"The sound of soft humming woke Adriana a few hours later. She groaned and sat up slowly on the couch and reached up to hold her head which was throbbing. Her left foot tingled strongly since it had fallen asleep causing her to groan again.
"Hey sleepyhead," Harri called from the kitchen.
"Adriana turned her head slowly and saw Harri standing behind the kitchen island, looking like she was cooking something
"I'm making risotto," Harri said and walked into the living room.
"Ugh," Adriana heaved, feeling a bit sick.
"Wow," Harri said and looked at her. "You look rough."
"What time is it?" Adriana asked.
"Almost 9," Harri answered. "I got back about two hours ago. Didn't want to bother you. You slept in your jacket and shoes, girl. Must've been tired."
"Yeah," Adriana rubbed her head and Harri sat next to her. "Tired."
"Woah," Harri leaned back. "You've been drinking?""Huh?" Adriana asked.

"You smell like wine," Harri asked. "I thought you stopped drinking. That definitely doesn't smell like your non-alcoholic wine."

"Yeah, I had some glasses at lunch," Adriana fell back onto the couch. "Regretting it now..Ugh, what happened? You said you didn't want to wake me..so you just found me here on the couch?"
"Yup," Harri said. "You don't remember?"
"I remember eating at Via Brasil..and then..I don't know," she shrugged.
"That's not even open today is it? You really must have drank a lot to forget where you ate."
"Yeah," Adriana said and stood up after hearing her phone vibrating. "Damien."
"Right," Harri said.
"Yes?" Adriana said tiredly as she answered her phone.
"I'm on my way over," Damien said.
"Oh..Damien..it's not a good time."
"Almost there, just a couple blocks away."
"Oh.." Adriana said and rubbed her head again.
"Is he coming?" Harri whispered and Adriana nodded.
"Something wrong?" Adriana asked.
"You'll tell me," he huffed.

"What?" she asked confused.
"We'll talk soon," he said quickly and hung up.
"That was weird," Adriana shrugged. "He sounds kind of mad.."
"Whatever," Harri replied, not sounding amused. "I'm going to go in the room and eavesdrop. Tell him I'm not here."
"Eavesdrop? That's rude."
"Eavesdropping on a lame fake relationship and telling you about it beforehand isn't rude," Harri said and left the room just as Adriana heard a car pulling up front.
"Fake relationship," Adriana sighed.
"Yeah," Harri dashed to the kitchen and piled risotto onto a plate quickly. "Fake because he's a cheating liar and hopefully he's coming to break up with you because you obviously can't do it-"
"I have to get that," Adriana said trying not to sound offended. "He's at the door."
"Yeah," Harri grabbed her plate and went away to the guest room and shut the door.

Adriana made her way to the front door, with no rush and heard him knocking. She picked up the note Harri left and read it quickly before sitting it back down and opening the door for him.
"Hi," she greeted him as he quickly entered the house and brushed past her and looked for a second at the note on the table.
"Harri's out?" he asked.
"Yeah," Adriana lied. "What's up?"
"You're cheating on me," he said.
"Ah, no," she squinted at him. "I'm not."
"You are," he said louder. "Officer Robinson saw you."
"Then he saw someone else that looked like me," Adriana laughed.
"Don't laugh!" Damien finally shouted. "He says he saw you hugged up with Bruce Wayne, downtown!"
"Huh?" Adriana tried to remember but knew uncertainty was showing on her face.
"Yes, outside of that Brazilian place," Damien went on. "Isn't it closed today? But he owns it doesn't he? I should have known. I saw the way he looked at you at the gala. What get's me is that you let this happen!"

"Nothing happened," Adriana said and walked over to the couch. "I don't even know him."
"You are lying. Who else in this city drives a Lambo? I saw you getting out of it last week-"
Adriana realized she was caught in a lie but certainly couldn't tell him the truth.
"Okay," Adriana sighed and made it up as she went along, knowing she would have to mix into the lies a bit of the truth. "I didn't want to tell you..but I came into some money..the money that you told me about...the offer from the police."
"Uh huh," Damien didn't look surprised. "And you told me nothing about it."
"I'm sorry," she said.
"What does this have to do with Wayne?" Damien crossed his arms.
"Well.." she thought. "The restaurant."
"What about it?"
"I was thinking about investing in a few businesses in the city..and he happens to own many of them so.."
"Mhm," Damien nodded.
"I want to become part owner of the restaurant so..he was willing to show me the restaurant while it was closed. I may have had a bit too much wine while I was sampling things from the menu though so he had to help me out. I wasn't hugging him or anything."
"You're drunk then?" he asked as if he didn't believe her.
"Not much right now-"
"Wait here," he said and left.
"What?"
A few moments later he was back holding a breathalyzer.
"Are you kidding?"
"Breathe into it," he said.
"Is this a joke?"
"Now," he said and grabbed her arms.
"Why?"
"Because I don't believe you. You don't drink."
"You're hurting my arms," she said.
"I'll let go once you let me test you."
"Fine!" she shouted and yanked her arm back and blew into the device.
"He waited for the numbers to appear on the screen and started shaking his head.
".20," he said finally. "So you were drinking."
"That's what I said," she said hiding the relief in her voice.
"Yeah," he said and sat the device down. "I'd prefer it if you didn't invest in any business of his."
"Why not?"
"Because I saw the way he looked at you."
"He didn't look any me any type of way! He barely looked at me."
"Yeah, and you knew him then and you both acted like you didn't know each other. He drove you back from the hospital?"
"He was passing by," she said truthfully.
"He wants you," Damien said. "I don't trust him."
"You don't need to trust him, you need to trust me. Anyway, you should go. I'm not too pleased with you right now."
Damien walked close to her and held both of her shoulders.
"Just so you know," Damien said confidently. "That man is a womanizer. He probably has a different woman for every day of the year."
"Why would I care about that?" Adriana crossed her arms, wishing he would let go of her shoulders.
"He will never value you like someone like me does," Damien said. "You wouldn't be anything more to him than a flavor of the day. I love you. You should come back to my place with me tonight so that I can show you how much."
"I'm not in the mood at all," she answered quietly.
"I see," he said, not attempting to sound understanding. "I'll go then."
"Right.." Adriana said as he kissed her forehead and left.
Adriana walked over to the guest bedroom door and found Harri with the facial expression she knew she would have. Shaking her head shamefully with her lips turned down in disgust and disapproval.
"Don't start," Adriana said immediately.
"Bitch, where would I even start?" Harri said in a low monotone voice. "Take off your jacket, show me your arms."
"Why?"
"DO it," Harri ordered and stood up pulling off Adriana's jacket and pushing up the sleeves of her shirt. "I fucking knew it."
Adriana looked down at the reddish bruising on her forearms.
"You didn't know how close I was to going out there," Harri seethed. "I should call the fucking cops. And you let him test your breath for alcohol, what the FUCK Adriana?"
"I don't know..maybe it's the alcohol affecting my mind."
"Don't blame the alcohol. You are going to break up with him tonight," Harri demanded and went to Adriana's living room.
"What are you looking for?" Adriana followed her as she went through the drawers in the kitchen.
"You car keys. I saw them last night," Harri said and held up the keys and jingled them.
"You're serious?" Adriana said tiredly as her headache got worse.
"So fucking serious," Harri said and walked to the front door and grabbed her jacket. "Let's go."
Adriana sat silently in the car as Harri drove, and she could see her sister occasionally glancing at her in the corner of her eye.
"You okay?" Harri asked.
"Nope," Adriana sighed."My head hurts."
"I'm sorry I had to force you out like this," Harri said. "But you're my sister and I love you and I can't watch this shit continue."
"I know," Adriana shrugged.
"So..." Harri said and stopped at a red light. "On a lighter note..Bruce Wayne?"
"Yeah?" Adriana turned to Harri.
"So he's the 11 out of 10 you were telling me about," Harri said, starting to smile.
"You know who he is?"

"Everyone knows who he is, Adriana. I can't believe you didn't tell me. He's just what you need."
"What?" Adriana laughed.
"To get over Damien."
"Come on, Harri," Adriana started to talk.
"No." Harri interrupted. "I mean, maybe he does spread himself around a bit everyone knows that but you don't need anything serious. You just need to get back out there again!"
"I made a fool of myself earlier-"
"You think he's never seen a drunk girl before?"
"Of course he has.."
"You need to get him to ask you out."
"He won't ask me out Harri..Our relationship is professional. Plus, I think he's all taken care of in that department. You heard Damien..different girl every day of the year."
"It's professional because your silly ass probably told him you have a boyfriend. If you never would have told him that, you two would probably already be fucking by now. And you would have already forgotten who Damien is."
"Please stop," Adriana said, feeling a bit embarrassed. Her sister knew her too well.
"Adriana," Harri said sounding conclusive. "You are so gorgeous! And sweet, you're a good girl. You deserve the best. But maybe to get the best and to be happy..good girl isn't the way to go. You're a fucking pushover."
"So..what?" Adriana asked. "I should be a bad girl..like you?"
"I'm not that bad now," Harri smiled. "You've never had a bad phase. All you do is stay to yourself and end up in fucked up situations with people who take advantage of you. You need to take advantage of someone for a change. And Bruce fucking Wayne?! Are you serious? I would have hopped on that by now if I were you."
"Take advantage of someone?" Adriana shook her head. "Using someone, basically."
"Did I stutter?" Harri said.
"He's nice Harri..and respectful and courteous..he's a gentleman," Adriana said
"Not publicly, as far as I can see in the news and tabloids about him," Harri said. "I'm telling you. You will feel much better once you take my advice."
"And become..something else," Adriana said.
"Not become something else," Harri explained. "Just explore other aspects of who you are. No one is just..a sick person, a mental patient who takes their meds and lets people use them and walk all over them. You're stronger than anyone I know. Time for you to become unapologetic, fearless and demanding.

"If you say so," Adriana shrugged as they pulled onto Ricard's street.
"Isn't that his car?" Harri said as his car pulled away from his apartment complex.
"Yeah, he's leaving. Guess we'll have to try this again another time."
"Nice try," Harri said. "Let's follow him."
"For what?"
"I have a feeling," Harri said. "Unless you want to try to see his thoughts from here to know where he's going and when he'll be back."

"I promised him I would stay out of his head," Adriana replied.
Harri exhaled loudly in response and followed two cars behind him. Adriana closed her eyes and wondered why being in a car had this effect on her, as she felt herself falling asleep again.
"Get up," Harri said loudly as she parked. "Look where we are."
Adriana sat up quickly, her heart racing a bit from being awakened so suddenly. The parking lot was dark and less than half full and the reddish light reflected off of the ground which was damp with rain.
"Savannah's," Adriana read the sign.
"Strip club," Harri said. "Let's go."
"Wait, wait," Adriana said. "Let's wait for him to come out."
"You sound like you have known forever that he comes here."
"I have," Adriana said.
"Get out," Harri said shaking her head and opening her door. Adriana stepped out into the light rain and walked over to her sister.
"You want me to break up with him here?"
"I don't care where we are, I want this over with now," Harri said.
"Listen, Harri," Adriana said firmly. "I don't like being bossed around like this..I will break up with him on my own terms when I am ready to. You can't force me."
Harri stood quietly and began to smile. "There you go, standing up for yourself," Harri said. "Fine then. You're right I can't force you. Let's go inside."
"Inside the car?"
"No, Savannah's. We haven't done anything together all day."
"So you want to watch strippers? With Damien in there?"
"Sure. This can be your birthday present to me," Harri said.
"Your birthday is in four months," Adriana said, following behind Harri until they entered the front door. There was a small podium with no one behind it./p
"COVER CHARGE $45" A sign by the podium read.
"Harri.." Adriana said. "We ran out of the house so suddenly.. I don't have my wallet with me. So let's just go-"
"No," Harri said and reached in her jacket pockets. "Mine's home too."
"Good evening ladies," a heavyset man with a shaved head and thick dark eyebrows said and walked over to them.
"Hi," Harri said with a bit of disappointment from not having remembered her wallet.
"Here to audition?" he assumed.
"What-" Adriana asked.
"Yup," Harri answered quickly and loudly. "She's here to audition."
"Actually, I'm no-"
"You are," Harri turned to her. "She is," she said to the man who seemed to be a bouncer.
"Ok, go in," he said. "Manager will come see you."
Harri pulled Adriana's hand as they turned and entered the club. They walked down a black spiral staircase and Adriana could see that it was a lot more crowded than the parking lot had indicated.
"I see him over there," Harri pointed in Damien's direction. He was with a group of friends who had a table full of glasses with drinks.
A woman with very tanned skin and long black hair down to her knees walked over to them. She wore a neon yellow thong and a cropped fishnet top in the same color with sparkling pasties over her nipples. Her shoes made her incredibly tall Adriana realized, but she guessed that woman was the same height as she and her sister without them.
"Hi girls," the woman said. "I'm Melody, are you here to audition?"
"The bouncer guy told you that fast?" Harri asked her.
"No, you just look like you would fit in here," Melody said with a smile. "Actually, you're prettier than most of the girls here in my opinion."
"Thanks," Harri said. "By actually my sister here is the one who wants to audition."
"She's joking," Adriana said. "She lied to the bouncer because we don't have any money for the cover charge."
"Well, if you need money," Melody walked over and touched Adriana's hair. "You for sure could leave some tonight. If you let me do your makeup."
"But Damien-"
"Forget about him," Harri laughed. "Well, break up with him first then forget him."
"You're with Damien?" Melody turned to where he was sitting, not noticing that Harri and Adriana were there at all.
"You know him on a first name basis?" Harri asked with a lot of judgement in her voice, giving Adriana a look.

"He comes in often," Melody said, and Adriana could see Melody was used to snarky girls. "So yeah I caught his name."
"You the one here for auditioning?" the manager came over to Adriana and Harri, unsure of who he was looking for. He wore a black suit and had his medium brown hair slicked back. He appeared to be in his early 50's and Adriana noticed one of his eyes was blue and the other green.
"Yes," Harri said. "Her."
"Right," Adriana said with a tight lipped smile. "But you know, I think I may have to change my mind..I'm not sure I'd fit in here."
"That's accurate," the manager said. "You'd stand out. Interesting look, you'll do well here. Bill Brown, I own Savannah's."
"Interesting look?" Harri asked, and Adriana could tell Harri was holding in a laugh.
"Yah," the manager said, sounding like he was short on time. "You'd get a lot of regulars, depending on your personality. You have to be social here. You seem quiet. Not a problem since you have the looks to make up for it, but..We'll see. Melody can you take her back. Let me know when she's ready."
"Sure thing, boss," Melody said as he walked away. "Come with me."
"I'll be right here," Harri said sounding thoroughly amused.
"You're going to pay for this," Adriana hissed at Harri she followed Melody.
She couldn't help noticing how gorgeous and fit these women looked. Adriana had practiced dance and gymnastics since youth. She had also done yoga for the past several years in an attempt to quiet her mind. Her parents kept her very busy as a child with physical activites thinking it would help keep her mind off of things..distraction. It never worked for long though but in spite of it not being effective, she felt that it made her a strong dancer. She had never danced the way these women were able to though. They were graceful, confident, feminine and aggressive all at the same time. Melody passed two bouncers by another spiral staircase that went up into the changing room. There were lockers against all walls, and a set of bathroom stalls and sinks. There was an enormous vanity with two girls who didn't seem to be dancers sitting on their phones.
"Auditioning?" one of the girls said as she looked up.
"Yup," Melody answered. "Did you bring an outfit?"
"No.." Adriana answered. "This was very..spur of the moment."
"I'll buy you one but you have to pay me back," Melody offered.
"Oh..of course," Adriana said. "I'll come back after I get some money from home-"
"No, you'll get tips in a bit," Melody said firmly. "Pay me from that."
"Tips for auditioning?" Adriana asked confused as Melody walked away.
"They don't usually tip girls who are auditioning," one of the girls looked up from her phone and sat it down. "They put you on a smaller stage off to the side, so the guys won't usually notice you. Unless its really late which it's not. Makes it less awkward too."
"But she said-"
"Unless you're really hot," the girl went on and picked up her phone again. "Then you'll probably get like $50 to $100 for the couple minutes they put you up there. The outfit might be like $30 or $40."
"Okay..thanks," Adriana said and looked into the mirror of the vanity behind them. Her eye makeup was incredibly smudged from the rainy weather, drinking and sleeping on the couch. She was surprised that it didn't look bad at all..she could see why they thought she would be there to audition.
"This one should be flattering on you," Melody handed her something black and green and shiny.
"Okay," Adriana tried to assess how it was supposed to be worn but it looked like a bunch of strings with random small sections of fabric.
"You want me to do your makeup or them?" Melody asked.
"We're the makeup artists," One of the girls with her hair in a messy bun said.

"That we are," the other girl said, not looking up from her phone. "She doesn't have money on her though."
"I'll charge you $45," the girl with the bun said.
"I don't even know if I can pay you until I go home and come back," Adriana replied.
"Girl," she shook her head and pulled Adriana to a seat in front of the vanity. "When I'm done you'll be able to pay me at least twice."
"Do you know how to put that on?" Melody asked noting Adriana trying to untangle the outfit.
"Nope," Adriana said.
"Come on," Melody said. "We'll be right back, Marcia."
She pulled Adriana to a row of lockers between the bathroom stalls.
"Get undressed," Melody said. "What shoe size do you wear?"
"Seven," Adriana said and took off her jacket, feeling like this wasn't real. Was she really doing this?
"Ok," Melody said. "I'll get some shoes for you to borrow. The girl who's shoes they are might want you to pay her for using them."
"Yeah," Adriana assumed as much and she pulled off her pants and top.
"You have to take off everything," Melody said. "Did you shave or should I pick something else?"
Adriana pulled off her undergarments and Melody pulled the tag from the stringy garment.
"Perfect," she said and separated some of the strings. "Put your foot though."
As Melody helped her into the contraption, Adriana thought about Damien..and realized she did not care if he saw her. Maybe it was the lingering wine or the headache but she looked at the mild bruising on her arms that Melody did not comment on and finally could see what Harri meant. Harri was forceful with her intentions but Adriana knew that she meant well.
"This one's $35," Melody said and Adriana snapped out of her wandering thoughts and saw Melody cutting body tape and using it to stick the small triangles of fabric to Adriana's chest. "I'll let you use my tape for free though."
"Thanks," Adriana said and looked down at the outfit. The straps were black and there were tiny triangles of fabric covering only what needed to be covered..barely. She turned her head and looked at the back..nothing but strings on the hips and around the upper thigh, similar to a garter.
"Ok, go let them do your face and I'll look for some shoes," Melody said.
Adriana went back to Marcia who quickly went to work wiping off the smudged eyeliner. She sat with her eyes closed for most of the process and when she finally opened them she saw how dramatic the makeup was. She looked glittery, polished, and very regal.
"That was fast," Adriana said, seeing that this girl was very talented and worked swiftly.
"You want mink lashes or regular?" Marcia said.
"You choose.." Adriana said, admiring the glowing highlighter and fine glitter on her eyelids.
"Mink one's are more," Marcia said. "$25 unless you have some on you, that you want me to use."
"No, I didn't bring anything," Adriana said.
"Pay me back," Marcia said, not seeming to even consider regular lashes and stuck the mink ones onto Adriana's eyelashes. Without a hint of judgement or awkwardness, she also took body makeup on a sponge and used it to cover the light bruising on Adriana's arms and the dusted them with powder. "Done."

"Here you go," Melody came back and placed a pair of black heels on the vanity beside the makeup. The shoes had an enormous platform and were arched high enough to almost put the feet on pointe. They reminded Adriana of the years of ballet she had taken and she wondered if she could even walk in them. After pulling the shoes onto her feet and fastening the straps and standing she noticed that it wasn't very difficult to stand or walk..dancing would likely be different.
"Ok, let's go," Melody went to a different door than the one they entered through and Adriana followed quietly. There was another bouncer in the hall they went through and Adriana could hear the music in the club through the right wall. Walking in the shoes through the dark hall made her feel powerful somehow..like an entirely different person. The feeling of walking through a room with the air on all of her exposed skin while being around strangers was new, intimidating, but also exciting.
Melody went up to a door and knocked on it gently. "Come in," a voice Adriana recognized as the manager called.
He was on the phone and wrapped up the call as Adriana and Melody stood by the door. Two other men were in the room, one facing the manager and one facing the two women. All of a sudden, Adriana felt uncomfortable again and wanted to pull Melody's arm to whisper to her to take her back to the dressing room but the manager hung up the phone and started to speak.
"Step forward," he said to Adriana.
The man facing the manager's desk turned around and crossed his arms as Adriana stepped in front of Melody. His hair was very wavy but also slicked back. He looked like he was in his mid 30's and had dark eyes and black hair. He was very attractive, which made Adriana more nervous.
"Turn around, please," he said. Adriana felt her hands go sweaty as she rotated slowly until she faced Melody and exhaled. Melody looked bored, as if she was used to this. Completely comfortable in her skin and didn't seem to notice at all that she was basically nude around these men. Adriana admired her for a moment..wanting to emulate her. She stood up straight, as she saw Melody was and relaxed her lower body.
"Good one," Adriana heard the man by the desk say. She barely went into his thoughts before she retreated from them again. He wanted her.
"Turn around," she heard the manager say and as she turned he spoke again. "I agree. You can start tomorrow night."
"You won't have her dance?" Melody sounded disappointed. Adriana could see that she was thinking about her cash.
"Ah, right," the manager went on. "Yeah, you can dance. As long as you can get up there and move a bit you should be fine. When you're done there's some paperwork I'll have printed out for you to fill out."
Adriana nodded quietly. "Thanks."
"Melody, take her out. Tell Marcus one song for the maroon stage in between-"
"I know, I've done thing a million times," Melody said and led Adriana out of the room and the manager laughed.