Warning: This fic contains past mentions of sexual assault and some adult themes
"Okay! That concludes today's class, see you tomorrow!"
Nomi was exhausted. She wasn't as young as she used to be, she could no longer dance as she did when she was younger. She was a successful teacher though, she was one of the most sought after dance teachers in the country.
"Nomi! You have a minute?"
"Be right there!" Nomi just finished teaching a techno dance class, it wasn't easy, which is why Nomi hired an assistant, her daughter Vivienne. She was the daughter of her ex, the guy she had a brief fling with, Zack Carey who threatened to get her arrested for the near murder of rock star and rapist, Andrew Carver, until he realized Nomi was pregnant.
Scared that she'll expose his paternity to his cohorts and his then girlfriend, Goddess dancer Cristal Conners, he agreed to get her the most expensive lawyer he could find, with Nomi pleading a guilty plead for assault and mischief charges. He then agreed to pay a agreed child support clause, with Nomi agreeing to keep him and their relationship a secret.
Their daughter was now in her early twenties, and to Nomi's relief was heading to law school. She was fiercely overprotective of her and didn't want her to have the life Nomi had. Which is why she refused to step a foot in Nevada, especially Las Vegas, which Nomi spent the first six months after leaving home and Pollyanna Costello.
"So tell them they could talk to my lawyers! This is our place. We own it, everything is legal, I made sure of it."
Penny, her old former coworker at Cheetah's smiles huge at her old friend. She picks up the phone.
"Read the clause, if you try breaking it, your grandchildren will still be paying us off." Penny smirked. "They hung up."
"Good." Those assholes were trying to shut her down. "They may be related estate developers, but they don't know nothing about the neighbourhood. Fuck them."
The building Nomi and Penny co-owned was in a highly desired neighbourhood in western LA. Fifteen years ago, it was a piece of shit dump. Nomi wanted to provide a better life for her daughter, she didn't her to grow up the way she did when she was younger. Stealing, getting into fights, prostitution at age fourteen to pay the bills, Nomi ran away from home as soon as she could. Especially after her parents murder-suicide.
To survive on the streets, she joined a girl gang. She quickly climbed the ranks, and after a year became the leader of one of the most feared teen gangs in Detroit, Michigan. She was arrested when she was seventeen and thrown into a group home where she befriended a young runaway named Daisy. They remained friends till Daisy's abusive older boyfriend kidnapped Daisy on her eighteenth birthday and sold her to a abusive pimp. Nomi, knowing fully well how fragile a young Daisy was, took a baseball bat and beat the pimp senseless, almost killing him. She was immediately arrested by a undercover cop and sent to juvie till she turned eighteen. Her public defender argued that she was just protecting her friend, plus many of his "girls," were mostly underaged and were forced to work for him as sex slaves, where he beaten and starved them in order for them to be compliant. Luckily the judge sympathized and agreed for a young Nomi, then known as Pollyanna, to stay at juvie till her eighteenth birthday, with him warning her to stay out of trouble. Polly agreed, and did her community service, working in a woman's shelter.
She worked a quiet life after she got out, working as a waitress at a diner to play the bills, plus worked as a stripper part time. She was living in a dump with her best friend, and was determined to save up and move out of Detroit as soon as she could. It took her awhile, as soon as she turned 21, she took a bus to down south. Unfortunately, her drug and alcohol abuse caught up to her, and she didn't have enough to go to Vegas. She was forced to hitchhike from truckers, and perform "services" for them. She hated it, but she had no choice. At least they used protection to Nomi's relief.
It was accepting that ride from that sleazebag that changed Nomi's life.
She found herself stuck when he robbed her of everything she had. Desperate and alone, she kicked and beat a random car where she was confronted by a woman that literally saved Nomi's life. The young woman named Molly took the stranger in, where she invited her to stay at her trailer. She too was a teen runaway and sympathized with Nomi.
There, Molly suggested she audition for many of the gentleman's club around the city, they were always hiring. Nomi accepted the first club that hired her, a club called Cheetah's.
It was sleazy, with a even sleazier boss, but Nomi did her job. She made enough, but not as much as she should have been making, due to her "fees." She was forced to give him almost 80% of her earnings, due to her dancing, plus him agreeing to pay her under the table. There she met her lifelong best friend, Penny, aka Hope, who she co-owned her studio with these days.
On a rare night off, her other best friend/roommate Molly took her to work, she was a seamstress at Goddess and wanted to show Nomi what it was like as a "real" dancer. There, Nomi was determined to be one of the classy superstars of the Last Vegas Strip.
She was enamored by the show. The dance that was performed was beautiful. Nomi immediately was enchanted by the lead, Goddess' lead Cristal Conners. She had what Nomi had. Looks, fame, respect. Unfortunately, she saw only the glamour, not the ugly reality.
It was after her dance at Cheetah's when she was recruited by one of Goddess's talent scouts. He and many others from other high end hotels went to the clubs to audition dancers to replace dancers who were getting old, fat, injured, or those that lost the allure. Nomi was a fresh face, plus it was his boss' girlfriend that wanted her for a audition.
Cristal. Nomi didn't know what to think of her. It's been years, but Nomi never forgot about her. She got her that audition, not because of her attraction, or her then boyfriend's crush, it was because she saw herself in Nomi when she was younger.
Nomi admitted to herself that Cristal kept pushing her buttons, she teased and antagonized the young dancer, with mean jabs, acting like Nomi was a lower than gunk, with her silently pushing Nomi to her full potential. She saw talent, and didn't want Nomi wasting it. Nomi hated her for months, and to get revenge, she seduced her boyfriend, stole her job as the lead dancer and ruined her career by pushing her down the stairs, breaking her knee. Only because Cristal wouldn't allow Nomi to be her understudy.
Nomi had no idea what Cristal was up to these days, last she heard she married a hedge fund CEO who was worth billions. Apparently he was her biggest fan at Goddess. They met when Cristal was having lunch in her former workplace a year after her accident. She secretly paid all of Molly's hospital bills after her rape, and sent Nomi a cash gift with a thank you note.
Nomi kept it in a frame, she figured it was Cristal's way of apologizing.
Keep on dancing Cheetah.
Nomi used that for her new life. It was very generous, but at the time Nomi had no clue how to contact her. She was always grateful, especially after she had her daughter.
Zack Carey wasn't too happy, but he didn't want his unborn child to be in the system. He agreed to hire a lawyer for Nomi, with him agreeing to pay child support after tests proved Zack was the father. He never met his daughter, not until she turned eighteen. Vivienne acknowledged him as her bio father but she never forgave him for what he did to her mom and Aunt Molly.
It took over twenty years for Molly to see justice. Her rapists, especially Andrew Carver were all found guilty, thanks to the #MeToo Movement. His two bodyguards were arrested after they brought home several women, whom they raped after drugging them. It was Carver that exposed them unintentionally, he was stupid enough to tape himself with an underage fan. This time around, there was no one to save his career. He was charged with rape and false imprisonment of that fan, plus possession of questionable porn and videos of him and his former bodyguards of raping several women. He was immediately dropped from all of his record labels, his fancy contracts canceled from Las Vegas, he was considered untouchable.
Thanks to those women's testimonies, he and his bodyguards was looking at several decades behind bars. Molly couldn't testify, she was forced to sign a gag order after her rape in 1995. However, she and Nomi talked about sexual consent in many of the rallies they attended. Plus the settlement she received from Carver's estate gave her a new lease on life.
She worked occasionally with Nomi and Penny at their dance studio, she usually designed and made the costumes from her designer clothing store in Los Angeles. She stayed best friends with Nomi, plus her business partner Penny. She wasn't a famous designer, but her work generated a lot of income, especially since she designed and made a lot of dresses for many of Hollywood's stars. Especially for a certain pop star's newest baby girl.
Penny waved goodnight to Nomi. Her son was arriving home from college, he was staying the night before he headed back to UCLA.
It wasn't James' kid, Penny was forced to get an abortion when the owner of Cheetah's threatened to fire her for breaking the rules for getting pregnant all those years ago. Penny always called it her biggest regret, but at the time she had no choice. James cheated on her and threw her out when she told him about her decision. Facing homelessness, she answered an ad in a Los Angeles newspaper after she left the city. There, she and Nomi became roommates, and later best friends.
She met her partner, a dance instructor that she met at a club where she was working as a bartender. It was him that helped Nomi and Penny open their dance studio. It was a very rough start, especially since Nomi was juggling being a single mom and after Penny herself got pregnant.
But Nomi and Penny were determined. She and Penny, with Molly's help juggled with the business, with Molly agreeing to do the books, since she was the only one with a college degree. It took them over twelve years to become successful, with all three facing bankruptcy several times over the years. Then that same pop star's manager saw Nomi on Instagram and sent his client for extra training for her newest music video.
Long story short, Nomi became hot overnight. Not as a dancer, but a sought after teacher. She was tagged with almost every celebrity there was, but was almost ruined by Andrew Carver's sleazy lawyers. They were trying to put their client in a sympathetic light, and served Nomi with a huge lawsuit, with Carver claiming she gave him brain damage.
Luckily his lawsuit was canceled, with Molly threatening to go to the press, her gag order was expiring and she had ample evidence against him. Especially since more women were coming out with their own stories. Nomi herself had a story about Carver, that he said things to her that made her uncomfortable.
It was a bumpy road, but after Carver backed off, her dance studio kept going. Of course she lost her celebrity clients, but only temporarily. Luckily her biggest client stuck around, she loved Nomi's work too much, especially after she won a MTV music award for her newest music video.
"Mom! I'm ready to go!" Vivienne yelled.
'I'll be right there!"
Nomi took a long look at the studio. It was her dream to be a celebrity. Maybe not exactly as she pictured, but she was social media famous at least. Plus she and her two business partners were all very financially comfortable. Hmm. Maybe she should sell. Beverly Hills was more expensive, but then again, she loved teaching.
"MOM!"
"Alright! Hold your horses!" Vivienne, she was just like her parents. She had her dad's business smarts, but her mom's impatience. She'll make a great lawyer someday. Hopefully not in Vegas. Her daughter deserved better than that.
She silently turned off the lights, but not before staring at herself, Molly and Penny cutting the ribbon when they opened "Glitz and Glamour Inc."