To the Brink

introduction

                    As my alarm went off at 11:25pm I rush to finish my paper before heading into work.  I slam my copy of pride and prejudice shut and head to check on the kids. My twin brother, Caleb and I have been pretty much raising them for the past three years after my mom died of Cardiomyopathy almost a year after giving birth to my youngest sibling Oliver or as everyone calls Ollie. He is the first one I check on seeing as him and I share a room in our small three bedroom apartment. As I get to his toddler bed he starts giggling in his sleep probably dreaming about riding on a unicorn again.  Most people say that the terrible twos suck when you have kids ,but I find that hard to believe. Ollie is the easiest toddler, he is happy with everything. I slip out of my room and head into the room across the hall, in this room is Noah and Noelle, the twins, who just turned eight, and my youngest sister Remy, who is four. After I see that they are all still asleep I head to the last room and open the door. I glance over at the first bed and see my fourteen year old brother, Liam, asleep and my twin brother Caleb working on his homework.

"you heading out?", Caleb asks. I nod my head not wanting to wake Liam up. "You should just quit already, I hate that you have to work there."

"You know we can not afford to live without the money a job like this brings in." I point out, "besides if I don't work there then where else am I going to get a job, you know no one else will let me work late hours since I am seventeen."

" I can drop out and get another job, there has to be something we can do." he whispers.

"Ill be fine Caleb, we graduate this year after that I can get a full time job at the dinner, I can survive until then." I say as I turn to leave, ending the argument we have almost every night.

The walk to work is short. I take a deep breath as I head inside. My job really isn't all too bad. I love dancing  and  im comfortable enough in my body to be okay with the outfits I wear, the only time I don't like work is when some of the guys try to touch me or offer me more money if I am willing to meet them in the alley for an "extra special dance". I always get shivers down my spine when that happens. I change into my red bustier lingerie and do some light make up. I hear them call my stage name Rose and head onto stage to see most of my regulars. I make sure to make eye contact with everyone in the audience before I start. When I hear the beat of my favorite starting I feel my eyes close as I get lost in the rhythm. As I start to remove my lingerie I feel the eyes of every guy in the place on me. As the music picks up I feel more like an enchantress, casting a spell over them. I stay lost in the music and one song turns into another, before I know it my time is up. As I pick up my clothes I glance up and my eye lock onto a pair of the bluest eyes I have ever seen. I then run my eyes across the guys standing next to him and find all five of their gorgeous eyes  staring back at me. Sadly their booth was too dark for me to get a good look at the rest of them. Rushing off stage to go to the private rooms I run into my favorite bouncer, Rhett.

"Hey Rosie." he says as he gives me a one armed hug. "You got a full queue tonight."

"Thanks Rhett, ill see you in a few." I reply.

   The first guy on my list goes well, he ties to get a little too friendly, but after a couple rebuffs and a warning he keeps his hands to his self and the dance goes well. As the next customer walks in I feel a pit of dread in my stomach. My dad's best friend and a regular at the club, Henry struts in with a smirk on his face.  Henry always shows up for a private dance at least once a week and is always a little to grabby, I hate it but know it would be pointless to complain, since he's friends with the owner. Today he is acting a little different than normal, he seems to be sober, which is a huge shock. All things considered the dance goes well, I didn't even have to remind him that Rhett was outside. Before my next customer comes in Rhett hands me a bottle of water and asks how Henry was.