Like usual I woke up about 1AM. But this wasn't going to be a usual night. Instead of laying awake for an hour or more trying to get back to sleep I had a plan.
I listened carefully to make sure Tom was sleeping soundly, then went into the living room where I had hidden a t-shirt and shorts to put on over my negligee. Tom had surprised me earlier by noticing I was wearing something nice "Have you got a date or something" he sneered. But he didn't act like he thought I was sexy, not even enough for a hug or a kiss at bedtime.
The new bar had opened a few blocks from our apartment three months ago. Unlike the other bars in the area this one had dancers or strippers, whatever they're called. But it surprised me when my friend Lilly told me that Wednesday nights they had an amateur contest. "I didn't win any money, but I sure had a good time Suzie" she told me. "And one customer said he wanted a "private dance" with me but I didn't have the nerve."
"What's a private dance?"
"That's when you go in one of these little rooms there with the customer and dance one song for him alone. They told me I should get about $20 for each dance if I did that."
I was shocked. "Lilly, I could never do that!"
"Suzie, you're awful good-looking. It wouldn't surprise me if you would win the $250 grand prize plus make that much or more doing private dances."
Now only a week later the idea had rolled over and over in my head and gotten bigger like a snowball. Finally I was ready to leave Mr. Sports Channel asleep in bed and go out on my own.
Lilly was waiting for me by the entrance and we went in together.
They had a little room by the door and you couldn't see into the club without going thru a set of heavy curtains, except thru a little window next to a cash register behind a counter. There was a very big beefy man behind the counter and he explained how things worked....
"Go in the locker room and find a locker with a key in it. Put your clothes and purse or whatever in it, lock it and bring me the key. Then I'll mark you down on the rotation to dance and give it to the DJ. When you're called get on one of the stages quick or you'll lose your turn. You get three dances in a row on stage. The customers buy tickets to vote with and if you get more votes than anyone else you get the $250 prize, second place is $150 and third place is $100. We'll give it to you when you leave. If a customer buys you a $5 drink you get $1. That would be a beer. If he buys you a $10 drink you get $3. That would be a mixed drink. If he buys you at $15 drink, that's champagne, you get $5. If a customer asks you for a private dance he has to pay the bartender $5 for the room and then you take him to one of the private rooms along the side opposite the bar. You should charge at least $20 and for a private dance you can leave on or take off any or all of your clothing. You can get close to the customer and even sit on his lap but you should tell the customer to keep his hands to himself. At 3:30 we get everyone back on stage and a quarter to four we announce the winners. Any questions?" He said this so quickly I know he had read it a million times before.
Lilly spoke up "Thank you Sam. Don't you remember me from last week?"
