Stripped of Love

My First Day

After I walked out of the club I continued to roam the streets for hours. It soon became dark out as I looked for a decent place to fall asleep. I approached the park and found a nice tree that I could fall asleep in or under when someone called out my name.

"Mark!! Is that you??" I turned around to see Matt and his wife walking their baby girl Luna.

"Hey Matt! What are you guys up to?" I faked a smile and gave them hugs and waved at Luna, making her smile and giggle. "God she is just adorable!"

"Thanks. Hey, what are you doing out here by yourself? Where's Aaron?" I looked down at the floor and gently kicked a stone with my foot.

"We broke up and he..kina threw me out of the house..." I slowly looked up and saw the concerned looks cross their faces.

"Where are you gonna stay then?" I nudged my head towards the tree and looked at it.

"Oh no! That is not happening while i'm around!" Matt's wife grabbed me by the arm and started dragging me away from the park, Matt pushed the stroller behind us and laughed. "Mark, you're a great friend of ours and you are welcome in our home for as long as you need until you can get a place of your own. You still have your job right?" I nodded.

"Yes mam. You don't need to do this, you guys are busy enough with Luna, I'll be fi-" she cut me off.

"I will not hear any if, and's, or but's Mark. As long as you're working I have no problem letting you stay in our home because I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing one of our friends was sleeping in the streets.

Matt continued to laugh behind us. "Sorry Mark, she's already in Mom mode since she had Luna, there's no point in arguing with her. Just let us help you, at least this little bit."

I gave a sigh, "alright alright, fine. I work tomorrow so i'll be out of the house bright and early and I promise I'll be back when my shift is over." I didn't bother telling them about my new job because they didn't really need to know. Plus it was a little embarrassing to tell them that I was now a stripper. Their house wasn't far from the park so we arrived quickly. I've been to their house a lot so they didn't need to show me around, I already knew the place pretty well. I shook Matt's hand. "Thanks again for all of this, when I have enough saved I'll get my own place."

Matt waved it off, "don't worry about it Mark. We're glad to have you over and to be helping out a great friend. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help you get back on your feet."

"I will if I need anything. I'm gonna head to bed, it's been a rough day." I rubbed the back of my neck and Matt nodded.

"Of course, I'm always here if you need someone to talk to Mark, and if not, then my wife loves to gossip and can probably comfort you better than I can when it comes to break-ups and feelings and stuff. She is a girl after all." He smiled and laughed and I joined him.

"Yeah, maybe when I clear my head a little." I didn't need to talk, I was happy to get away from that abusive rapist of a guy, but I wanted Matt to know that I truly was thankful and that I was listening to what he was saying. We said our good night's and we all went to sleep.

My phone woke me up the next morning bright and early for my new job. I didn't really want to go. I'd rather just stay in bed and sleep my depression away but Matt's wife would kill me and plus I wouldn't get to see Jack. At that thought I jumped out of bed, showered, got dressed in some tight clothes and headed out the door to the club. I arrived a little early but the door was unlocked thankfully. "Hello?" I called out into the empty club.

"In the back! Come on in!" It was Jack, I found my way to his office eventually and peeked inside. He had half of a suit hanging up on his back wall while he was in slacks and a regular t-shirt. "Hi'a Mark! Glad you're early! I can get to trainin ya before anyone else comes in! You'll just be servin' drinks untill you're good enough on the stage to do performances."