Alas, readers, I am not dead! I sincerely apologise for my tardiness with this chapter. There was a lot going on recently, I moved house, took some time to make friends and lately had a couple problems with my girlfriend, who I recently celebrated a month anniversary with. If not for the constant harping of my good friend that took the time to read this book, I may have forgotten about it. Ten Points to Griffindor for you for being a beast ;) So! I shall talk to you more after the chapter, I hope you enjoy this and put up with my poopy update timetable. Gods be good ill update more often in future ^_^ see you all soon!
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Ryan's POV
The loud music of the club shocks me to the bone as I walk in, the floor vibrating under my worn sneakers. The smell of alcohol wafts onto me, mixing with the intoxicating aroma of men's deodorant. The white strobe lights pierce my eyes, bright enough to cause any normal person into an epileptic fit. Though, they fit perfectly with the black walls and dark red skirting of the room. The bar is full, every seat taken up by a man scoping his prey or couples enjoying some drinks. The corners or the room are also over run, the tables surrounded with people making out or even more. Waitresses taking orders in their skimpy outfits of almost pure lace. Men standing around the stage, waiting impatiently for the next performer to come on and arouse them further, wads of money gripped tightly In their large hands.
Laurent gives me a playful wink as I make my way back to the guys locker room. Decorated to the theme of the main club room, the lockers are black, the walls a deep red and the doors also black. In the bathroom though, there is a strange contrast, the bright white porcelain of the sinks darken the colours in the room. I head to my locker, not wanting to waste the little time before my shift, I have a performance tonight and Maxwell will not be happy if I'm late again. The last time I was, he used the fact that he treated me specially to make me feel bad.
He doesn't make me wear the same outfit as the other boys that work here. Instead of the short shorts and only suspenders to wear, I wear long leather bands up both my arms to hide the cuts and scars.
I head quickly, straight to my locker and grab out my costume and makeup supplies. The Cat's Paw isn't just a strip club, it's a fetish bar, for men who want more than just mildly arousing dances or blow jobs in the back room. The staff of the club are required to dress as Nekos (Japanese mythical creatures, essentially a human with cat ears and a tail) yes, that's right people are into that.
I change into my skimpy outfit before going to the mirror to apply the foundation, winged eyeliner and glitter required for my show. I sigh as I leave the the locker room, subconsciously playing with the hair-clip ears that sit atop my head. I always get nervous before I perform, even though I have been told that I am one of the more popular workers here, I can't help the sick feeling in my stomach or the shakiness in my hands before I go on. I just can't control it.
I hear my name called and walk out onto the stage, shaking and mentally preparing myself to dance like this is the last time that I will, ever. The music starts up and my mind clears itself, ready.
(A/N Imma skip the part about Ryan's dance, I know almost nothing about dancing)
The song ends and the men wolf whistle and cheer, throwing money at my feet. I collect it up and walk off the stage through the back curtain. A small amount of sweat dampens my forehead and shoulders. Maxwell is waiting for me as I walk off the stage, smiling brightly.
"Good job, Ryan, keep your shows at that standard and your pay rate will double, the patrons loved it"
I give him a small smile and nod in thanks. Maxwell isn't a bad person, he cares about all of the workers here and makes sure that they are all cared for properly, as far as he knows. He's just very tight on the money side of this club, though it is popular. He likes to keep a check on the shifts that people work and make sure that they are on time or get someone else to cover a shift that they can't work. We all understand it, running a business is hard and for a long time this place was nothing but a dump, it took a long time for it to get popular.
