Stiletto.
A/N: I'm back! And tackling a second story. For those of you who got here from the shameless story-pimping in 'Drawn', I love you guys. I've gotten a really reception from 'Drawn', and I thought I'd try this story. While this is an AU story, I've retained a lot of original elements. For example, everyone who is featured in this story, any kind of supernatural affiliation they may have carried over. So the vampires are vampires, the shifters are shifters, etc. And Sookie is still a telepath. The original plot is non-existent (hence AU) as well as most pre-existing relationships. I will perhaps put some people back together, but who knows for now. Oh, and an additional note, Dahlia from 'Drawn' is a character in 'Stiletto' as well. I just got such a good response on her character and, quite frankly, I love her. So I decided to give her a fairly integral part in this story.
Without further ado, Enjoy 'Stiletto'!
Chapter One- Welcome to the Dollhouse
Sookie Stackhouse took one last look at the neon sign before going inside. Fangtasia, it read. She thought the name sounded really cheesy, but she supposed that it was an apt name for a gentlemen's club. She also wondered what the hell she was doing in a gentlemen's club. And looking for a job, no less. Sookie knew that her Gran would be rolling in her grave, rest her soul, if she knew. But a girl's got to eat, right? She had just exhausted the last of the money she had left over after she was forced to sell her Gran's old house. It had broken her heart, but she had no other choice. So she was currently living in a two-bedroom apartment, which she rented, and she only had enough money to pay her share of the rent. Hence, the job search. Her roommate, Amelia, was an exotic dancer and had suggested this place. Hence, Fangtasia.
As Sookie took in her musty, smoke-filled surroundings, she was feeling really stupid for not looking for work sooner. She had opted instead to "grieve". Said grieving had lasted almost a year. By the time Sookie needed to find a job, pretty much everything was filled up due to the current recession. Truth be told, her skill set was pretty limited having not gone to college. With her "gift", school was unbearable. So when Amelia said that there was a waitress opening at her work, Sookie practically jumped at the chance. She knew a bit about slinging drinks from working at the local watering hole, and she knew her assets would be beneficial in a gentlemen's club. That, and Amelia said the pay was pretty good. So here she was, in a skin-tight dress, telling her inhibitions and Christian upbringing to take a hike.
As Sookie stepped out into the main floor of the club, Amelia spotted her and bounced over, clad in a bikini. "I was starting to wonder if you were actually gonna show up," Amelia stated.
"So was I. But hell, I need the money."
"Don't we all," she responded, tapping her stiletto on the tile absentmindedly. "I'll show you to Sam's office." Sookie smiled as Amelia led her towards the back. Amelia had told her earlier that meeting with Sam, one of the managers, was basically a formality and that she pretty much had the job. When they approached an unmarked door, Amelia knocked tentatively. A few moments later, a big man (who Sookie was pretty sure was a Were) opened the door for them. Amelia led the way, and both women were greeted by a man who appeared to be in his early thirties. Sookie picked up that he was a shifter.
"Good evening. I'm Sam Merlotte, manager of this fine establishment. And you must be Sookie Stackhouse. Amelia, my dear, your description barely did her justice." Could this guy be any more full of himself? Sookie couldn't help but admit to herself that he was kind of attractive, but his hubris was extremely off-putting. He extended a hand to Sookie, which she accepted. Amelia started to back out of the room, she had to be on stage in a couple of minutes.
Sookie watched her roommate leave the room before turning back to Mr. Merlotte, who was still holding her hand. She pulled away from him gently and Sam stepped back to lean against his desk. "You can start tonight, right?" Sookie nodded. "Great. I'll just have to get you some different shoes. Follow me." Sookie complied and followed, looking down at her black flip-flops periodically. Sam was right, she needed a different pair of shoes, but it wasn't like she owned anything like what the girls here wore. How many times in a girl's life would she need a pair of clear-heeled, platform stilettos? Amelia had offered her a pair of hers, but they didn't fit. As Sam lead her into what was apparently the dressing room area, Sookie tried to get a mental map of the place. Looking around the dressing room area, she saw a couple of chairs in front of a long vanity table, which was covered in a variety of makeup and hair products. There was a thick, black curtain towards the back, which they were currently walking toward. Once behind the curtain, Sookie saw racks of costumes and shelves full of shoes.
"All the pairs on the top shelf are standard wear. They're all brand new. Find your size and they're all yours," Sam said before leaving. Sookie barely had time to mutter 'thanks' before she was left alone with the wall of shoes. After finding a small stepladder, she had found a pair in her size. She exited out into the vanity area, found a plush chair to sit on, and opened her shoebox. Sookie stifled a giggle when she discovered that they were exactly the clear-heeled, platform stilettos she had been thinking about earlier. She strapped them onto her feet and stood up, wobbling a bit. Sookie heard giggling and looked up to see Amelia sliding on a robe, post-performance.
"You ok there?" Amelia managed to ask through her giggles.
"Yeah, I'm fine. They're just kind of…high." Slutty was the word that she wanted to use, but she didn't think that would go over well. Plus, who was she to judge. She worked here now, too. Granted she wasn't stripping, but still. Sookie knew that there was a stigma associated with girls who worked in these types of places, no matter what their job, and she didn't want to contribute to it by using such words.
"Meh. You get used to it," Amelia responded. "Now were just about to get ready for the introduction show for tonight, so you can meet the rest of the girls before you hit the floor."
As if on cue, four girls came into the dressing room. After they introduced themselves, Sookie was pretty sure she had names with faces. She knew that this was a gentlemen's club that catered to gentlemen of all persuasions-- human and Supe alike. So it seemed only natural that they had strippers of all persuasions, right? There was Crystal, who she gathered was a Were of some form or another. She was a pretty girl, and Sookie was pretty sure that she'd seen her with her brother, Jason, before. Jason was somewhat of a ladies man. The next girl was another one that Sookie recognized, for the same reason. Her name was Cassidy, and she was a shifter. Dawn and Arlene were both human, except Dawn was a stripper and Arlene was a waitress. The last girl in the group was also a waitress, her name was Dahlia. She was also human, but upon further probing, Sookie discovered that she was a telepath, like herself. Sookie was chatting with the girls while they got ready-- she had found out that the waitresses had just come back to meet the new girl, so they quickly left after introductions. She had also found out that there was one stripper that she hadn't met yet. Her name was Pam, she was vampire, and she always showed up late. Sookie remembered Amelia mentioning that she fashioned herself as some sort of Prima Dona of the exotic dancing world, and she had some sort of connection to the owner of the club. Amelia said that all the other girls speculated that they were fuck buddies, and that was why she got preferential treatment and could show up whenever.
After a few more minutes of talking, Sam appeared to give the one minute warning. Sookie took that as a warning for herself as well, so she headed out to the bar/waitress station to find Arlene and Dahlia. She was kind of happy that she blended in with them, as they were both wearing short, black dresses and the same shoes. The only major difference between them is that while Sookie was blonde, both the other girls were redheads-- Dahlia natural and Arlene…well, not. After they showed Sookie where everything was in the two areas, she was pretty much left to her own devices. She was ok with that, though-- she preferred solidarity anyway. Sookie scanned the floor. It was pretty empty, but it was still pretty early. During her scan of the floor, she noticed a table made of a dark wood. It was in the back of the club, but it was directly across from the stage. It stood out for two reasons: one, the rest of the tables were made of some kind of material that looked like metal; and two, there was a large, high back chair behind it, with two curved, plush bench seats attached, one on each side.
As Dahlia came back to the bar, she noticed Sookie staring. "That's the owner's table," she pointed out.
Sookie raised an eyebrow, "The owner? Does he come in often?"
"Pretty much every night. At least every night Pam is working," Dahlia scoffed. Sookie didn't have to be telepathic to tell that Dahlia had some ill-feelings towards Pam and her alleged relationship with the owner. She wondered what all the fuss was about. He couldn't be that fantastic, could he? After all, he did own a strip club. There it was again, that stigmatization of the industry. What the hell, Stackhouse? Since when do you judge people without knowing them? She scolded herself-- she was usually the judgee and not the judger, so she knew how it felt.
"Well she's working tonight, isn't she? Maybe I'll get a chance to meet him," Sookie said, continuing the conversation.
"Don't count on it," was all that Dahlia said before picking up her tray and going to check on one of her tables. Sookie shrugged and looked around again. She noticed that the tables were starting to fill up. As she picked up her tray, the lights dimmed. As the applause from the small crowd subsided, a voice came over the loud speaker.
"Good evening, and welcome to Fangtasia. Sam Merlotte here, your resident manager and resident DJ." Sookie suppressed another giggle. So Mr. Manager was also Mr. DJ? How…jack-of-all-trades of him. "For tonight's first performance, we have the Fangtasia-traditional Dollhouse Dance, featuring all our lovely ladies." Sam put the microphone down, and the speakers were flooded with music. Music that Sookie could only describe as the kind used in bad 70s porno movies. After taking a drink order, she looked up at the stage to see the girls starting to parade out in racy 70s style costumes as their names were called. Amelia shot her a little wave during her walk, and then Sookie turned to the bar to fill her order.
The bar wasn't the type that you could sit at, so it basically looked like one of those islands that people sometimes have in their kitchens. There were no seats of any kind around it, and it was surrounded by various types of liquor and accoutrements-- save for a few spaces where some one could fit in order to make drinks. There was also a wall stocked with liquor and synthetic blood, so you could still have the whole top shelf/bottom shelf delineation. The whole area itself was surrounded by a fence-like barrier. It was made out of the same metal-looking material as the table tops and it had a lockable swinging door for the waitresses to use. Sookie had just finished assembling her last rum and coke for her table when she heard something over the P.A. system that got her attention.
"And last, but certainly not least-- the pride of Fangtasia-- Pam!" Sookie had just put her table's drinks down as the announcement finished. No wonder this chick had a big head. She was back at the bar with Arlene and Dahlia when Pam appeared from behind the curtains. She was wearing an extremely low-cut, maroon, bell-sleeved dress, that was intentionally cropped short so part of her gold hot pants were visible. Sookie was stunned-- she looked like fucking Disco Barbie. Sookie was as straight as an arrow, but she thought the owner had to be either blind or gay not to favor, let alone notice, her. She suddenly understood the animosity among the rest of the girls.
"So that's Pam," Sookie stated, placing her tray on the bar. Dahlia just nodded and walked away. Arlene, who had drinks to make, stuck around.
"Yeah. All the other girls think that she's screwing Eric, but I swear she bats for the other team."
Sookie laughed, "I could actually see that. Maybe she's bi. Wait, who's Eric?"
"Eric Northman, the owner."
"Oh, I didn't know his name. Dahlia said something about him being here on some nights?"
"Yeah, he's usually in when Pam works. I have no clue why though…maybe she is bi."
"It's entirely possible since your sure that she's gay, and everyone else thinks she's sleeping with the boss," Sookie pondered.
"Hmm…I don't know why we haven't seen him yet." Arlene shrugged and took her drinks to her customers. The next hour or so went pretty smoothly, and Sookie was actually starting to enjoy her job. The girls were nice, except she still hadn't formally met Pam, and Dahlia was still carrying some kind of chip on her shoulder. And you would think that a telepath wouldn't want to work in such an environment. But, since most of the clientele were Supes, Sookie could deal with the occasional inappropriate thought from the human customers. Besides, most of those thoughts weren't directed at her, but at the dancers.
It was around 10pm when Sookie saw someone sit down at one of the closer tables, so she started to head over that way. That table could have been only five feet away and her shoes still wouldn't have cooperated with her. Sookie wobbled first, like she had after putting them on, but she thought she caught herself. She tried to take another step, but those shoes would have none of it, and she tripped, unable to recover a second time. She took a moment to look at the ceiling, which she noticed was quite ornate, while she prepped herself for impact with the floor. However, she landed comfortably-- and unexpectedly-- in someone's arms. Sookie was set on her feet, where she turned around to thank whoever caught her.
"Thank you…"
"Eric," he offered. It took a second before Sookie registered who he was.
"So you're the owner," was what so eloquently came out of her mouth.
He gave a small laugh, "Yes, I am. And it's not too often we get female customers in here, so I'm assuming you're a new waitress?"
"Yes I am." Oh God, where were her manners? This was her boss and all she could get out were short sentences.
Eric couldn't help but smile at the petite blonde, "And your name would be?"
"Oh, yeah…I'm Sookie Stackhouse." Sookie smiled at him, trying to regain some semblance of a first impression with her boss.
"Nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Stackhouse. I'm glad I could save you from hurting that pretty little head of yours." And with that, he walked off to his table, leaving Sookie standing there with her mouth wide open. She then caught sight of Dahlia, whose mouth was equally agape at their exchange, and she quickly closed her mouth and scurried off to the table she was attempting to wait on in the first place. She continued to wait on her tables for the rest of the night, pushing thoughts of the undeniably attractive Mr. Northman out of her head for fear of tripping all over again. On the other hand, if he was around to catch her, tripping might not be so bad.
So, there's chapter one. I'm kinda proud of it. I'm glad I got to bring out some more of Dahlia's bitchy streak and I am THRILLED to be writing a Sookie story. Please let me know what you think. All comments, questions, suggestions, etc. are welcome. They give me the warm fuzzies :)
Love ya'll
-Sydney
