He Made Me Ch. 05

"Yep, shall we go for a cig?"

"Come, I'll show you the spot," she said, getting up.

The whole interaction had left me quite puzzled: on one hand, her tone had been as distant as Vanessa's, on the other her words were friendlier. Anyhow, I followed her back in the locker room, where we retrieved our packets and lighters. Then Lotus showed me a door hidden behind a column that I had not seen before. We were now outside, but in a private courtyard.

"Here! See the vents?" Lotus said, lighting up and pointing at an old air conditioner attached to a shabby wall.

"Yeah?"

Where was she going with this? The answer became apparent as she aligned herself to the side of the humming machine and puffed towards the pipe: the fast flow of air immediately carried the smoke away.

"Many customers don't like the smell of cigarettes, but this way you don't get any on you."

"Nice trick!" I acknowledged, trying it myself with enthusiasm: in order to really become a smoker as Mikey wanted me to, I had to develop a habit and so I needed a way to keep consuming regularly my cigarettes even when I was at work.

"Also fresh air and silence are good to clear your head and get your hustle power back."

I had to agree again: my head had started feeling dizzy in the sweltering atmosphere of the club. As much as the chill felt good on my skin, the warmth of Lotus' welcome was much better. I decided that her flat tone of voice and the little eye-contact was just a facet of her personality.

Mikey had told me that a striper joint was not the kind of workplace where you made friends, because nobody wanted the worlds inside and outside the club to collide, but for once I decided not to listen to him. I didn't want to do this alone: the best adventures are made in good company and maybe Lotus could be it.

"So, how long have you been stripping?" I asked her, trying to know her better.

"I don't know, six months?" Lotus replied, shrugging. "I'm a baby stripper too."

"Jeez, that sounds like someone who changes diapers for a living!"

"Ha ha! The very definition of a shitty job!"

"Yeah! I'm glad I'm the other kind of baby stripper: I'm having fun, for now!"

"Hey, can I see your tattoo when we go back in?" Lotus asked instead, out of the blue.

"Sure…" I replied, a little awkwardly, but she remained perfectly casual and explained:

"I want one too."

"Yeah? What and where?"

"Dunno. How do you decide?"

What kind of question was that?

"Well, you usually choose something that represents you or what you love."

"You like octopi?"

"I love anal sex," I replied with a smug smile.

"I tried it, but it hurt," she revealed casually.

"It's tricky, but if you do it properly it doesn't."

"Ok."

Now what? Since she had introduced the topic, I was expecting some kind of story. At that moment I had the strong (and ultimately correct) impression that many of my future conversations with Lotus would end up with me incapable of finding a segue. So, we finished our pause in silence and we went back in.

"Here, take this, for the breath," she told me, giving me a mint. "So, can I see it?"

Man, she was straightforward! Kind of curious about where this was going, I lifted my dress and she just bent over to stare at my ass. It had received countless lewd stares that night, but this was the first time I really felt awkward, but in a funny way: this girl was so weird!

"Wait, what's that? A butt plug? You danced that way with it up your ass?" she asked, surprised.

I was about to answer, when a couple of girls came in. One was a curvaceous woman in her late twenties, a natural redhead who kind of looked like a young Dana. The other was Vanessa.

"This is the new girl?" the stranger asked the other, looking somewhat concerned.

Vanessa glanced at me snobbishly but also a little embarrassed:

"Yep."

Had I been naughty to the point of making the tattletale Vanessa run to the teacher?

"Azure," I remarked.

"Yeah, I'm Morgan, welcome to the Connoisseur," she replied with a smile, without meaning any of it. "Look, just a friendly reminder: this is a clean club."

I laughed:

"I surely hope so, considering how many surfaces we touch naked!"

She was annoyed by my misunderstanding, exactly as I had hoped:

"It means that we don't do sex stuff with the custies on the side. No nipple licking, no oral sex, no hand jobs and sure as hell no fucking. You get fired if you do any of that."

Which meant that she would get me fired. Even though I was getting in a very belligerent mood, I tried to keep the atmosphere light:

"Jeez, you too? That's what my daddy thinks I do too! Do I really send such strong whore vibes?"

"Well, you have that thing up your ass!" Vanessa retorted defensively.

Since my tightfitting dress was still pulled, I spun around and bent over a little to show them my ass

"Yeah, but it's not like I let the patrons come near it! It's just that my asshole is shy, you see?" I replied with sarcasm. Then, lowering my panties to display my jewel and turning my head in her direction, I added with a mischievous smile: "Think of it as a pastie!"

Morgan and Vanessa were dispensed from deciding how to react to that by Lotus, who commented very seriously:

"That's actually a good point: a guy tried to touch mine during a lap dance a couple of weeks ago."

"Gross!" Vanessa exclaimed, opening her can of energy drink. "What did you do?"

Lotus just shrugged.

"I turned around and told him it wasn't allowed."

The other two strippers exchanged a perplexed look and went back to the main room without a word.

"Have I just made an enemy out of the alpha girl?" I asked Lotus, who didn't even seem to understand the problem.

"What do you care?"

"I don't want to become the girl everyone hates on my very first day! Wouldn't you care?"

"I'm very zen, it comes with the heritage," she replied, with a faint smile.

"Lucky you… And all of this for what?! Of all places, I never thought I would find prudes here!"

"Oh, it's not that… I have worked in other cities and there are some clubs where most girls give special services. Problem is, as soon as one starts, she gets way more popular and then others follow not to lose customers. If the thing is not contained, clean strippers end up making very little."

Huh, I hadn't considered that.

"Jeez, really?"

"Yeah! When I moved here I couldn't believe that I could make as much as before without sucking old dicks every night."

That revelation left me speechless. Not just for the content, but the delivery too: Lotus couldn't have been more casual. Sure, I had fucked a much older, disgusting stranger once, Mikey, but somehow I was sure that it had been different and much worse for her. First of all, I had started to look at my mentor in a very different light almost immediately and by the second day I was living with him, I was actually enjoying our sex. Second, it had been a choice motivated by hope more than desperation. Third, let's face it, it had been a secret fantasy of mine.

"Come on, time is money!" Lotus encouraged me, interrupting my thoughts.

The main room was already more crowded, but all I could think of was that perhaps in my exchange with Morgan she hadn't been the only dick. Maybe I should speak to her. There she was, sweet-talking a client… Later, when the club closed: the last thing I wanted was to make matters worse by interrupting her.

Even though men kept pouring in, the following hour was a total disappointment. After a few misses, I ended up talking to a dude:

"So, are you from here?" he asked me.

"Nah," I replied vaguely.

"So, what brought you in L.A.?" he insisted.

"I used to be a good Midwestern girl, but then I came here hoping for an acting job," I replied, twirling my hair. I was quite bored, so I decided to play a game in which I would say the truth but in a very misleading way so that he was clueless as to who I was.

Unfortunately, choosing the failed actress trope created a monster. He then began telling me that he could help and asking further questions about my auditions, my studies, my method and whatnot. That caught me off-guard: no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get out of the hole I had digged by myself: the whole conversation kept revolving around me and not him or what I could for him.

Eventually I just said:

"Oh, I'm sorry, we've been talking about me all this time and I totally forgot that you want to have a good time, not hear my grievances! Let's go have fun!"

Two dances. Two fucking dances just to see me naked and then he left! I had talked to him for half an hour and all I got were 60 bucks in funny money, which meant even less in dollars, once you took out the club's commission.

I had to clear my head and went for a smoke. The chilly air gave me a less depressing perspective on what had just happened: I hadn't squandered a big chunk of my shift, I had learned a lesson.

Back inside, the floor manager told me to get ready for my next stage show. This time… No, I was just as nervous as the first, because now there were a lot of customers.

"Ok, I wanna change the songs, but please keep the lights blue," I asked the DJ, pointing out the pieces I wanted him to play and then tipping him generously again. Perhaps too generously: he seemed awfully fond of me!

For my second act, I wanted to do something different. I picked slower songs and tried to get a better lay of the land, customer-wise. I also did more floor work, trying to make it look like I was dancing only for the guys who were tipping me more generously. So I made the big reveal of the butt plug in all fours: spinning around the pole had probably been too fast to really land the surprise.

There was a guy in particular with a man-bun who was leaving a lot of cash on the rail.

"See you later?" I said at the beginning of the third song.

He grinned, but I never saw him later. I just had a quick trip to the locker room to freshen up, because I was getting really sweaty, and when I was back I saw him go away with another girl! For a split, maddening second I thought it was Morgan, but the light had played a trick on me.

The happiness for having made twice as before on stage faded immediately. Mikey was right: the competition was savage!

"Sorry for the technical mishap, now give it up of Lotus!" the DJ announced: I had barely registered the absence of music, but Lotus' set caught my attention for sure.

As I expected, her show was weird from the very beginning: the song she had chosen was a very strange, psychedelic and very slow melody, with a lot of reverb and distortion effects. She barely even touched the pole and danced in slow motion, seeming, once again, high on LSD or something. However, it was sexy, memorable and well executed.

As I kept watching, I wandered aimlessly in the room, until a young man melancholically stirring the ice in his tea with the straw caught my attention. As much as he seemed miserable, his friend appeared to be mesmerized by Lotus and to be having a good time in general. They were both hispanic and covered in designer clothing, even though they couldn't have been more than 25. There was a definite spoiled-rich-kid vibe about them.

"Hey, what's up with you?" I asked, caressing the sad one's hand from aside.

That caught him by surprise and his sudden movement with the hand that held the straw made him spill the drink on the table.

"Shit! Sorry!"

I laughed:

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that you look so bored when there's this," I said, pointing at my body, "and that", I added pointing at Lotus, "going around!"

"Yeah, Chris, she's right!" his friend intervened, after thoroughly enjoying the scene, only to add an explanation for my benefit: "He's been left by his girl."

As Chris looked at me like a puppy, I made a step back and checked him out a little showily.

"Really?" I asked his friend, frowning and acting a little surprised, but not too much, so as not to overdo it.

Chris was indeed cute, even though not as hot as I pretended to find him. He was also quite tipsy and he totally felt for my act, making flattered grin.

"Yep," his friend answered.

"Well, in that case…" I said and, with a bratty smile, I just landed on his lap, hugging his head. "…I want to help you forget her!"

"Wow… I…" he babbled. His cock, however, knew exactly how to react and created a bump in his pants.

"Yeah man, that's why I brought you here!" the other encouraged him.

"What's your name, handsome?" I asked, twirling his short black hair.

"Chris."

"Well, Chris, I know how breakups are, you are not just sad, you feel this emptiness as if you can never be happy again," I murmured, "but that's just not true. There's plenty of nice and hot girls out there for a guy like you, just waiting for you to move on. You just need to be reminded of that!" Then, to his ear I whispered: "And I'm great at show and tell!"

"You really think so?" he asked, a little defensively.

"Look, in my job I have to bullshit older, ugly guys all the time, but trust me, I never sit on their laps if they don't pay me good money for it!"

He was mine now.

"So, I say that first we get you up and running for some fun…" I added, calling a waitress, to whom I said: "The most caffeinated drink you have for this dude and one for me too!"

"Finally! Thanks…" his friends approved, realizing that I hadn't told them my name.

"Azure, and you are?"

"Lucas."

"Pleased to meet ya!"

The waitress came back with some energy drink and I chatted with the pair some more, playfully lying on Chris' lap with my legs dangling from one arm of the chair and my elbows on the other. Mostly my goal was to boost Chris' self-esteem. For example, I praised the fact that he had good tastes for clothes. When he was more awake and confident, I made my move:

"Did you know that we can get a room all for ourselves for an hour? We could go there, away from this racket, and turn this night around! I could dance for you, wearing only my birthday suit, but we can also chat…" I said and then, whispering to his ear: "… And you get to touch me a little!"

Chris looked at Lucas: he wanted it, but he was still a little unsure.

"And we can find a nice girl for your friend too, so that he doesn't get bored all alone here. Besides, this way you can split the cost," I quickly added.

Offers, I kept forgetting how powerful offers are for selling things! In this club the private room had a fixed cost, but the fee for the entertainment was according to the number of girls and customers inside. So they wouldn't really pay half each, but I had been vague enough not to make them angry when they would discover that. Besides, I could always play the newbie card.

Anyhow, Lucas was now looking at me with renovated interest.

"How do you like 'em?" I asked mischievously, jiggling my boobs a little with my hands.

"Ah, I…"

"What about her?" I interrupted him, when I spotted Lotus coming out of the changing rooms, pointing my finger at her.

"She's hot!"

"Hey, Lotus!" I called, waving with my hand.

She came immediately:

"Are you busy? These two guys are in dire need of some fun and he finds you hot!" I said pointing my finger at Lucas. "I thought we could get ourselves a room!"

Her answer was to approach Lucas and sit on his lap.

"You think I'm hot?" she whispered to him.

"I have a thing for Asians," was his cringe-making answer.

She pretended to be flattered anyway.

"How much does it cost?" Chris asked.

The proper answer should have been "a ton". Would I really be able to sell it? Was anyone willing to spend that much just to buy my time?

"I don't have that amount of cash with me," Chris weakly complained.

"Isn't there like an ATM around?" I casually asked Lotus.

"Yeah, just ask the girl at the wardrobe."

I couldn't believe it, but ten minutes later I found myself in this red-lit room, with a big padded sofa, a small stage with a pole at the center and a big mirror on the opposite wall. As the guys were getting comfortable on their chairs, we decided what music to play: there was a touch screen with which we could choose among a few playlists and we also had a remote for the volume.

"Remember, go super slow, we have to last an hour here. We don't have to dance all the time, but still don't rush it," Lotus whispered.

It was deeply grateful for that: I had not idea of what I was doing!

"You comfy with kissing and touching me? Lucas told me he is into lesbian shows."

Was I? I had never done anything like it, but I was there for an adventure, wasn't I?

"Yeah, no problem."

As the music started, I let Lotus take the lead and we danced together. It was so awkward! We had totally different styles and no coordination with each other whatsoever. So, I did what Dana had told me to do anytime I found myself in an embarrassing situation: I giggled. The guys actually enjoyed it: the trick worked best on insecure or sporadic ones, since it made us less intimidating.

"Wanna join, you smart-asses?" I provoked them, but in a friendly way, holding a laugh.

"Hell no! This is more fun!" Lucas replied amused, raising his hands.

It took a little while, but eventually we started understanding each other and we managed to put up a sexy show.

"Hey, Azure, let's strip each other, what do you think?" Lotus proposed, looking at the guys, though, who approved: Chris was into girl-on-girl action too.

So she went behind me and began to move her hands over my body, as I swayed a little, biting my lip and giving sultry gazes to the two men. All of a sudden she kissed my neck, and I closed my eyes in fake bliss.

"Oh, yeah, lick it, Lotus!" I heard my mouth say.

She did with no hesitation, making me shiver. I wasn't into women, so why was I so suddenly aroused? Perhaps it was because I felt like I was in one of the lesbian porn scenes I used to watch.

Lotus was now ruffling my hair, while one hand slid on my thighs and then on my ass. There, she started moving it back and forth under my dress. At first, I didn't realize what that was supposed to mean, but then I realized: she was pretending to finger me! So I moaned and looked at the guys, who were almost drooling.

When the third song started, Lotus finally lowered down my zipper.

"Nice!" Chris commented, happy about his purchase.

I was about to thank him, when Lotus preceded me:

"See, Azure, even if this has been a rough night and no one tipped you on stage, you are great at this!" she said, pretending to encourage me.

Lucas took the hint and put a banknote under the elastic of my panties. Tips! I had totally forgotten about them!

"Thank you, babe!" I replied with a big smile. "This is so cool!" I added honestly, caressing the bill on my hip.

Now it was my turn. Lotus was wearing a black dress with a fishnet running along the sides. So I went on my knees and I pretended to touch her a little. Then, I started to kiss her inner thigh and slowly pull up the dress, all the while I looked at the guys in a slutty way. As the hem went up, I crawled around her, still giving pecks to her toned legs, until I was behind her. I made a big show of me kissing her ass and then I went for her lower back, making my way to her neck along her spine as I undressed her. She had a nice, delicate smell.

Money now decorated her lingerie too and we split, in order to dance in our underwear on the guys' laps. They were both turned on as hell. Chris was mesmerized by my tattoo: I was so proud of it! Getting my octopus had been the best decision I ever made!

"Put it in between my boobs!" I moaned, kissing him on the neck, as he was about to tip me again. "I want money all over my body!"