You're Always You

Chapter Ten

Lydia Petrov

Turned out the man's name was Harold, something Lydia figured out the last ten or so minutes he was with them. Sasha didn't ask, because it would've ruined his positive spirit. Rather, someone else walking by had recognized him and said his name.

At least Lydia didn't feel guilty for spending time with someone she didn't know the name of. She did feel guilty knowing that he was spending money on both herself and Sasha despite the fact that he, technically, didn't know their real names.

Which was perfectly fine with Lydia.

Lydia just didn't always want to be Bambi.

Sasha tried to convince Lydia as they were leaving to not feel guilty about the things he bought. That it was all on him. And though Lydia didn't want to feel guilty, she still recognized that her arm was full of different bags from stores.

She could only imagine how much money he had spent on the two girls.

...

However, Lydia also knew that she wasn't going to be returning it.

The only question was figuring out how Richie was going to respond to it. If it was just one or two items, he probably wouldn't care. But considering the fact Lydia felt like she had been taken out on a shopping trip with a stranger...

Well...

Lydia didn't know.

Richie could be happy and proud of her. On the other hand, he could be annoyed and see it as himself losing money at the club since Lydia and Sasha both... somewhat owe it to Harold tonight.

Lydia knew that at least she was giving him a private lap dance later for free. It was the least she could do. Her private dances weren't over a hundred dollars worth of clothes and jewelry.

Either way, Richie was going to find out about it. She was going to be walking home with an abundance of bags on her arm. Lydia was prepared for him to be pissed, initially at least, and think that she spent a ton of money.

It would be after he calmed down that she would have to explain one of the customers bought it all for her and Sasha.

"Babe, I'm home." Lydia called out after she unlocked the front door of the house. Lydia gave a slight wave to the Uber driver before shutting the door behind herself with her foot.

Like Lydia anticipated, Richie's voice called out in greeting. Once he had appeared, an annoyed expression crossed his face. "...Lydia," he said with a frown. "What did you buy?"

Stepping forward, her boyfriend tugged open one of the bags on her arm to peer inside. It was the first item Harold had bought, the dress.

"I didn't buy it," Lydia said quickly before Richie could start shouting. It could take him hours to calm back down after he started yelling like a mad man.

...

Even if he was yelling for no reason.

"...What do you mean you didn't buy them?" Richie questioned, a frown still on his face though mingled with confusion. "Are you lying to me?"

Lydia shook her head. "No, babe." She said with a smile and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. He wasn't very interested in the affection, so she continued. "One of the regular customers saw Sasha and I at the mall. He wanted to buy things for us, to... show his appreciation for our entertainment over the years."

Wanted to buy was a bit loose. Rather, it should've been that Sasha begged him with her puppy dog eyes. Lydia would argue that her puppy dog eyes were better, but she wasn't the one that was using it on a stranger.

"...I see." Richie said with a frown, staring at the bags. He shook his head somewhat before reaching forward to take the bags from her arms. "That was nice of him." He said, beginning to walk towards their bedroom. "I'll go put this in the closet."

"Thank you~!" Lydia called after him, genuinely surprised that he was taking it as positively as this.

...She was just not going to mention the anticipated free and private lap dance she was intending to give Harold for all of the money that he had spent on both Sasha and herself.

Richie was not going to like that. However, Lydia would argue that if she didn't do something to repay him, he just... wasn't going to return back to the club again.

Something Richie would hate even more.

Therefore, what Richie doesn't know, won't hurt him.

"I'm going to make dinner before I go to work~!" Lydia called over to him down the hallway before making her way into the kitchen. The woman tied an apron around herself, since she had a habit of being a bit messy, and bit at her lip in thought on what to make.

Lydia ended up squatting down in front of the fridge to debate about what she wanted to cook. Richie would certainly give his two cents on what she should make, of course, and Lydia would likely end up making that.

...She didn't like saying no.

"Are you coming to the club tonight when I'm working?" Lydia called out to her boyfriend, who was still in their bedroom.

"Probably not," Richie's voice started to get closer as he came into the room. He nodded his head over to the fridge. "You should make spaghetti."

Well, that was decided.

Lydia pulled out the pasta and found the tomato sauce in the cupboard before speaking. "Something come up tonight so that you can't come?"

"Nah," Richie shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I was just there all this afternoon with the new building we're purchasing." Leaning against the counter, Richie decided to shift his mind back to the business side of things. "I was thinking about moving you over to the new club when it opens. Thought about making you the main girl, and you can help train new people." Richie pointed out.

Another way to save money, but not having to pay someone else to train strippers.

"Okay," Lydia said with a nod and a shrug to her shoulders. She poured the pasta into the boiling water and gave a hum. "I can do that."

"Perfect," Richie said. "I'll plan on that, then. Plus, a wave of people will come to the new stripclub when it opens. You know that."

Lydia nodded her head in understand. It did always happen whenever a new one opened. People were just... very interested in new girls. In finding new favorites. Often times, when new strip clubs open, business for Richie was a bit more difficult. However, at some point, it evens out and the regulars come back.

To which, all of the girls are instructed to make comments to the returning customers about how they missed them. How they should have never left.

"Sounds good." Lydia said as she stirred the spaghetti noodles in the pot. The woman remained silent for a few moments before speaking. "You know," Lydia started with a hum. "...There's a new museum opening up sometime next week, I think. I've been seeing signs up for the opening." Lydia typically favored going to art museums, but the woman really cherished any kind of museum. They were all so... fascinating.

Richard, on the other hand, wasn't interested. He didn't like Lydia's interest in museums too much and typically avoided them. Instead, he encouraged Lydia to express her love of art and museums in other ways.

Like... graffiti art.

Lydia didn't do it much, because she felt bad... but it was nice to create artwork in a place that everyone would see - like next to a highway.

It was her own little piece of art.

* * * * *

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XOXO Alice