A Sinful Encounter

Chapter 2: Ten Grand

[Kaelea]

A week passed and still, I couldn’t get the man’s face out of my system. The way his gaze burned in my face. The smoldering intensity was just too thick to even break. He indeed called the police that night and the tattooed man was taken into jail for pulling out a drink and dash scam. It has been reported that he had already done it numerous times at different clubs. It just happens that the one I am working on was the last of his target before the authorities got him.

Thanks to that mystery man whose name I haven’t got the chance to know. The extra money he generously gave me was a huge help to my family. However, it didn’t last longer than I expected and now the last drop of coin from my purse had been exhausted.

“Kai, are you okay?” Shereen patted my shoulders and peered into my face, worry lingering on her expression as she asked me.

I was cleaning the bar counter, I didn’t notice I had been staring blankly ahead for far too long until she snapped me out. I wanted to say that I am fine, but I know she can see right through everything in me. Despite the façade I always put on, she always does. I smiled meekly and tapped her hand on my shoulder.

My financial predicament seemed to have clung to me like a plague. Sapping me both physically and emotionally. Ever since my Mom had fallen ill, I’ve been the one that stepped up into taking care of our family. Her health insurance wasn’t enough to cover all the medical bills and medicines. Brian, my younger brother is now in his senior years, and I had to do another source of income to help pay for his education as well as for our day-to-day expenses.

In the morning, I worked as a cashier at a convenience store and by six after my shift ended, I would come here to tend the counter till three in the morning. It’s exhausting, really, and all I wanted to do is give up, but I don’t have any other choice. My family is my responsibility and I don’t have the heart to throw them all away. Good thing, that before Dad died, the mortgage on our house had been paid off, so I don’t have to worry about keeping the roof above our heads.

I let out a mournful sigh. “Mom emptied her last bottle of maintenance this morning and our bills for this month are piling up.”

I cast a cursory glance at my worn-out wristwatch and noticed that the time was getting close to three. Just a little bit more and I can go home and have a rest for at least three hours.

Shereen, helped me take care of the dirty glasses, and load them into the dishwasher. She had been quiet for a moment, though I could feel that there was something she wanted to say.

“Are you okay, Shee?” I ask, suddenly feeling bothered about her silence. She was an outspoken woman, and always straight to the point if she wanted to say something. It is very unlikely for her to stay quiet for more than five minutes unless there’s something serious going on in her mind.

“I may have a solution to your problems.” She responded though she doesn’t sound so mirth about it. Yet it made me instantly halt on my chore and straightened up my spine.

My ears ringing with such jubilant interest, as I wipe my hands off my apron before facing her. “I’m all ears.”

A tight lip smile plastered on Shereen’s face as she brushes her gaze from my head to toe. Seemingly as if she assessing my stature. I know that look, and it made me feel a little bit uncomfortable under her scrutinizing eyes.

Shereen sweep her eyes back into my face, and her smile faded, contemplating whether or not she would tell me what it is all about. But I encourage her. “Well? What is it?”

“Well, you used to be a good dancer, right?” She sheepishly asks guilt running over her feature. I was perplexed at first, but it slowly sunk into my head what she meant with her inquisition.

“What?”

The music suddenly stopped and my mystified voice ricocheted over the vicinity, immediately catching the attention of the other workers, snapping their heads in our direction. The bar is closing and the last of our customers sashayed their way out into the exit. The bouncers assisted them as they were already drunk as f**k.

I cleared my throat, ignoring the burning sensation that is painted on my face, and wring my fingers into the rug I was holding for dear life and ask my friend again in a much lower tone this time. “I’m sorry, what?”

Shereen first looked around first, making sure that no one is close enough to our proximity. “Tomorrow night, there will be a bachelor’s party. My cousin’s friend was supposed to be the one who’ll perform.” She whispers in an utterly low voice matching mine, stepping closer a bit closer, and I could only hold my breath as I keep on listening, tight-lipped.

“Unfortunately, she caught a cold and couldn’t make it. The appointment couldn’t be canceled either since she was already paid, and now she’s looking for a proxy.” This part is where I almost lost it and made me stagger backward like I drank a dram of tequila myself instead of serving them to my customers.

I look at Shereen with a bewildered gaze. “Are you suggesting...” I couldn't finish voicing my thoughts. I just couldn't. Like what the f**k?

My dear friend nodded her head confirming my unvoiced inquiry and then preceded me despite the sheer stupefaction written all over my face. “You can have seventy-five percent of the earnings, plus there will be more tips if they’re satisfied with the performance.”

I perfectly know what Shereen meant, yet the foolish side of me still managed to blurt my question aloud. “Is this cousin’s friend of yours a stripper?” I say the last part in a very hushed tone, afraid that someone might hear us talking about stripping.

Well, it’s not that I am oblivious to how Shereen makes money for a living. Being at the bar was merely her supplementary source of income. Some people might frown at her, but not me. I do not judge people that quickly. Even so, she is the nicest person I know and genuinely cares about me. Though, it didn't occur to my wee brain that she would come to this point and offer me this kind of job.

Pure inhibition was written all over my face, mouth gaping, though there was a small part at the back of my mind telling me to just take it and be done with my problems. But, do I want it? Dancing in a room filled with brooding testosterone, lusting over my body as I slowly strips off what little clothes I had until wears them down to nothing. I totally don’t know.

Shereen stares at me intently while I mulled over my options. Unconsciously, I was nibbling my lips nibbling between my teeth, biting it down too hard as my fingers fondled the rug anxiously.

Damn it.

“Don’t think about it too hard, Kai.” She takes my hand, squeezing it gently. “It’s a stupid suggestion anyway. I shouldn’t have asked you, but who knows, desperate times required desperate calls.”

I swallowed the dread of temptation down to my stomach and look at her quizzically. “Why didn't you take it?”

She shrugged and responded. “Well, I think you need it more than I do. Besides, there’s a rule, they are not allowed to touch you unless you give them permission to do so. So, you’re going to be completely safe, hon.”

Shereen did mention once to me that doing this kind of job, one bouncer was assigned for each of them, armed with a gun and keeping everything in check. To keep strippers safe and guarded. To avoid them getting r***d or otherwise abused in any way. Touching is a no-no, unless, permitted and of course, additional bucks to offer.

That sounds quite tempting. Oh, gosh. Am I really considering this?

“So?” My attention immediately snapped back to my friend, and honestly, I’m beginning to waver and abandoned all my moral commitment, but still, I am doing my best to hold what little dignity I had left at the moment.

“I don’t think I can do it, Shee.” I sigh dejectedly, though I want to take back what I said and accept the offer without second thoughts.

“It’s okay Kai. Stripping is not for everyone.” Her gaze softened, nodding and her face reddened shamefully. I felt bad for refusing, but I really don’t imagine myself doing what she does.

Obviously, what she said was right. There were those people who lacked the fortitude to attempt such things. I consider myself one. Never in my lifetime, did it occurs to my head that I would be doing such a thing. But as my dear friend had said, desperate times make desperate calls.

Am I that desperate? Hell, yes.

“I can take it, and I'll have you borrow half of it with no interest.” She offers which instantly elicits a frown to take form on my face. I took a deep breath, cleared my head, and smiled meekly.

“Thank you, but I don't think I'll be able to pay you if I did.”

Probably even if I am going to have a triple job, I’m not going to be able to pay the whole amount that I currently needed.

“Well, there's no time limit. You can pay me whenever you have money.”

I shake my head again, immediately declining the proposal about the money to be lent. I don’t condone myself in receiving any form of pity donation. I am not some kind of charity. Not even from Shereen. I may be broke, but I still have my pride.

Pride that I’m about to damn.

However, that man last week. I couldn’t seem to refuse when he gave me the extra money from that tattooed chiseler, but my situation now is entirely different at that. My friend is a good person despite what everyone thinks of her.

“No, I can't. It's not right. You earn it yourself,” I say.

Shereen had been a great help to me ever since, sometimes financially, just small amounts like paying for a cab home and free meals, but mostly she’s my mental support whenever I feel like breaking down with all the weight I was carrying on my back. My life shouldn’t have fallen into this mishap if only Mom hadn’t gotten into an accident a year after Dad’s death and broken her spine.

Now, she can’t move around without her wheelchair. Every now and then we had to make a quick appointment to the hospital for her check-up and whether there was going to be an additional medicine that she needed to take. Since her last diagnosis, the doctors discovered new complications to her health that needed prompt action. Another additional thing to cover in the long list I had.

Unfortunately, we still don’t know who the goddamn man hit her on the sidewalk. The police say that it was a drunken accident and the CCTVs around the area were too dim to obtain the license plate number or able to track down the car used in the incident. Though, I knew too well something happened underneath the table. Transactions to clear a name that we didn’t have the chance to know. However, I still harbor the hope that one day, at some point, we’ll find out who was responsible for this and how to make him pay for everything that has transpired.

Now, our life had plummeted to rock bottom and the future I hold seemed bleak to look upon. However, no matter how hard it would be, giving up was not in my book of words, and if I had to climb tooth and nail all the way up, bleed and sweat bullets, then so be it. I may even use a double edge sword as a ladder just to get on top.

“Well, if you say so.” Shereen’s voice pulled me out from my reverie, brushing the stray locks of my hair away from my face and tucking them behind my ear. “But, always remember, I’m here if you need anything.”

‘Desperate times, desperate calls.’ That phrase played on a loop inside my thoughts, almost like a mantra that never stopped. The picture of my mother in a wheelchair and my brother’s education hanging in precarious balance. Which one is heavier, my family’s needs or my damn pride and dignity? The answer is quite apparent, but I’m just too scared to say it aloud.

I know how much Shereen earns in one night and it’s more than a month of my income in two different jobs combined. The offer was like a lump of delicious juicy meat dangling in front of a starving wolf, ready to pounce on it.

And I am the wolf penned up for ages and was craving for any treats thrown into my way.

“How much money will they pay for, you know dancing…” I almost choked as I went on uttering the next dreaded word. “Naked?”

“Ten grand or more good for one hour only.”

My eyes instantly popped out from their sockets, jaw plunged and locked in their hinges upon hearing the amount to be paid. What the hell? “Ten grand?” I exclaimed. “Holy fiddlesticks! That’s almost half my yearly income.”

It would solve all my problems in a blink and could put food inside our fridge for months. My mind reeled at the thought, immediately sent into war. One side is to stick to my so-called pride and dignity or abandoned it all for the sake of my family.

Say yes. Say yes. Damn! That’s a lot of money.

“You don’t have to decide now, Kai.” Shereen saw the eminent disinclination foraging across my countenance and immediately relieved me from making a hasty decision that would probably make me regret it afterward. She sighs and lets go of my hand. “Go home, take a rest and text me tomorrow if you made up your mind so I can set you up...or not.”

She’s right. I had to think this through. Contemplate it a gazillion times and more. I repeated inside my head to prevent my mouth from blurting stupid things.

But, ten grand… Oh, God.