Tiny Dancer

Chapter 2: Months Later and Drinks

"Milly, do you have my hairspray? It's not at my desk again."

She rolled her eyes and pointed at the back sink, smiling cheekily.

"Don't leave your loved ones behind, Diana."

"Thanks, beauty."

Milly nodded and finished up with her makeup, shimmying her costume into place as she stood up. She had been working at Muse now for four months and was surprised at the amount of customers she had been able to roll in. The first few weeks were rough, to say the least, what with distrust between her and the other girls and the barely-there outfits, but things started looking up for her about a month ago. She had caught herself a regular. Milly wasn't a very confident girl, but she wasn't painfully shy either, a trait which only seemed to entice her clientele. Pete had given her a stage job of vogue dancing and a new, sweeter name to go by: Baby. Yes, like Dirty Dancing. Her first night's pull on the job alone was £342, a paycheck that only seemed to grow as time went on. It certainly did that night in November when a man she had seen for about a week in a row came in and dropped £400 on the floor for her, along with her regular pay, and didn't ask for a private show. She thought that maybe he had made a mistake when he had done it the first night, but when the second and third rolled around, she knew he was keeping an eye on her. Milly didn't even know who he was or what he looked like because he wore such dark clothes and never once came close enough for her to get a clear look at his face. Tonight, she wanted to know; it was a bit frustrating not knowing who to dance for in a crowd like this.

"Mills, you about ready, lovely? I think your beau's out there waiting on you."

"You can see him?"

"Yeah, kinda tall, in black, by the bar. That's him right?"

Milly and all the girls rushed to the side stage curtain and looked towards the bar, a breath escaping her as she nodded. She couldn't see his face for his dark hair, a fact which she somewhat despised. As if on a cue, he turned his eyes towards her, a smile clearly spreading across his lips. Milly froze and ducked back behind the curtain, a pang of something white-hot shooting through her as she felt her brain trying to recall where she had seen that smile before. Her face felt like fever as she straightened her hair back out before sashaying onto center stage, the lights dimming a soft pink as Pete announced her in. Milly put on her sweetest grin and began dancing slowly, her dark curls bouncing around her face as she scanned the crowd, dark eyes meeting hers as her regular sat down closer to the stage than he ever had been. The music suddenly took a turn as she took her red-covered lip in her teeth, eyeing him up and peeling back her baby pink skirt to reveal leather garters and curve-hugging black silk shorts. Milly saw his face go flat and something flash through his eyes that looked like interest to her. She smiled big and gave him a sweet wink as she sunk to her knees, her feet splaying behind her and her hair spilling over her shoulders in the front. He watched her like a tiger watches its prey, waiting for an opportune moment to strike; the first one hundred hit the stage and she knew the ante had to be upped. Milly crawled across the floor towards another patron and danced for him, not even chancing a look at her regular, but she could see his shoulders ball up at the lack of attention. She got closer to the other man as he slipped a bill in her top's strap, and she smiled at him before making her way back to centre stage, the other three falling onto the floor. Milly slid the straps down and wiggled her chest, returning her eyes to his, a hint of anger now tinting his gaze darker than before as the song started to close. She raised an eyebrow at him and turned her back, unclasping her top and tossing it over to him as the lights flashed out, a cheeky grin on her lips and his agape. Milly bounced back to her desk behind the stage, looking at the girls staring her down in the mirror.