Take On Me

Chapter 1

5pm.

I had two hours before I had to be at work. I wasn't necessarily proud of my job, but I needed the money, and circumstances meant I was barely able to pay rent. I was athletic enough and I had a decent body; my mom had let me go to dancing lessons when I was young so that helped.

I was a pole dancer.
Some days I felt it, enjoyed it, even had fun. But some days I felt disgusted with myself, insecure:

Like a slut

This was one of my worse days. I stared at my uniform - if you could even call it that - it consisted of a very short black skirt that pressed to my thighs, a red corset-style top and a pair of booty shorts with the name 'Angel Tower' emblazoned across the ass cheeks. My work name. It had nothing to do with my actual name because I didn't want it to be traced back to me. After all, I had a job interview in a few days; it wouldn't pay much but it would help me get back onto my feet.

I warmed up by doing some stretches and push ups before I applied my make up. I went with a deep smokey eye and a bold red lip to match my uniform. I curled my hair and practiced the part of my routine that didn't require the pole until my ride arrived. My friend Jade rolled the window down and turned the music up as her blonde hair was swept back by the wind.
"Fiona! We gotta go!" she shouted up at my apartment window. I ran down the stairs with my bag and jumped into the passenger side of her car.
"Jade, could you try being quiet for once, please? I have neighbours," I pleaded to her with my eyes. She shrugged.
"You could try being ready on time," she smirked and pulled out of the parking lot, setting off for The Exotic Island.

***

~A few days later~

I wore a pair of black skinny jeans, a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and a red checked shirt. I had my chestnut hair pulled back into a messy bun and wore minimal make up. I was sitting in my car across the street from the address I was supposed to go to for my interview, lacking the courage to go in seven minutes early. Jade had already texted me wishing me good luck but I still didn't feel like any kind of luck was on my side. I took a deep breath in... and out. Out of the car. Out of my comfort zone. Outside the door.
I knocked and a woman looking to be in her mid to late twenties answered. She had black hair with a blonde streak and some really cool eye makeup.
"Hi, are you here for the interview?" She asked, her voice sweet and a little calming. I nodded, too nervous to speak.
"I'm Suzy, you must be Fiona, it's great to meet you!" She smiled widely at me and I couldn't help but match it. The position I was hoping to fill would be to be her assistant.
"So the job will consist of you mainly answering emails, managing my Etsy shop and just generally helping around the Grump space," I gave her a look of confusion.
"Oh right, my husband has a YouTube channel with our friends called GameGrumps and this is where he records," She led me into a room with a table and six chairs, "So you said you've worked in retail and computers before?"
"Yeah I worked as a greeter at Urban Outfitters and I did some finance for a small company," I explained, my palms sweating. I really needed this job.
"You're hard working, organised and not afraid of a challenge. In fact, you seem over qualified for the job," she giggled "when can you start?" She asked. I was surprised she would offer me the job so early.
"Whenever!" I said a little bit too enthusiastically "oh but I can't work on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights. I have to take care of my niece on those nights," I lied smoothly.
"That's fine don't worry," she grinned "I'm so glad to have you here, Fiona!" She came round the table and pulled me into a hug, it had been about three months since anyone had given me a hug. I enjoyed it and hugged her back.
"Let's go meet the other grumps!" She squealed, took my hand and pulled me towards another room before I could protest.
"Barry! Come meet my new assistant!" She shouted at a man with dark brown hair sitting at a computer. He turned around and smiled before coming over to give me a handshake.
"I'm Barry, one of the editors. Our other editor, Kevin, isn't here right now but I'm sure he'd be happy to meet you when he gets in." I smiled and shook his hand.
"I'm Fiona Cook, nothing very interesting to note."
"Bye Barry!" Suzy grabbed me by the arm again and took me to a different room where two men were standing around having a conversation that stopped when we walked in.
"Guys! This is my new assistant, Fiona. Fiona, this is Arin, my husband," she indicated the man with a beard and long brown hair that had a matching blonde streak.
"Well hey there,"
"Hello," I waved awkwardly.
"And this is Danny, they do the show together," pointing to a man with wild hair and some stubble.
"Nice to meet you," he smirked and I muttered a 'hi' to him as our eyes met. I felt as though I couldn't look away until another man walked in and was introduced to me as Ross.

I went home that night and couldn't stop smiling. Hopefully, I could escape this hell

Soon.

***

Working for Suzy wasn't too difficult, it was actually pretty fun. I eventually got to meet Kevin and Ross' wife Holly. The guys would invite me to play video games and card games and stuff like that off the show; I sometimes helped Barry and Kevin with the editing. I had grown quite close to all of them but they still didn't know where I actually was when I had to 'look after my niece'. The emails seemed to be piling up and Suzy wasn't in so I wasn't exactly feeling my best. I sat at the desk, worrying about needing to come up with a new routine for work that evening.
"Fiona?" Dan asked cautiously.
"Mhm?" I replied
"Are you ok? I've been saying your name for the last two minutes," he looked at me with genuine concern.
"Oh sorry, yeah I just have a lot on my mind right now. Thank you for asking," I gave him a small smile.
"Do you wanna come and get coffee with me?" I was surprised to say the least. Of course, I thought Dan was attractive and I had developed something of a crush but I hadn't expected him to ask me out already.
"I was doing a coffee run for everyone anyway and it might help clear your head a bit," oh. Honestly, I was a little bit disappointed.
"Sure."
We walked down the street and I found us talking about a plethora of random topics from Def Leppard to Zelda and much weirder subjects. We ordered our coffee and returned to the Grump space where Suzy had turned up.
"Fiona!"
"Suzy!" I matched her tone. She put her hand to my forehead.
"Are you ok? Arin said you were staring into space for like an hour and you weren't listening to anyone," she asked swiftly.
"No no I'm fine, just a lot of things on my mind at the moment is all," I reassured her.
"Is it about your niece?"
"My niece? Oh right yeah my niece, she's fine just uh... she has a big project due tomorrow that she wants help with tonight," I covered, almost forgetting my lie. I saw Dan in the corner of my eye, he was not convinced but gladly didn't press it. I mumbled some excuse about needing to wash my face and retreated to the bathroom.
Am I doing the right thing? I seemed to question myself a lot more recently and it always linked back to the Grumps. Should I tell them? No of course you shouldn't. You wouldn't want them to know you're a slut. Wouldn't want them to know you're hardly holding yourself together.

At least not now.