BECOMING THE FABULOUS MISS C
By Angel Sentier and Lady Parsley
Chapter Nine
Chloe never thought, in her entire life, that one day she'd be dressed in a tiny sparkly red dress, in a razor-cropped platinum blond wig, with strappy rhinestone heels on her feet, stuck inside a huge gilded birdcage for all to see, playing a go-go dancer.
Yes, mom, she thought. This is what I went to college for.
As she moved to the loud music, she thought back to how she got there...
"Incognito, right?" said Dennis. "If they didn't recognize you last time, they won't recognize you tonight. Leave it to me."
He fitted her with a really good wig that applied with spirit gum near the front, so if she moved her head, it would look real. Underneath, her actual hair was twisted up into many pin curls set with bobby pins. With the wig over them, it felt a little like having a pineapple for a scalp.
Dennis brought out a tiny red dress spangled with gold glitter, which she again didn't think was going to fit, but it made her look extremely curvy. Of course, the pushup bra and body shaper helped. She still had no idea where he got these clothes that seemed to fit her perfectly; they couldn't be his, the two of them were no where near the same size.
After he did her makeup and painted her lips a bright scarlet, he brought out the same shoes as she hooked fishnet thigh-high stockings to a garter belt.
"Those again?" she asked. "My feet haven't recovered from last time."
"Beauty hurts," he said. "And it's either those, or these." He held up a pair of six inch stiletto boots.
She grabbed the heels. "I'll take these."
"Good choice. Now," he said as she sat down to put them on, "when you get there, go to the back door. They might let you in on sight, but if not, just ask for Leon. He'll show you where to go and you take it from there."
Chloe stood up. "Got it."
"Let's see how you look!"
They both went to the full length mirror at the end of the salon. She stared at herself for a long moment.
"I feel like a bad go-go dancer."
"How you feel is irrelevant. How do you think you look?"
"I look like a prostitute who moonlights as a bad go-go dancer!"
Dennis nodded, sagely. "My work here is done." He patted her shoulders. "Trust me, sugar, you look gorgeous. Have I ever steered you wrong?"
"Well, no." A thought occurred to her. "Oh! How much do I owe you?"
Dennis looked scandalized. "Nothing, sweetheart. You're my project." He winked at her. "I have my reasons."
Before Chloe could answer to that, a cab pulled up in front of the double glass doors. "Now, as I send you on your way, remember what I said about hiding in plain sight."
"Shine so bright you blind her."
"Right." He handed her into the cab and leaned down to the driver's window. "On me, okay, Kevin?"
The driver winked at Dennis. "You got it."
Dennis grinned at Chloe. "Hope you find what you're looking for."
And the cab drove off.
The bouncer at the back door of the Canary Club chided her for being late, which she didn't understand. Leon turned out to be a huge man with three days worth of stubble on his face who brusquely led her out to the main floor of the club, which looked a little like a scene out of The Birdcage. It was then she saw a bunch of other girls, dressed exactly like Chloe was except for the shoes, all inside gilded cages at the end of long tables. She finally understood the name of the club... It was a go-go bar.
"We lock all the dancers inside for your safety. If you need to get out, give the doorman the signal," he said, demonstrating a whirling motion with his index finger. "In the event of a fire, the doors all open automatically. One of the bouncers will come get you after an hour for your break."
"What do I do, then?" she asked.
"I don't care!" he said, annoyed. "Smoke in the alley, take a piss in the john, dance with the clientele, it's your break, you do what you want, just be back in half an hour."
He opened the door of one of the cages and, really left with no other choice, she hoisted herself inside. Absently, she wondered what became of the girl who was supposed to be dancing in the cage that night.
The cages at the head of the tables only had one door which opened out onto the main dance floor. A low wall separated the cages from the tables they headed, so that if someone got too rowdy with a dancer, she could easily leave, whereas, the person at the table would have to walk all the way around the rest of the tables to get to the floor and the bouncers would get to him before he could ever reach the girl. Chloe looked up and saw a sprinkler inside the cage above her head.
Oh, God, she thought. I hope that's for safety reasons and not part of the show...
She looked down at the as of yet empty table she would be dancing for and her eyes widened. How had Dennis known she'd end up at this table?
The little card at the center read, 'Reserved for Grayson, party of twelve.'
That was about forty-five minutes ago. And right at her feet sat Ginger. Next to her was Philip and across from her was Danny, who was doing his best to get some kind of information from Ginger. All of his attempts to get her attention, however, were failing miserably so far. She was far too busy being social with everyone at the table to pay the slightest bit of heed to her assistant/toy.
What was actually pretty amusing was the fact that Danny kept craning his neck and looking around the club, apparently searching for Chloe, and he didn't realize she was dancing right in front of him!
Her own attention was divided by turns as she tried to listen to Ginger while she was being distracted by Philip. He kept staring at her periodically and it was a powerful feeling indeed to repeatedly draw his gaze away from the redhead who was constantly demanding he pay attention to her.
"Ginger," Danny said, on his fifth attempt since they arrived. "There was something I wanted to ask you about--"
"Peer," she hissed, snapping her head at him finally, eyes flashing. "I am not here to talk to you, so shut up!"
Chloe's eyes narrowed. Ginger was always such a bitch to people she thought didn't matter. To everyone else, she was always perfectly composed, the perfect socialite... Well, this was her chance to tell her off. Confident in her disguise and taking a leaf from Dennis' book, she reached down and plucked the cigarette Ginger had just lit from her fingers.
"Can I borrow this?" she asked, sweetly, instantly taking a long drag without waiting for her permission. "Thanks." She even blew the smoke in her boss' face as a finishing touch.
The fury mounting in Ginger's expression was priceless. She was angrier than a wet cat, but she couldn't do anything without losing face in front of everyone. Chloe smiled at her wickedly as Harder to Breathe came over the sound system.
I LOVE this fucking song!
In time to the music, she dropped the cigarette on the floor of the cage and ground it out with the toe of her shoe, saucily tossing her hips as she did so. Her gaze shifted to Philip almost unconsciously, and suddenly the show she was putting on was only for him.
Her dancing suddenly felt more provocative than before and any self-consciousness she might have felt melted away. She didn't feel overweight, instead she was curvy. Soft, instead of round. She drew her hands through her hair and tossed her head, letting herself go. As she danced, she let her hands travel over her body, not explicitly, but suggestively, her fingers just missing the places she silently begged him to touch.
Like this, she told him with her eyes. Like this. I want it like this.
His gaze never left her the entire time. And to her continued malicious delight, neither did Ginger's.
When the song ended, Chloe saw the bouncer headed for her cage and figured her hour must be up. She looked again at Philip and crooked her index finger at him. Instantly, he made to rise, but Ginger's red-taloned hand came down on his wrist like a shackle.
Chloe clucked her tongue at the other woman. "It's not nice to commandeer all of the guest-of-honor's time, honey," she said.
Ginger gasped, the fury in her gaze becoming out and out rage. "You-- You--" she sputtered. There was recognition in her eyes now, but not the kind that Chloe feared. "Who are you?" she demanded finally.
"I go by Miss C," she said. "But I'm sure you have other names for me."
"One of them starts with a 'c,'" Ginger snarled.
Chloe pretended to be offended and mockingly gasped, finding it remarkable just how quickly she could shift into 'Miss C Mode.' "Manners, my dear. Wouldn't want to show an ugly face to all these lovely people, now would you?" She looked at Philip and gave him a sly half-smile. "Mr. Grayson... If you enjoy the company, by all means, stay. If not, I'll see you on the other side." The bouncer unlocked her door and she walked out of the cage. As she left, she tossed a look over her shoulder and saw Philip standing as if in a trance to walk after her.
Two arms suddenly grabbed her around the waist. In the next moment, she was looking up at some huge, vaguely familiar guy, effectively trapped against his chest by each of his large hands.
"Miss C," he said, smiling. "We meet again."
It took her a second before she remembered where she'd met him before. "H-Hector, right?"
He seemed particularly pleased that she recalled. "I hadn't expected to run into you here. I don't suppose you need another ride?" His tone suggested that he had a different sort of ride in mind than the one he gave her last time.
"Mind if I cut in?"
Chloe turned her head to see Philip standing next to them and relief surged through her, though she wasn't certain why. There was just something about Hector that unnerved her, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it.
Hector's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I do mind," he said.
Philip shrugged. "Too bad," he said, echoing Chloe's own words from the after-party. And with that, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him.
Still in 'Miss C Mode' as they walked to the other side of the floor, Chloe looked over her shoulder and blew Hector a kiss. "Maybe next time, handsome. Buh-bye."
As a slower song started up, she wrapped her arms around Philip's neck and began moving with him. "Thanks for the rescue," she said.
"I could say the same. Do you work here?"
She laughed. "No. I'm just doing this for... fun." Reminded, she glanced at the table, but all Ginger was doing was watching them like a hawk and apparently tossing back a couple of shooters. Danny had gotten up and was standing a little ways away, scanning the crowd and still looking for her. She would have to find a way to talk to him soon... He wasn't getting anything out of Ginger, she was too visible here. Chloe didn't want to be stuck in that cage all night, and as she looked up at Philip, she figured he'd rather be anywhere but at that club, too.
"Are you enjoying your date?" she asked.
His expression crumpled. "No. I'm miserable. This is quite possibly the worst date I've ever been on, and that's counting the one where a dog barfed on me and then crapped on my shoes."
"That's what I thought." She pressed herself flush against him and leaned up to whisper in his ear, "Then, are you ready to cut the small talk?"
His fingers tightened on her hip. "Yes..."
"Make your polite good-byes and I'll meet you at the back door. I have to ditch my boss." Heh, she thought. This'll make the second time.
"I thought you didn't work here."
"I don't." She swiveled her hips against his as a promise for more and nibbled lightly on his earlobe. "Five minutes. Don't be late."
As he hurried off the dance floor, Chloe went around the other way and got as close to Danny as she dared without alerting Ginger who was currently watching Philip return to the table.
"Psssst!"
Danny's head swiveled around and she beckoned him over. His expression was confused, but he did as she bid.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"Did you get anything out of Ginger?"
His eyes bugged. "CHLOE?"
"Shhh!"
"You're Miss C?" he asked, incredulously, but at a slightly quieter tone. "Do you know how pissed Ginger is at you? You know she wants Philip Grayson like no other! She absolutely hates you!"
Chloe grinned. "Yeah. It's great, isn't it? Did you get anything out of Ginger?"
"No," he said. "I've been trying all night, but..."
"I know, I've been watching," she said. "I don't think you'll get anything from her here; she's trying too hard to be the center of attention. We'll have to think of something else."
"Well..." said Danny, his gaze slipping to the floor. "We haven't exhausted all of our resources, yet... See, Ginger gets rather chatty after-- Well, after..."
For a moment, Chloe didn't understand what he meant, but when he continued to refuse to meet her gaze, her eyes widened. She clapped him on the shoulder. "Godspeed, Danny. Take one for the team."
"I'll call you at midnight. We should be... done by then."
She nodded. "Call me on my home phone," she said, taking his pen from his front pocket and writing the number on his hand. "My cell phones can be traced through the company." She stuck the pen back in his pocket and began heading for the door. "Good luck."
Philip was waiting for her in the back alley with his car running. He was standing at the passenger side, holding the door open for her. She smiled and went to him, grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket, dragged him against her, and locked their mouths together, the cool surface of the car at her back, his warm body blanketing her front. It took no time at all for him to respond, kissing her back like a man starved.
Fuck, he's so good at this! she thought. If he doesn't get us somewhere private really soon, we're going to ruin the interior of his car and this time I'm way beyond caring...
It was her who broke the kiss, sliding sideways into the car's interior. After a moment's recovery, Philip ran around to the driver's side and they took off.
She took great delight in knowing he was watching her when he was supposed to be watching the road as she crossed her legs first one way, then the other. Since the car he drove was a stick shift, he was denied the pleasure of touching her in any way, and since there weren't very many cars on the road, opportunities where the car was stopped for traffic lights were also few.
She glanced at the speedometer and sighed. "Do you always drive like a grandmother?" she asked.
"What?"
"You're going ten miles under the speed limit. We're not going to a funeral."
"I just don't want to get pulled over," he said.
"If you stay off the main road, you won't be." She gave him a slow smile. "But maybe I can help you speed things up..." Leaning over the center console, she ran her hand from his knee all the way up the inside of his thigh, lightly raking her nails as she did so...
The car swerved. And once he'd righted it, the gas pedal hit the floor.
Since it was still fairly early in the evening, a couple of other people got on the elevator in Philip's hotel with them. It was particularly frustrating to stand there next to each other, taking the elevator all the way to the penthouse on the thirtieth floor, waiting for the other riders to get off, when all she could think about was... getting off.
When the first guy got off on the ninth floor, Philip reached over and ran his fingers lightly along the inside of her wrist. She took a quick intake of breath as a shiver swept her from head to toe. When the second guy left them on the fifteenth floor, they wasted no more time.
Philip grabbed her, backing her up against the wall of the elevator as his lips hungrily found hers. Without missing a beat, she wrapped her legs around his waist, her skirt riding up around her thighs. She moaned against his mouth when she felt the silk of her tiny underwear brush against the rigid front of his jeans. She dug her fingers into his dark hair, kissing him ferociously. His hands were everywhere and nothing had ever felt so delicious. Thoughts of modesty all were gone; they had never even entered her brain. All she knew was she wanted Philip and she wanted him now.
"We can't," he said, tearing his mouth away from hers briefly. "Not here. We're giving the security guys a show."
"We should charge admission," she said, continuing to kiss him.
At last, they reached the top floor without managing to lose any clothing, but Philip refused to put Chloe down. He carried her down the hall, fumbled with the room card, and got them inside. The journey to the bedroom would have taken too long. He leaned her up against the door and the activities continued with renewed vigor. Blindly, she worked to open his shirt, exposing his chest to her touch. She wanted to feel every expanse of skin with her hands, her lips, her entire body...
He was just reaching around to unzip her dress when he froze.
"Maybe we shouldn't," he said, unexpectedly.
His words cut through her lust-induced haze. "What?" she asked, sliding down his body to put her feet back on the floor.
"I'm dating someone... Well, tomorrow I'm dating someone. I mean... I will be dating someone on Friday..."
"Yeah, and it's Thursday," she said, reaching up to bring his face back down to hers. She felt him relaxing back into it, but suddenly he pulled away.
"No, I think I really like this person," he said.
Chloe realized then, he was talking about her! She smiled at him. "I don't think she'll mind," she said, kissing him again.
It took just a little longer, but Philip pulled away for a third time. "I think she might," he said.
She was shocked. There she was, his for the taking, and, if the state of his pants was any indication, he clearly wanted to fuck her unconscious... and he wasn't going to. Because of her. But he didn't know that. What was more, he honestly looked really apologetic for taking her this far and then backing off.
"Is it really important to you that you don't hurt her?" she asked. She realized after she said it, that she didn't know how she wanted him to answer. Part of her, the part that was incredibly sexually frustrated at the moment, wanted him to say no. But the rest of her desperately wanted him to say yes.
Okay, if he says no, screw him long and hard into the night, then politely say goodbye on your date since you didn't think it would last anyway. If he says yes, politely say goodbye tonight, hug him to pieces on your date, and hope for the best.
He paused. "Yes, I think it is," he said, sounding as though it had just occurred to him.
Believe me, she thought. It's a surprise to me, too. Even if you don't know it.
She nodded. "Mr. Grayson... Philip... You're an incredibly admirable man," she said, smiling. She extended her hand for a firm handshake. "I hope you consider her worth it. Good night."
And with that, she turned and left the hotel room. As she waited for the elevator, she expected to feel disappointed, at least in some respect, but instead the feeling that filled her was nothing short of elation.
He likes me...
The concierge gave her an odd look when she asked him to call a cab for her. She'd forgotten for a moment that she looked pretty much like a prostitute. Luckily, she had a wad of cash stashed in her bra and a twenty convinced him to dial the number.
She was home well before midnight and after she'd changed out of her go-go dress and into her pajamas, she sat in her armchair by the phone, too worried about Teri to sleep. She figured she'd wait for Danny's call, which came at 12:17am.
She picked it up right away. "Hello?"
"Nothing," came Danny's groggy voice.
"What?" she exclaimed. "I thought you said she was chatty after!"
"Apparently, that's just for normal screwing. This was angry, violent fucking, Chloe. There was no after!" He groaned. "I'm sore in places that should not be sore... I feel used, violated, cheap, and... dirty. Ginger has this way of just looking at a man and making him feel raped."
"Okay, that's way more about Ginger than I ever needed to know," she said, but was secretly very glad she was not an attractive young man, like Danny.
"Well, I did manage to get one thing out of her," he said.
"What?"
"Like I said before, she was pissed, and all she said was, 'I'm surrounded by idiots who can't even do the job they're paid to do.'"
Chloe winced. That was a particularly rough blow on Danny, considering what he and Ginger did together. Okay, she doesn't exactly pay him to sleep with her, but she does pay him to do whatever she says... It kind of adds up to the same thing. "What does that tell us?"
"It tells us that she's not happy with the job someone did. Which probably means that the guy, whoever he is, did not succeed in killing Teri."
She sighed. It was a vague hope, but it was better than nothing. "What are you going to do now?"
"Now? I'm going to take a long, scalding shower. Then I'm going to try and think of something else."
"Nice plan. Goodnight, Danny."
"There's nothing good about it."
Chloe didn't think she'd be able to sleep that night, but it seemed like she'd just drifted off when the phone rang again at 3:36am. She picked it up on the second ring, heart pounding. Was she going to feel panic every time the phone rang until she knew Teri was okay? "Hello?"
"It's me."
Teri! Her heart leapt."Where are you?"
"I'm safe. I'm surrounded by idiots, but I'm safe. It's too risky for me to call you again, just in case she pays the guy to continue the job, but I need you to do me a favor."
"Sure."
"You know my P.O. Box?"
"Yeah."
"You've got the keys to my apartment. The keys to my office are there." Teri gave her a list of things to send her, including her laptop. "Obviously, don't mail it from our building. And mail it from a different post office."
"No problem." She hesitated slightly. "Hon... You're going to be okay, right?"
"Of course, I am. As long as stupid isn't catching... I should go. I'll call you as soon as I can. Bye, sweetheart."
"Bye..."
Chloe hung up the phone. She wasn't sure what she should be more worried about... Teri, what might happen if Ginger ever found out who Miss C really was, or her date with Philip that night.
To be continued...
