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The other dancer doesn’t immediately respond. “Well, I think the idea was to keep the highest requested dancers in the prime spots so we’d get more tips.”
“Wow, tell me how you really feel, why don’t you…”
“Listen, Shell, you know I love you, but you need to stop drinking before you dance. You even told me it was affecting your performance.”
I press my palm against my mouth to muffle my gasp. This is something I didn’t know, but if I think about it, it doesn’t surprise me much.
“I didn’t tell you that.” Her whisper sounds angry, but I suspect there’s also some embarrassment laced in there.
Even though Shelly doesn’t like me, that wasn’t the reason I switched her shifts. I rescheduled her because I rolled out a system that lets our regular guests rank the dancers they’d prefer to see on stage, and Shelly was at the bottom of the list.
“Well, you told Marla, and she told me. And anyway, it’s obvious. I’m just trying to help you.”
I lean sideways and peer through the slit in the door as Shelly stomps her heel on the tile. “Help me, how? It’s not like better dancing will make a difference on the three PM shift. You’ve seen those men. They tip like shit, anyway.”
I glimpse the other girl through the crack, and recognize Juno’s wide eyes. She’s about to say what I’ve already realized: Shelly doesn’t know the rule I implemented this morning.
“Lara changed it, so we’re splitting tips.”
Shelly hesitates. “When?”
“This morning. And Jamie already approved it.”
“That bitch.”
Juno shrugs. “Maybe we should just give it a chance.”
“You agree with her?” If I squint hard enough through the crack in the door, I’m sure I see smoke coming from Shelly’s ears.
“I think that it’s something we’ve never tried before, and maybe we should give it a shot. The better we dance, the better shifts we’ll get, but more than that, the better the bad shifts will become. There’s plenty of other clubs in this town that are packed for their three o’clock shifts where dancers make just as good money as we do at midnight.”
“I can’t believe you’re defending her.”
“I am not defending her, Shelly. I think she’s stuck up, and yeah, Jamie fucked her and that is what it is, but maybe she actually knows what she’s doing. Either way, we don’t have a choice. Like it or not, she’s above us. And right now, you not getting good tips is affecting every other dancer here, so maybe just do better.”
Juno’s heels echo across the tile and the door opens, then slams closed.
Well, then. That was far from how I expected that conversation to go.
Shelly is silent for a moment, then grunts. “Fuck this.”
She stomps after Juno, and after she leaves, I stand and open the stall door.
I step up to the mirror. As I look at myself, I realize for the first time in my life, I’m not on the bottom. I have some control. And for a second, I’m stunned. I never imagined I’d get here, but now that I am, I feel conflicted. On one side, I’m actually being heard. Valued by my superior. On the other side, I don’t know how I feel about making someone else feel liketheydon’t matter.
Until I remember that the dancers don’t seem to have a problem. The only one with the problem is Shelly. And she has been a bully to me ever since I set foot inside the club. For the first time ever, I get to fight back. I have the power. Smiling, I pull out my lipstick and slide it across my lips. I pop my lips with a loutsnap.
Turns out red might be my color after all.
Jamie
It’s nearing nine PM and the crowd at Eden’s is filling in when Shelly storms up to the bar, a scowl etched across her face.
“Jamie, we need to talk. Right now.”
Great, just what I need. Her attitude has taken a serious nosedive this week, and it’s becoming a real problem. It has to do with Lara, I’m sure, and I don’t need to hear it.
I avoid meeting her eyes. “Can it wait?”
