Kelly grumbled as she sat in the back of The Dirty Turkey Tavern. She was explaining to her boss, Sharon, that she had canceled her trip to visit a few in-state colleges when she received a letter that she was not getting a grant she had been counting on. Her family was poor, and she was not sure she was willing to take on loans.
Sharon glared at the girl, but she softened as she saw tears in Kelly's eyes.
"I may not be able to go to college at all now, Sharon. I need to somehow come up with thousands of dollars or take out huge loans. I don't know what to do." Kelly felt a tear roll down the side of her face.
"Kelly, you're my most popular waitress. No matter what happens you will always have a place at my bar. I'd love to help you talk this out but I'm dealing with an emergency of my own here." Sharon checked her watch again and eyed the business phone on her desk. Still no ring. Sharon had called the number she was given for Crystal several times, but it kept going straight to voicemail.
Kelly looked on with interest, glad for this momentary distraction from her woes.
"What's wrong? Anything I can help with?"
"Not unless you want to..." Sharon stopped in her tracks as her mind started working. Maybe Kelly could help her out of this jam. "You were supposed to be out of town right now, right?"
"Yeah. Me and my dad were going to stop by a couple of colleges. I was supposed to get back tomorrow night." Kelly began to sulk again.
The wheels continued to turn. Sharon looked Kelly up and down, taking in all of her. Upon noticing this Kelly blushed and pulled her arms up to her chest. Sharon didn't have time to worry about being subtle. Kelly had beautiful, long brunette hair that she usually let hang free. Currently it was in a ponytail. Her skin was a bit pale, she could use a bit of a tan, but she had a glow showing she took good care of her skin. She was a bit short at only 5'3", but that was fine. Some guys prefer short girls. She was very athletic. Sharon had let Kelly change in her office a couple of times. Nothing improper, Kelly usually wore a modest sports bra under her blouse, but Sharon had seen enough to know that Kelly kept in good shape. While Sharon couldn't be sure of Kelly's bust size, she knew they were at the very least a C. She always had them constrained in the sports bra. Her butt was nice as well, Sharon was not a lesbian, but she could go either way, and she had found herself staring at Kelly's ass a hundred times. If Sharon was honest it was part of the reason she hired Kelly in the first place.
Kelly had recently graduated high school and was hoping to attend college soon. If this 18-year-old knock out was as desperate for money as she sounded, tonight might be even more lucrative for Sharon than she had initially thought.
"Does anyone else know you are still in town?"
Kelly thought for a moment. She looked at the ceiling and brought her index finger to her lips. She had a few ditsy habits like that, the male customers loved them. Kelly was far from a bimbo, she was actually rather smart and would certainly do well in college, but appearing to be a bit of a bimbo did wonders for a cute girl working in a low end bar.
"Well Daddy knows, obviously. He was going with me. So, Mom and Danny know as well. I haven't told anyone else. I actually only left the house to come here. I was hoping to pick up a shift."
Sharon recalled that Danny was her little brother. A high schooler going into his senior year with a reputation for pulling mean pranks. At least that is what Kelly said about him.
"So other than your direct family everyone thinks you are out of town today and tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I think so." Kelly looked puzzled.
"Here's the deal, Kelly." Sharon looked serious and Kelly sat up straight, paying close attention. "I'm having a bit of a special event tonight. It's not something I have done before, but you know the bar's profits have been suffering lately. I have to do whatever I can to find new streams of revenue and get our name out there."
Kelly nodded her head hanging on every word.
"A group of men have rented out the bar tonight for a bachelor party. They are doing it up big. They've paid me a lot of money up front, and I took the party planning on myself. I was planning to work the party alone tonight as the bartender and hostess, but there may be something you can do."
Kelly's face lit up. This sounded exciting and interesting. She knew her highly religious parents would not like her working a bachelor party, they just barely tolerated her being a waitress at a bar, but what they didn't know couldn't hurt them.
"I hired a... dancer... named Crystal to... uh... entertain the guys. She was supposed to be here half an hour ago. I've called her 10 times, but it keeps going to voicemail. The guys are supposed to be here in less than thirty minutes, and I have no entertainment. This is a disaster!"
"So, what can I do?"
"I need a replacement dancer! There isn't time to hire a new one. An... uh... exotic dancer." Sharon stared hard at Kelly's face as it dawned on her.
"ME!?!" Kelly jumped to her feet. "No way. Uh uh. I could never do that. My family would disown me! Also it's just gross!" Kelly stomped her foot and crossed her arms to add emphasis.
Sharon quickly jumped up and put her hand on Kelly's arm to calm her down. "Just hear me out. It's not as crazy as you think. I will pay you your normal wages, plus you get to keep all the tips you receive. Hell, I'll even throw in half the tips from the bar. I would be surprised if you didn't make more than a grand in a few hours of work. You need money, right? For school? This will pay for a lot of classes."
Sharon watched Kelly for any lowering of her resistance. Kelly looked up, biting her bottom lip. She had calmed down considerably.
"I appreciate the offer but it's just not something I can do. Everyone in this town knows me. Our family has been here forever. It would totally ruin my reputation. And I'm just not comfortable with it." Kelly looked apologetically at Sharon.
"What if no one knew it was you?"
"There's no way. Everyone in town knows the Slaters. Whose bachelor party is it anyway?"
"Look at this." Sharon dragged Kelly behind her desk and took a Mardi Gras mask out of her drawer. It was silver and covered with feathers. "You can wear this all night, and remember, everyone thinks Kelly Slater is out of town. No one would ever suspect you. Only a handful of guys will even be here."
"Why don't you do it, then?" Kelly looked on suspiciously and a little desperate.
"If I was ten years younger I would, Girl. I'm on the wrong side of 40. These boys aren't paying good money for a saggy middle-aged woman." Sharon lifted and dropped her sizable breasts for comedic effect. Kelly giggled but thought Sharon was being a bit harsh. She was still a beautiful woman.
Sharon grabbed Kelly by both shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes. "I'm in a real bind here, Kel. I don't seem to have any other choice here. Please, do this for me and not only will you get at least a thousand dollars tonight, but I'll look for ways to continue helping you financially in the future. We gotta look out for each other."
The warmth and desperation in Sharon's voice was tearing Kelly's heart in half. Sharon had been like a second mother for the past year. Always there to listen and give advice. Every fiber of Kelly's being was telling her this was a terrible mistake, but she was being worn down.