, his meaning was clear. No shifts for me, no room for discussion.
I had to try, even if it sucked. Swallowing, I tried to build up the courage to explain why I needed additional shifts, but as I did, Donny tucked his lower lip between his teeth, and his eyes darted down to my breasts, stopping me. I turned on my heel and walked away feeling only slightly better that I couldn’t see him staring at my ass.
Rita’s muffled laughter reached me as I walked past her section, and at the irksome sound, I came to a decision. Walking around in next to nothing was better than being homeless, and it wasn’t like I’d have to do anything but serve drinks. If Rita said they’d take me as a shot girl, then as soon I clocked out, I guessed I’d be heading that way.
Later that night, after getting all the information I needed from Rita about the strip joint, I slid into my jacket in the employee locker room and took a second to really consider what I was about to do. It wasn’t like I had much choice.
“Just suck it up and do it,” I muttered to myself as I slapped the locker closed and headed out. “It’s just until you find something better.”
I walked the distance from Brutello’s to Bottoms Up Gentlemen’s Club, pulling my jacket tighter around me to ward off the chill in the air. I hurried as quickly as I could, wanting to keep the time I was out in the darkened streets to a minimum. There hadn’t been any instances of being watched, and I hadn’t seen any odd characters or the like today, but I wasn’t going to push my luck. Counting my steps as I hurried, the distance was quickly eaten away, and soon enough I came upon the club. Bright neon lights above the door bathed the darkened parking lot and street in a wash of green. Taking one final deep breath before I could back out, I headed towards the entrance.
Here goes nothing.
