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When she shoved the forkful in her mouth and chewed, he kept quiet, hoping she’d continue. He didn’t want to sit across from her and keep lobbing questions like an interrogation. He wanted the conversation to be more organic due to showing interest in her and her career. That might lead to her sharing more details about the goings-on at The Peach Pit.

Tonight’s goal was to get her comfortable and get her talking.

But once she swallowed her food and didn’t continue, he was forced to ask, “What about your family? They didn’t mind you working the stage to pay for your education?”

After taking a sip of her iced tea, she considered him over the rim of her glass for a moment. When she set it back down, she said, “I hid it from them for the first couple of years. I lied about where I worked and made excuses about how I could afford my courses. But those two years made it clear, I loved dancing and hated college. So, I never went back for what should’ve been my junior year. When my parents kept asking why I stopped taking classes, I finally told them the truth at Christmas dinner.”

He couldn’t imagine that scene… sitting around the holiday table with family and informing your parents that you’ve dropped out of college to strip full-time. He was sure that went over well. “How old were you when you finally told them?”

“Twenty. At that point I’d already moved out because I knew my choices, for both my education and my career, wouldn’t go over well.”

“And it didn’t.”

She shook her head. “No. My parents are super conservative. That’s why I held out telling them until I had my own place.” She shrugged. “I figured they’d kick me out. I was right about how they’d react. After my confession and once the initial shock wore off, they treated me like a pariah. Especially since I decided to dance full-time and told them I planned on working toward opening my own club.”

“A lofty goal at twenty.” He was impressed that she had solid goals at that age. When he was twenty, he was more worried about getting laid and partying with his buddies than his future. He didn’t even consider becoming a cop until his mother dug out pictures of her father wearing his uniform and all of his promotion photos.

Something as simple as a shoebox full of old photos had slammed the brakes on his aimless drifting and he turned hyper-focused on becoming a police officer just like his grandfather.

Some of it had to do with the pride his mother had shown when it came to her father and his successful career in law enforcement.

He had wanted to make her proud, too. His path at the time was not and he’d been determined to change it.

So, he understood the determination Mel had to sticking to her path. Others might find it humorous that her goal was to own a strip club. But a successful business was a successful business no matter what that business was.

As long as it was legal.

“Yes, it was lofty and still is, but I saw a glimpse of what I didn’t want.”

“Which was?” he asked.

“A typical nine-to-five, with rows of restrictive cubicles, time-sucking meetings, answering to the boss of a boss of a boss. You get the picture. Honestly, to me that life would’ve weighed me down like I was wearing heavy chains. Before the Demons took over The Peach Pit, I felt free and in charge of my own destiny. Even better, not forced to play office politics. Anyway, when I told my parents, I still held a sliver of hope they’d accept my life choices, but I wasn’t surprised when they didn’t. No matter what, I had to do what I thought was right for my future and happiness, not theirs. Or anyone else’s.”

“Did they cut you off?”

“Not completely. Not at first, anyway. They only had minimal interaction with me for years. Meaning, they only talked to me when it was absolutely important. Like when my grandparents passed. Or when my brother got married. When I became an aunt for the first time. They pushed me to the outer edge of their world and only threw me crumbs to keep me from totally starving. I guess that was one way to keep the door cracked open since they also made it clear many times that I’d be welcomed back home once I was done with my latest ‘phase’ of acting out.”

“Acting out? You made a career choice.”

“They don’t see stripping or even managing a club as a career choice. They see it as an embarrassment.”

He didn’t miss the sadness that flashed over her face. There and gone in a split second. Maybe she could hide it on the surface, but he had a feeling being rejected by her parents cut her deep, even though she’d been prepared for it.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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