The other girls joined Francy out on stage and were getting ready for lap dances, so I sat in the back, alone and sticky, trying to figure out where I went wrong. Then it hit me, Jett saw everything. Instant mortification ran through my body as I thought about what he must think of me. I put my head in my hands and tried to slow down my breathing that was now escalated.
I couldn’t believe my first presentation ever turned out to be a humiliating showing and I was dragged out of the room in a matter of seconds. Would I ever be invited back? They knew my Jett Girl name. Was this it for me?
After a while, Kace came storming through the curtains and looked down at me.
“Babs and Tootse are both giving free lap dances because of your fuck up. You owe them.”
“I don’t know what happened…”
“You weren’t focused; that’s what happened. I told you this was serious shit. These men are powerful and they will tear you apart if they don’t like what they see.”
The music died down as the girls started trickling to the back. Depending on the night, presentations could be as short as half an hour, due to a private meeting the men needed to have, or a couple of hours. We did our job and left for the night, no philandering, no mingling. Apparently, we were done for the night, now that the girls were in the back with Kace and me.
“Good job, girls,” Kace said as he looked at all of them. “Babs, Tootse, sorry about the free dances.”
They shrugged their shoulders as Babs looked at me and asked, “Are you okay, Lo? Those men were completely out of line.”
“No they weren’t,” Kace cut her off.
I felt a tear fall down my face and forgot I didn’t have my mask on anymore, so everyone could see it. Babs got down on her knees and wrapped her arms around me.
“It’s okay, Lo. We all have messed up at one time or another. I have fallen on my ass while doing a pole dance. Pepper fell off the stage once.” I looked over at Pepper as she nodded her head. “Francy, I believe, passed wind while giving a guy a lap dance once.”
“Yeah, I definitely didn’t get tipped that night. I thanked the tacos I had for dinner that night for that pleasant mishap.”
A snort escaped my mouth as I thought about beautiful Francy blowing a warm one on a man while trying to be all sexy.
“And before we had no-slip grip on the stage, I was known for sliding down the stage on my heels,” Tootse added.
“See, it’s okay,” Babs added.
“Enough with the after school special,” Kace interrupted, but was stopped by a text message alert. He pulled out his phone and quickly looked at it then looked at me. “Babs, Bourbon Room.”
My heart felt like it got pushed down into the ground at the thought of Babs being able to please Jett so much tonight that he wanted her up in the Bourbon Room and he probably wanted nothing to do with me.
Babs started to move when Kace stopped her. “Hold on, Jett wants me to meet with him first about tonight. I’ll text you when to come up, Babs.” Kace eyed me and said, “You’re dismissed.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if Kace meant I was dismissed for the night or for the rest of my time here.
I pulled off my heels, grabbed my mask and headed back to my bedroom. As I got to my bedroom, the overwhelming aroma from the flowers that were delivered earlier filled my room, but I refused to look at them. I didn’t deserve them. I was a complete failure. I failed someone who believed in me to represent his name and his club and I completely failed him.
I turned on the bath, tore my clothes off, and soaked my sorrows away. If this was my last night in this beautiful house, I was going to enjoy it.
Chapter Sixteen
“Madness”
Jett
The minute I saw Goldie sound off for the first time, I was enthralled. For some reason, the little honey-haired girl had captured me and there was nothing I could do about it. I yearned to touch her and feel her soft skin, but I knew it wasn’t time yet. She wasn’t ready, so I continued to tell myself to have patience and I would eat up my anxiety with another girl for now.
I just sat down in my chair to enjoy my dinner when I saw George spit his drink all over Goldie. I stood up out of my chair and looked closely at the TV as I watched the whole scene play out. I zoomed in on Goldie’s face and she looked completely humiliated. A tight vise wrapped around my heart when I thought about how she might feel.
The man screamed for Kace and Kace took Goldie to the back room, not using much grace. Rage boiled through my blood as I thought about how poorly Kace handled the situation. We never let members treat our girls like those two men did, by throwing their drinks at her and demanding that she leave.
Most businesses run by the motto that the customer is always right, but I didn’t. I ran with the idea that the Jett Girls were always right. They came first above anyone else, no questions asked. The way I saw it, Kace escorted the wrong person out of the room.
I sent a quick text to him to let him know I wanted Babs tonight, but also to have him get his ass up to my office as soon as possible.
I sat back in my chair, finished my dinner, and waited for Kace to arrive.
There was a knock at my door. “Come in,” I said, as I wiped my face with my napkin.
Kace walked in and slouched in the chair that was sitting directly across from me. He folded his arms over his chest and looked at me as if he didn’t do anything wrong.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I asked, trying not to reach across my desk and punch a hole through his face.
“She fucked up; she needed to learn her lesson. She wasn’t paying attention.”
“We don’t punish the girls, Kace.”
“She wasn’t doing her job; she was too distracted. You can’t just have her go out there, completely unprepared. What happened to her is nothing compared to what could have happened.”
“What should have happened is you should have kicked those two men out of the club for disgracing one of our girls. When have we ever let that happen?”
“They had all the right…”
“They had no right,” I said, as I pounded my desk with my fist. “What is this really about Kace? If it was Francy in Goldie’s place…”
“Lo,” Kace interrupted.
“What?”
“Her Jett Girl name is Lo; don’t forget it.”
I sat back in my chair and watched as a tiny smirk spread across Kace’s cocky face.
“What is your problem with her?”
Kace sat up in his chair and leaned toward my desk. “She’s not cut out to be a Jett Girl, simple as that. You aren’t with her everyday like I am. She’s not Jett Girl material. The minute you take her in the Bourbon Room, she is going to cling to you. She is looking for comfort in her life; she doesn’t have the same mentality as Babs and Pepper. You can’t just fuck her and then call on another girl the next night. She’s not going to take it well. The minute she feels you hold her, touch her…fuck her, she is going to become attached and then what the hell are you going to do? You will break her; is that what you really want?”
I sat back in my chair as Kace went off about Goldie. In the back of my mind, Kace confirmed all the suspicions I had about Goldie. Going into this, I knew there was a possibility that she wouldn’t be able to handle my kind of lifestyle, but I ignored that feeling and, if I was going to be honest, I was going to continue to ignore that feeling because I was a selfish son-of-a-bitch and I wanted her.
“Do you like her?” I asked, trying to gauge Kace’s true feelings.
Kace sat up straight with a stunned face, but quickly washed it away and said, “I wouldn’t say we’re friends but…”
“No,” I interrupted, “Do you like her…physically?”
Silence met the end of my question as Kace looked down at his hands.