Afterglow ❃ l.m.j

• chapter thirteen •

Between Normani's support and Ally's determination to figure out who the fuck keyed my car, my day was slowly transitioning from ruined to bearable. In the span of fifteen minutes at the start of my shift, I'd taken five trips to the bathroom all out of nervousness. The first was to check the bags under my eyes and my makeup, the next was to check my tuck after one too many looks in the dancer's quarters, the third was to fix my hair, and the fourth or fifth were for deep breaths and pep talks that I needed in private to not look insane.

Regardless, when I made it past the doorframe that marked the private rooms and the general public, I felt the energy of my Peaches persona settling over me.

The entrance I made was anything less than ethereal. A group of men stopped to ogle me and in a split second, a smirk graced my features with a wave.

I moved my attention towards the bar. Normani, who seemed to be talking to a customer looking for a drink, had her hands leaned towards them on the bar. But her eyes were now on me and following me through the room. My smirk grew wider as I turned in the direction of the stage.

Leave it to me to know how to turn a room upside down just by my presence. It's one of the few things I've always been good at.

Break From Toronto by Partynextdoor played throughout the club as my right heel clicked onto the stage. A simple catwalk was my approach today, nothing fancy. But when I dropped to my knees and crawled right up to the first man in my line of sight, I knew it didn't matter.

My hands curled around his tie to pull him towards me teasingly. I could see every bead of sweat, eye twitch, hell, I even felt the energy in the room shift. Everyone wanted to be him. I pushed him back with my hands just enough so that he stumbled. His cerulean eyes never left mine.

I rose from my knees, using my hands to outline the canvas of my body. I even turned and rode my skirt up just slightly to reveal more of my ass. Then I gripped onto the pole in front of me and began my actual routine.

Sometimes dancing felt like flying. That's the part that made me love it the most. Whenever I was having a bad day, I could just get on the pole in a room where people admired me for one night, and transport myself to somewhere new. Seldom did I think of the days where I was practicing in my room. Now, I just think about the days ahead. The ones I haven't witnessed yet like living in a luxury penthouse and being able to just pay off my parent's debt at a snap. Or even just getting to endlessly shop without setting a limit for myself. God, the amount of clothes I would buy... It's unbelievable!

A series of hands were the only thing I seen and felt through the next ten minutes, be it mine or someone else's. The money I tracked by the end of my set was decent, not my best but not my worst by far. It might be a couple hundred after splitting with the house if I'm eyeing it right.

I took my money to the back, peeking into Ally's office as I walked past. She seemed to be busy with Stefanie who was peering closely at the computer in front of her. I smiled at the two in passing.

For the rest of the night, I stuck around the floor to do some private dances and just chat with clientele. It was a pretty chill night with little fuss which I was grateful for. It was heavily needed after the day I had.

Normani nudged her chin at me when the last client smoothed their way out of Heaven's Door. "Just let me restock the bar and then we can go. Did you check in with Ally?"