A/N: REVIEWS ARE VISIBLE AGAIN! PLEASE COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK - I WONDER WHAT YOU THINK IS GOING ON BETWEEN THE TWO IN THIS SCENE - AND IF YOU CAN SEE THE FORESHADOWING HERE SOON. WHO KNOWS - BUT I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM ALL OF MY READERS! THANKS SO MUCH!
She didn't take time to enjoy the clapping and whistling that followed the lights going off. Expertly grabbing her bra from the ground, she clasped it on just as the lights came on. And they clapped even more when she bent down to collect her stacks of tips from the stage. Making sure to sway her hips as much as possible, she made her way to the back stage where she grabbed the rest of her clothing and walked out of the light on the stage to the dark in the back, which she was glad for. Walking down the stairs from the stage, Lorelai made her way donw the basement stairs to the dressing room.
She wasn't even close to being done with her shift, but she needed to put her clothes away – the shirt and skirt, and make sure her money was in a safe place. She passed a few of the girl who had done the same thing, but her mind was in counting just how much she had made in her first dance of the evening.
She finished looking through the stack of green, and muttered to herself, "Six hundred." Pretty good for the first dance. She thought. Must have been those young boys trying to act like men –their first time watching a stripper really thrills them. Unlocking her locker, she put her cash into her purse and pulled out her phone. As a mother, she would try and check her phone whenever possible just to make sure that there hadn't been any emergency or problem at the house. Not that Chris would give you a call if there was. Jess always promised that if something happened, he would get the phone from Chris and call her. She hated how much of a little man her ten year old had to be compared to Chris.
When she was sure her phone was clear, she locked her belongings in the locker again, and turned to the mirror. Making sure her wig was still secure and her makeup hadn't smudged while she had been dancing, she was startled when she heard his voice at the door yet again.
"How much did you make with that one?" Oscar asked.
Lorelai smiled, and said, "Six."
"Damn." The old man shook his head in disbelief. "I almost threw down a few bills myself."
She knew she should be proud of herself – this man knew the business. He had been in the business for a long time – he had owned almost every club here in Brooklyn. So Lorelai knew she should take the compliment and appreciate the attention he was giving her.
But there was something else here. The second time he had come to the dressing room in one night. And asking her how much money she had made – it was kind of known among the whole staff that you just didn't ask that – because money was not the way to measure success, because some nights she could do that same dance and make fifty dollars.
She just nodded, "New blood in the audience." Which they both knew was the contributing factor to her making that much money.
"Someone asked for a lap dance." Not unusual. "Asked for you specifically." Again, after she had danced, that wasn't uncommon at all. It meant she had done her job correctly – making them want more of her. "He paid ahead of time."
Oscar held his cigar in his mouth, and reached into the back pocket of his pants, pulling out a stack of bills that looked very similar to the wad in her purse. But as he flipped his fingers through the cold hard cash, she noticed that where her bills were either ones or fives, this was full of twenties and fifties. Her eyes grew wide and she looked back up into his eyes, that were watching her. "Fifteen hundred." His said simply.
"Who would pay that much for a dance when the price is twenty?" Alarm bells were going off in her head. Because although Oscar took care of the women who worked for him, everyone knew that his first priority revolved around profit. And someone offering that much money was suspicious to Lorelai. Because at least three or four times a night, the man she was dancing for would lean up and whisper into her ear some amount of money that they would pay her to have sex with them. They just assumed that a woman who was comfortable taking off her clothes in front of people would have no reservations about fucking men for money. But she was also not stupid enough to know that some of girls even who worked here probably took some of them up on their offer, if the offer was good enough.
And as Lorelai looked at that stack of bills and the look in Oscar's eyes, she was afraid of what he was going to ask her to do.
"He said there was something about you." Oscar explained. "Something that made him know he had to have you."
A pit formed in her stomach. And she shook her head. "I am not…"
A look of understanding came to his eyes, and he looked shocked, "No, Lorelai, it's not like that." He looked so concerned for her, and he moved over and put his hand on her bare arm. "I would never ask you to do that, honey."
Relief began to flood over her and she let out the breath she had been holding. "Oh, thank god. I didn't know what I was going to do if you asked me to…"
He pulled her into a hug, something that Lorelai didn't think she was comfortable with. One of his hands wrapped around her bare back and the other pulled her head into his chest as he set his head on hers. And he said, "Never would I let someone do that to my girl."
A hug from an old man that she knew so well would not have felt so intimate and frightening. But the fact that she only had a bra and thong on her body made her feel even more uncomfortable. He rubbed her back with his hand, rough against her soft skin. She could feel his warm breath in her hair as he breathed, and she told herself that he was just trying to make sure she knew he cared about her.
But as uncomfortable as she felt, she didn't pull away. And she didn't know why she didn't. Maybe because he still hadn't explained the reason why the bills were so huge. Or because his hand around her back held on tight, or because he was her boss and could make her life miserable. It was only a hug. She told herself.
After a few uncomfortable seconds, he moved his hands to her shoulders, and pulled her away from him and looked into her eyes. A genuine smile came to his mouth, and he started to explain. "The man just wants a lap dance with you. One where he can touch you."
Lorelai still was surprised. Every dance she gave, she always warned the men that they could watch her and she could touch them, which was the point of the dance, but they were not allowed to feel her up, hold her hands, or anything else while she danced. Because men were creeps, some would argue with her, offering her more tip money if she would let them hold her breasts or her ass. Others would agree, and then when she started, they would try to feel her up without her knowledge, which always made her mad that they thought she wouldn't feel them. When that happened, she normally would just use her hands and set their hands above their head against the wall, and keep dancing, hoping that they would get the cue.
The first few nights she had worked, if they tried to push past that, she would call security and have them removed because it was against her rights as a dancer to have them groping her. And the club did have a no touching policy.
But after the first week or so, she realized that the other dancers let the men lightly hold them while they danced. And usually, the men would tip even better after that dance. One of the girls even told them that she charged fifteen dollars extra to allow contact – so she made almost the same amount as two dances in one.
So as much as Lorelai hadn't liked it, and she did warn them about not touching her, she eventually just used it to her advantage to make more money. As long as it was just light touching, she was fine. A couple times a man had slapped her ass or one asshole had dug too hard into her breasts, leaving her with marks on her body for a few days. When she had a guy who wanted to hurt her, she still called security, because she couldn't have them marking up her body that she had to use to make money.
She realized that she hadn't said anything while she was thinking through this. Oscar hadn't said anything. Just looked at her. All of her. A smile on his face.
Her voice held the confusion she still felt, "I still don't understand." She wanted to cross her arms in front of her lacy bra, but he was still holding her shoulders with his large hands. "Why would he pay that much money…"
"Does it really matter?" Oscar asked. "I'm willing to pay you one grand of this money."
The figure floated through her head, something that normally took at least three or four nights to make. You could buy groceries. And new clothes for Rory. And shoes for Jess. Two pairs even. And she could maybe pay some of the bills for the next month so it wouldn't be so when the rent had to come out of the paycheck next week.
But something inside of her was screaming that something was up. No one pays that much…
One of his hands made its way to her cheek, and he brushed his fingers right along her jawbone. And he said, "You deserve this break, Lorelai." She was feeling so exposed. Tearing her eyes from his, she looked down. She hated feeling vulnerable, but Oscar seemed to know how to make her feel that way and make her feel special and cared for at the same time. He moved her chin so she had to look at him and he said, "It's just three minutes, baby doll." His new York accent wrapped its way around his nick name for her. "I'll be right there. Just three minutes."
Somehow looking up into the eyes of this man who seemed to care about her, something told her that she could do this. And then a thought entered her head that comforted her for a second before is scared her half to death. You can endure anything for three minutes.