Take On Me

Chapter 3

I walked into the Grump Space the next morning and made myself some coffee, I was worn out after last night.

How did it happen?

You don't need to worry about being a slut because being a slut isn't even a thing

You're beautiful, Fiona, don't let anyone tell you otherwise

I shook my head free of last night's encounter. I was anxious to see Dan, honestly. I usually came in kind of early so it wasn't unusual that he wasn't there yet.
"Hey, Fiona! Are you ok after yesterday?" Barry asked, appearing as if from nowhere.
"Yeah, already forgotten," I smiled, faking happiness "Have you seen Dan today?"
"No he's still at home,"
"Ok well, I'll just get on with work you should too,"
"Ok sure. Oh by the way, I'm going to a friend's bachelor party with Dan, Arin and Kevin so maybe you and Suzy should hang out?"
"I guess I kind of upset her yesterday with what I said, huh?"
"Kinda."
"I can't tonight I have to look after Georgia again but I'll try to hang out with Suzy some other time. Is she gonna be in today?"
"No, Arin said she feels sick." I worried about her, probably more than I should've but I had hurt her and needed to make it right, so I texted her.

Hey heard ur not feeling great :/ sorry about last night just touchy about stuff lately ily <3

I waited two minutes for a reply before giving up and getting on with some work. After a while, Arin came into the office and checked I was ok. He was shortly followed by Dan who complained of a splitting headache and looked more pale than a light bulb before being lit up.
"Oh hey, Fiona I'm so sorry I didn't mean to upset you I just have foot in mouth disease and didn't know it wasn't my place to sa-"
"It's fine, Dan. Already forgotten." The edges of my mouth lifted the same way they had with Barry but it still didn't feel like a real smile.
"Di-did I see you last night?" He asked, clearly having no memory of our meeting.
"No, I was taking care of Georgia so I wouldn't have seen you." I turned to look back at my computer screen and felt him melt away to the couch. We didn't speak for the rest of the working day, in fact I didn't speak to anyone. The tension was too thick and I wasn't built for the trek it would take to get past it.

Hey yeah I threw up a couple of hours ago but I guess I feel ok now. No worries I get it but if u need me I'm here and I promise u can tell me anything :) <3 ily2

I breathed a sigh of relief and started to pack up my things when I heard the guys talking about the party tonight.
"It's gonna be so awesome, I mean, beer, strippers and Ninja Brian," Dan practically giggled.
"Yeah but didn't you go there last night?" Arin asked.
"Did I? I honestly don't remember anything,"
"Yeah you went to that strip club the 'Exotic Island' and then some random dude drove you home."

Fuck.

***

'Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time'
An odd choice for the club but a good one nonetheless. I was wiping down tables when they arrived. They'd clearly done some heavy pre drinking but they obviously had the sense to have a designated driver. Barry, Arin and some unknown people burst through the door shortly followed by Dan. Of course he had to be the designated driver...
I quickly pulled my hair so that it fell and covered my face. I finished wiping tables and retreated to the back of the club.
"Fiona! You're almost up!"
I briskly walked backstage in order to compose myself.

You are not Fiona Cook,
You are Angel Tower,
You don't know any of the people in the audience tonight,
You should dance with the bachelor party for more tips,
No matter what happens, you'll be fine,
And super duper sexy.

The song began to play and I strutted towards the pole.
'Give it to me I'm worth it'
And I really felt it even if it weren't true.
I heard a few whoops and comments from the crowd, it was pretty busy considering it was Friday night. I finished my routine and tried to block out the stares from my friends as a new song started to play so I could do some freestyle on the pole for a few minutes until I had to interact with the audience.
The time came and I couldn't have been dreading it more.
'Ah push it'
I slowly waltzed down the steps to the party and asked one of them who the lucky groom-to-be was before pointing at a slightly awkward (but still beyond drunk) guy. I smiled devilishly and performed a lap dance on him while feeling many dollar bills being placed in my waistband. I turned and immediately made eye contact with Dan.

Huge. Mistake.

I darted my eyes away from him and then accidentally made eye contact with Arin. Dammit. I decided to look at the groom, winked, blew a kiss and strutted away to continue my job of wiping down tables and serving drinks. Crisis hopefully averted.

My shift was over, finally. It felt like it had been going on for days, I had been avoiding  eye contact with the whole party all evening while still trying to act confident enough to convince them they didn't know me. I pushed open the metal door and stepped out into the cold - well seemingly cold considering my uniform didn't exactly cover a lot of flesh - late night.
"Georgia, eh?" I jumped as his voice pulled me back into reality.
"How is she? You know, Georgia, your 'niece'?"
"I can't talk about this right now, you're drunk,"
"No, I'm not. I drove everyone else home already,"
"Still. I can't deal with this,"
"Fio- hey what's wrong? Your eyes are all red, have yo- have you been crying?" He put his hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me.
"No I'm fine," I shook his hand off me but it only made me miss his touch.
"C'mon, lemme take you home," he offered.
"I'm fine," I insisted and tried to walk past him. He grabbed me by the shoulders and looked deep into my eyes.
"Fiona, we care about you not what you do. Just remember that," he said. He let go of me, turned and walked away from me. All I could do was stand there as I watched him pull out of the parking lot. It was only then that I realised I had been shivering and he had somehow removed his jacket and left it in my hands. I looked at it for a moment before pulling it close around me, engulfing my whole body in warmth. I noticed the smell when I went to turn my car key in the ignition. It smelt like him.

It smelt like Dan.