"Vegas? You're getting married in Las Vegas?"
Diane smiled at her friend as she laid back in her chair and pulled on a pair of red, heart shaped sunglasses to shield her emerald green eyes from the Cancun sun. "Oh, Shell, you know I always wanted to get married in Las Vegas in one of those chapels by a guy dressed like Elvis! I've talked about that since we've been kids. Even you thought it would be cool."
Shelly shook her head and replied, "Well that was before I knew my father was going to be the groom!"
The two girls, laying on lounge chairs on the beach in front of their hotel, had indeed been friends since they were seven years old. Upon their high school graduation Shelly, the more responsible one, had gone off to college, while Diane, a smart, but somewhat undisciplined party girl, had gotten a job at the local Hooters. They had reunited in the fall when Diane started a relationship with Shelly's forty year old, divorced father. The couple's first night together had a bit of a whoops and Diane was now five months pregnant with Shelly's soon-to-be half sibling.
Shelly had been horrified at the relationship at first, but while home over Christmas break, had begun to accept the situation. For the last five years her dad, Doug, had raised her alone after her mom divorced him and took off to the West Coast to start a new life. Shelly knew it hadn't been easy for him, especially after she had left for college. Now, living with Diane, and seeing the chance to expand his family, her father seemed happier than he had in, well, a decade.
And Shelly had to admit that the situation seemed to be good for Diane too. She'd had the reputation as the school slut growing up, but since she'd gotten pregnant and moved in with Doug, she stopped drinking and become, if not a domestic goddess, a responsible significant other to her future husband.
"Di, are you sure you really want to do this?" asked Shelly. "The age difference..."
"Oh, it not as big as some people I heard about," said Diane, "But more importantly, your Dad is one of the few men I ever met that treated me as more than just a pair of legs with big boobs! Don't get me wrong, playing the role of the bimbo in the bedroom or even for a night out on the town can be hot as hell, but being treated as just a fuck toy 24/7 is awful, at least for me. Your dad, when I have an idea, takes it seriously and if it's a good one we run with it. It's so refreshing to have somebody who treats me like I'm more than just irresponsible 12-year old."
"Like this wedding," she continued. " I figured If it was going to be a destination wedding, Las Vegas makes a lot of sense. The airfare and hotel are pretty cheap and the casino and shows will give people something to do rather than just coming for the ceremony and Doug agreed. Besides since this is his second wedding and my first, so Daddy says I should be able to choose...."
"Can you not call him that when I'm around!" moaned Shelly. "He's my real dad, you know!"
Diane giggled, "Sorry, I forgot!"
Doug, carrying three drinks, returned from the hotel bar. "A Pina Colada for you," he said, handing a drink to Shelly, "and a Shirley Temple for you," passing a glass to Diane.
It hadn't been Shelly's plan to spend spring break with her father and Diane in Cancun, but her college love life had sadly been lacking. Shelly had never paid much attention to boys in high school, instead involving herself in sports and studying. She'd been content to just listen to Diane's often crazy sexual exploits.
Now in college, however, she found herself wanting a boyfriend. There was no reason on the surface she shouldn't have attracted male attention. While she didn't have a playboy centerfold body like the brunette Diane, she was an attractive girl with vivid blue eyes and long, straight blond hair and a nice, if more athletic, figure.
However, unlike her vivacious friend, Shelly was shy and bookish and always felt awkward around the opposite sex. She'd had a couple hook ups in her first semester at college, but no fulfilling relationships and nobody she wanted to spend time with on spring break. When her father and Diane had invited her to join them in Cancun, she decided it was better than just moping around the dorm for a week, alone.
Shelly had never really been jealous of Diane's success with boys growing up, but now on the Cancun beach, she found their attention to her friend annoying. Diane, despite being obviously pregnant, was wearing one of her typical micro bikinis (really just three tiny, bright red triangles of fabric connected by what seemed to be dental floss). Her slightly swollen, but well tanned belly, instead of putting off guys, seemed to intrigue them, and several college aged men had stopped and engaged her in conversation, apparently mistaking Doug as a father vacationing with his two daughters. Diane was always polite, but firm in rejecting their interest, and Doug seemed to find the whole thing amusing. In fact, Shelly suspected, he was a bit proud of having a fiancΓ© that was the center of so much male attention.
"It's a small wedding. There's only going to be a handful guests," continued Diane. "Mostly just Daddy's- ah, I mean Doug's family or good friends from work. I also asked Jill from high school and my mom and stepdad. And of course you, as maid of honor, and whoever you want to bring."
Shelly avoided talking about her lack of a boyfriend, instead asking about Diane's stepdad. "Your letting Bob come? Why? He's was such a creep to you!"
She had never met, or even seen a picture of Diane's stepdad, but had gotten plenty of stories about him brushing up against his stepdaughter, coping a feel or walking in on her in the shower.
"If I didn't, I'll never hear the end of it from my mom," Diane replied. "I told her I want them to stay at a different hotel, however. I don't want to have to see Bob anymore than I have to."
***
The next time the two had a chance for a long conversation in person was the night before the wedding at the steakhouse in the Luxor Hotel in Vegas. The guy's were taking Doug out for a night on the town and Shelly, Jill and Diane's mom were supposed to take Diane to dinner. Unfortunately, Jill was ill from jetlag and begged off. Also, Diane's mom had another fight with Bob, and didn't feel up to eating, so it was just the two girls.
"I can't believe mom and Bob had a fight here in Vegas," said Diane," you think they could just enjoy getting away from home for the weekend, if nothing else."
"Forget about them," said Shelly. "This is your last night as a free woman! Let's do something crazy."
"How crazy can I get?" Diane replied. "I'm seven months pregnant and not allowed to drink."
"Well, the guys are living it up. I think they are taking a my dad to a strip club."
"That's an idea," said Diane, "we could go to a strip club."
"I don't think there are any clubs with male strippers around here, and the only women who go to regular strip clubs are lesbians."
"That not true," said Diane, "When I was dancing there were lot of married women who-"
"What?" interrupted Shelly, "You danced at a strip club? I thought you worked for Hooters."
"Oh, I guess I never told you that," said Diane. "It was just for weekends in the summer last year. This guy I was seeing had a friend that managed the 'Puss 'n Boots' downtown. He was desperate for more girls and convinced me I could make some good money, and just out of school I really needed the cash."
"How did you learn to dance?" Shelly asked. "I took a pole dancing exercise class at school first semester and it isn't easy!"
Diane laughed, "I bought a portable practice pole from Amazon, set it up in my mom's basement and watched a lot of You Tube videos about it. I was actually fairly good by the end of the summer, though not as professional as some of the girls who had been at it for years."
"Didn't you find the job... well, degrading?" asked Shelly. "What about your privacy?"
"Actually once you got over the idea of being naked in front of a crowd, it was a lot of fun. I mean you got a room full of guys who are clapping and hollering in excitement at you just because they get to see you in nothing but your birthday suit. Plus, I enjoyed buying and wearing sexy little outfits to strip out of. I admit, it can have its downside. There are a few creeps in the audience, but everybody uses a stage name so they don't know who we really are. I was 'Heather Flannigan.' I left when the crowds did at the end of the summer, but I don't regret working there, though it's not for everybody," Diane related.
"Have you told my dad?"
"Oh sure," Diane replied. "I don't keep anything from him. In fact, I set my pole up in his basement and sometimes we'll do a role play where he's a well-heeled customer and I'm working the pole and he offers me a big tip to - "
"That's my dad, Di! Too much information!" interrupted Shelly, covering her eyes.
"Sorry. For a moment it felt like we were back in high school talking in my bedroom."
Suddenly Shelly looked up. "Okay, let's do it! Let's get a cab and go to a club. Just make sure it's not the one the men are at!"
***
In a half-hour the cab deposited them in from of a building with a sign showing a nearly naked cowgirl outlined in neon. The club was named "The Titty Twister." They entered, found a table and ordered some drinks. The club was large, with two stages. At the closest stage a girl was working the audience wearing only sparkly high heels. Currency of various denominations littered the stage floor.
"How much can you make a night?" whispered Shelly.
"On a good night you could pull in close to a grand," replied Diane. "However, you had to pay the club, plus tip the DJ and bouncers, so you didn't take it all home."
"You paid the club? Why weren't they paying you?"