Alex

The Runway

     I was waiting for Alex to arrive at my house Thursday night. I was standing in the kitchen staring down at my phone, Joe's message thread opened in front of me. I couldn't stop thinking about him since Alex and I had kissed at The Bean yesterday, then again in his car, then again on my couch. We had kissed a lot yesterday, and I had liked it every single time. But that was the problem. I heard a loud knock at my door. "LAPD, open up!" I heard Alex yell from outside, snapping me away from my thoughts. I turned my screen off and pushed my phone into my shirt pocket, heading to the door. 

     "You are one sexy cop...do you need to frisk me now?" I batted my eyes at Alex once I opened the door. "Fortunately I do miss." he winked at me and pulled me into him, kissing me hard. "You look great." he said once we had stopped kissing, panting against each other. I was in a tight black button up, the top three buttons open so my red lace bra was showing. The shirt was tucked into a high waist body con mini skirt in red and I had on black thigh high stockings with my black booties. "I like your hair like this." Alex smiled, taking a handful of my straight hair in his hands and letting it fall between his fingers. "I hope this is okay, I didn't know what to wear since you won't budge about what this other job is!" I shoved him away and he laughed loudly. "You have no idea how perfect you look. Come on, let's go!" He took my hand and pulled me out the door and to his car. 

     "What the fuck is this place? I've never seen it before." I looked out the window of Alex's car, staring at the club we were pulling up to. Alex parked on the side of the building, a large pink sign flashed The Runway in neon above the large black building. "I didn't even know this club existed." I said as we got out of the car, Alex taking my hand and leading me towards the door on the side of the building. There was a long line of people at the front. "I'm actually surprised, it's a pretty hot club." Alex said as he knocked on the back door. "You work here?" I asked him just as a tall back guy, shirtless and smiling opened the door. "Alex baby!" the guy exclaimed in a deep voice, letting us both in. We stepped into a  well lit room with two rows of vanity mirrors side by side in the middle. There were racks of clothes on either end of the room and at least ten people bustling around inside, loud dance music blaring from somewhere I wasn't quite sure of. 

     "What is this place?" I asked in aw, taking in my surroundings and noticing the room was behind a big black curtain. "Jake, this is Mia. She's going to be selling with us tonight." Alex ignored my question and introduced me to the guy who had let us in. The guy smiled and let out a small chuckle. "She'll fit in great. Head over to your station and I'll send John over." Jake smacked Alex on the back and winked at me before disappearing. Alex drug me over to a mirror with his name written in black above it. "You can take this one for now." Alex smiled and pointed to the mirror next to his, it was blank but had bright bulbs around it like his. "Look at this mama!" someone yelled behind us, Alex turning around quickly. "Georgia! I haven't seen you here in ages!" Alex stood and wrapped the girl in his arms. She was petite with short bright orange hair. "Who is this babe you've brought to us? She is going to take all of our money!" the girl stomped her foot with a smile on her face, eyeing me up and down.

     "Alex has a new boo huh?" another girl with dark skin poked her head over the mirror behind us. "Don't listen to them." Alex turned back to his mirror now, taking a handful of Axe hair gel and pulling it through his hair. "Seriously baby, get out now." the girl glared at me, disappearing behind her mirror again. "What is going on?" I laughed nervously to Alex, getting a little tired of this guessing game. There were at least eight tall handsome guys plus the two girls frantically getting ready around us, but for what. "We sell shots." he finally said and I frowned at him. "It's called The Runway because the ten shot people that work for the night come out on stage and present themselves to the club goers. Each of us has a box with our name on it set up along the stage, if the people like you they can not only by your shots but put money in your box throughout the night. John, the owner, counts the money from each box at the end of the night and whoever has the most cash wins two hundred dollars which is added to the money in your box." "So you take home the money in your box?" I asked, trying to understand what he was saying to me. "Right, most nights I take home at least three hundred from my box and basically that much in tips from selling the shots. It'll all make since when you get out there." Alex winked at me, continuing to play with his hair as everyone hustled around in the background. What had I gotten myself into.