She walked off the stage and made her way to the changing room, tired and eager to get herself in bed. She had had to work for two nights in a row to make up for the night she had taken a leave to attend to a personal matter. She would be back on schedule the following week and couldn't wait for that.
Her stalker hadn't been around and she wondered if that was because she had danced on an unusual night. She wondered if he only visited the club on nights she was performing and didn't know how she felt about that.
Whatever. She told herself and brushed him out of her mind.
She felt relieved at his absence. It felt good to dance without having his eyes burning holes into her and trailing all the contours of her body. She knew she was lying to herself and felt ridiculous for her thoughts.
She was arguing against herself in her mind as the jury and defendant both at the same time. Maybe she should go for a mental test when she was done with her shift.
Would there still be a clinic open at this time of the night? She doubted it and she didn't have time to go during the day either. She guessed she was stuck with her ridiculous mental health and let out a sigh.
"Be careful, will you? You will cave the ground if you keep doing that." Eric warned as she walked past him.
She flashed him a weak smile and gave him a nod. "No problem." She tried walking away but his arm quickly shot out, stopping her in her tracks.
She turned to him with an arch of her eyebrows and hoped he wouldn't keep her waiting for long.
She was already home in her mind and was only waiting for her body to make the journey.
"Can I have a minute with you?" he asked.
"A minute and nothing more, Eric." She nodded with another sigh. "I'm tired."
"WIth the way you sigh, it would be stupid of me to take more than a minute of your time. You might cave the ground and I don't want to be buried underground this night."
She was too tired to acknowledge his lame joke and only stared at him, a blank look in her eyes.
He clicked his tongue at her failed reaction. "You are no fun."
"You have thirty seconds more." She warned him.
He snorted. "I guess I will just say what I want to tell you. I thought to liven up the mood with some jokes before I blurt it out so you won't turn me down."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I hope you aren't asking me to take on more shifts. I know you say the clients like me but I can't take more than one session per night."
He rolled his eyes. "It's not that."
She relaxed. "What is it?"
"I have an offer for you." He said, staring hard at her.
Her guards went up. She knew that look on his face and asides the words he just blurted out, the look meant that Eric had found another way to make money off her and was dancing with greed in his mind.
Interpretation of that look to Lottie: Eric had found another reason to make her say no.
She didn't know what the offer was but she doubted that she would like it.
"Am I going to like it?"
"I don't know if you will like it but I'm sure it's an offer that will make you smile."
She doubted anything could make her smile with how miserable her life was. Not even an increase in her paycheck could make her smile as she knew it barely had effect on the mountain of problems she was facing.
"Just tell me what it is. I need to go home soon."
He moved closer but he didn't have to bother. Eric didn't know to how to whisper and she winced at his proximity. She waved him back with a slow move of her palm.
"You don't have to come closer, Eric. I can hear you just as everyone else will be able to anyways." She told him.
He blushed at the reminder of how loud his voice was. Years of working in a club with loud stereos and supervising the girls and bouncers had made him unable to lower his voice for quiet conversations.
"I wasn't trying to be rude." She said as a form of apology when he didn't say anything. "You've used two minutes, Eric."
He geared to attention as if the thought of her walking away was a death sentence to him. "You won't have to dance for a crowd anymore."
"Really?" She gasped, unable to help herself.
She had conditioned herself not to mind the leers but she felt uncomfortable at times with having a bunch of men staring at her body and probably jacking off to her image in their heads whenever they were alone in their bathroom.
"Hmmm," Eric nodded, glad that he had her attention.
"Am I finally being given a managerial position?" She asked, her eyes shining with glee.
The staff members who earned more than the girls were Eric and his assistant who took more leave days than an unserious heir interning at his father's company.
Well, that was what he was.
The assistant manager was the son of the owner of the club. His father wanted him to learn the ropes but the young lad had no interest in the role. She knew he wanted to inherit the club without having to work for it.
Lottie doubted the owner would ever sack his son but she hoped he would stop dreaming his son would change and give the position to someone else who deserved and wanted the position, someone like her.
Eric gave her a pitiful look. "Don't be ridiculous. You know that can't happen."
She shrugged, feeling disappointment crush her down. "A girl can dream."
He grinned at her. "And a girl can get lucky." He said with a wink. "I don't know if you've noticed but one of the patrons is interested in you, very interested in you."
"Who?" She asked with her heart thudding, already guessing who the person was.