Studio 22

Chapter 3:

Chloe:

"The first rehearsal went well... Yeah, they're all friendly and incredibly helpful." I was on the phone with Aubrey talking about my first rehearsal yesterday. When I looked at the clock on my living room wall, I jumped up from my sofa. "Shit! Aubrey? I have to go. I'm going to be late."

I hung up and hurried to make it to work in time. Today was one of the 3 days of the week that I would be practicing with Beca only. I was looking forward to it. Maybe I could learn how to be as captivating as she was. I entered the club just in time, catching my breath for a moment before going backstage to get changed. I was wearing the lace bodysuit for the first time and eyed myself in the mirror closely before joining Beca on stage.

"Hey." I greeted her with a short hug.

"Didn't you hear me last time?" Beca asked amused. I had heard her, but I couldn't help it.

"I did. No alcohol on the job, don't get involved with guests, have fun." I enumerated, knowing very well that she actually meant the 'no hugging'-part. She just shook her head and we started rehearsing. Beca thought I was lacking passion and sexiness and she wanted to work on that before teaching me new choreography. The choreographies I already knew involved some sexy hip movement. Beca wanted to work on that first. She positioned herself next to me, facing the big mirror on the wall behind the stage and showed me the movements. I watched her through the mirror and was distracted by her body and her outfit once again.

"That's how it's done. Now it's your turn."

I tried my best to copy her movements and her attitude while performing the steps, but I saw in the mirror myself that this didn't look anything like she had shown me. I tried again, but again it didn't look remotely like Beca had done it. After a while of trying, I was getting frustrated by myself.

"Okay, let's try something different.", she said and stepped in front of me. She was looking into the mirror, her back facing me. She took my hands and placed them on her hips, holding them in place with her own. She smoothly moved her hips to the rhythm and everything I could concentrate on, were my erratic breathing and my pounding heart.

"Feel that? Smooth and controlled. You need to follow the beat. Take your time to execute the motion.", she explained with my hands still on her hips. "Try to follow my moves this time."

We moved to the rhythm together this time. Beca's hips drawing a perfect circle. My hips did the same, but somehow it still looked different. She let go of my hands and I withdrew them from her hips, trying to calm my beating heart. Beca positioned herself behind me, looking at me in the mirror.

"Is it okay if I touch you?", she asked seriously. I didn't mind her touching me, but I loved that she had asked for my consent.

"Yes." I nodded and she placed her hands on my hips.

"Now try and do the same move again."

I started drawing circles with my hips, Beca's hands guiding me and slowly I got a hold of what she was trying to teach me. We did this a few times before she let go of my hips and started moving next to me.

"Now you only have to get the attitude right. I need to see a mix of confidence, seductiveness and a little bit of arrogance on your face."

We made our way through the choreography again and when I looked at Beca bringing her arms up into the air and then tracing her neck and letting her hands run over her breasts while moving her hips, I involuntarily bit my lip and looked at her seductively. She stopped dancing and looked at me while I continued.

"That's it!", she exclaimed. "That's the expression I was talking about."

After the rehearsal with Beca I had my first shift behind the bar. One of the bartenders, explained to me how to mix different drinks and socialize with the guests the whole night. When I got home at 2.30am, I was exhausted. I took off my shoes, went into the kitchen, chugged a glass of water and went straight to bed.