You're Always You

Chapter Sixteen

Lydia Petrov

"Hey. Don't worry about it, Lydia. I'll take care of it."

Lydia hunched over as Sasha rubbed her back. Technically, today, Lydia was supposed to be out on the floor dancing. However, since Monica was gone now, Lydia had already been dancing this afternoon.

...Now she had to dance tonight, too.

It was safe to say that Lydia was exhausted. Dancing around and trying to be sexy took a lot of effort to begin with. It didn't come naturally, contrary to belief.

"You know if Richie finds out you're covering for me, he'll be pissed. People expect me out at night." Lydia pointed out. "I mostly do nights."

"Then..." Sasha gave a sigh and rubbed at her face. "Come... in and out from the back. Make your appearance, do a little wave, and hide again. Really, Lydia. I could use the extra cash anyway. You just... relax."

It was easier said than done. Lydia tried to hide herself in the back. She even took a short cat nap, until Sasha came back and shook her shoulder.

"...Lydia... Lydia."

Lydia blinked open her eyes sleepily and stared up at Sasha in confusion, furrowing her eyebrows together. Whenever Lydia woke up, she was never... completely awake for at least a good amount of time. Food often helped her wake up entirely.

Therefore, the words that came out of Sasha's mouth had been a bit... slow to process.

"Richie is here. Get up."

...

"What?" Lydia blinked her eyes again, staring sleepily at Sasha.

"Richie is here. Get up." Sasha said as she forced Lydia to sit up. The woman, though trying to be helpful, began to tug off Lydia's shirt. Lydia merely sat there as Sasha began to toss Lydia's comfortable shirt to the side and instead tugged on one of her tighter ones.

Lydia gave a sigh as she pushed herself up onto her feet, stumbling a bit over her own toes considering the fact she was still half awake. "Maybe if I pay for my own private dance, I can take a short nap in the bed in the back." Lydia mumbled to Sasha.

Sasha rolled her eyes and pushed Lydia out onto the floor, following close after.

Squinting her eyes, Lydia let her gaze adjust with the darker environment. She brought one hand up to her face and began to sleepily rub at it, taking a few steps forward.

Lydia was not in the working mindset and really didn't want to approach any customers. She didn't want to try to swindle money off of them when the most she was really going to do was give them a half awake smile for the next ten minutes. Lydia would be lucky if she got her eyes completely open in the next ten minutes.

Nothing said sexy like a squinty-eyed, forced smile.

"Where is he?" Lydia mumbled to Sasha, leaning against her somewhat.

Sasha hummed. "...I saw him here earlier. He might be checking the back of the bar or something. I don't know. Just..." Sasha raised her hand up to Lydia's face and began to smack it lightly, trying to get her to wake up more. "Snap out of it."

Lydia gave a hiss and pushed Sasha away from herself somewhat, squinting while rolling her eyes. "Stop that," She mumbled before returning to scanning the crowd. Most of the men were currently enthralled with watching one of the many pole dancers. They rarely turned around to check behind themselves.

Since no one was seemingly watching, Lydia let herself stand with her arms crossed over her chest. She kept her legs together and let out a sigh, closing her eyes somewhat. It was a battle to not fall asleep while standing up.

A task she had mastered before - somewhat. It usually ended with her falling down in approximately five minutes and getting the attention of many people in the process if she wasn't alone.

Since Sasha was working, she mumbled to Lydia to wake up one more time before making her way back out to the middle of the floor to flirt with a generous customer.

Lydia kept her feet firm in her spot, instead letting her eyes follow after Sasha instead of closing. A few frequent customers that caught Lydia's gaze eyed her, though they kept her distance. Lydia was very obvious to people the difference between when she was working and when she wasn't. Her posture right now screamed that she wasn't working.

Though, it was a strip club, and not everyone saw it that way.

"Hey, Bambi~," A man who Lydia knew came frequently cooed, though she didn't know his name. Lydia gave him a tight lipped smile at his approach, saying nothing. Didn't deter him much, however, since he seemed a bit drunk.

Drunk men were usually the ones that forgot the rules. Like, no touching. It was why a frown slipped onto Lydia's neck when the man tossed his arm over her shoulder. Lydia brought her hand up to her far shoulder and pushed off the arm. "No touching, sir." She tried to remind politely with a smile.

"Come on, baby." The man said with a cocky grin, brushing her hair behind her shoulder. Lydia took a step away to get away from his grasp. Though, he kept talking. "I know those looks that you give me. You want me, too."

The same look I give every sucker that wants to give me money.

"Please be respectful to the dancers." Lydia said instead, keeping the polite behavior as Bambi. If she didn't, well, she didn't want to hear it from Richie.

Though, the man took another step towards her.

Really?

"I am trying to respect your body, that's the point."

Cherish, more like.

Lydia held up her hands towards him and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm not taking any dances right now." She said while taking another step away. The woman pressed her lips together into a forced smile, though she didn't know if her lips could really get any thinner.

"Stop means stop no matter where you go, man. Don't be a sexual predator."

Glancing over her shoulder, Lydia blinked her tired eyes for a moment to see the same man from yesterday that swooped in to be Monica's knight of a big brother. She looked forward again, to see the customer grimacing before walking away.

Though, Lydia turned her head once more to look at David. "...What are you doing here? Your sister said she isn't coming back." Lydia informed him. "You don't have to worry about her here. I'm pretty sure you've already beat it into her that strippers are bad people. So, don't be concerned. She won't be here."

"I'm well aware, and strippers aren't bad people okay, just-..." The man sighed and glanced around himself for a moment. "...I guess I wanted to talk to you."

Lydia furrowed her eyebrows together, though a slight smile slipped onto her face out of amusement. "...You came to a strip club... to talk to a stripper. You realise that most people who come here... talking really isn't a part of it. At all. Right?"

"Yeah, well..." David rubbed at his neck softly, watching Lydia. Lydia merely crossed her arms over her breasts. "I'm definitely not most people that come here. If I didn't want to talk, I wouldn't have come here."

It was odd... that was for certain. The fact that one of her high school classmates was here because he had wanted to just talk was bizarre. Not to mention, it was one of her classmates that Richie certainly didn't like.

Standing here talking to him, if Richie was here, wasn't a very good idea. Lydia had opened her mouth to tell him that she was busy and needed to work, but he spoke again giving a sigh. "I will pay if I have to."

...

Well...

That would work.