No More Tomorrows

Chapter 6: Roxy the Redhead

It felt like someone had reached through my rib cage and crushed my heart as I watched my boyfriend get grinded on by one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. When she tipped her head back to arch her perfect bare breasts into his face her hair almost touched his thighs. Her hair was stunning. Long, curly and the most gorgeous red. I guess at least if he was going to cheat on me he'd chosen someone beautiful. 

The look on his face was enough to make me sick, he was looking at her the way he looked at me when we were intimate together. The way I thought he only looked at me. Clearly I was mistaken. 

"I know it looks bad Emily but a lap dance isn't technically cheating."

At that my head snapped around to Aidan.

"Of course it is! I don't know what constitutes cheating to you Aidan but he's staring at an almost naked woman like he wants to screw her brains out and she's rubbing her bare tits in his face while she grinds herself on what I'm sure is his hard dick. He's touching a woman other than me - that's cheating!"

"Well he's actually not. She's touching him. That's the rules. Only the strippers can touch. The patrons will get booted real quick if they lay a hand on one of the girls in view of a bouncer. It's non-negotiable."

I felt my heartbeat slow down a little. Maybe he was right. While I hated the fact a beautiful woman was thrusting her tits in my boyfriends face and her pussy into his crotch, now that I looked again he wasn't actually touching her. I was definitely still mad he'd lied about his whereabouts but maybe this wasn't as bad as I thought.

"So they don't get physical with patrons? It's all hands off?" Even I could hear the hope in my voice.

At my question his face changed and I felt my stomach roll. I felt like I was going to be sick.

"What? Tell me!"

"Well they definitely don't touch on the club floor but what happens in the back rooms is a different story. The girls are technically supposed to just dance but everyone knows that some of them will do extra for additional cash on top of the Club Fee."

My stomach was churning as I watched my boyfriend, the man I had loved for the last seven years with another woman. The other men at his table were cheering him on and one even had what I can only assume was another stripper perched on his lap. He seemed a little older than the others and was definitely the loudest.

"What do you want to do? Do you need a drink to work up the courage to confront him? Want me to go over and drag him out? Call you an Uber? Just tell me what you need?"

I looked into the face of this man I'd just met. A man who had no reason to show me any kindness but was helping me through one of the most awful moments of my life and didn't know what to say. I was at a loss for how to move forward. I looked across at Grant's table again to find the Stripper now perched on his lap, similar to how the stripper was sitting with the older man at his table. Clearly his lap dance was over. 

He was laughing and holding what I presumed was scotch in his right hand and was rubbing her bare leg with his left hand. She was nuzzling his neck and  preening under his touch. From their body language this clearly wasn't the first night they'd spent time together.

I was about to open my mouth and ask Aidan to call me an Uber, I'd seen enough, when there was a break in the music from the stage. I clearly heard the the older gentleman say "you taking Roxy back for a private dance again tonight G Man or are you gonna mix it up with one of the others? Mindy here says she wouldn't mind a turn with you, I'm happy to swap. Seems Roxy has been bragging about you to the other girls."

At that I felt my legs give out. It wasn't just lying about where he really was. It wasn't just lap dances, which were bad enough. It was regular trips into the backrooms and Aidan had explained what that meant. Aidan lunged forward and hauled me into his chest. 

"Oh shit Emily. I'm sorry. I usually work the door so I can't confirm how many times he's actually taken Roxy into the back rooms and I don't want to hurt you any more than you're already hurting but she's definitely one of the girls who will do extra for some cash." 

The tears I'd held at bay since he was a no show for our anniversary dinner started to fall. I couldn't have held them in if I tried. Aidan stepped further into me and turned us so nobody at Grant's table would see me standing in the middle of a Strip Club crying my eyes out. He slowly rubbed my back as I cried. The man I loved had been regularly screwing strippers and then coming home and having sex with me. We didn't use condoms. Hadn't for years. I tipped my face back and looked at Aidan.

"Guess I'll be adding an STD check to my list of things to do tomorrow."

"You're killing me sweetheart. He's not worth your tears."

"I love him Aidan. I've only ever loved him. We were building a life together. I thought we were working towards a future that saw us grow old together. That he was going to propose and we'd have babies together." 

"I know. I know you do but you deserve better than someone who lies to you and hooks up with strippers."

"Do you think it's because she's sexier than I am? I've only been with Grant and maybe I wasn't enough for him?"

I knew I sounded pathetic and swore I'd never be that girl. The one who  blamed herself for her boyfriend's shitty behaviour but looking at him with that stunning woman it was hard not to compare myself and come up lacking. 

"Stop that shit right now! Any man would cut off his right arm for a chance at a girl like you. People cheat for their own fucked up reasons. None of this is on you. You said he'd been distant since he started this new job. Maybe it's the crowd he's hanging out with. Weak men can follow the pack and act in ways they wouldn't normally act if they're around the wrong crowd."

"So you're saying his new workmates made him cheat?"

"No that's not what I'm saying. It's all on him. But you're saying it's out of character for him and I'm trying to explain that maybe it's out of character for the Grant you know, but maybe he's different when he's not around you." 

I thought about what he said and it sadly made sense. I had felt him changing over the last six months and due to how often we were apart our sex life had been sporadic. I put it down to the stress of his new job and figured once he settled in we'd get back to our happy normal.

I looked towards Grant's booth and noticed that he was no longer seated at the table with his workmates. Both he and the older guy and their respective strippers were gone. Into the back rooms it seemed. My relationship was definitely over. Seven years of happiness blown apart in the space of an evening. 

I looked back into Aidan's eyes and he was staring at me. It was like he was trying to see inside my head. Trying to come to some sort of decision. 

"I've got an idea if you're up for it."

"What?"