Chapter One

Why am I doing this?

I asked myself as I sat in front of my dressing room mirror, totally bored and a little ashamed.

"Reggie, you're up!" my lousy boss, Archie, called to me from outside my room.

"Tt's Regina…" I yelled back as I shook my head in frustration.

"Whatever," he yelled back. He knew my name, but he thought that he "owned" me for some strange reason.

I huffed and stood up from my seat. I grabbed my satin robe, put it on and walked to the stage. Just before my song is cued I disrobed and threw the garment onto the floor. Next, I stepped onto a tiny elevator, which slowly brought me up to the stage. The crowd erupted in applause for me.

Get jazzy on it

I'm that flight that you get on, international
First class seat on my lap girl, riding comfortable

'Cause I know what the girl them need,
New York to Haiti
I got lipstick stamps on my passport,
You make it hard to leave
Been around the world, don't speak the language
But your booty don't need explaining
All I really need to understand is
When you talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Talk dirty to me
Get jazzy on it

Like a programmed robot, I plastered a fake and seductive smile on my face. The fakest one I could muster. I confidently sashayed to the center of the stage and explicitly crouched down in front of the crowd. Almost immediately, the "gentlemen" visitors of the club threw money at me. Not to me. I cringed, but I needed this job to survive. So I eagerly collected the measly offerings they gave me which almost never amounted to much. I collected it nonetheless still with a pearly white, fake smile.

I kept dancing and began to remove more clothing from the little I did have on. The guys hooted and hollered for me. There were even some catcalls too.

XXXXX

Why am I being dragged here?

I asked myself as I tousled my long, blonde hair with my long fingers.

"You guys know this isn't my scene, right?"

"Shut up, Swan…Live a little,' Ruby cackled at me.

I shrugged my shoulders and followed my friends into the dark and dank strip club. The lights were low and I really couldn't see a thing except for the illuminated stage.

The woman who was "performing" had her back to the audience as she wiggled her backside. While she was doing that, my friends and I found an empty table close to the stage. They got settled and looked excited. I wasn't excited. Intrigued, a little, but definitely not excited. I had a feeling something was about to happen in my young adulthood. Not to give my friends the satisfaction of being partially right, I lazily sat in the chair with my legs and arms crossed.

My attention was on the stage as the young woman began to turn around. I first noticed her gorgeous, shoulder length black hair. The woman seemed to be shorter than me even in the high heels she was wearing. I noticed the woman's hourglass, petite figure next and it was breathtaking. When the woman turned around, my green eyes penetrated her brown eyes instantly. The woman faltered with her moves for a quick second because she saw my staring. The other patrons didn't notice or were too inebriated to notice. But I did as I smiled slyly at her quickly. I felt something the second we saw each other. This intrigued me more.

XXXXX

With the woman's eyes on me, I began to expand the routine more. I walked over to the golden pole, which stood tall in the center of the stage. I never did any moves on the pole, but I wanted to impress the blonde for some reason so I grabbed it with two hands and hoisted myself up. I managed to maneuver myself upside down as my grip on the pole tightened. I surprised even myself by doing this. I felt bold enough to let go of the pole with one hand and massage my breasts, but not for long. The men in the establishment were going wild with my show. I, on the other hand, was getting lightheaded. I quickly turned back into the upright position and slowly and sexily brushed my body against the pole as I lowered myself. Once I was on my two feet, I leaned back forcibly. This unfortunately made me loose my grip on the pole and I fell backwards. I landed on my behind, embarrassed by what I attempted. Before the men realized my snafu, I thrusted my lower half up with my legs spread apart. I saw the woman's concern on her face, but then she probably thought it was part of my routine.

By that time, the song was over, so I quickly rose to my feet, grabbed the remaining money off of the stage and ran off. There were some disappointed customers, but I was just too embarrassed.

When I was back in my dressing room, I slammed the door closed, threw my money down and yelled, "Shit!" I then rubbed my behind where I fell on it. "That's going to leave a mark," I chastised myself. I took a few deep, calming breathes. On the last one, there was a pounding on my door.

"Ugh, come in," I said impatiently as I sat down carefully on the cushioned seat.

"Regina," the assistant asked hesitantly.

"What do you want?" I barked.

"Someone wants a private dance," the assistant replied as she walked up to me and handed me an almost blank piece of paper. It had the number 2 on it. The assistant swiftly turned around and ran out of there quickly.

"Really? I did fall onto my ass…Maybe he thinks that I'll fall into his crotch. Ugh, I hate this place," I pouted as I got up from the chair, fixed my hair a little and plastered another fake smile on my face.

I walked confidently over to the private rooms and found the second one…

XXXXX

"Am I nuts for doing this?" I asked nervously myself as I waited for the beautiful dancer to arrive at the assigned room.

"I don't want a dance from her. I want to get to know her," I said as a reminder as to why I found myself in a darkly lit room, sitting on a sofa that probably could use a good cleaning.

"This is stupid. I should go," I said as I got to my feet.

Just then the door flew open and the woman of my newly discovered desires walked in.

"Hey, honey, you requested a dance," the woman asked meanly. She hadn't looked up yet.

"Um, yes, er, kinda," I responded meekly.

The woman's head shifted up as she heard the sweetest voice she has ever heard.

She smiled brightly and said, "Oh, this is gonna be fun!"

XXXXX

"Well, hello, Beautiful," I said as I sauntered up to the tall blonde. When we inches apart, I tested the waters by putting my hands on her upper chest by her heart. 'Wow, your heart's beatin' fast, why don't you sit down?"

I gently pushed her down and immediately straddled her lap. When I was as comfortable as I was going to get, we locked eyes again for the second time.

She quickly brushed the falling hair from my eyes.

"Um," I said caught off guard.

"Oh, was I allowed to do that? Are there rules?"

"No, honey, no rules. Just froze for a second," I said as I kept looking into her gorgeous eyes.

Quickly, I remembered why we are in that disgusting room. I stood up and immediately spread her legs apart. I backed myself into her until I couldn't go any further. I then leaned backwards and my back hit her chest. I began to grind on top of her. I began fast, but just as I assumed, she got into it. So I slow down my pace. I began to moan, which was something I didn't do at all. It was kind of embarrassing, but neither of us cared at point.

"Um, what's your name?" she asked me as she panted heavily.

"Regina," I moaned back.

"You're beautiful, really, you are, but…"

"But what," I asked with a small smile on my face.

"This wasn't why I wanted to meet you in here," she said honestly.

I froze. Like frozen solid. "Oh, why did you want to meet me in here," I asked really not knowing why.

"I, um, I…" she stuttered.

"Oh," I said. I wanted to use her name, but I didn't know it. As if she sensed that she said, "Emma."

I smiled at Emma and said, "I don't do that here, for um, money."

"You don't have conversations with new people? That's why I wanted to meet you, Regina, honest to God," Emma said as she raised her hand in the air.

I was shocked. "You wanna get to know me?"

"Yes, definitely," she said humbly.

"Why?"

"Why not," Emma said as she shrugged her shoulders, "I, um, I mean. I'd like to, if you are open it. Ya know, to gettin' to know each other. You just seem like somebody I should become friends with."

I was apprehensively. No one has actively pursued me before. I didn't know how to feel or what that would look like. "Listen, Honey…"

"Emma," she corrected me.

"Listen, Emma, why don't you give me your number and I'll call you, k?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. You gotta go back out there," Emma said shyly. She scribbled her number down and hand me the paper. "I hope you call."

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Song: "Talk Dirty to Me" – Jason DeRulo