You're Always You

Chapter Eighteen

Lydia Petrov

One thing that Lydia liked about the back rooms was the fact that they were fully stocked with different places for dancing. Small chairs, big chairs, couches, beds... everything.

It also gave Lydia the pick of where she wanted to sleep. And, of course, Lydia picked the bed. Though she would like to think that no one had sex on it, she also knew that she would be fooling herself.

Even Richie and Lydia had used these beds before.

Regardless, the sleep was needed. Lydia, who had always been a hugger in her sleep, ended up hugging one of the pillows on the bed against her torso as she slept. David's jacket was still around her, though she didn't bother taking it off because it was warm. It wasn't as though these beds were really stocked for sleeping. They didn't have sheets and blankets.

But Lydia was comfortable. She has never had a client before ask to just... talk to her. A client that just let her sleep - even if she was wary about it. Sleeping around a stranger sounded stupid. However, Lydia argued that even though she didn't know David very well, they had gone to high school together.

It accounted for some trust, she'd like to think.

That was the excuse she gave herself, at least, since she was sleeping regardless.

...

And continued to sleep for roughly an hour.

Lydia blinked her eyes open tiredly and stared at the ceiling. She gazed at a singular spot for a few moments, her eyes still glossed over slightly in her tiredness. Eventually, Lydia brought her hand up to her face and rubbed at her eyes.

"I was never very good at math, but I believe I'm paying you quintuple now." David's voice came from the side of the room, which made Lydia sit up from her spot.

Continuing to rub at her eye, Lydia shook her head. "Don't worry about it," She mumbled, lowering her hand down to her lap again. "It's not exactly like I put on a show or anything. Unless you were thoroughly entertained by my sleeping." Lydia mumbled, giving a slight yawn.

It was a bit weird waking up and hearing a male voice that wasn't Richie.

"Dickie's not gonna shake you up over it?"

...

Lydia rubbed at her cheek. "I've been hiding some money from him, just in case." Lydia admitted honestly. "I'll just pull that out. But, he might not notice."

"Lydia," David frowned and leaned over to his side to pull out his wallet.

The woman frowned and shook her head. "No, no. Really, I can't take your money. I did nothing but sleep. Trust me, I don't deserve getting paid."

"Honey, I'd much rather cover for you taking a nap than pay you to dance on me. I prefer my women dancing because they want to, not for cash. At the very least let me pay something."

Lydia gave a soft laugh and smiled over towards him, shaking her head somewhat. "I'm okay. Really. Honestly, the money I have tucked away might just come back to me, anyway. I'm dependent on Richie." Lydia pointed out, then added, "Though I will say a woman actually wanting to do something for you is much different than for a stripper. In case you're curious." Lydia pointed out with a shrug. "Stripping is like... it's like acting, in a way. Just gotta be the character."

"I know. You're good at that." David said, which made Lydia assume that he had maybe seen some of her high school theatrical performances. "But if you keep arguing, I'm sticking it in your pants."

"What happened to being a gentleman, above all of the other customers?" Lydia pointed out, a slight smirk on her face.

"This is me being a gentleman, covering your ass." David said, holding the cash in his hands while leaning forward to rest his elbows against his knees. "I'm the one that brought you in here, Lydia."

...

Lydia gave a soft sigh and nodded her head slowly. She was still a bit too tired to argue. "...Okay." She eventually agreed, begrudgingly. The woman unzipped his jacket and shrugged it off of her shoulders, climbing out of the bed to hand it back to him while also taking his money.

Normally, Lydia didn't feel very guilty about taking money from people. She saw it as an exchange. She wiggled her ass, they gave her money.

...But she literally slept.

"...I promise I'll pay you back," Lydia told him with a soft frown. "Okay?"

"Don't."

Lydia smiled and shook her head. "...God you're stubborn..."

David had a smile on his own face that slipped into a grin. "How about this," He started, nodding his head over to her. "Someday if you ever want to dance on me, we'll call it even, but until then, don't worry about it."

Want as in... she wanted to?

"...I'm not a cheater," Lydia shook her head and crossed her arms somewhat over her torso. "Richie can be an ass, but I wouldn't do that to him."

"Yeah, well... Would Dickie say the same?" David seemed to say as he pushed himself onto his own feet, sliding the jacket over his shoulders. He casted a warm smile to Lydia before stepping over to the door of the room. "Have a good night, Lydie. If you ever need anything, Monica can help you out."

"...Goodnight," Lydia raised up her hand to wave slightly before lowering it back down to her lap, her thoughts on what David had said.

"The fuck did you do in that room, Lydia?"

Lydia winced at Richie's shouting voice, turning her head to the ground. She kept her arms crossed over her torso while listening to her boyfriend, who was less than pleased. Richie usually heard about any unusual occurrences that happen at the club.

One of the 'unusual occurrences' being the fact that Lydia was in a back private room with a customer for a little over an hour.

If it was any other girl, Richie would've not cared at all. But it was Lydia, and Richie's first assumption was always that she cheated on him. They had already specified what 'cheating' included. Anything with stripping was perfectly fine. Richie was okay with her showing her body. But... kissing, sex, touching... it was off limits.

It wasn't as though Lydia could really tell the truth on what had happened, either. If she did, Richie would get mad that she was sleeping when she could've been working.

...Therefore, Lydia lied as much as she could. "It was just some customer that liked my dancing, babe." Lydia pleaded with a frown. "I swear it was nothing, baby. Nothing happened. I was just dancing. And I got lots of money for it, see?" Lydia intentionally pulled out the money that David had given her, even though she didn't want to take it.

"Don't fucking lie to me, Lydia!" Richie shouted. Though, what Lydia wasn't expecting was for her boyfriend to pick up the remote next to the couch and chuck it at her.

Lydia was lucky that she had ducked in time, though her heart started to pound twice as fast in shock and surprise. It was... very rare that Richie's anger got to this point. Whenever it was, it was scary. Everytime he started to lash out aggressively at her, Lydia always wanted to leave.

Though... Richie usually always came to his senses upon seeing the fear in Lydia's eyes. The man frowned and stepped over to his girlfriend who remained stood in her spot, somewhat hunched over in case she needed to duck again. "I'm sorry, baby." Richie mumbled. He wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and pulled her tight against his chest, rubbing her back. "...You know how I get when I just... get so angry. I know you wouldn't do something like that to me, babe. I'm sorry." Richie ran his fingers up and down her spine until she reached out her arms to hug him back. "I love you," Richie added.

...

Lydia swallowed and pressed her cheek against his shoulder as his hands rubbed her back. "...It's okay. I love you, too."