“You here to audition?” The woman looked Jillian up and down, and Jillian’s eyes widened.
“No.” Conner chuckled. “We need you to work that magic thing you do when husbands don’t want their wives to know what they’re up to.”
A wicked smile spread across her ruby red lips as she arched a pointed eyebrow.
“It’ll cost you.” She looked at Jillian.
“This isn’t her scene, Cherry.” Conner tilted his head. “We just need to use the Wi-Fi without anyone tracing her credit cards.”
“Fine.” Cherry rolled her eyes and held out her open hand. “Card and ID, please.”
Jillian pulled out her wallet and produced the card. Cherry took it and turned to her computer screen, entering all the information.
“How much do you want?”
“We need a private room where she can plug in her laptop, preferably a quiet one where she can make a phone call should the need arise.” Conner leaned on the counter. “Also, we’re going to need to borrow a phone. So, if one of the girls wants to make some easy money and is willing to share her phone, that would be swell.”
“Champagne room is going to be fifteen-hundred.”
“Is that okay?” Conner looked at Jillian, who nodded, seeing as she was still twenty grand away from her spending limit for the month. The girl’s fingers clacked over her keyboard so fast they almost blurred.
“Private dancer for…” Cherry looked up from her screen. “how long would you say you guys will be?”
“Only a few minutes.” Conner peeked at her screen.
“The shortest dance for the champagne room is fifteen minutes.” Cherry cracked her knuckles.
“That’s fine.” Jillian’s mouth ran dry.
Her father might have shut her cards off, but she thought it more likely that he would be waiting to see if she would use it somewhere. Cherry clacked away at her keyboard and then handed the card back.
“Your total came to two-thousand fifty-two dollars and seventy-two cents. It will be posted to your card under Randy’s Candies, which is our owner’s bulk candy factory in New Jersey.”
“You’re the best.” Conner held out his fist, and Cherry bumped it with hers. Turning to Jillian, he smiled. “You ready?”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready.” Jillian pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let’s just get this over with.”
As they walked in, there was a colossal surfboard-shaped stage in the center of the room. Small circular tables and chairs were scattered around, and only a few of them were occupied. The mocha-skinned beauty on stage wore a bikini top and a floor-length mesh skirt with thong underwear underneath. Around her shoulders hung a massive albino python that seemed content to be an accessory to whatever was going on.
The girl's hips swayed hypnotically, and Jillian found herself questioning her original assumptions about the nature of this business. A bare-breasted woman hung upside down, suspended by long, silk sheets that she rolled herself up in only to let herself fall, spinning her way down with the grace of a spider repelling from the ceiling.
“It’s more like a burlesque theater than a strip club.” Conner rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t want to try to explain it before you saw it for yourself because you always seem to think I’m full of shit.”
“And this is where you come to unwind?” Jillian looked back at the belly dancer on stage.
“What? No!” He snorted and cracked up laughing. “When I first came to town, I saw a girl getting attacked by some creep. I helped her out, and she hooked me up with a job as a bouncer. That’s how I survived until I met the guys.”
“Right this way, please.” A man in his mid-twenties wearing a generous amount of eye-shadow and teal button-up shirt approached them. “Your champagne room is ready.”
“Thank you.” Jillian smiled, shaking her head as they followed their host up some stairs to a loft area that overlooked the stage. Sitting down on the red velvet sofa, Conner opened up the backpack and set up the laptop, knowing just where to find the nearest plug-in.
“Mother fucker,” Conner grumbled, looking behind the sofa. “Alex always forgets to vacuum back here.”
As the computer booted up, Jillian entered buttercup into the password field and connected to the Wi-Fi. She opened her email and began a new message to her father.
Dear Dad,
“Nice and informal.” Conner gave her two thumbs up.
“Now, I need to clear the air a little bit but also let him know that I have documented proof of everything I’m accusing him of.” Jillian bit her lip.
I’m sorry about the damage done to your office. I know I can’t replace your beloved fish, but I do have the hard drive of your computer backed up in its entirety. I’m happy to send that to you so that you don’t lose any essential records or e-mails. I will keep a copy handy, just in case your computer ever crashes again.
“Nice.” Conner chuckled. “That could totally be written off as completely innocent at a glance.”
“That’s what we’re going for.” Jillian continued. “But I also want to scare him a little bit.”
I’m going to be moving into my own place. I’m not sure what I’m going to do for a job yet, but I was thinking about being a freelance journalist. My college English teacher said I was talented, but I’m not sure if it’s what I want to do with my life. Attached is a little article I wrote that I was thinking of submitting to a few local publications to see if anyone might be interested. I haven’t decided yet.
“Damn,” Conner smirked. “You’re so sweet, even when you’re being savage.”
“That’s politics.” She shrugged. “You have to figure out how to fuck people over in such a way that they thank you for it. I’m still
