Amber from Marketing, Exotic Dancer

Author's Note

If you haven't read any of Amber and Dani's other stories, I highly recommend starting with 'Free Gravy' and 'Amber From Marketing, Social Justice Warrior' to get an idea of what you're in for. Each is a short and sweet little tale of only around 3000 words, as is this one.

Enjoy!

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Amber From Marketing, Exotic Dancer

A: Dani, do you know how to install a stripper pole? Asking for a friend.

I snickered as I opened the fridge. Who else but Amber would text me about installing a stripper pole in the middle of a pandemic.

D: Never really tried.

I set the phone aside and scrounged around in the fridge, almost forgetting what I was in there for. Juice, that's it. Grapefruit juice.

Except the store was out. Shelves upon shelves of pillowy soft toilet paper. Enough toilet paper to build a TP fort in my living room if I had the inclination, but no grapefruit juice.

My phone buzzed with another text just as I slid my omelet from the pan onto a plate.

A: Do you have a cordless drill?

I set the pan in the sink and poured myself a glass of water, because of the juice shortage and all.

By the time I was done, my phone rang. I knew from the ringtone, and the recent texts, it was Amber.

It was a FaceTime call, so I set my plate on the table before I tapped Accept. Last time we had a video call, Amber appeared on screen topless. I didn't want to be wearing my omelet.

"Daniii!"

Hmm, not topless Amber. More of a perplexed Amber, I would say.

"Dani, you're good with tools, right?"

"Umm, sure." I scanned Amber's face on my phone, from the red bandanna she had fashioned into a do rag, past the nerdy safety glasses that actually looked kind of cute on her—like everything else she wore—right down to the twisted grimace of frustration painted over her ruby red lips.

From the angle of the phone, it looked like she was down on her hands and knees with the scoop-neck collar of her plain white T-shirt gapping just a little. Not that I'm trying to check out her boobs over the phone, because... okay, I was. You would too. Amber's got fabulous boobs.

"Dani, you've got to help me. I'm doing this thing for a friend at the shelter."

"The shelter?" I thought about the times we had volunteered there together, taking pictures of all the adoptable dogs and cats. "Amber, last I heard they didn't have any animals left. The news said people are lonely in isolation and cat and dog adoptions are way up. They might have a tortoise or a—"

"Dani?"

Amber's face was inches from the screen. Her forehead was scrunched up to match the grimace across her lips. Worst of all, I think I missed my chance to peek down her shirt.

"Dani, it's not that kind of shelter."

"Umm, okay." I glanced at my omelet, wondering if it would be rude to start chomping away during a video call. Most probably, yes.

My tummy growled.

"Dani, do you need to eat? I don't want you getting hangry on me."

"Hangry?"

"Hungry plus angry. Hangry. From low blood sugar. It's okay, I get hangry too sometimes."

Actually, I'd never experienced hangry, from me or from anyone else. I certainly couldn't imagine Amber being hangry. She was just about the sweetest person in the world. A bit of a spaz sometimes, but never—

"Dani?"

"Huh?"

"Stay with me. Go ahead and eat your eggs, it's okay."

How did she know I was eating eggs? I swear sometimes that girl reads minds. Or maybe I'm just that predictable? I took a bite of my omelet and struggled with the idea that I was predictable.

"Dani, I need help installing a stripper pole... for a friend. You're good with tools, right?"

"Stripper pole?"

"I know," she frowned. "It's not very politically correct is it? Exotic dancer accessory... is that more appropriate?"

I caught a glint of light off something long and shiny off to Amber's left. It looked to be maybe two inches in diameter, if my guess was right. Either Amber's joined the fire department and needs to practice at home, or...

"It's for the shelter."

I pushed aside my breakfast plate, along with my visions of Amber working her way through college by undressing to music, and leaned in toward my phone. "How do stripper poles and animal shelters go together, exactly?"

"It's not the animal shelter, Dani. It's the domestic abuse shelter. Can you imagine what social isolation is like when you're trapped in the same confines as your abuser? Dani, it's horrible to even think—"

"Amber. Honey, I'll help you," I said against the lump in my throat. I caught a vision of what Amber was describing and it wasn't pretty.

"I may not have the whole picture yet," I said, "but I'm assuming with a stripper pole it involves you taking your clothes off."

"It's for a friend."

"Baby, I can see the pole on the floor next to you. Unless that's an industrial strength closet rod to hold your office casual collection..." The girl did have a lot of clothes.

"Dani, are you—?"

"Hangry? No. Amber, doesn't that send the wrong message? Objectifying yourself to raise money for the shelter. I assume you're doing this for money."

"You're not upset?"

"Confused, mostly."

"Dani." Amber's face had taken on that scrunched up grimace again. "Have you heard of the Pussy Cat Club?"

I shook my head.

"It's a dance club that caters to women. It's a lesbian bar, Dani. It's in the town where I went to college."

Bingo! Amber did work her way through school as a stripper. I knew it. But why did the answer to that riddle not seem to give me any sort of satisfaction?

"The club is doing a strip-o-gram fundraiser, Dani. Any patron who donates one-hundred dollars or more to a women's shelter of their choice can send in a photo or screenshot of their transaction to get a free strip-o-gram as a little thank you present."

"Okay..."

"Dani, it's been so popular that the regular girls are overworked."

"So you're stepping up to do your part?"

I mulled that over in my mind for a minute, turning to poke at my omelet with my fork, while I thought about Amber getting naked for some horny lesbian with a checkbook.

"Amber?" I stood up.

"It's okay, Dani. It was a dumb idea, anyway. I mean—"

"We'll set it up at my place." I surveyed the living area of my condo, imagining the furniture cleared out. "You've got that textured ceiling. It'll never survive having a pole screwed into it. Besides, I've got hardwood floors, so no rug burns. I'm assuming there's some kind of rubber pad on the bottom on the thing so it won't damage my—"

"Dani."

"Amber?"

"Dani, you're the best!" Amber was leaning into the phone, bent far enough forward that her little white T-shirt was gapping again. She reached up, hands open and fingers spread across her glorious boobs. Right there in front of her phone's camera.

Yep, my girlfriend paid her way through college twirling around a pole, alright.

Amber squeezed her womanly flesh in her hands.

I let out a little involuntary squeak.

* * *

I set my cordless drill/driver next to the open box of four inch lag screws on the side table now taking up residence in my hallway. The only thing left in the living room was a single, shining chrome-plated steel pole right in the center.

I thought about the holes that were going to need patching in my ceiling. I thought about that for precisely one second, because that's how long it took before Amber emerged from my bathroom.

"Oh, good it's done," she said. "Did you test it?"

"Umm..."

Amber's three-inch blood red stilettos clacked on my hardwood floor as she sashayed over to me, touching the tip of her index finger to my fallen chin. Am I hallucinating or is my girlfriend sparkling.

"Uh... Uh, not yet. I—I didn't have... I just finished screwing..." Oh, that did not sound good!

Amber grinned. "You're good with tools. I trust you."

She dragged her finger across my chin before spinning around. I had the pleasure of watching her switching hips in the tiniest, tightest pair of electric blue spandex hot pants I had ever seen in my life. They left very little to the imagination, from the rise in the back, where they failed to contain the last bit of flesh that was my girlfriend's gorgeous ass, to the scoop in the front, where it was made very clear that she had waxed recently.

Amber's hair was pulled up into a little ponytail, high up on her head, that bounced and swayed as she sauntered over to the pole I had just finished securing. Across her eyes and resting atop her cheeks was a campy-looking mask that matched the color of her heels. It looked like it was stolen from one of the henchmen in an old Batman comic, and like everything else in her ensemble, it sparkled. But it concealed her identity, and in truth, the whole ensemble got me a little moist.

Amber laid one hand on the chrome pole and took a three-sixty test spin. Her cut-off white T-shirt with the words "Pussy Cat Club" in black and glittering gold cursive caught the air like a sail, and I knew instantly that she was wearing nothing under it. The fact was reaffirmed as Amber came bounding over to press up tight against me.

She smiled and puckered up.

What did I do? I stood there like an idiot and stammered, is what I did.

"Dani?"

"Hh-hh-hh-hh."

"Oh, Dani. It's not like you've never seen my boobies before." Amber proceeded to lay a peck on my lips and then back away to hoist her diminutive top while she grinned.

Sure enough, not a stitch of anything underneath. Just glorious flesh. Shiny, twinkly flesh. I'm going to need a new pair of underwear, and soon.

"Dani?"

"Amber... are you sparkling?"

"Glitter." Amber grinned before bounding over to do another twirl around the pole. As if the word 'glitter' were enough to explain everything. Then she stopped and looked straight at me.

"Dani? Are you going to be okay with this?"

"Umm." So far it was looking pretty good, except for my underwear situation. Amber in tight shorts, heels and a T-shirt that was barely there. Everything... sparkling.

"I going to be whispering other women's names while I take my clothes off, Dani. You sure that doesn't bother you?"

I thought about that for a while. I thought about some of Amber's earlier antics—her little phone sex show to convince me to help her make COVID masks. Was it just an act? Was Amber a person who would use her assets, considerable as they were, to get whatever it was she wanted at the moment? Was she that kind of person?

But, from what I could tell, that didn't apply to Amber at all. She knew what she had—she knew she was gorgeous—but, she never let it go to her head or tried to use it for personal gain. In fact, Amber seemed to always be looking out for everyone else around her. She was ready to shake her coworkers down for donations to the animal shelter. She stepped up to sew dozens of masks for the current viral crisis. And now she was going to take her clothes off as a thank you for donations to the domestic abuse shelter.

"It's fine, baby," I said. "Just leave the mask on. I think Katie from accounting has the hots for you, and I'd prefer not to have visions of her—"

"Oh, Dani. I love you so much." Amber did another twirl. "Will you read the first name off the list and start the camera?"

"Umm, sure." Did my girlfriend just drop the L word on me? Okay, so I was about to do it before we hung up the phone last time, but I wasn't fast enough. Still, though I think—

"Dani, the camera."

"Right. The first one's for Natasha. Her wife donated five-hundred dollars in her name. There's a note that says she likes cats. I don't know what that's got to do with anything..."

Apparently, Amber did. In addition to the twirling, and the bending far enough forward that her ponytail swept the floor, Amber did this thing with her hands. Every so often, she would lick the backs of her hands and rub them on herself. It started out behind her ears and got more personal as her clothes came off and the glittery flesh came out.

Sparkly Amber got down on the floor, looking like she was treading water upside down, with her hands and knees pawing at the air above while she writhed. I could almost see her batting at a ball of twine. Of course, she flipped over too, after peeling her tiny shirt off, so that her heavy breasts swayed seductively as she stalked her unseen prey and dragged it back to her pole.

Like a leopardess, Amber shimmied up the chrome pole, almost to the ceiling, and stopped by clenching it firmly between her thighs. With one hand above and the other outstretched, she spun slowly while carefully lowering herself from her perch in a corkscrew motion.

By the end, Amber was down with her butt on the floor, hugging the pole. Her ankles were splayed out beside and behind her. Her knees were angled in a very unladylike spread, but the chrome pole hid what was between. The electric blue shorts and cut-off T-shirt were in a forgotten heap off to the side.

Amber thrust her bare chest forward, so that the chrome pole lay smack between her glitter-covered breasts. She started licking her hands again for another grooming.

"Mmm, thank you, Natasha," she moaned while stroking behind her ears, over her erect nipples, and finally, as she canted her hips, brushing up between her thighs.

Amber leaned forward some more and ran her tongue slowly across her lips. "Your donation means a lot to the shelter."

"Geez, Amber."

"Dani? You sure you're okay with this? You look a little pale."

I dragged the side of my thumb across my forehead, just below my hairline. It felt a little moist. And that wasn't the only place. My underwear was saturated and my jeans were now soaking up the excess. I really wanted to shimmy out of them, but I settled for pulling a kitchen chair over and sitting down for a breather.

Amber came crawling over. Yeah, crawling. My butt ass naked, glittery girlfriend, who had just dismounted a shiny chrome pole that I set up in my living room, came crawling over to me.

I watched her breasts swaying as she did. I may be feverish, but I'm not dead.

"Dani." Amber placed her hands on my knees, encouraging me to spread a little more. She rested her cheek on my left thigh and picked up my right hand in hers. Amber turned my hand palm side up and began tracing lines outward to the tip of each finger. "Dani, are you—?"

"Did you mean it?"

"Am I happy that she gave five-hundred dollars to the shelter? Yes. Do I hope she gets off watching my performance?" Amber swallowed. "Yes. Dani, I don't know how—"

"No, when you said you loved me? Was that like a show-biz thing, like 'oh, I just love you all so much!' or was it—"

I didn't get to finish.

Amber had crawled the rest of the way up my body, nestling her nakedness between my legs. She pulled the mask from her eyes and pressed her lips to me in a way that spoke volumes.

The first thing her kiss said was, 'Shut up, Dani,' which, of course, I promptly did. The next thing it said was, 'duh, of course I love you,' because Amber repeated it right after she came up for air.

"I love you too, baby." I held my naked, glittery girlfriend to my chest for a good long time before either of us decided it was time to let go.

Finally, Amber stood up. Amber in her blood red stilettos, that clacked against my hardwood floors, and nothing else. "Who's next on the list, Dani?"

I glanced over. "It's another five-hundred dollar one. From Juliet. Nope, wait. That's who sent the check. Says here the dance is for her girlfriend Charlotte. Is this going to be a thing, you think? Buying a strip-o-gram for your significant other?"

Amber just shrugged and reached down to pluck her skimpy shorts and shirt from the floor.

"Don't forget your mask, baby," I said. "If Katie from accounting ever gets hold of this footage—"

Amber came clacking back to where I was still seated. She tossed her clothing squarely at my head before turning around to wiggle her bare ass in front of my face.

"Umm..." What was I saying?

"Help me get these things back on, Dani, and I promise after this, the next show is a private dance just for you."

Oh thank goodness, because these jeans need to come off and soon. I wonder if she expects me to make a donation. I probably should. It's for a good cause.

"Dani?"

"Umm, Amber? Baby?"

Amber grinned as she turned to face me. "I just thought of something."

I chewed my lip for a second. Is it about my pants? Is it that obvious?

"The isolation order is still in place. Technically we're supposed to be six feet apart."

"Oh, right." Not about my pants.

I watched Amber's face fall.

"I guess we could classify your striptease as an essential service." I watched the corners of my girlfriend's mouth turning upward. "You might even consider spending the night. Since we've already shared germs and all."

"Oh, Dani that's a great idea. Especially since I already have a couple overflows from the shelter crashing at my place." Amber paused, I think waiting for me to chastise her about breaking quarantine. "The shelter was full, what was I supposed to do?" she added. "We're taking precautions, and—"

"Amber."

"Dani?"

"I love you."

"Oh, Dani that's great. For a minute there... Oh, and I brought an overnight bag with me. I hope that wasn't too forward. I know it's probably not what you were expecting for our first night together. Honestly, I really—"

I reached out with both arms to hug my naked, glittery, high-heeled girlfriend to my chest.

She nestled in with her head against my shoulder. "I love you too," she whispered.

*

The End

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Afterword

Dani and Amber would love to read your thoughts in the comments. Even better, they'd love to hear that you donated a little something to a shelter of your choice if you have the means to do so.