Groupie ; c.h

two - lap dance-ginity

"Finally, you're here," Mark greeted gruffly as Maely entered the Lusty Leopard through the back door, leading into the backstage dressing rooms. He opened his arms, expecting a hug, but Maely was giving nothing of the sort.

"Will I be getting extra for this?" She deadpanned, dropping her handbag down at her usual vanity spot inbetween Amanda and Chelsea, who were both busy doing their hair and makeup.

"Um, no," Mark replied awkwardly, dropping his arms back to his sides. "You'll get payed your normal wage."

Maely sighed, pressing her forefinger and thumb to the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Mark, you know I need this money."

"Not as much as some other people here, Maely," he said quietly, glancing around the room at the other girls. Almost all of the employees at the Lusty Leopard had taken the job because they simply needed the money and had nowhere else to turn (apart from the bartenders and Trisha, a strange older lady whom the customers seemed to adore), that was true.

Maely stepped closer to the man, who was in his early forties, and lowered her voice dangerously. "I got evicted today, Mark. I don't have anywhere to go. I have to go some days without even having a meal."

For a split second, there was a look of pity and sorrow in Mark's eyes, however it was gone too quickly for it to mean anything at all.

"I don't have anything to give you, Maely. End of conversation," Mark said flatly before turning on his heel and storming back towards the office.

Maely sighed loudly, slumping down into the pink cushioned chair that sat before her vanity. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, studying herself. Her mascara was clumpy and smudged, along with her lipstick and eyeshadow. Her hair was a complete mess, and she'd done an awful job at covering up the dark circles that were set deep beneath her eyes. Maely was a mess, to say the least.

"Rough day?" Chelsea asked without tearing her eyes away from the mirror in front of her as she carefully applied eyeliner.

"Yeah," Maely chuckled softly, glancing quickly at the girl. "Very."

"Well," she jumped up, placing the makeup back inside her bag. "We can only hope for tomorrow."

Maely gave her a weak smile, with which Chelsea returned with a wide grin; she had always been the overly-bubbly type.

"Here's... Brittany!" The annoying voice on the intercom called out and Chelsea waved a quick goodbye to Maely before rushing out onto the stage excitedly.

Brittany wasn't Chelsea's real name. It was what they called a stripper name; everybody at the Lusty Leopard had one. Maely's was Ashley - boring, like her real name, but she hadn't chosen it. Despite how much she hated the fact, Maely didn't have much control over her life at all.

×××

After re-applying her makeup and fixing her atrocious hair, Maely tugged off her leather jacket and began preparing herself for the stage.

"Now, here's... Ashley!"

At the sound of her 'name' being called out and a string of wolf-whistles, Maely walked through the doorway and out onto the stage. Whoops, whistles and hollers greeted her as she plastered on the fakest smile that she could muster and she gripped onto the pole before her with two hands.

Scanning the crowd as she began her routine, Maely found the faces of mainly middle to older aged men; the usual customers at places like the Lusty Leopard. But to her surprise, sitting at a table in the distance, were four boys that were most definitely under the age of twenty-five; finally, someone of her age group. Giving someone of her age a lap dance was much more appealing to Maely than giving one to a forty-year-old man.