The Red Lounge

Chapter 3

"Ronny!" The girls in 6 inch heels squealed as we entered the room.

"Thanks for the edible arrangement, " a caramel colored girl chirped. "It was so good."

The other girls nodded in agreement.

"I need make sure you girls are healthy and happy." The man, Ronny, didn't look at these girls in a perverted way. He looked at them like humans and there was almost a glisten of admiration in his eyes. I think he knew they were all beautiful but that there was more than just what meets the eyes.

"Girls, this is Carissa. She's going to be working here."

An ivory colored girl cooed. "Oh yeah, she's got that innocent look. I know a few guys that would like her." She snickered and kicked up her long thin legs.

"No, she won't be dancing. Shes going to be maintaining this room, the private rooms, and the kitchen."

"Don't we have other people for that?" The ivory skinned girl asked.

"None of them are allowed in this room or in the privates and your princess ass isn't going to be cleaning. Right?"

She pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "No."

"Exactly."

The caramel skinned girl stood up and gave me a light hug. She smelled so strongly of perfume. "I'm Chanel. The princess over there is Natalia. Paulina is on stage with a few other girls: Dahlia and Kai. Junniper and Rhaea come in later. There arent many off us, but we are looking!"

I looked down at my yellow shirt and noticed some body glitter on it. "Its nice to meet you girls. I'll try not to be in your way while I clean."

Natalia cleared her throat and showed me what side of the vanity she claimed. "This is my space. I rather you not touch my makeup. If you see foundation or powder, sure clean it up but that's it."

I nodded.

Chanel flicked her hand playfully. "Just ignore her."

"Well, I have some business to tend so I'll leave you here, Carissa." He left before I could correct him, again.

"My name is Morena, not Carissa."

Chanel smiled. "Yeah, he has a thing for naming girls. He knows your real name, he's just an ass about it."

I nodded and started cleaning the vanities. There wasn't much of a mess but then again, the club had just opened. Chanel sat back down on the coach and clicked away on her laptop. Natalia was just filling her nails and chewing on her gum, loudly.

"So, where are you from?" Natalia asked.

"I'm a native."

She rolled her eyes. "I mean ethnicity. You dont look 100% white."

I side eyed her. "Dad's french and mom's Ecuadorian."

"My dad's French too!" Chanel interjected.

"Well, I'm Russian," Natalia added. "Thank you for asking."

"No problem," I quipped. Chanel looked at me and stifled a laugh.

The rest of the night went pretty well. I managed to clean all the rooms and the girls managed to maintain the cleanliness. All of them, aside from Natalia, were friendly and wanted to get to know me. I was the shiny new toy that everyone wanted to play with. Rhaea and Junniper even offered to do my makeup. I declined since I was on the clock and wanted to be as professional as I could on my first day.

Around 11 o'clock, Ronny let me go on my break. He told me to meet him at the bar, and so I did. A few men who were seated on the leather seats eyed me but then lifted their gaze off me and onto the exotic dancers

"Eat," he said as he handed me a plate of hot wings and fries. "I'm going to help you as much as I can, okay? I was a kid from the streets and its fucking hard, man. You're just a little girl, you shouldnt be struggling like this."

I choked up a bit and resisted the urge to cry. "Thanks," I whispered.

I peered up at him and he had a worried look on his face. Was he genuinely worried about me? Was he worried law enforcement will find out I'm 17? Was his business not doing well?

I shook all the negative questions out of my head and just focused on eating. This was second meal of the day, if you count the yogurt I ate earlier this morning. I wanted to just swallow the whole plate, but I had to take my time.

So I did and watched the entertainment. Natalia was on stage and she was owning it. She danced with great finesse and talent. She was graceful like a ballerina and made the exotic dance seem like an art.

Rhaea was also on stage with her. She was another ivory skinned girl, petite in size, but had a mature face. She didnt have the same elegance as Natalia but she did have more of a sex appeal.

A man in a black suit and wearing a Rolex watch lifted a hundred dollar bill up and waved at Natalia. She strode towards him with hungry eyes and delicately whispered in his ear as he slipped the bill into her bra.

I had been so mesmerized by the whole process of stripping that I had finished my meal. I took it to the back of the kitchen and began washing the dishes that were stacked up.

The rest of the three hours fly by, and little by little the lounge became more vacant. The rich men went to rest to tend to their business meetings the next day, the girls all left with a stack of bills, and I just cleaned because there was nothing for me to do or anywhere to go.

Ronny was drying the glass cups at the bar when he called me over. "Can you wipe down the poles?"

I grabbed my rag and headed onto the stage. I felt a bit hesitant stepping onto it even though it was just Ronny in the lounge. I started wiping it down with the wet rag and could see a distorted reflection of myself.

I looked like a mess, as if I had no purpose in life. I fell onto my knees and sighed deeply. I just wanted to fly away.

"You can try if you want," Ronny offered.

I cocked my hide to the side. "Really?"

He gave me a firm nod.

I shrugged and then slowly wrapped my hands around the pole and kicked my legs off the stage. My landing wasn't the best but it wasn't bad for a beginner. I used to take gymnastics as a child so I wasn't too nervous about the movements, more so the eyes that were on me.

"That wasn't too bad!" Ronny exclaimed. "I'll definitely offer you a position once you're 18."

"Thanks!" I chirped. "It was fun."

"Alright, well I'm locking up for the night."

"I'll head out too, I guess."

Ronny walked over and handed me a stack of hundred bills. "This is the pay for the first five days of work. It's a bit more than a thousand dollars. I want you to look for a place with this money. There are many girls out there with apartments who are looking for a roommate. You'll be able to afford whatever the rent is with the pay you get here, you might not get to go to school this semester but most likely will during the spring."

I held the stack close to my chest and got teary eyed. "Thank you...so much." I gave him a quick hug and walked out of the lounge, clutching onto my bag.

I made my way to the library to get a half ass sleep, but right when I wake up I'm going straight to the bank to depoist it and find a roommate. Things are starting to look up.