Chapter One
Janice pulled into the Beach House parking lot at eight o'clock sharp. According to Mitch, her new boss, she had to be dressed and on the club's main floor by eight-thirty to avoid a fifty-dollar dock. She could hardly afford to give even more of her hard-earned money to the bar.
Janice had six months to earn $100,000 at the strip club. According to her college friend, Brooke, the funds would be used to pay back money Janice had stolen from her investment firm's clients. If she failed to raise the money, her thievery would turn up in a company audit, and she would likely end up in jail. That was not something she was about to let happen.
To hit her deadline, Janice would need to earn about four-thousand dollars every week. According to Harmony, another dancer at the club, the girls usually took home around $500 each night, more on the weekends and less on weekdays. Janice would have to do better than that if she hoped to pay back the stolen money prior to the looming audit. She wasn't sure how she would accomplish such a feat, but she was never one to shy away from a challenge.
On her first night at the club, Janice only made $150. Granted, she spent most of the evening waiting for an audition and still had to pay tip-out. She danced several times and even gave her first lap dance, a repulsive experience that made her desire a shower.
Janice grabbed her suitcase from the back of her car. She had used her lunch hour to purchase several dancer outfits and two pairs of platform heels. There was no way she was going to spend another night in the ridiculous string bikini she had worn during her tryout.
"Hey, Paris," the guy guarding the front door said greeting Janice with her newly acquired dancer name.
"Hi," Janice replied as she rushed through the lobby. She didn't know the man's name and had no desire to learn it.
Just as Janice had made it past the row of fish tanks separating the main door from the rest of the club, she ran into Harmony who offered an unsolicited hug. Harmony was wearing a white cutoff T-shirt with black booty shorts and ripped fishnet stockings.
"Hey, girl," Harmony said. "I'll help you get ready." She took Janice's hand and led her to the dressing room.
Even though Janice preferred solitude as she prepped for her first full night as a stripper, she accepted Harmony's assistance. The redhead helped Janice pick out a locker, introduced her to some of the other girls in the dressing room, and even offered some advice as to what Janice should wear out on the floor.
Janice took Harmony's input in stride and chose a plaid schoolgirl skirt with a black bra and a white front-tie crop top. Harmony wanted to put Janice's raven hair in pigtails, but the look was more cliché than Janice could stomach.
"Oh," Harmony said as they checked Janice's outfit in the mirror. "I've got some good news."
"You do?" Janice returned still not sure about her new best friend's intentions.
"Yeah," Harmony said. "Darryl's coming tonight. He said he'd like you to sit with us."
"Darryl?" Janice asked hopefully. "He's a customer?"
"Yeah," Harmony answered. "He usually hangs out with several of us. He buys us drinks all night, and he tips pretty well too."
"He tips?" Janice asked. "How much?"
"You are all about the money," Harmony joked. "Good for you."
"How much?" Janice asked again impatiently.
"It depends," Harmony returned without missing a beat. "He usually gives each of us a hundred dollars at the end of the night. He tips us on stage too."
"One hundred dollars?" Janice scoffed. "And you sit with him all night?"
"It's not like that," Harmony said. "Several of us hang out with him between lap dances and stage shows. We can still make money from other customers, and...Oh... I forgot. He also pays our tip-out."
"Wow," Janice said. She inspected herself in the mirror. "Thanks, Harmony. I can't believe you did that for me. That's so sweet."
"Anytime," Harmony answered graciously. She wrapped her arm around Janice's shoulders. "We all need a little help when we're just getting started. You can pass it on to the next girl."
"When does Darryl get here?" Janice asked hoping to get down to business. She wasn't about to discuss passing anything on.
"He's out there now," Harmony exclaimed. "Let's go. I'll introduce you."
Janice pulled her short plaid skirt down her thighs even though it barely covered her white panties. She adjusted the front-tie top allowing just enough of her black bra and cleavage to peek through. If she had her way, she would keep everything covered up, but conservatism wasn't going to earn her any money. After a deep breath, she was ready for her first full night as a dancer. The Beach House's newest entertainer hated what she had to do, but it was the only way she would get her life back.
"So this is Paris," Darryl said standing up to greet Janice. Darryl was a heavy-set man in his early sixties. His hair was thinning. He used suspenders to keep his pants secured just underneath his gut. His tight blue polo shirt barely tucked into his tattered brown pants.
Janice shook Darryl's hand. His short stubby fingers barely wrapped around Janice's palm. His skin was rough and felt flakey.
Darryl pulled Janice's hand around his back and wrapped his weighty arms around her body. "I'm more of a hugger," he joked in a raspy voice. "Truth be told, I'm more of a fucker, but we'll get to that later."
Despite her best efforts to appear cordial, Janice winced as Darryl compressed his large belly into her abs. She felt his hands sliding down her back below her crop top and making their way to her ass. She tried to step out of the hug but failed to maneuver away before his hands slipped under her plaid skirt and clenched onto her ass cheeks.
"Oh, wow," Janice said not sure how else to protest Darryl's advance.
"Leave the new girl alone," another dancer sitting at the table joked. "I'm Bella," the blonde said to Janice. Bella, who was wearing a blue thong and matching bikini top stepped between Darryl and Janice. "This your first night?"
"My second," Janice returned as she took as seat between Bella and Harmony directly across from Darryl.
"Fresh meat," Darryl cheered rubbing his hands together. "We gonna do a lap dance later?"
"Sure," Janice said forcing a smile. "I would...I would love that."
Darryl raised his hand for the nearest waitress and ordered a round of shots for everyone. At first, Janice had refused a drink, but he insisted she partake. Watching Harmony and Bella compete for Darryl's attention was a sight to behold. The girls bookended the heavyset guy and cuddled his arms. He took full advantage of their positioning rubbing his hands up their respective thighs and between their legs. Janice was shocked at how the girls let Darryl handle them so openly.
Even though it was still early, there were already quite a few patrons in the club. Janice thought about matriculating among the other guys but opted instead to hold her ground. If nothing else, she would be able to get a better sense for how things worked at the Beach House.
The girls chatted with each other for a few minutes while Darryl mindlessly ran his hands over Harmony's and Bella's bodies. Janice thought it was almost amusing how the two girls could talk about everything from movies to shopping while some strange guy mercilessly groped them. It was as if they didn't even notice his sausage fingers traversing their bare skin.
"I'm up next," Bella said as Ted, the same deejay from the night before, called her name. Bella gave Darryl a big hug and kissed him on the cheek. "You'll save my seat for me. Won't you, dear?"
"I don't know," Darryl said. "You better hurry back. I don't want to get lonely."
"You're such a bad boy," Bella joked before scampering away from the table toward the deejay booth.
Darryl watched Bella's stride carefully as her ass cheeks slid side to side over her blue thong strap. He shook his head and grinned as Bella extended herself into the sound booth. She stood on her tiptoes and clenched her legs and ass as she extended up the wall separating Ted from the rest of the club.
Eventually, Darryl lost interest in Bella and turned his attention back to the table. "Why don't you keep me company?" Darryl asked Janice wiggling his brows repeatedly. He patted his hand on the seat Bella had recently occupied. With each pat, he momentarily rested his hand in the indention left by Bella's ass.
"He can't stop feeling her up even after she's gone," Janice thought.
Janice looked over at Harmony, who motioned her head toward the empty seat. "Join us," Harmony begged with a smile as she leaned her head on Darryl's shoulder. "Darryl's in charge of keeping us warm tonight."
Janice knew why Darryl wanted her to move next to him, and it had nothing to do with keeping her warm. "Actually," She said. "I have to use the restroom really quick. Then we can get closer."
Janice jumped up from her seat and headed around the club's upper deck toward the bar area. As she walked away, she imagined Darryl staring at her ass just as he had done with Bella. Janice was thankful for her schoolgirl skirt even if it was shorter than anything she would normally wear in public.
As Janice passed the bar, one of several guys standing around waiting for drinks gave her a quick pat on the ass. Even by strip club standards, this was a creepy man. He was a thin guy with long scraggly gray hair and a wiry beard. He wore an old t-shirt and jeans along with gaudy plastic sunglasses. Typically, Janice would have decked a guy for such behavior; at this moment, all she wanted to do was get to the restroom. She needed a minute to catch her breath, and she didn't want to spend another second with Sunglasses Man.
Janice ran into the restroom and to the same stall where she stripped off her business dress the evening before. A couple of other dancers were standing by the sink arguing about a customer, but Janice didn't pay them any mind. As she tried to close the door, she remembered the broken latch. Instead of wedging the door shut as she did previously, she just leaned her back against the stall gate and dropped her head into her hands.
