Hedonica

Chapter Three.

Tonight was different.

Becky hoped Charlotte wouldn't get mad or upset, considering she'd never told her about this. — She'd invited her "work" mates to Hedonica to watch Charlotte perform. The idea was a little risky, since Charlotte had started trusting her and becoming more comfortable, and she didn't want this to be any kind of setback in their floundering friendship.

"Right, lads. Rules." Becky began. Of course she was going to set rules. This was her club, and Charlotte was her employee, her safety and comfort was important. She knew how the guys got sometimes, and she didn't want to witness any of that tonight, especially not towards Charlotte. "Charlotte is the dancer. Once she's done dancing, all of you can fuck off out of here."

"Why?" A tall, blonde man spoke up. He was slumped in one of the booth's, seeming to be unhappy with Becky's first demand, which earned him a glare from the redhead.

"Because, Dolph. This is my club. My rules."

Dolph rolled his eyes. He was one of the guys Becky knew to have a reputation. She wasn't at all fond of him, but he was part of the group, so it wouldn't have been fair to have left him out. She just thought she'd keep an extra eye on him, making sure he didn't get up to no good.

"Next rule, imbeciles... Do NOT touch her. Don't even talk to her. Watch her perform, and then leave. That's it." Becky looked around at the group of men. They all seemed to understand, apart from Dolph. But he could've dealt with if he acted out. "If you break any of those rules, there'll be severe consequences."

"Why do you care so much?" Dolph spoke again, Becky staring daggers into him.

Her arms folded over her chest and she tilted her head in an almost challenging manner. She narrowed her eyes, genuinely trying to come up with an answer. There wasn't much care to be felt towards Charlotte at the moment... or was there? Maybe she did care. But why did that matter? Surely it was human decency to not want someone feeling uncomfortable.

"I'm not having idiotic fuck boys make her uncomfortable. You will respect her. Understood?"

Nobody said anything, and the club was quiet for all of five minutes, until Charlotte came in. She seemed happy to walk through the door, a smile on her face. Then she saw the group of men, and her smile dropped. Her gaze immediately turned to Becky, and she stood still in the doorway, clearly confused and visibly becoming nervous. After all, they were strangers to her and she hadn't danced in front of a crowd that wasn't just Becky for a while. It was strange, and rather frightening.

All eyes were on her, everyone still staying quiet. Charlotte didn't know how to react. For a split second she thought she was imagining things, a club full of men not her ideal audience. It never had been. That's why she was so relieved to have Becky. Becky made it easier and enjoyable.

"Lads, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, I brought in some of my... work friends." Becky spoke, breaking the unexplainable tension between everyone. She held her hand out towards the blonde, beckoning her over. Charlotte complied, slowly heading to Becky, her crimson coloured heels clapping against the ground, that being the only noise after Becky had spoken.

Becky hooked her arm around Charlotte's waist, tugging her towards the bar, away from the group of men so they wouldn't be able to hear them.

"Becky... what's going on?" Charlotte asked, her confusion not shifting into any other emotion. She glanced down at the hand covering her waist, and a rush of comfort surged through her, and she felt less nervous.

"They wanna see you dance. I said one, then they leave."

Charlotte furrowed her brows at Becky's response, a strong dislike to this idea growing. She looked down at the redhead, realising that she was in fact, serious, and that this wasn't a dream, or her version of hell. It was reality.