My Father's Best Man

Chapter 13

"Michael!"

April was in front of me in a corset tube top. Her mini skirt was barely covering anything.

"I knew I heard that voice before!"

"April...? What... are you doing here?"

She walked over in her shiny stilettos. She didn't look too comfortable walking in them. "Please... Call me Stacy in here..."

She grabbed my hand and took me to the back.

"Come on! We got a lot of catching up to do!"

She slid open the curtain and pressed me onto the couch.

"I'll give you a freebie! For giving me a ride."

"Uh..."

"Come on! I'm on the clock."

"... Alright."

She turned on the jukebox and started grinding on my thigh.

"So, how was the wedding?"

"It was... pretty bad."

"Yeah? Thought so."

"You were right... She didn't want me there. He did. Her husband was the one who invited me."

"What?!"

"Yeah... He thought I was her childhood friend."

"Damn... Sorry to hear that."

She tried to reach behind her back to unlace her top.

"No... That's okay... Let's just talk for now."

She paused. Then she stepped off of me. "Okay."

She pulled the footrest over.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"I dunno... What about you? How'd you end up here?"

"I applied for a waitress job, but stripping pays more."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. You get a few creeps here and there, but it's not too bad. I'm a night owl anyway."

"How's Toby?"

"He's fine. He misses Mama, though. I would send him to daycare, but I work at night. My roommate's pretty cool. If she's around, she'll play with him."

"So... you're staying here. For good?"

"I don't know if it's for good, but at least for a couple of years. I was lucky. Met my roommate right after the concert. She's the one who referred me to this place. She used to work here, but she's a legit showgirl now."

"Oh..."

"What about you? What's next?"

"I dunno. Finish school. Get a job. Used to think I would get married and have kids and live a normal life. But now... I'm not so sure anymore."

"Aw... Don't let one bad breakup turn you sour. It's an experience. That's a good thing! Isn't that the point of being alive? To live. To love. To experience things." That was surprisingly profound.

"Yeah..."

This was a different side of April I didn't see before.

She hopped off her stool and got on top of me again. To prevent her from touching me, I forced us into another conversation.

"Hey! Remember what you said about not going to college. I think you might be selling yourself short. You're a bright person. You like poetry. Maybe it's not too late--"

"I'm not selling myself short. I just don't want to get into a lot debt and end up with a useless degree."

"There are scholarships, financial aid. Or student work program--"

"How much am I gonna make compared to this."

She pointed at her boobs.

"Well... Is this what you want to do? For the rest of your life? How long do you think you can keep doing this?"

I wasn't being condescending. I was genuinely asking.

"You're the one who walked into a strip club. Now you have the moral high ground to judge me? Fuck you. Fucking men..."

"No, no... I'm not judging. Honestly. What you do with your body is completely your choice. What I am saying is that there's so much more. You have so much more."

"Really? How much do you know about me?"

I couldn't say...

"I don't need you to save me! God! I don't need a knight to rescue me from my situation! I picked this for myself! I can earn all my nursing school tuition in less than a year. Did you know that?"

I didn't not.

"That's right! I already enrolled for next fall. I have a plan. Don't worry. Why don't you work on not falling for people so easily?"

That one stung... I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to leave. And I was about to, but then she pulled my arm.

"Come on... Let me finish the dance. You can go after. I like to keep my promises."

"... Okay"

She took off her top. Her bikini was still underneath.

"I'm sorry..."

"That's okay. You mean well. Which is kind of sweet. If my mom was a little bit like you and not a complete bitch, I might've stayed. I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have said those things."

That was it... That was the closure I was looking for... "her" apologizing to me.

April sat back on my lap. She smiled. I leaned in. She tilted her head, giving me a puzzled look. Then I kissed her, hard!

She slowly pulled back...

"You're not supposed to do that..."

"I know... I'm sorry."

A woman's sixth kicked in and told her there was something deeper going on, so she pressed on.

"What's wrong?"

"... You apologized. Brooke never apologized to me. She never said, 'I'm sorry...' "

"You have some weird fetish, man... Come on, let me finish my dance."

Then she put her finger on my lips.

"And no kissing. Not during the dance."

She winked. I smiled. My canker sores flared up all of a sudden.

"What's wrong now?"

"These damn canker sores... Oh! Don't worry! It's not contagious."

She pulled open my lips and stared directly into my mouth.

"You know what? I have these Chinese Watermelon Frost. They do wonders on these things. Remind me to give them to you after. Okay?"

"Okay..."

She was still holding onto my lips. After she let go, she took off her bikini top and started shimmying. Then she took off her skirt. Soon, she was fully naked expect for her high heels. I didn't touch her. She was a professional.

I stayed outside of the club until it closed. She walked out from the back to meet me in front. We walked a few blocks together to where I parked. And to save on cash, I crashed at her place that night.