westward grove

two

As instructed, I knocked three times and waited. After a few moments, the adrenaline I had previously felt turned to anxiety. I was in no way ready for a job interview right now. I didn't have any of my credentials with me and I just finished a martini.

I considered bolting out of the club for a moment, but ultimately decided against it. I couldn't be rejected for the job if I didn't try to get it. Even though I hadn't been to an interview in years, I had the potential to get them done.

At some point, after waiting what felt like hours, the door finally opened. I was greeted by a beautiful pair of emerald eyes. The body they belonged to was equally as gorgeous, and the anxiety I was working to rid myself of returned. I didn't believe in love at first sight, but if anyone were to convert me, it would be this woman. I expected a sweaty old man to greet me. I certainly didn't envision a strinkingly attractive Hispanic woman.

"Hi, I'm Lauren Jauregui." She greeted, placing her hand out for me to shake. I took it, despite how sweaty my palms were. "You can have a seat in one of those chairs." She added, pointing to a set of loveseats. Despite my nerves, I was grateful to be sitting down after the bike ride here. My legs were extremely sore, and standing definitely wasn't ailing them.

Eventually, Lauren sat down at her desk. We faced each other, and almost inevitably, made eye contact. It was intense, I felt as though she could see through me. Like she could read all of my thoughts and feelings.

"So, what's your name, babe?" Lauren asked in a voice that was both silky and raspy at the same time. The combination of her intimidatingly good looks and velvety voice caused me to have unholy thoughts.

"Camila Cabello," I answered calmly. Thankfully, my voice didn't betray my emotions.

She nodded, slowly looking me up and down. I wasn't used to people checking me out so blatantly. Sure, people looked at me, but it was almost always from behind. "You're Cuban?"

My ethnicity seemed to be the biggest topic of discussion today, for whatever reason. "I'm half Cuban, half Mexican."

Lauren cocked an eyebrow, checking me out again. She ran a hand through her dark brown hair as she looked me up and down. I wasn't sure what she was searching for, but she was obviously determined to look for it. "So, Camila," Lauren started, "tell me about yourself."

"Well, my girlfriend is black." I spit out. Admittedly, it sounded a lot better in my head.

Lauren burst into laughter almost instantly, the warm sound filling the air. "Why would you start with that?" She asked, still chuckling.

I laughed, too. Suddenly feeling a bit more relaxed. "Ethnicity seems to be really important here."

Lauren laughed again, repositioning herself in the leather chair that she sat in. She smiled at me seriously before tugging at her bottom lip. "Really, though. Tell me about yourself."

"Well..." I began, trying to decide what to say. "My first name is Karla. I'm twenty two. I'm from Cuba, but, I moved here when I was young. I went to UFM, I have a degree in English. I'm a struggling writer, it's not an unusual story." I stopped speaking for a moment, trying to decide how to finish my short auto biography. "I've never worked in a strip club before, but, I can do... everything the job entails. I've had plenty of practice."

Lauren nodded, seemingly content with my reply. Her eyes scanned my body once again, more intensely this time. "Alright, I'm going to need for you to get naked." She informed me bluntly.

"I.. Sorry, what?" I choked out.

"Take your shirt and your shorts off." Lauren answered, a half smile gracing her lips.

For whatever reason, the request didn't click with me for a minute. I suppose I had forgotten where I was trying to get a job. You probably have to be of some sort of physical standard to get a job here. "Sorry... I just... yeah." I stuttered, not entirely sure what I was trying to say. "Not a problem."

I stood up and began to slip my blue t shirt off, dropping it on the floor. Next, I unbuttoned my denim shorts, sliding them off and placing them next to my shirt. I stood confidently, despite feeling more exposed than ever before. If I was going to work in a strip club, I had to be self assured.

"Turn around," Lauren demanded, studying my figure. I did as I was instructed, slowly turning around and stopping. "Well shit," she mumbled from her spot behind the desk. The remark made me smirk. My ass was almost always what people found my most attractive feature to be.

I heard Lauren get up and walk closer to me, stopping just inches away. "These are really pretty," she complimented, referring to two galaxy tattoos that were permenantly inked onto me. They ran the entire length of my torso on either side of my ribs. Lauren's soft fingers traced the planets and stars, her touch practically lighting my skin on fire.

I swallowed hard before replying, "thank you."

Lauren continued to touch me, igniting a feeling inside of me that I barely remembered the feeling of. She slapped my ass, not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough to elicit a whimper from me. Perhaps it was innapropriate for to touch me that way, but I certainly wasn't complaining. Plenty of ass slapping went on in strip clubs. For some reason, I was trying to delude myself into believing that I was different than any other girl that stepped in this office. This was all protocol, and there was no way my potential employer was interested.

Lauren stood behind me for a few more moments. I could feel her hot breath against my shoulder, and a bead of sweat dripped down my forehead. "You have the job," she finally informed me before backing away and hopping onto her desk. "Come back tomorrow. We can work out a schedule and all that other shit then."

I couldn't contain my smile. I was unbelivabely greatful for the woman standing in front of me. "Thank you, Lauren." I raved, "this is amazing."

With that, I turned to face the door, ready to exit the room. Lauren cleared her throat, causing me to turn around. She had a smug expression painted across her face. "I appreciate that you're really into the whole stripper thing, but I would advise putting your clothes back on for the time being."

In the heat of the moment, I had completely forgotten that I was half naked. My cheeks flushed as I quickly put my clothes back on. "That would have been really embarassing.

"It wouldn't have been so bad. I'm sure no one would mind seeing you half naked," Lauren replied, causing me to blush even harder.

I moved towards the door, only stopping once it was open to turn back for a final farewell. "Thanks again, Lauren."

"Not a problem. I look foreward to working with you."

For the first time in what seemed like forever, I wasn't dreading the future. I had a job- a job that would actually make money. Strip clubs were trashy and gross, but this was the best thing that had happened to me in a while. I could make bank, get out of the house more, make some friends, and perhaps, get to know my boss better.

Things had turned around for me, and it was all open ended.

a/n: plugs:

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