Entering into the main room of the club, Lia glanced around. The bass was loud, and made her ribs shake and jostled her heart, making its beats seem irregular. When she was younger, places like this seemed like heaven, but after a couple years of maturing, Lia had grown to hate them.

Her thighs strained against the leather of her pants, and her breasts were being suffocated by the bralette. Shifting a little, Lia moved to pick at a slow forming wedgie. It was then she realized how out of place she felt. Surprisingly, she found herself longing for the dark and musty rooms of Centerfold. After giving the place another look over, she grimaced and made for the bar, where Muscles was standing.

As she walked over, he looked her over with a wolfish grin. "Now I see what boss was talkin 'bout. You clean up good."

His entire demeanor had changed. Once a jackass, Muscles had taken on an air of charm. Tits and ass had a tendency to do that. It felt disingenuous, which was why Lia preferred to wearing layers and baggy clothing. Rolling her eyes, she sneered "Yeah, and you still look like a jackass in a muscle shirt."

As to be expected, Muscles seemed to be charmed by Lia's blatant bitchiness. One of the few positives to tits and ass. "Cute, keep the attitude for the clients…"

He walked out from behind the bar "But never use it on the boss."

Lia followed him as he set out to give her the tour "Do I look like I have a death wish?"

Muscles shrugged and showed her around without comment. There were a lot of people in the club already, despite it still being early. As they walked past a particular rowdy group of customers, Muscles glanced over his shoulder. "Frost told me you're good at dealing with touchy clients?"

Lia watched as Nocturne spun gracefully on her pole and anchored herself to it as she threw her head back and blew a kiss at her admirers. Seeing Lia, the dancer winked and then continued on with her routine. "I wouldn't classify myself as good."

Raising and eyebrow, Muscles looked her over "He said you had no trouble taking out drunks that were twice your size."

Lia looked away from Nocturne after shooting her a smile "He exaggerates."

"Frost tells it like it is."

Smirking, she walked past him. "He exaggerates."

After being shown the stock room at the privates rooms, Lia was behind the bar slinging drinks. Grin and Bare It, kept a classic drink menu with a few house specials that changed every other week. Thankfully, she was able to keep up with demand and was able to serve patrons without difficulty through most of her shift. Lia felt herself fortunate, seeing that Joker hadn't come in at all. She had hope that she could wrap up her shift without seeing him. Sadly, the universe was not so kind.

Lia had two hours to go in her shift when one of the customers decided to get grabby. It was rookie mistake, bending slightly at the hip to set a drink order on a low table. It resulted in her ass sticking out, unprotected. That was when a hand struck out and grabbed her ass. Grubby fingers digging into the leather, as long unkempt nails scratched the material. Taking a deep breath, set down her last drink, emptying her tray. Gripping the tray, she spun and smiled as the metal gave and relinquished a sickening crunch as it connected to the assaulter's face. Naturally, he let go, and fell to the floor. Blood oozed from his nose, as he clutched it and whimpered. Tucking the now damaged tray under her arm, Lia took a knee and glared at him. "Hands to yourself greasy."

Tears streamed from his eyes, then they swiveled and widened in terror. A familiar cackle sounded from behind her. Closing her eyes, Lia's lips thinned in annoyance. "Just perfect."

Slowly, she got up and spun around to face the last person she wanted to see. "Boss."

She greeted him with nod. He giggled and leaned into his jeweled cane, looking down at her latest victim. "I see you've settled in nicely?"

Lia glanced over her shoulder at the skuzzball on the floor "Suppose you could say that."

Turning back, she eyed him carefully. After all, she did just beat up one of him customers in his territory. Maybe he was ok with blatant sexual harassment. Joker pouted and reached out, grabbing Lia chin. "Don't look so worried Knuckles, I'm not gonna punish you…."

He purred the last few words "Unless, you want me to."

Joker inclined his head in question as his gloved fingers caressed Lia's chin. "No, I'm good."

A shiver of disgust ran up her spine, and goosebumps jumped to attention on her arms. He licked his lips and then looked over her shoulder "Well, as my customers know, at Grin and Bare It, we have one rule…"

He walked past Lia and crouched over the whimpering scum on the floor. The poor bastard was terrified, ready to piss himself. "Don't touch what's mine…."

The clown snarled the rule as he lashed out and backhanded the man, who screamed in agony as the many rings laid out a series of cuts on his face. A single tooth was sent flying. The man cried, and crumpled to the floor. Satisfied, Joker stood and gestured for one of the door men. Judging by the look on the bleeding man's face, his punishment was far from over. Lia watched as they dragged him out back.

Feeling an arm drape across her bare shoulders, Lia turned and found Joker's eyes. He licked his lips again and held something up to her "I believe you left these the dressing room?"

He held up her knuckle dusters. Lia slowly took them and laced her fingers into the holes. Finding comfort in the cool metal. A thought occurred to her, he had gone through her stuff. Her feeling violation must had shown on her face. The Joker laughed, and pressed his forehead to hers "Something you should know Knuckles, nothing is off limits to me…. Now get back to work."

Rage lit a fire in his eyes, and he shoved her towards the bar. Lia stumbled but refused to look back, she'd had enough of him for one night. Thankfully, their latest interaction had been brief.

(Author's Note: So, I have officially booked my tickets for Germany. Next September I'll be embarking on my first trip off the North American continent, and it'll be my first solo trip. Still booking places to stay. Anyway, super excited. Also found out the kitten I adopted a couple of month ago, is male. So he's been renamed Pinot Noir.)