The Billionaire’s Stripper

Chapter 2

“Miss?!”

Elena looked up to meet a customer standing and looking obviously impatient. She had one hand stretched forward the other holding a plastic bag.

“Can I have my change now?!” she said in a loud voice, her impatience being very obvious in her voice. “Must I scream my lungs out before I get my change?!”

“Sorry,” Elena mumbled, quickly handing her her change. She watched the woman yank the notes out of her hand then leave the store.

Barely a minute after the woman was out of sight, Elena fell back into her thoughts.

She stared at the can of drink from the previous night. It wasn’t the only thing she left untouched as she stared at the money in her strap bag.

Their conversation replayed in her head numerous times, Elena groaning every time she remembered she had a decision to make.

He wasn’t kidding and he left the money with her as prove with the promise to be back the following day for a response. She glanced at the wall clock at the grocery store. It was few minutes past six meaning she still had few hours till she made her final decision.

The minute he stated his offer, Elena felt it was ridiculous and didn’t try to hide it. But as she walked back to the grocery store, she couldn’t help but have a rethink.

She had lived the most of her life in the female dorm at the orphanage. Her school, though mixed, Elena never associated with the boys. She actually barely associated with anyone and now she was asked to do a job that required her associating with a lot of people. In the craziest manner ever.

She looked up to see there was still no customer walking in. The store had only gotten a handful of customers all day which was unusual. Perhaps, they had all heard it was going to be closing down very soon so they decided to make their change in stores quick.

“S t r i p p e r,” she spelt the dreaded word aloud as she typed it into Google. The term wasn’t an unfamiliar one but she still felt the need to check what it was all about. What it seemed like to the general public. How it was perceived and things like that.

One video caught her attention. An almost naked lady was swinging around a pole and there men throwing thousands of dollars at her.

“Good lord,” she muttered, not taking her eyes off the screen. The lady was undoubtedly flexible as her legs gripped the pole and her waist swung in the rhythm of the song playing in the background.

The cheers from the crowd were insane. Men were screaming and cheering. The ones in the front row sat and watched with pleasure as they splattered their seeming never-ending money at her.

“It’s just dancing,” Elena said to herself as she got up. “Half naked dancing. I could dance.”

She looked around her and when she was sure the coast was clear she walked over to the rack where mop sticks were. She grabbed one, positioned it against the wall and exhaled.

“It’s just dancing,” she said to herself one more time and began. Mentally playing her definition of a seductive tune, she twirled around the mop stick. She bent, her hair dancing with her as she did then raised her head in the most seductive manner she could think off. Staring at no one but the mop stick, her hands made their way to the back of her neck to untie her apron. On doing that, she wrapped it around her fingers and threw it away from her.

“Oh, well.”

The voice of the intruder brought Elena back to her senses. She hurriedly turned to meet a man standing few meters away from her, her apron on his head.

“Oh my God,” Elena rushed towards him, feeling her cheeks burn out of embarrassment as she did. “I’m so sorry.”

“Well,” the man said as Elena got the apron out of his face. “I’m guessing you’ve made your decision then.”

Elena blinked. She didn’t need any memory refreshing to know who was in front of her. It was the same man from the previous night. The same Tyler.

He was dressed in a suit again, this time wearing a dark blue color. His hair was combed to shine just like they were yesterday and his voice still resonated the same dominating aura like it did.

“Why are you here?” Elena asked the question she already knew the answer to. “I wasn’t expecting you this early.”

“Time is money, Elena sweetie,” he said, his finger tapping Elena’s nose. “I’m also an impatient man.”

“Oh,” she looked away then began walking sheepishly to the counter. Embarrassed was an understatement of how she felt. She wondered how long he had been standing there. How long he had been watching her throw herself round a mop stick.

“Elena,” he turned in the same direction she turned. Contrary to what he said, he took his every step very patiently, his shoes making a sound as they took turns to hit the ground. “So, you have made your decision, haven’t you?”

“What decision?” she was playing dumb and she knew it.

“Do you really want me reminding you?” he asked, Elena shaking her head. There was a way the words came out of his mouth that made her skin crawl. As he said it, he’d stare at her then his eyes would slowly roam her whole body making her fear what might be going on in his mind.

“No, please don’t,” she almost shivered.

“So?”

She exhaled. In few weeks, the grocery store was going to be shut down leaving her with no place to go and barely enough money to sustain for a month. She needed a job or at least a stable source of income and it seemed like the only way out.

“How does it go though?” she was purposely stalling. “I don’t know how all of these works. I mean I doubt if I-”

“With that,” he cut her off and pointed in the direction of the mop stick. “With that little performance I saw, you’ll do very well.”

“Oh,” her hands made their way to the back of her neck. “I-”

“Just say the word,” he cut her off again. “Say you’re going to work for me.”

There was a short-lived silence between them before Elena finally said, “I will. I will work for you.”

“Good,” he clapped his hands excitedly. He walked over to the door and grabbed a briefcase Elena hadn’t noticed was laying there all along. He placed it on the counter and opened it to pull out a file.

“Wha-”

Elena hadn’t finished her sentence when he cut her off, again. “This is a contract. The contract binding us.”

“A contract?” she asked, collecting it, her eyes fixed on him. “Aren’t you making a big deal out of this? What’s a contract needed for?”

“I’m a business man, Elena,” he said, Elena mentally wondering how many more times he was going to remind her of that fact. “I have to be disciplined with stuffs like that. Go through the contract and when you’re done, sign it.”

Barely taking her eyes off him, she flipped through the pages of the contract. It had close to seven pages, Elena wondering what the fuss was all about.

“How much do I get paid?” she asked the most important question to her.

“It’s stated in the contract,” he pointed to the contract in her hand. “Aren’t you going to go through it?”

“I will. It just looks like a lot.”

“Okay, cool with me,” he collected the papers from her and flipped the pages all the way to the last page. “As you’re new, you’ll be paid $26 per hour. If you do well, you could be paid double or even more as time goes on. You’ll also get tips depending on how well you can perform.”

“Oh,” Elena muttered making mental calculations. “Okay. Where do I sign?”

His face wore a very content look. “Here”

Immediately Elena was done signing, he closed the file and grabbed his briefcase. He stretched out his hand and said, “Welcome.”

Stretching out her hand to shake his in return, she said, “Thank you. So, um when do I start?”

“Tonight?”

“Oh no,” she quickly declined. “I have to tell my boss I’m leaving the grocery store first. And I have to move and maybe get a place and-”

“We can offer you a place,” he smiled.

“You can?” she asked, wide-eyed.

“Of course,” the smile wasn’t leaving his face. “This is why you should have taken your time to read the contract. We can offer you a place if you need one.”

“Really?” it was beginning to sound too good to be true. “For free?”

“Of course not silly,” his smile finally turned into laughter. “You get to pay for it. But not to worry, you don’t get to pay immediately. The company takes it out of your wage. But not in a way that’d hurt you, just little bits by bits until it’s finally complete.”

“Oh,” her guts were right. It was too good to sound true. Shutting every voice in her head telling her otherwise she said, “Okay, I accept.”

“Great then,” his mischievous smile was back. “I’ll be back here next week to have you come with me. Whatever you need to tell your boss or get ready, get it unfailingly done before next week. Because you will be starting work next week, no delays accepted.”

“Okay, understood.”

---

“You are doing quite well for a beginner. I’m impressed.”

“Thank you,” Elena bowed to Miss Sabrina.

It was barely two weeks since Elena resumed working at club 911. Who could have imagined that the girl standing behind a counter attending to customer’s basic domestic needs few weeks ago would be one to be seen dancing on a stage while she slowly undressed herself.

Everything was happening rather quickly. She still remembered the look on Mrs. Williams face when she told her about her decision to leave the grocery shop way earlier than she expected. As expected, Mrs. Williams asked her if she had gotten a new job to which Elena couldn’t confidently reply. She remembered mumbling her yes which made Mrs. Williams stare at her suspiciously. It was obvious from her gaze that she suspected Elena was going to be doing something she wasn’t very proud of talking about.

Mrs. Williams however didn’t stall on the topic as she quickly asked her to be safe and wished her good luck in whatever she was going to be doing.

Maybe it was Mrs. Williams luck that had been helping her. She remembered her first day. All Tyler did was come pick her up, show her her new apartment and then drive her back to the club. Then she was introduced to Miss Sabrina who claimed to help her in settling down.

Miss Sabrina strongly reminded Elena of her dorm mistress back at the orphanage. It brought back memories as she remembered being handed over to her dorm mistress the same way she was handed over to Miss Sabrina. Just like her dorm mistress, Miss Sabrina promised to look after her.

It was different that time though. Miss Sabrina escorted her to a room filled with other girls and many strange looking costumes. Elena was introduced to them and unlike her mates at the orphanage, they seemed eager to meet her. They smiled seductively at her, some moving forward to quickly touch her and compliment her on her beauty. Though their manner of welcoming her was strange and unusual to her, she still felt welcome. More welcome than she had felt in a very long time.

She was made to wear an extremely short skirt with a crop top showing a lot of her cleavage. She had makeup on for the first time in her life and her hair was also washed, dried and styled. For the first time in her life, she looked into the mirror and truly believed she was beautiful.

After her alongside all the girls were ready, Miss Sabrina walked in to escort them on the stage. She walked towards Elena, checked her out and then complimented her.

It was going smoothly until Miss Sabrina called Elena back to ask if she had her underwear on. Flustered by the unusual question, Elena nodded.

“Oh no, sweetie,” Miss Sabrina caressed her cheeks. “Your skirt should already serve as underwear. Take it off.”

Though she was smiling and her voice sounded sweet, Elena knew it was an order. Slowly, she took it off and Miss Sabrina happily collected it.

It was an unbelievable sight. Watching men scream their lungs out as girls moved seductively and slowly undressed themselves. She was no exception. As she felt the light shine on her, she began to twist and turn following the rhythm of the song that played in the background.

She couldn’t believe herself either. She had no idea she was capable of doing the things she found herself doing on the stage. Maybe it was the cheers that motivated her or the rewards she was going to get- whichever ways she was unstoppable.

She was never used to having the spotlight on her. The only times she found herself being the center of attraction was when she was being the victim of the mean girls both at school and at the orphanage.

It was different that time. Instead of the laughter and sound of scorn and disdain she was used to getting, she was getting smiles and sounds of pleasure.

It was more than motivating enough for her and she just couldn’t help but be unstoppable.

“How’s it going, Elena?”

Elena left her thoughts temporarily to meet one of the friendliest girls she had met ever since she started working. She normally performed hours earlier than Elena so she was obviously done with performing for the day.

“Oh, hi, Ivory,” Elena greeted her in response, her voice trying to sound as cheerful as she could. “Good, good. How are you?”

“Great,” she replied, taking off her bra. “God, I feel so hot.”

Elena watched her fling her bra, massaging her breasts with her hands. Though she was getting used to their life, it still took her by surprise whenever she watched them confidently undressed themselves no matter where they were.

“Before I forget again,” Ivory turned to face her. “You said you wanted to see Tyler, right? I saw him almost leaving. If you’re done for the day, you should quickly run out so you can get to catch up with him.”

“Oh, thank you,” Elena quickly grabbed a coat and rushed out. She pulled the coat over her half naked body and made her way outside. Truly, she was done for the day and had been wanting to see Tyler for a while.

She had her whole life mapped out already. She was doing well at her new job and was grateful for the pay. She had spent quite a while with them and already had her whole life mapped out.

Her daily pay plus the tips she got was more than enough. She was able to take care of herself and at the same time save for the future.

“Tyler!” she screamed as she watched him almost step into his car. Luckily, he heard her scream and paused, watching her run towards him.

“Look who it is,” he said, excitedly. “Club 911’s hottest star. To what do I owe this visit?”

“Thanks, Tyler,” she managed a smile. “Actually I’ve been wanting to see you for a while now.”

“Oh? About what?” he asked. “Is it anything serious?”

She wasn’t sure what category to put it. “Not really.”

“Alright let’s talk in the car then,” he said then opened his car. They got in and he turned to face her. “So what’s it?”

“Actually, Tyler,” she began. “I’m very grateful for all you’ve done for me-“

“Oh, don’t mention it,” he pat her thigh. “You’re quite the gem. You’ve brought the club so many customers and income.”

“Thanks,” she smiled at him. “That’s what I want to talk about.”

“What about it?”

She exhaled. She just needed to say it all without having him interrupt her every minute.

“Working here,” she continued. “It’s up to me, right?”

“What?”

“I mean,” she exhaled. “I’ve worked here for a while and I’m grateful for it but you do know I won’t be here forever, right?”

“Elena-“

“There’s still plenty of time left,” she cut him off. “But I’ve decided to stop working here once it’s a year.”

“What?”

She exhaled. Truthfully, she was grateful for the job but had other plans for her life. Ever since her first day, she had been saving and with her calculations, after a year she'd have saved enough to run a little business and then finally stop working as a stripper.

It was profitable but it wasn't something she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Though it never seemed like it whenever she was on stage, she still had a bit of shame in her. Dancing naked in front of men she'd rather spit on wasn't something she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

Tyler was silent for a while. He rested his back, crossed his legs and stared at her. "You seem to be mistaken about something."

"What?"

He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. "You can't."

"What?" Elena asked taken aback. "I can't what?"

"You can't leave," he repeated, his voice louder than it previously was.

Elena could feel her heartbeat quicken. "I'm not planning on leaving now, of course not. I mean, after a year."

"You can't leave even after a year," he said in a whisper, an unfamiliar look on his face. "You just can't."

"Why?" Elena's voice was almost shaking.

"Because you can't," he replied, looking directly at her. "We have a contract, remember?"

"What?"

"I keep on telling you I'm a business man," he shook his head. "That contract binds us and you voluntarily signed it."

"But-"

“It’s stated in the contract,” he continued. “The minimum number of years you can work under me is four years, Elena. Four years.”

“What do you mean?” Elena’s voice was already shaking. “I didn’t-“

“You didn’t know?” he cut her off. “You didn’t read through contract? Is that supposed to be my fault, dear Elena?”

“But-“

“Talking about this is useless,” his tone hinted him being done with the conversation. “Neither of us will be going against the contract so prepare your mind, you’re going to be working for another four years sweetie.”

Elena couldn’t bring herself to utter a word. Everything he said made sense. He truly had asked her to read the contract and she was the one who didn’t.

“If that’s all you have to say please leave,” his tone had completely changed. “I have somewhere I need to be.”

As Elena stepped out of the car, a million things went through her mind. She was stuck and she had no choice. She couldn’t run away from it and she had no one to blame for it.

It took a slap on her butt for her to face reality.

She turned to look at the guy responsible for slapping her butt look at her unapologetically. He stared at her, gesturing for her to come over.

She had no choice. She was stuck.