The Strip - Max

18 / New Life At The Strip

I woke up to the sound of my roommate stumbling around the apartment cursing about the mess she and her friends had left in the living room while I was at The Ranch, getting Logan's audience fired up. I had hoped to spend some quality time with the man, but a paying customer beat me to it. Instead, I sat and sipped my bottomless supply of Black and Blues until Tyler gave me a ride home. The taste and feel of the drink on your tongue is a new form of oral sex, but the hangover is like extreme BDSM without the fun parts. Or maybe the splitting head was due to the tequila shots a bunch of ladies bought me after living their on-stage fantasies.

"Hey, I'm gonna need next month's rent," my roommate, Darla, said through my closed bedroom door. "The building manager is gonna come 'round to collect soon. We gotta get your name on the lease too. Oh, and my friend, Jake, he drank your beers. Don't worry, he's good for it."

"Oh, okay, I got the rent money. Just let me pee first." I dashed past her towards the bathroom. She followed and waited outside the door while I did my business.

I was in a rush to find a place, so I trusted the word of a friend of a friend... of a friend? The apartment was okay, the roommate, questionable. The rent was reasonable for the building and location. I didn't have a car, or a driver's license so easy access to transit was a bonus with a bus and train terminal conveniently located directly across the street. Unfortunately, the late hours at the club meant I would need to catch a ride or taxi home at the end of my shift. If I needed to find a bright side, it was so much better than the dump I called home in Malbec for almost eight months.

Apparently, I had given my number to Tyler or someone because a message chimed in while I was spreading peanut butter on some toast for breakfast. Okay, it was technically a late brunch. I needed to get into The Strip to put together a set list and get my stuff situated in a locker and makeup station. I had a four-song slot at eight and so much to do before I set foot on the stage.

I had eight fully stuffed garment bags, a carry-on sized case full of shoes and another loaded with dainty stuff and makeup. Definitely too much to drag onto a city bus. My roommate offered a ride then disappeared as soon as I accepted. I assumed, "Do you need a ride?" was an offer. My bad! While I stood in the kitchen wondering "WTF?" I noticed the taxi business card she had left on the kitchen counter.

When the driver dropped me off at the club, Donny rushed to help me with my armloads of stuff, then a second guy jumped in to help. I felt like a celebrity arriving at her fancy downtown hotel; doormen and bellboys clambering over each other to carry in her shopping bags to her penthouse suite. Let a girl dream a little.

Chantel and a girl named Samantha helped me carry the bags into the change room and locate my new space. My new home. A piece of masking tape with the name Tess written on it was quickly yanked off a locker door and tossed in the trash can. "We'll get a nice label for you," Chantel said.

"Tess was here for a week. Just a temp gig for her," Samantha said as she hung my garment bags on a rack. "You get yourself settled in. I'll be back in a bit to take you on a tour. Our sound guy is gonna want to know what songs you like for your set."

Chantel gave me a hug then busied herself getting ready to work. I stuck a clip to the top right corner of my mirror and hung my angel bear in her place. I sat in my new chair at my new station and looked up at that bear for a moment. I had been nervous when I walked in and asked Tyler for a job. Nervous that he might say "no" and show me the door. But sitting there in the change room, I hadn't felt a single buzz of nervous energy. Excitement, yes. So much excitement. But not nervous. Perhaps the time I had spent in the business had quenched that feeling. Hardened me to the experience. But The Strip felt different than the other places. I wasn't yet sure what it was that made me want to be there.