I didn't see Michael until the following Monday. Daria and I headed over to the Eden early to practice a new choreography with the girls. Phyllis wanted to start using some gymnastics in our routines, with one goal in particular: a pyramid of dancing girls. I had my qualms about it, but Phyllis was nothing if not practical and she wasn't going to risk us breaking our necks if we couldn't manage it.
The back entrance was already unlocked for us, but none of the girls, with the exception of Stella, were at their respective vanities. They were gathered around mine instead, giggling and chattering.
"The fuck's going on?" Daria asked loudly. Marla, a petite busty blonde, squealed in reply.
"Celeste! You have an admirer!" She took my hand and dragged me through the sea of women.
"I have a what?" I asked, but she just pointed to my vanity. Draped over my chair was one of the most beautiful dresses I'd ever seen. I picked it up slowly, my mouth dropping open.
"Jesus H. Christ," I heard Daria breathe. The gauzy black fabric-- was that silk?-- was covered in tiny silver beads, the scalloped edges embroidered in even more dazzling beading. It scattered the light when I held it up for inspection. "You sure that isn't for Stella?"
"It's definitely for Celeste-- There's a note!" Marla supplied the card helpfully.
"You've already opened it!" I exclaimed. "Fucking animals-- I can't believe the lot of you!"
"You'd have done the same!" Marla excused herself without remorse, the girls giving me some space to sit down but still hovering close by. Sighing, I examined the note.
"Well, what does it say?" Daria asked impatiently, peering over my shoulder.
"Yeah, who's it from? We didn't get a chance to read it!" Another girl crowded closer. I rolled my eyes but then cleared my throat.
"Celeste," I read aloud. "My sincere apologies for ruining your best dress. Here's another I think you'll find more than adequate... M.G."
"M.G.?" The girls screeched. The name Shelby was bandied about with excitement. Michael Gray, the new assistant manager of The Eden, had sent me a new dress. I felt overheated, my cheeks reddening by the second.
"Jesus, I'm assuming you did more than just blow him," Stella, who had wandered over at some point, commented as she puffed on her cigarette in it's ridiculous little French holder. She ran her free hand over the dress. "Did you let him stick it up your arse for this kind of payment, Celeste?"
I froze a little, but Daria was quick with a reply.
"It's funny how you know the going rate for sticking cock up your arse," She quipped, snatching the dress away from her. I laughed, about to join in taunting her as Stella began yelling about how The Eden was turning into some low-rent whorehouse with the likes of us around, but Phyllis finally decided to break it up.
"Ladies! We have a rehearsal to begin in half an hour and every minute it's delayed is getting docked from your pay-- now go!"
------
The pyramid of dancing girls was not as easy to execute as Phyllis had hoped-- mostly because Stella insisted on being at the top even though Marla was obviously the smallest woman among us and weighed the least. This situation came to a head as she precariously attempted to climb up our backs, stacked two layers high already, and ended up toppling the entire edifice.
"Fuck's sake!" Stella exclaimed. "All you have to do is hold still, why is everyone so fidgety?"
Most of us refrained from replying, stretching out our sore backs with quiet groans. Marla, still pissy about being overlooked, muttered something about her being a cow which the lead girl thankfully did not hear.
YOU ARE READING
A Certain Romance
Fanfic"And there's the truth that they can't see. They'd probably like to throw a punch at me and if you could only see 'em, then you would agree. Agree that there ain't no romance around there..." - A Certain Romance, Arctic Monkeys. This is the story o...
