The smell of strong cologne filled the dressing rooms as the workers got ready for their shift. Friday nights were always the busiest nights of the week, and the workers at Big Apple Bar & Entertainment had to get ready for a long night.
Big Apple was not only a bar, but also one of the most popular male strip clubs in New York City. Owned by a businesswoman named Angela, she made sure that her club went over the top with service.
Angela walked into the dressing room. "Ten minutes til opening time," she informed.
The male strippers nodded and continued to apply oil and cologne to their bodies. "Guys, check out this new body spray I got from a regular client of mine," one stripper named Ronald said. The others gathered around to look at the young stripper's newest prized possession. Carefully, Ronald sprayed some of the cologne on his chest and watched as he began to sparkle.
"Glitter spray?" Eric asked as he took the bottle.
"Yeah, girls nowadays like a guy who can sparkle a little. Sort of like a vampire fantasy thing she said," Ronald explained. He watched as Eric sprayed some on his chest and passed it to William, Claude, Sebastian, Ciel, and Grell.
Eric stepped over to the door, opened it, and stepped into the hallway. The blonde walked across the hall and softly knocked on the door before entering one of the bedrooms. In it sat another stripper. He was over at the vanity applying medicine to a wound.
"Alan, are you alright?" Eric wondered as he strode over to his friend.
Alan was one of the younger strippers that worked at the club, and because of this, Angela viewed him as a jewel because he hadn't had as many relations with clienteles as the others. But because he was younger, he was also more fragile. Alan bruised easily and was something that not a lot of others were; sensitive. Recently, a drunk client had beat Alan before raping him while the young brunette was unconscious.
Angela banned the man from the club and had given Alan the week off, because she had to preserve her 'jewel' as long as she could. She put Eric in charge of watching over Alan to make sure that he healed alright. While looking after Alan, he and the brunette had become very close to one another.
Looking up at his friend, Alan nodded. "Just trying to cover up some of these marks; you know Angela doesn't like it when clients can see our wounds," he said as he applied make-up to some bruises around his throat.
"If you need me anytime tonight just come find me okay?" Eric instructed.
"What if you're with a customer?" Alan wondered.
"My friends are more important to me than any of the clientele," the blonde stated.
Alan sprayed his chest with cologne one more time before he and Eric joined the other strippers behind the curtain that opened up to the club stage.
Ronald was up first to perform tonight. While one of them performed, the others served as waiters to the customers at the bar area. If one of the strippers took a guest back to one of the bedrooms for a 'private performance', then the others had to fill in their place.
As Alan served a table their drinks, a couple of the men stood up and began to touch him. "Pretty thing like you shouldn't be working here. You should be at home with one of us," one said seductively.
The brunette shuddered at the man's tone. "Heard he's the virgin jewel of this club," another informed as he chugged down more alcohol.
"Well, we should change that," one stated as he began to bite Alan's neck.
Luckily Eric was passing by the table at this time. "Whoa now, gentlemen you'll have to wait until the performer takes the stage before you can touch him like that. And if you get too drunk then you won't be able to touch him at all," the blonde informed as he led Alan away from the table.
"Thanks Eric," he said gratefully.
"You okay? They didn't hurt you did they?" Eric wondered as he examined Alan's neck.
"No, not too badly," Alan replied. The customers started applauding which meant that Ronald's turn was over. "I've got to go get ready, I'm up next."
The brunette walked over to the curtain where Angela was waiting on him. "Now go out there and give it your best my dear," Angela stated as she adjusted Alan's tie for him.
"Yes ma'am," he muttered.
Angela then said over the announcing system "Thank you again to our dancer Ronald. Now please welcome the virgin jewel of Big Apple to the stage."
Alan braced himself for the customers as he strutted out onto the stage and wrapped his body around the metal pole that was available. Men began to throw money at the brunette in an attempt to catch his attention. As he danced, Alan looked over and saw a young female sitting at one of the tables with a sad expression on her face.
The brunette continued his dance but decided to see her when he'd finished. Alan began to unbutton his shirt and slid it off his tan torso to reveal his toned abdomen to the crowd. He heard many people cheer and applaud, but it didn't make Alan feel happy. It made him feel used.
He slid on the pole a few more times before collecting his shirt and money and exiting the stage. Quickly, Alan searched for the girl that he'd spotted earlier. The brunette bumped into Grell. "Hey have you seen a young girl here? She was sitting over at that table." Alan pointed to where he'd last seen her.
"Oh yeah, she headed over towards the bar a few minutes ago," Grell informed as the cross dressing male walked over to the stage to prepare for his turn.
Alan walked over to the bar and saw the girl sitting there drinking a glass of wine. "Hi," he said.
The girl turned to him and echoed his statement. "You look lonely all over here by yourself," Alan informed.
"I'm just looking for someone to spend the night with," the girl stated quietly as she finished off her wine. "Will you stay with me tonight?"
The brunette shuddered a little as she touched his hand gently. This would be his first customer in a week, and he didn't know if he was ready or not. But money was money, so he nodded yes to her.
Standing up, the girl was led by Alan to one of the 'private entertainment' rooms in the club. Once the two were alone, the girl lay down in bed and motioned for Alan to join her.
Slowly, Alan lay down beside her, and wrapped his arms around her. He felt the girl reach her head up and lightly kiss his cheek. "Thank you for staying with me," she whispered before laying her head on his chest and drifting off to sleep.
The brunette lay there and took in what had just occurred; all this random girl wanted to do was have someone spend the night with her, with no sex or anything, just lie there and cuddle. Alan had never heard any stories of this happening to any of the other workers there. Gazing down at the girl, Alan did have to admit that she was beautiful and seemed to be a really sweet young woman. Where was her boyfriend at? Alan assumed that a beautiful girl like this had a boyfriend somewhere, so why come to a club and spend the night with a lowdown stripper?