I went out to the bar, my phone ready. My eyes went straight to where the guy had been standing, but he was gone. I sighed once more, and then focused my attention to the stage as Dai Zee strolled on. She held the audience in the palms of her hands. Soon dollar bills were held high in the air for her to take. One guy wrote something on his ten-dollar bill before he handed it over.
We managed the costume change after the second song without a hitch, and when she walked on as Baby Spice, the crowd roared. As Dai Zee came off stage the second time, they chanted for an encore. The DJ picked his own song, another Spice Girls classic, “Who Do You Think You Are.”
I waited in the dressing room for Dai Zee as she came off stage and took the bills she had collected.
“Oh, my fucking God,” she said.
“You were brilliant.”
“They were mental out there, I couldn’t grab all the notes they were holding out for me.”
“A good queen never does,” Brandon said as he walked into the dressing room, his hands full of notes that Dai Zee had missed. “You were great. I want you back on whenever you’re in town.”
“Really?” Dai Zee threw her arms around Brandon and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, you’re welcome,” Brandon said as he adjusted himself.
Dai Zee still didn’t pick up on it though, she pushed him out of the way and hugged me instead and placed a kiss on my cheek.
“Urgh, you’ve got lipstick on me.”
“Oh, it’s all the rage darling, to be marked by a queen.” I raised an eyebrow and stared until she wiped it away with her thumb. “Let’s get a drink. Do you think I should get back into my catsuit or stay as Baby?”
“Baby,” Brandon said in a hoarse voice.
We hadn’t realised he was still there. Dai Zee giggled and told me we needed to pack up so we could get out of there without forgetting anything. As soon as we got back into the bar, Dai Zee was swamped with compliments. I stepped back to let her have her moment to shine and went to the bar.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I’d forgotten how many times it had gone off when we were in the dressing room. There were several notifications, the majority from the apps I’d signed into. I scrolled through them all until I reached a text message I hadn’t seen. It was an unknown number. I opened it.
Don’t bother sending anymore cards.
My legs gave way, and I was grateful for the bar behind me to stop me from falling. I turned around and called the attention of the barman.
“Two Jacks, no ice.”
I paid as soon as he returned and downed them one after the other. “Another two,” I called out to him.
He narrowed his eyes but served me anyway. I knocked them back as well and thought about ordering more. Except I didn’t have any more cash on me and knew my credit card wouldn’t support the amount of drink I needed.
I scanned the bar and locked eyes with an old bearded guy. He licked his lips and gave a nod to join him. It was time to forget the text message, forget I had a mother and forget I mattered in the world.
Chapter Four
The bed moved. Something warm snaked over me. Breath hit my neck and then something scratched at my neck, a beard. I tried to keep my breathing neutral, but something stiff rubbed up and down my arse crack. I swallowed the vomit which threatened to spill from my mouth and pushed back. Not to take it, but to push it away.
“Morning,” a rough old voice said in my ear. “You up for some more?”
I grabbed the hand that pinched my nipples and threw it off me. The covers were next and I jumped out of bed to see what I had done. I didn’t have a stitch on, but now was not the time to worry about decency. Whoever he was, he needed to go. My hand hid my meat and two veg as I stared at the man in my bed; at least I was in my hotel room.
He looked familiar, so I must have picked him up before I got drunk. He was my usual drunk type: old and bearded. I thought I had standards but, every time I woke up after a night of drinking, I knew I was kidding myself. One day, one day I’d like to wake up next to a good-looking guy closer to my age.
“You gonna stand there or finish what we started last night?” he asked.
Then he licked his lips.
Something threatened to jump from my stomach. I forced the urge to throw up to the side for now.
“Not up for that. I think you better go.”
His face dropped, and then his lip curled. Shit.
“I think you owe me some of that sweet arse after last night.”
I held my breath and went through a couple of scenarios in my head. The easier one was to lie back and think of England. I’d done it before, and in much worse states than this. The second was to lay it on thick and see how far I could push him. I settled on the second option.
“Did we settle up last night? Sorry, I’m a little fuzzy on the details.”
“Settle up?” His brows stitched together.
“Yeah, you paid me, right?”
“I don’t pay for sex, boy.” He drew the covers closer to him.
“I don’t have sex without being paid.”
“I fucking paid you in drink last night, you little shit.”
“That’s all part of the deal. You buy me drinks until I take you back to the hotel.”
“This makes no fucking sense, I fucked your arse last night, and I want another piece before I go home.”
“So, we’ve already done it? Oh good, so you know how much extra it is to do it again.”
I looked him straight in the eyes. I knew I’d confused myself enough with what I’d said, and the way his lip was quivering, I’d done the same to him. Any moment now, he would call me something else and then go.
“I’m not paying any more for your arse. It’s too fucking loose anyway.”
Ouch. I didn’t reply though; I let him have his snipe. I stood my ground and breathed a sigh of relief when he rolled over and climbed out of bed. Away from me. With his back turned, I grabbed the first thing I could find to wear, thankful it wasn’t my uniform, and waited for him.
He grumbled about me under his breath and I picked up on a couple of words. He didn’t look at me when he left the room, but as soon as he was gone, I grabbed the “do not disturb” sign and placed it outside, and then bolted the door closed.
A few seconds later, someone banged on the door. I looked through the peephole to find Danny standing on the other side.
Fuck. I was meant to make sure he got back okay and couldn’t think if or how he had done so. I opened the door and prepared myself for whatever was to come my way.
“Thank fuck it’s you. Morning, Danny.”
“Morning, you arsehole.” He pushed his way into my room. “I can’t believe you ended up with that guy last night. You left me with my suitcase to get back here, on my own, so you could fuck that old guy.”
I dragged my hand down my face, took a breath and realised I’d held it back too long. I rushed to the bathroom and heaved up whatever was in my stomach. There wasn’t much there. My knees gave way, and I collapsed on the floor and rested my head on the toilet.
“Can you get me a glass of water, or something, please?” I pleaded as Danny walked into the bathroom.
“Sort yourself out, I’m out of here.” His nose upturned and, while I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, his look boarded on disgust. The room door closed, and I was left alone.
It took me a while before I stood up and looked in the mirror. I hardly recognised who I’d become. My face was grey, eyes dark. I washed my mouth out with cold water, and then brushed my teeth. With my mouth feeling minty fresh, I stripped out of my clothes and got into the shower. I let the water singe my skin for a moment before I turned it to cold and prayed it would stop me hurting.
It didn’t. I got out, dried off and put some fresh clothes on then walked around the room to check I still had everything. I didn’t see the guy leave with any of my stuff, but I wasn’t sure if he’d done anything while I was asleep.
There was a used condom on the floor, which filled me with disgust and relief at the same time. At least we’d been safe.
With my stuff accounted for, I found my phone and plugged it in. Messages filled my screen. Danny had called and texted me several times to make sure I was okay. The last message had me curious; he’d said Brandon dropped him off at the hotel. I would have to ask him more about Brandon later. If he was talking to me. A message from James too. He’d told me to behave myself. I wanted to reply to tell him he was too late, but he would turn into a mother hen and worry, so I replied with a smiley and left it at that.
Feeling somewhat refreshed, I took the sign off my door, hopeful the cleaners would come by and clean my room, and headed to Danny’s.
He answered after a couple of knocks. He didn’t say anything, and then raised his eyebrows at me.
“I’m sorry about last night,” I whispered.
“Sorry, can’t hear you. Ringing in my ears from the bar last night.”
I looked him in the eye this time. “I’m sorry about last night.”
“So you should be. What happened? We were having a good time and then you went from sober to drunk in sixty seconds.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.” The text message from my mother flashed into my mind.
“Come in.” He stepped back and let me into his room.
“Actually, do you mind if we went for something to eat? I’m starving.”
Danny snorted. “I bet you are. You’re buying me lunch then.”
“How comes?”
“Because you deserted me in my hour of need. And I’ve not got any dollars, and my credit card is maxed.”
“What happened to all those tips you got from last night?”
“That’s costume money, darling. I don’t spend my tips on day-to-day stuff.”
“Right, I see. Okay, I’m buying lunch.”
“Good, because I missed breakfast too.” He giggled.
Danny went back into his room, grabbed his wallet and phone, and then linked his arm with mine.
“So Brandon brought you home last night?”
“Yes, he did. Seeing as you’d left already, without me knowing.”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you I was going?”
“Nope.”
“Was that because you had your tongue down Brandon’s throat?”
“Max!”
“It was! Oh my, he was so hot for you as Baby Spice last night.”
“I know.” Danny sighed. “I’m a bit worried he’s only going to like me in drag.”
“Has he not seen you out of drag?”
“He may have seen photos. We connected on Facebook first, so maybe. I don’t know though.”
We reached the hotel restaurant and were seated straight away at a table which overlooked the pool. The water looked so inviting. Except, it was February, and despite it being California, it wasn’t pool weather. There were some grey clouds in the sky, but they didn’t look threatening.
I checked over the menu and settled on a burger and fries.
“Have you got a date with Brandon?” I asked Danny when he put the menu down.
“A date? Why would we have a date?”
“Because he said he was going to book you again. I’m sure you know when you’re in LA next.”
“Oh, that kind of date. No, I don’t have any LA trips on my rota planned at the moment.”
“What kind of date did you think I meant?” I raised my eyebrow at him as my lips curved upwards. “You have a date with him, don’t you?”
“Urgh, I wanted to keep it secret.” He picked up his menu and hid behind it.
The waitress picked the perfect time to come over. We ordered our food and she took the menus away.
“Spill,” I ordered.
“He’s coming over this afternoon to pick me up.”
“And?”
“And we’re going on a date.”
“A Valentine’s Day date. How romantic. Will you kiss him at the end?”
“We kissed last night. In fact, we kissed a lot. But he wouldn’t come to my room because he wanted to get to know me first.”
“That’s different.”
“I know. When guys hear I’m cabin crew they want a shag or to learn how they can join the mile-high club. Brandon looked past that.”
“That’s sweet.”
“It’s strange…” A smile crept over his mouth. “It’s nice though. I’m excited.”
“He seems like he’s a good guy. I wish I could find a good guy.”
“Maybe you could, if you didn’t choose old guys you’re clearly not interested in.”
His words were sharp, but to the point. I looked down at the table, not wanting to acknowledge what he’d said. Another guy flashed into my mind. The one stood in the corner before the lights changed. He was the kind of guy I wanted to meet.
I needed to change the subject before I got jealous of Danny and his date. “You were really great last night.”
His face lit up. “It was a good night. I can’t wait to go back again.”
We talked about his performance, watched the videos I had taken and looked through the photos. Our meal came and went over easy conversation. We didn’t touch any more on what I’d done, which was good. I didn’t need to be reminded of it. Danny asked me to help him pick out an outfit for his date, and for the second time this trip, I helped him change clothes. This time there was not a wig or dress in sight. Instead we went for a short sleeved pink flannel shirt and a pair of light blue jeans. He looked good, and a part of me wanted to be the one to go on a date.
We sat around in his room for a while, until his phone beeped. He jumped up and knocked the thing onto the floor.
“It’s Brandon, he’s outside.”
“Go then, have fun. Knock for me when you get back, I want to hear all about it.”
He agreed, and we left his room. I stopped at my door as he walked down the corridor and into the lift. He waved at me with a smile as the doors closed. As I opened my door, I wondered if I’d ever get a chance to have a date like he did. Maybe one day.
Chapter Five
I’d promised Danny I would behave myself until he got back, but my room had a funny smell to it. It was of sex, and it made me heave to think of the guy who was here last night. I grabbed my sunglasses and a book and headed to the pool. At reception, I told them I’d had an accident, and would they give my room a change of bedding. The receptionist didn’t bat an eyelid as she called housekeeping.
The sun was high in the sky, but it was too cold to take any clothes off, so I stayed in my jeans and T-shirt and lapped up the sun. I dozed through the afternoon but woke when there was a chill in the air.
I opened my eyes to find Jane stood over me.
“Afternoon,” her voice was tight.
“Hi, Jane, having a good day?”
“It has been, so far. Did you have a good night?”
“I did, Danny was an amazing performer, surprised even me.”
“So I heard. He’s been booked again.”
“Yep.”
“What did you do?”
I pushed myself up on my elbows. “What do you mean?”
“I heard Danny came back alone.”
“Yeah, he’s a big boy, he can do that. And from what I heard, he got driven back by the club owner, so I don’t see what the problem is.”
“I told you I didn’t want any shit, Max. Danny was worried about you, couldn’t understand what had happened.”
“He knew a lot more than he was letting on then,” I retorted. Bile jumped in my throat. I didn’t know where this was going, but I didn’t like it.
“He knew where you were, he didn’t know why you did it. He said you were out of it.”
“Well, I think he exaggerates.” I couldn’t believe I was getting shit for this.
“Behave yourself tonight—”
“What am I, twelve?”
Jane sat down on my lounger and took off her sunglas
ses. “No, you’re this fucking close,” she drew her thumb and finger together to show a small amount of space, “from getting grounded.”
I had to breathe through my nose to stop my head spinning.
“Why would you do that to me?” I cried out when I’d mustered the breath.
“I’m not.” She let out a sigh. “I like you, Max, but they’re gunning for you. I could get in trouble for telling you, but we’ve been told to report everything.”
“Oh.”
“I’m not going to say anything about last night, but you’ve got to watch yourself. They’re keeping tabs and recording everything. You need to turn this shit around otherwise you can kiss flying goodbye.”
I took in a deep breath, more to stop the tears from coming. Part of me knew I was in trouble; there were only so many times I could turn up hungover doing the job I did. I didn’t know how to stop it.
“Okay,” was all I could muster.
“Okay? You want to be grounded?” Jane shrieked at me.
“No,” I shouted back. “No. I mean I’ll behave.” I used air quotes to lighten the mood. It didn’t work. “I will, I promise I’ll behave.”
“Good,” she replied and then slapped my arm. “Because I need you in First on the way back, Sophie’s lovely but she didn’t half fuck it up on the way out here.”
I sat upright. “You sure; you’re not joking?”
“No, I’m serious. If I report you did a good job then it will start to undo some of what that prick Graham has said about you.”
“He’s a cu—”
“Someone to watch out for.” Jane smirked. “Enjoy the rest of the sun,” she said as she got up and left me on my own. I checked my watch and I had a couple of hours before Danny was meant to be back, so I closed my eyes for a few minutes.
“Max.” Danny prodded me.
My eyes opened and closed again. “You’re back already?”
“Already? I was out for hours. Have you been here this whole time?”
I sat up and opened my eyes when the sun hid behind a cloud. “Yeah, it seems so. Let’s go back to my room. How was your date?”
As we walked to my room he relayed the story of his date with Brandon in fine detail. I was relieved to find my room had been cleaned and offered Danny a seat while I made us coffee. Danny gushed over how Brandon had made the date very romantic, especially as it was Valentine’s Day. He didn’t stop talking the whole time, but it was cute, and it made me happy for him. Even if I was still feeling sick over what I had done the night before.
Up in the Air 2 Page 3