Chapter 1 - Meeting
Sighing irritably, the tall, luscious male collapsed into the nearest chair in his dressing room, muttering something about how the younger crowds were way to noisy for his taste. His job was something he did because it paid better than any other one he had had before, and it wasn't like he was embarrassed by slipping off his clothes in front if a crowd. All he had to remember when those lecherous eyes began to greedily stare at him was to pretend he wasn't disgusted and that he even liked it. The more appealing he was, the more he was able to entice the audience, the higher his tips would add up.
This particular show had been a bit difficult, as some young adults, most likely some kids who had just turned 21 or something like that, were cat calling, whistling, and even trying to touch him. Of course, this was probably due to the empty glass bottles of beer on their table, but luckily for Neah, another of his co-workers had been kind enough to distract them, making Neah's job so much simpler. Even after having this job for well over a year, he couldn't help the overwhelming urge to throw something at anyone who tried to get his attention through lewd manners.
Whatever, at least that was my last performance for the day. He thought to himself with a short yawn, jumping from his seat on the wooden chair and towards the enormous closet.
Since it was already open, Neah flipped through his vast collection, picking a loosely fitting grey shirt with a pair of jeans which had some ripped holes on the upper portion of the pants. Suggestive yet casual enough for him to blend in with everyone else. He stripped of his lacy attire, carelessly tossing it into a corner and pulling on the clothes he had chosen, quickly doing so and running to the mirror to check his face. Out of habit, he attempted to tame his wild, dark hair, which always grew in whatever direction it pleased, no matter how much hair product Neah coaxed into it. It was annoyingly stubborn, and this time was not different, simply ignoring the feeble attempts to push it into a single direction and returning to its usually messy look.
Neah gave up, and decided to run a brush through it just to get rid of all the tangles, finishing with the monotonous task and grabbing his smart phone from the bureau. No messages, only some stupid Facebook notifications indicating that more people had found him online and messaged him with their usual perverted crap. What a sick joke, he was done with all the harassment, what the fuck did those people take him as, a piece of meat?!
A low growl slipped past his lips, forming a disgusted scowl as he was about to rant to himself again when his phone buzzed in his hands suddenly, surprising him. Dropping it on instinct, he fumbled to catch it before it hit the ground, satisfaction arising when he managed to get it just as it was about to touch the ground. What luck.
Tapping the screen, he placed the phone on his shoulder and pressed his ear to the screen, waiting for the person calling to say something.
"Oi, Neah, you done yet or do I have to come in there and get you?" Growled the familiar voice of Cross Marian, his boss and also the owner of this male strippers establishment. It was a private one, and it didn't exactly have name, since Cross always liked to keep certain people out of the place, though he wasn't exactly sure who he was referring to or if it actually paid off. In the end, customers always seemed to find their way into his business, so he supposed it didn't really matter. So long as they kept coming and bringing in plenty of tips, he'd continue with the shit that came his way gladly.
"Sure sure Cross. Jeez, you're such a pain in the ass, I've only been in here for a few minutes. Whats the rush?" He grumbled into the receiver, walking around and slipping on a pair of sandals, since wearing heels for three hours was a killer workout on his feet. At least the bruises had stopped forming, along with those ugly blisters he had gotten the first week of wearing those new heels he had bought. Sure, they were pretty sexy on him, but it had been hell to walk around with his feet screaming in agony with every step he took, not to mention he had had to cover it all up with some makeup, making it harder for it to heal quickly,.
"The rush is that I have someone new coming in, and I want you to be their guide. You know, just ease him into the job, show him the basics, etc etc."
"Why the fuck do I have to do this?"
"Because if you don't I'm going to fire your ass, so get out of that dressing room in two."
And with that, the bastard hung up on him with a soft click. Infuriated that Cross had just sprung this on him with no warning what so ever, he began to growl a series of expletives as he went about the room and gathered some of his necessities. Grabbing his favorite hoodie, he hurriedly stuffed his phone in his front pocket, before pulling on the hoodie and hiding his messy hair. Fine, he'd 'train' this new guy Cross had hired, whatever the fuck that meant. Hopefully it meant someone who had been a stripper before, not someone who just needed a job really badly and were desperate for money. All in all, stripping is the least demeaning job, at least, in Neah's opinion. He'd take it any day over a prostitute, but he got that not everybody was in his position.
Sliding out of the room, he shoved his hands into the pockets, sauntering onto the main floor, where another one of his co-workers, Mana, who also happened to be his brother, was having some fun with one of the younger customers. Rolling his eyes, Neah was accustomed to his brother's ridiculous flirtatious behavior, which he usually went overboard on whenever Cross was around, always trying to get a jealous reaction out of him. Like he didn't own the guy from head to toe. He spotted Cross near the front entrance, leveling a deadly glare at the client whom Mana was teasing, daring him to put a single one of his dirty thoughts into action. Neah smirked as he watched Mana's hair brush against the customers cheek, the bright red flush of pleasure burning brighter as the other watched Mana with lustful eyes. He could practically feel Cross's fury from where he stood watching, and decided to intervene before he blew up.
Quickly stepping across the room, he grabbed Cross by his arm and dragged him in his office, ignoring his struggles and growling as he pushed him onto his seat, moving back to take a seat on top of his desk, waiting. Cross took a moment to pull himself together, still looking quite envious as he forced himself to calm down ever so slightly. Only slightly.
"So, when's the new guy coming in?"
Cross shrugged, "I told him to be here at 11, so in a few minutes, I guess. Hopefully he's punctual."
"Hopefully? When did you even hire this guy? Did you even get his name?"
"Yeah, it starts with an A or something, I don't know. I wasn't exactly sober when all this happened okay? I just remember finding someone who was going around asking people if they had a job available for him and I offered him one, plain and simple. He took it without any hesitation."
"Does he even know what you hired him to do!?" Neah snapped impatiently, starting to get really tired of the usual drunk story bull crap Cross gave him every time. For god's sake, when would this idiot ever learn to not drink so fucking much?!
"Don't know, but it won't matter, stripping isn't hard."
"It will matter because not everyone is perfectly okay with stripping in front of a crowd, some people have this emotion that may be foreign to you Cross, but its called shame."
"Oh pfft, it's fine, its fine. Besides, what's the worse that can happen?"
There was plenty of reasons on what could happen in which Neah had in mind to inform Cross, however, a face peeked around the door, silver eyes glancing some what nervously at the two of them. Cross discarded his mask of annoyance and stood up, walking towards the person by the door and offering his hand.
"Ah, its nice to meet you again..."
"Allen." Said Allen muttered somewhat embarrassedly, quickly shaking Cross his hand and taking a swift glance at Neah, before moving his sights back to Cross.
"Yes, Allen! I'm glad you found the place well enough. Didn't have to much trouble, did you?"
Allen shrugged, pursing his lips as he added, "No trouble at all, though I will admit, when you offered me a job, this wasn't the kind of work I had in mind...unless it cleaning, then I can do that well enough."
Chuckling, Cross shook his head, leading Allen over to take a seat on one of the free chairs, though it was clear from the glare that Allen didn't like being touched. Which was a clear indication, at least, in Neah's mind, that Allen was not suited for this line of work in the least.
"We have enough staff who clean around here, however, we're always looking for strippers."
Allen's expression immediately changed, silver eyes narrowing and bowing his head, though Neah was able to get a peek of the pink blush which had spread across the other's cheeks before it was hidden by a curtain of red, brownish hair. How utterly adorable. Cross was blunt, but he had never seen someone blush so quickly and get embarrassed by his forwardness.
"Thats not what I thought I was signing up for." Allen managed to sputter out, causing Neah's smirk to widen, golden eyes glimmering with amusement as Cross merely sighed in exasperation, running a hand through his rich, scarlet hair.
"I get you, but times are hard, jobs aren't easy to come by, and something tells me you've been jobless for quite a while now. This isn't the time to be squeamish about things, if you wanna make it past these years, you're going to need cash, and this job will give you plenty of it. IF you're willing to do it, that is."
Neah had to give Cross some credit, he drove a good bargain. But it wasn't enough, Neah could tell from the look in Allen's eyes, so he decided to help Cross out for once.
"Of course," Neah added as he rested his chin on his hand, propping it up against his leg for support, "you wouldn't be just thrown in for the lions to eat you, I'd show you how its done, we'd ease you in to this. Its nothing hard, and besides, is pride really worth starving another month or two and looking for a job that won't come?"
Just for kicks, he threw in his best, reassuring smile, fluttering his lashes gaily and met with an unexpectedly agreeable response.
"Fine, whats the starting pay?"
Cross, pleased that Allen had at least some what jumped on the idea, began to eagerly discuss payment with him, not paying attention at all other than what he was talking about. Satisfied with results, Neah got up from the desk and headed out to watch the rest of Mana's little performance, though he felt a specific pair of eyes watching him leave, taking a quick glance behind him to find Allen staring at him. The moment he caught him, however, Allen just as quickly broke his stare and refocused his attention on Cross. With an amused grin, Neah left, wondering just what sort of person Allen would prove to be.
