Unfold

Chapter Seventeen (17)

It was terrifying how comfortable Jean was beginning to feel going to work at the club. By the end of the week, she realized that she made on average three to four times what she made at the coffee shop per shift. For the first time in her adult life, she was no longer stressing if her bills would be paid. She could grocery shop and not have to add up her balance as she put each item into the cart. It was a liberating feeling.

More than that, Jean was getting to know the regulars who came there. They were excited to see her when she came in. They asked her about her day and seemed interested in her life. She just had to deal with the occasional guy offering her money to perform a sexual act, which was her cue to pretend she didn't hear them and walk away.

She was beginning to see that the people who came weren't just complete perverts like she originally thought. Granted, they were all perverts to an extent, but more than that, they were just lonely. Most just wanted someone to talk to, someone to show they were interested in what they were saying. They were paying for companionship, and although it was sad and pathetic, she somehow understood.

That Saturday, Jean didn't have to work. She was actually a little upset about, considering she had agreed to go to church the next day and needed a distraction. Jean was surprised to not be scheduled that many weekends, but Brooke had to go by seniority. Not surprisingly, the girls there were only in it for the money, and Saturday being their busiest night meant the biggest tips.

Jean offered to even pick up a shift at the coffee place, but nobody responded to her offer. She wondered if Terry had told them not to give Jean their shifts. She wouldn't put it past her.

Church in the morning looming over her was going to drive her insane.

She couldn't pretend to be a person who went to church. She worked at a strip club. And the video too; oh dear god, she had forgotten about the video. It was guaranteed that somebody, if not the entire congregation, had seen it. They would know that she didn't belong.

Her heart was racing the entire morning. How was she possibly going get through the day with this fear over her? If she was this anxious already, she knew she wasn't going to be able to set foot in the church. She was already embarrassed enough. Someone would probably try sneaking a picture of her. She could see the captions now: Drunk girl trying to repent for her sins. She couldn't handle that kind of torture.

She felt bad; she had told them she would go and she hated going back on her word.

She stared at her phone for a good twenty minutes, typing and retyping an excuse for why she couldn't go. Then as if some weird turn of events, Shawn's name popped up on her screen.

Hey, I'll pick you up in the morning!

Oh no. No, no, no. Her heart started to race. She needed to tell him now before it was too late. As the phone rang against her ear, she still had no idea what she was going to say.

"Hello?" Shawn said, his voice friendly.

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"Jean?"

"Hi, I'm here," she exhaled, taking a breath. What could she say? "Sorry."

Shawn chuckled from the other side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am." Just tell him you can't go!

She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, waiting for Shawn to say anything. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke.

"I'm guessing you're panicking about church."

Jean felt the air escape from her lungs and she laughed nervously. "How did you know?"