Proposal

Chapter 6

The next few weeks were spent doing exactly what he'd told Husker he did; training a newbie. Thankfully, it was dancing, which he loved most, instead of how to shoot a scene. The poor girl had only died a few months before Valentino had snatched her up, and Angel felt bad about that. She hadn't even been given a chance to learn about it all before signing her soul away for a quick high. And he knew that what she'd done, because she'd shown up to her shift numerous times showing all of the typical symptoms.

"It's not like it's that bad, right? I can't die from this shit anymore, so why hold back?" He stopped as she rambled on and on. He'd asked her if she was high, and she'd said yes, and then started on a tangent. "I don't get why you, who is literally named after a fucking drug, are so butt hurt about this. Valentino didn't tell me I'd be learning from a coward." Rolling his eyes, he finished straightening his shorts and spun around to face her.

"Coward?" He burst into laughter. "No, no, babe. I'm just trying to keep you from embarrassing Val on stage because you're dumb ass thinks you're good while buzzed." He flipped her hair behind her shoulder as he passed her and headed to the poll. "The likelihood that you'll fuck yourself up in front of all those people is so high, I'm already upset about it." The woman scoffed.

"It's dancing around a poll, how hard can it be?" Looking over his shoulder at her, he cocked a brow.

"Dancing around a poll?" There was a fire that easily lit in his gut at the notion. He hadn't spent the last fifty plus years perfecting his poll dancing for someone to say it was easy. He hadn't worked his body until it broke, until it bled, until he could think of nothing else, for this girl to think it was easy. "Alright, fine, if you think this shit is easy than do it." he pointed to the practice poll and crossed both sets of arms. The woman stared at him in shocked confusion. When she didn't move, he used a hand to motion to the pole once more. "Well?"

"You actually want me to do this? But... you haven't taught me anything! The last few weeks have just been dancing around and getting on the floor and shit." Angel shrugged at her.

"But... if it's so fucking easy, you shouldn't need training. You should be able to do this sober or high without any issues what so ever. It's not like people spend years learning how to do this shit, right?" He watched as it finally settled into her brain that she'd insulted him, but he didn't care. If she'd done it once, she would do it again if she didn't learn the hard way.

"I'm sorry. I just-"

"Weren't thinking about it? Didn't think it was that big of a deal? Honey, if this shit wasn't hard, Val wouldn't have bothered getting you a teacher like me. He'd have stuck your know-nothing ass on the pole and let you break your arms and legs and bust your head open." Crossing the room, he grabbed the pole and leaned his body back to hang off it. "I'm willing to bet that you thought this training was only gonna cover floor dances and walking around the pole like some little "crash course" bullshit, right?" Spinning around the pole, he leaned forward when he came and around and quickly grabbed higher to pull himself off the ground. He carefully spun himself around before wrapping his legs around the pole and letting go with his hands. Leaning back, he looked at her and smiled sarcastically. "News flash, honey, this ain't no crash course. If you can't do it all, you're useless to him on stage." Pulling himself up higher, he fully leaned backwards until his upper hands touched the ground. "This isn't a crash course, it's a lesson in the basics of the whole damn thing. You ain't getting on that stage until your ass can do at least the minor shit I have to teach you." Flipping off the poll, he landed on his feet and casually strolled over to her, leaning down until he was inches away from her. "And by the way, Val ain't the one signing off saying you're ready. I am. I don't give a fuck what you do outside of these lessons, but when your ass is here with me? You better not be hopped up, otherwise I'm gonna let you fall. Got it?" The girl nodded quickly and he could see the fear in her eyes. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he saw the time and sneered. "Get outta here, and when you come bac tomorrow, you better not be drugged up, 'cause you're getting on that pole." He waved her away and watched her scurry out of the room.