Love Be My Oxygen

3 | Pick Me

Haillie

The nights pass quickly and before I know it, it's the middle of the summer and I've got a steady income that can support taking ballet classes next term. This is the first success I've had and knowing that I can take care of myself is a feeling that I can't imagine ever getting tired of.

The summer air is hot on my cheeks as I walk towards the town hall. Not many places have the space to dance in that are also fairly inexpensive to rent out for a few hours each day. Without dance classes to attend through the summer break, I have just been trying to dance as much as possible to get better.

Though it's hard to get better in a studio that's no bigger than my bedroom. The frustration I feel at myself having hit a plateaux makes me want to bang my head against the walls. Maybe I'm not made for ballet, the confines and set rules on how to do things. Yet I can never get them right or perform the intricate moves as well as the other ballerinas.

I pick myself up off of the floor and walk over to my small bag in the corner to put away my pointe shoes and throw on some joggers and an off the shoulder jumper. It's Friday night, one of the busiest at the club and dances start at 10pm giving me enough time to go home and get ready without much rush.

I find myself backstage in no time, it's almost as though I teleport her these days. Jess is sitting beside me as usual talking about her latest rendezvous.

"So he's got a wife?" I ask the question with a look of mock horror on my face.

"No no no, they divorced last month but she wants to get back together with him or sue him or something because she's a gold digger who didn't get the sum of money she had been hoping for," Jess explains as though this sort of a mess is just a typical day in her life. I suppose it is for her.

"You're crazy," I smile at her with a slight admiration in my eyes, Jess is the type of girl who the guys want and the girls want to be.

"Honey, I'm not crazy. It's called love," she throws her arm across her head dramatically and falls back into her chair pretending to faint. We both laugh and continue to chat about nothing whilst finishing our makeup.

After 20 minutes Jess spins in her chair to face me and smiles that sultry smile she uses on the customers, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" I suddenly get nervous not knowing what she's up to.

"Well, there's a job for you," she begins, clearly not telling the full story just yet.

"I have a job already," I try to not let negative thoughts pour into my head but I can't stop them. What if the customers hate me and I'm getting fired?

"Yes, but an extra job. Theres a man who has asked for a private audience with you and is willing to pay a hell of a lot for it."

"What? No, I'm not a prostitute," the horror in my voice is very real this time. I can justify burlesque dancing because I don't get fully naked, it's just dancing at the end of the day just there's the catch of wearing scandalous clothing.

Jessica laughs out loud at my statement, "Haha, no child no. He wants you to dance a solo for him, definitely no prostitution involved."

Is it bad that the idea is tempting? I try to convince myself that it's a bad idea but as hard as I try, all I can think about is how easy the money is.

"Just one dance?" I can't hide the small excitement I'm feeling at the idea.

"Just one dance," Jess smiles so wide and grabs my hands, pulling me out of the chair and towards the curtains leading to the stage.

"So we are all going to perform as usual and everyone will leave just like normal, but he is going to stay behind," Jess begins to explain as we stretch casually, getting ready for the group performance. "Then you'll come out and dance for him, he will pay, then you can go home. Easy."

I've always stayed on the careful side of life, never really pushing past the confines of my comfort box. Getting this job is something I would never have thought I'd be doing. I've already walked to the edge of the cliff so what's the harm in jumping off.

I smile at her with the same sexy smirk she always uses when she has a bad idea, "Okay, let's do this."

Note

What are our thoughts on Jess? I do love a good cliche of a sidekick best friend but Jess is a superhero on her own. Do we think she's going to lead Haillie down the wrong path or help her in the long run?