Natalie's Back

Ten years had gone by for Natalie, most of them exciting, many of them good, and she had made a pretty good life out there in L.A. She was more off than on with her occasional boyfriend Angelo, but she had an agent who worked hard for her and cared about her, she could see a decent future ahead of her, and she had avoided... what? Marriage, family? Any real surprises? Maybe she was in a bigger rut than her stripper friend.

Wearing the thong to Alan Dugan's party had been one of the nicest nights of her life, when she let herself be honest about it. She never would have had the nerve, but Lou had done her job talking her into it, and it was still a good memory. She had managed to catch Tom's eye, maybe the one and only time, and she had necked with Roy Heady that night. The only thing more exciting she could remember was when she, Lou, Gary, and D.J. had stripped down to their underwear and gone swimming in Gary's above-ground pool. It was the first time she had ever had sex with a guy she hadn't gone on a date with, and again, it was something Lou had talked her into. Another good memory, another proposition that had put a pit in her stomach, but she survived it and enjoyed it.

Yet here she was, adamant to tell Lou no this time, quickly forgetting all the fun she had when she told her yes.

Lou came back to the car, carrying her gym bag. She opened it and Natalie smiled at her, leaning forward.

"I'll do it." Oh, her stomach was already turning somersaults. "If you can't get a girl, of course. If no one's contacted you yet."

"You don't have to," said Lou quietly, tossing her gym bag into the backseat and climbing back in the SUV. Natalie shrugged and said she didn't mind, she had thought about it, doing a favor for a friend would be worth it. Lou only put her sunglasses back on, gave her a softer-than-usual smile, and said, "It's alright. I'll get another girl."

"Where are we going?" As fast as Lou peeled out of the parking lot, it could have been that she robbed the place. "I guess you're not working tonight."

"Not here. I'm working across town. At the Peach Pit." Natalie laughed and Lou looked at her, sighed, and told her, "Hon, it's so nice of you to volunteer. I mean it. But I know this isn't your thing. I'll get someone else. I can't ask you to do this—"

"I know I'm not a professional, but will anybody really care?" Natalie felt embarrassed, a little rejected, and she tried not to feel insulted. It wasn't like Lou to actually consider her aversion to something genuine, so it seemed like it had to be Natalie was unfit to play the role. "I'm not knocking what you do, you're probably great at it... but if I just show up and shake my tits, are they really going to complain?"

"No. You'd be great at it," she said, but it sounded less than convincing. "I know you don't want to. This show at the Peach Pit is probably going to be tougher than most of them. Don't worry about it, really. I'll just tell them I couldn't get anyone else."

"What do you want? Do you want me to beg?" Natalie laughed. "Give me a chance. I'm sure I won't ruin your rep, you'll still dance great..."

"Natalie..."

"Fine, I'm begging," she said, blowing out an annoyed breath. "I don't really care if anyone out here sees me. I don't even live here anymore. What are the odds of someone recognizing me? And if Fat Robbie from Biology happens to be there or something, so what? I'm heading back to Cali on Sunday. Right? I'm saying, I can do it. Unless I'm just such a horrible blemish on your nudie show..."

Lou looked over at her when they reached a stop at a light, studied her from top to bottom, and bit her lip. "You know... I didn't recognize you. No one else probably will."

"I'm not worried about anyone recognizing me. Hey, if Fat Robbie does show up, maybe it'll be the thrill of his life," she laughed.

"You don't even have to take your thong off... they probably wouldn't care about that." After Nat rolled her eyes, secretly dreading the thought, Lou said, "I really, really could use your help... if you're willing. But I don't want you to have any regrets about it—"

"I learned a long time ago, I can either have regrets or hang out with you... I can't do both," she said, and Lou leaned over to give her an awkward hug across the SUV's cabin.

It wasn't until she pulled into the parking lot of the Peach Pit that Lou took a nervous breath, smiled at her friend, and dropped the big bombshell on her.

"I have to tell you... before we do this. And I'm so sorry, but it was an honest mistake... the motorcycle guys canceled out on me two weeks ago. Or I moved them, I can't... I had this offer to do Kevin Fiedler's bachelor party."

Kevin Fiedler... why did that name sound so...?

"Oh Christ," whispered Natalie, then covered her mouth. "That's not the same Kevin Fiedler who was class president, is...? Louise!"

She tossed up her hands, then covered her eyes. "I know, I know... hey, I wouldn't have asked you to do it if I had remembered. I'm not that crazy..."

"But you're doing it!" Putting a hand on her forehead as if she could feel her temperature rising, Natalie asked, "Who's going to be there?"

"I'm not sure. There's about sixty scheduled, I know..."

"Sixty? For a fucking bachelor party?!?"

"The reunion's tomorrow, Nat, he scheduled the wedding for the Sunday afterward, he invited practically everybody we went to school with! Every guy at least, who knows if any of the women are showing up..."

"Jesus, kid, you're going out there and stripping for everyone we went to high school with? What's wrong with you?"

That made Lou laugh, but Natalie hadn't been making a joke of it. "What do I care? This is what I do. Half of the town already knows why I quit the bank and what I do now. You think they don't know I'm the same Louise Kelly that signed their yearbooks? Alan begged me to do it, he said it would be like a teenage wet dream come to life if I did the bachelor party. I'm supposed to turn that down?"

"...Out of your fucking mind..."

"See, that's what I thought," she said, flinging the door open and getting out. "I retract my asking. They hired me and another dancer, not me and some neurotic shaking in her boots—"

"Hey!" Lou slammed the door on her, so Natalie opened hers and got out, slamming it even louder. "I was ready to do this when it was strangers..."

"I know, I know—how brave you are," growled Lou. She walked around the SUV to continue the conversation more quietly. "It was one thing when it was a group of men you've never seen before. Hey, one of them could be Fat Robbie, but we knew that wasn't going to happen. Now that you know who they are..."

"You were going to let me go through with it," hissed Nat, jabbing her finger at her friend. "This is just like old times. Exactly the same."

"You had fun, every time I dragged you out of your stupid shell, you know you did," Lou snapped, and Natalie couldn't defend against that truth. "It's not like they would recognize you—I didn't, and I was your best friend. Look at you, you're a brunette now, you're wearing contacts... nobody's seen you in forever. It's not like they hired you by name. Why would they expect you to be up there? But no, I wasn't going to let you do this—that's why we're having this conversation. Remember? Because I had to be honest with you."

She started toward the back entrance of the bar, but stopped, returning and slamming the keys into Natalie's palm.

"Please... let's forget this ever happened. Go back to my place. Kick back, watch the cable, I'll be home when I'm home."

"I thought you said I could watch."

"Go if you want, stay if you want," she said, rolling out a heavy breath. "You're a wonderful friend, Natalie. I wouldn't have let you go up there if I thought you'd embarrass yourself. And I wouldn't let you do anything you'd regret. That's why I told you what this was. It's not going to bother me—I'll probably get a kick out of it, have a story to tell tomorrow."

"I'll bet."

With a flip of her blonde hair, Lou turned her back on her and proceeded to the club. Natalie stood there, watching her leave, and wished she had the ability to laugh at this kind of thing like Lou did. She was right, she'd probably be bragging about it to all the people at the reunion tomorrow—all of them who hadn't been there to see the nudie show in person.

Natalie looked down at the keys of the SUV, then sucked in a deep breath. She chased after Lou, knocked on the door until it opened, and gave her friend a big embrace.

* * * * * *

Before the doors opened to the bachelor party, they changed into their outfits in the ladies' room and then made their way back to the kitchen, where they camped as the crowd began to collect on the floor. She went into the bathroom with Lou only considering the prospect of dancing, under the pretense of keeping her friend company, but by the time Lou had pulled her red thong tight between the cheeks of her ass, Natalie knew she couldn't live with herself if she had let her do it alone. She asked to see what outfits they had brought and she found one she thought she could live with. While Lou had worn a red bra and leather lace-up girdle to match her thong and knee-high boots, Natalie had chosen a more modest pair of white panties, a tight bikini top—the only one Lou had that would fit her smaller chest well—and a translucent babydoll camisole to give her just a little more coverage. Wearing that outfit, with her borrowed high heels, had seemed like child's play when she put it on in the bathroom, but sitting in a chair by the exit to the kitchen, with cooks and wait staff passing them every few minutes and looking their way frequently, Natalie was starting to think she would never get through the night.

As if Lou could read her thoughts, she leaned in and told her, "You don't have to do this." She said she knew that. "Well... don't forget, you can leave your bottoms on. If you leave yours on, I'll leave mine on. How's that?"

"I bet that'll make Alan mad," Natalie said, then smiled. She would get through it. It would definitely be a story to tell—not at the reunion. She was suddenly planning on skipping that.

Many drinks were served at the bar, but they were moving so fast that they were flying out of the kitchen as well, along with plates of food. Music blasted through the early part of the evening, but every time Natalie expected it was their big moment, Lou would only shake her head, put a hand on her shoulder, and tell her to be patient. They were able to get a few beers from a generous waiter who kept an eye on Natalie, and that helped take the edge off the wait.

"Who do you think is out there?" Lou said it could be anybody, but gave a short list of people she expected. "What about... Jimmy Cohen? The one with the nice...?"

"I know Jimmy was coming in for the reunion, no telling if he's at the party," said Lou. She smirked and said, "I bet you're wondering about Tom Davenport. I don't know why you don't just say—"

"God, thanks for suggesting that," groaned Natalie. "I'm going to fall apart. I'm going to trip over myself and land on my—don't expect a lot of tips. That's all I'm saying."

The music stopped, and after almost a minute, there was the screech of a microphone out in the main room, followed by a somewhat-familiar voice bouncing off the walls. Alan Dugan! The most popular guy in school, back in their day, and he didn't sound very different.

"Dugan," Natalie said, then released a wistful sigh. "I bet he's not so pretty anymore."

A shrug from Lou, then she said, "He's got this awful mustache now, but he's stayed in decent shape. It's Fiedler who's put on the weight. He's got another chin now."

"Ten years later and Fiedler and Dugan are still best friends. How pathetic is that?"

There was a lengthy pause, then both of them broke out in giggles.

In the main room, Dugan said, "I know how much fun it is to see everyone from high school again. See how out of shape the wrestling team is, how all the academic team has ended up working fast food places... or worse, seeing everybody who's doing better than you. My original plan was to have us all get drunk here and listen to Springsteen's 'Glory Days' on infinite repeat... I think that's how my dad spent his reunion." The laughs were bigger than the joke—at least some of them were drunk by now. "But I did want us to have some fun tonight so—hate me if you wanna, I did hire a stripper. I know, everybody does it..."

The wolf howls of the audience drowned out a line or two of Dugan's speech. Lou stood up, pushed her breasts higher a couple of times, then took a trembling breath.

Dugan continued, "...As it happens, I found someone from our graduating class that did not lose her shape. She is just as foxy as she was when we all had boners looking at her—yes, that's for you as well, Jessica..."

Natalie watched her friend, smiled with great affection for her, and said with astonished realization, "You're actually nervous."

"Of course I'm nervous," she said, scowling down at her. "I'm about to take my clothes off in front of all the people who used to judge me on a daily basis. I'm just hoping my tits don't fall off or something."

Covering her mouth to quiet her laughter, Natalie stood up beside her. She leaned forward and gave Lou a tight hug.

"Here goes nothing. I'm with you."

"...Really doubt you will be disappointed to see her after all this time, especially those of you who have been out of town," Dugan went on. "And when I say you'll see her, I mean you'll see a lot of her. Gentlemen... and you curious ladies... let's welcome back our old friend Louise Kelly... tonight she's going by >Lulu!"

Like that, with a roar outside to greet her, Lou transformed into her exotic dancer persona and slammed the twin kitchen doors open to emerge. Natalie took a steely breath and followed, swinging her hips back and forth in the same way Lou did.

Dugan handed her the microphone when she made a gesture for it, and Lou gave the crowd a big smile, then waved an arm toward her friend with the short black hair.

God, the restaurant had seemed so empty only an hour before, a concrete floor, wood-paneled walls and the low beams of the ceiling, small white tables occupying the main floor, black vinyl booths lining two of the walls near the door, and a thick formica bar along the wall opposite the kitchen; now it was hard to see anything but bodies, almost all of them male, and they all seemed to be wearing nametags as if they were attending the reunion here. All of them were suddenly looking at Natalie. She stopped breathing, worried she wouldn't start again.

"My friend Alan left somebody out... I know that broke her heart—lucky for you boys she's the forgiving type," Lou said, her sultriness dialed up to 11. "Guys... allow me to introduce... Miss Nasty!"

The howls broke Natalie from her trance, and she smiled brightly for the crowd by impulse alone. They wanted a show, and she felt inclined to give them one. She pitched her hips from side to side, descending to a squat before resuming her previous posture again.

The music started again, and to Natalie's chagrin, it was one of Britney Spears's big hits from their high school years. She had to admit that she liked it alright back then, it had been something of a guilty pleasure for her, but as she got older she came to really despise Britney and the people who branded her for the whole act of a sexualized little girl being sold to teenagers. Still, when Nat saw "Lulu" start to shake her hips like a maraca as the beat filled the room, she could almost remember how much fun it had been. There had been a small part of her—maybe a very small part—that wanted to be lusted after the way Britney was.

There were three firm wooden tables near the back of the room, and with the help of a chair, Lou topped them in a few seconds and began to perform her act. Her arms flew about in grand gestures, her bare legs rose and fell with punctuated movements, making sure every eye was drawn to them. She wrapped her arms around her chest and swiveled her hips about, periodically thrusting her pelvis forward. It was hard to believe that was her friend up there.

Not everybody was watching Lou with an unflinching gaze, she realized—she noticed a few heads turned her way, observing her doing nothing at all. Right beside her was a guy with graying curly hair and a goatee. For a second she had the strange thought that it looked like Clay Walters from high school, then it hit her and made her feel stupid, fuck, it is Clay Walters. She smiled nervously at him, paranoid that he recognized her, and she proceeded to dance. Just a few small motions, shaking her body to the music, nothing to take much attention from the expert.

The song was reaching its peak and Lou turned her back to the boys, then she stunned them with a frantic shake of her tanned buttocks. The dollars began to fly toward the stage, and seldom had a moment when they slowed. Definitely a hard act to follow, Natalie thought, swallowing hard—she was glad she had been tanning all over since the last bikini shoot.

"Where do you work?" a guy behind Natalie asked. She glanced back, then had to glance again to be sure it was really Roy Heady, talking to her right in the middle of Lou's act. She thought he had to recognize her, but the question didn't seem to support that worry. It was almost an insult, she thought—she slept with this guy, he could have at least recognized her. She just shook her head and smiled at him, then continued to shake her ass. He must have enjoyed the view.

Another song started up, a pop hip-hop song that Nat couldn't remember too well. Lou kicked her act into overdrive, giving Alan a come-hither wave to bring him closer, then pulling loose a red lace on the rear of her girdle, handing it to him when he was near enough. Everyone cheered him on as he pulled it, wrapping the excess around his hand until the last of it pulled free of the garment, and then Lou whipped it off towards the nearest table full of men. The exposed flesh of her belly made her breasts appear bigger, contained in the red lace bra she wore as they heaved back and forth.

When she turned to the audience again, she eased her thong down the back of her ass, only slightly, and Natalie nearly froze again, sure that Lou was going back on her word, but despite the pleas of the men in the audience, she brought it back up with a snap and wagged her finger at them. Natalie sighed with relief. She picked up her dance where it had left off, her gyrations more subtle.

Some guy pinched Nat's ass, just pinched it out of nowhere and without invitation, and she turned with frustration to find who it had been, but no one would cop to it, leaving her to pretend it had never happened and cautiously looking back toward the stage.

Lou bowed to the men, wiggling her pendulous breasts back and forth and letting them marvel at her cleavage. When she rose back to her regular posture, she snuck a hand behind her and popped the hook on her top. It lost its tightness, sank off her breasts as if gravity had taken hold of it, and she clutched it close as she brought her legs together and sank to her knees slowly, in time with the song. Finally, she pulled it away and flung it over the heads of the closest men. Her boobs had never seemed more enviable, large, with diamond-hard pink nipples. Every slight motion made them quiver—she had always been so lucky to be as big as she was in that department. One of Natalie's boyfriends had once asked her to shake hers for him, in the bedroom, and he didn't act impressed at all with her best efforts.

She made a gesture toward the floor, took one step forward, and it was a surprise how many guys hurried up to help Lou down, as gracefully and perfectly as if they had all rehearsed it. Lou rubbed the top of Alan's head as she passed him, still smiling like Miss America, then she clapped her hands above her in time with the song as she walked through the crowd, at least half of the men now standing, toward "Miss Nasty."