Midnight Ballerina

by Cori Williams

  “No.” I shook my head and walked over to his desk, trying to peek at the frame that he’d placed in the center amidst a ton of papers, but I couldn’t quite see it. Yup, I was trying to be nosey. I wondered if it was that girl from the restaurant, who by the way, mysteriously disappeared when Miller came to my rescue. I wonder if he ditched her for me. The thought made me giddy but I quickly squashed it down, focusing once again on Miller. “I’ve always been pretty independent. My parents never had much when I was growing up and they still don’t, so I’m on my own.”

  “But your parents are around?”

  “Well, yeah. If you call Michigan around. I don’t have daddy issues, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  He snorted loudly before standing up and coming around to my side, staring down at me intently, with both arms placed behind him on the desk, causing the tanned muscles to stretch nice and tightly. How did I end up in here alone with him again? “Fine. If you’re worried about money, then you can work for me tonight. I’ll pay you the same amount you normally make in tips.”

  My mouth opened and closed several times until I was finally able to sputter out some incoherent words. “Wha—I don’t know.…Um…do you really think that’s appropriate? I mean, you’re a good looking guy…hot in fact…well, that word really doesn’t even begin to describe you. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before. I saw that girl with you; she looked like a freaking supermodel. I’m not letting you pay me for sexual favors, though. Why would you need to anyway? I’m sure you could find anyone who’s more than willing.” I licked my lips and he just stared at me silently, so I figured I would continue on with my rambling. Why not, right? “You definitely wouldn’t need to pay me for something like that. Wait. I’m not saying I would have sex with you, not that you would want me in the first place, but….I really need to stop talking.”

  I sighed loudly and Miller cleared his throat. “Well, all right then. I was going to pay you to clean my office. That’s all.” I could tell he was trying so hard not to laugh and I appreciated the effort. My whole body was burning from my diarrhea of the mouth. I wasn’t a big talker, but whenever I got nervous or uncomfortable, I tended to blab on and on.

  Please, just kill me now, because that had to be one of the most embarrassing situations in my life and I’m sure I would never top it.

  “Oh.”

  “There’s shit everywhere, so do you think you can put some kind of order to the mess? Maybe file all the folders, make some piles of stuff I need to go through so I can actually see my desk. I’m not really here that often so I don’t have the time.”

  “Yup, can do. I guess I should put some of my schooling to good use. Better than being out there.”

  “What’s your major?” he asked as he gathered a stack of papers and placed them in front of me, pulling up a chair and pointing for me to sit down.

  “I’m over at the business school for Marketing.”

  “Really? That’s…interesting.”

  “Why?” I paused shuffling through the giant stack of papers.

  “Just not what I pictured. I don’t get why you’re working here.”

  “We all have different journeys in life, I guess. Mine hasn’t been too hard, but it hasn’t been easy either. If I could’ve started straight out of high school, I would’ve, but I had no clue what it takes to run a business or anything like that. My dream’s to open my own dance studio someday, but I’m sure that’s way off, if it’s even possible.”

  “A dance studio? For like ballet and that kind of stuff? You’re a dancer?”

  “I was for a while.” I sighed. “I still remember my very first day of ballet class. It was magical. It was one of the instructor’s last days. She was getting ready to leave for New York and join one of the best ballet companies in the country. I told my teacher, Miss Kathy, that very day, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to be a dancer. I just know it.’ She told me I could do just that with lots of practice. But I was only average, I couldn’t really take it any farther than a few competitions.” I shook my head, amazed that I still remembered that day so vividly. “They say those who can’t do, teach. Right?” I started rifling through the papers once again and began making piles, so I could organize everything that was just thrown together.

  “I guess, but I’m pretty sure you can do just fine, I saw you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He swallowed thickly. “On the stage, remember?”

  “For like a second, and I was upside down on a pole.” He bit his lip before straightening up and awkwardly patting me on the back. I felt like telling him just to keep his hand right where he had it, but he removed it all too soon.

  “Um…right. Well, I’ve gotta go make some rounds and catch up with a few clients that came in tonight. Think you can have this place cleaned up in a few hours?”

  I looked around, nodding my head, even though it seemed impossible. “Not a problem.”

  He backed out of the room, shaking his head. “All right, you better work hard for the money I’m paying you, then.” He laughed once and I cringed because I knew he was teasing me about the whole sexual favors thing. I had a feeling I would never live that down, hopefully he kept it just between the two of us.

  Just before the door closed, he mumbled something, his voice nearly drowned out by the crowd but I caught something about his ballerina, making me swoon on the spot as I took a step backwards. The idea of Miller having a nickname for me making me all giddy on the inside. Nicknames were important, they were personal and Miller had one for me. And with that, I just about fell straight to the floor.

  WHAT IN THE fuck was that all about? Why did I have her working in my office? She was an employee at my strip club, no matter how inexplicably drawn to her I was. Why in the hell was I letting this girl get past all of my barriers? Normally, I didn’t trust just anyone, especially not enough to leave them alone in my personal space. I straightened up, resisting the urge to go back so I could just be around her again, and headed back out to the club.

  I hated having to do this shit, but socializing was the name of the game around here, and if I wanted my businesses to continue to succeed like they were, I guess I would have to deal with it.

  “Randy,” I barked.

  “Mr. Buchanan.” Randy hopped straight off of the bar stool he was perched on when he saw me approaching, practically saluting me. “I didn’t know you were around. Something I can do for ya?”

  Yeah, maybe your job. Randy was a pretty good guy even though he wouldn’t have been my first choice for a manager, but he was a family friend that was in need of some help at the same time that I had opened Pure, so I gave him a job.

  At first, I was at the club twenty-four seven, running it completely by myself. It was the first business I opened up, shocking the hell out of everyone who knew me. Most likely because they figured a strip club was the last type of place I’d ever be, let alone own, but I had my reasons for that and they could just mind their own damn business. I worked hard to scrape together as much money as I could, not to mention, convince a few investors who were more than wary about giving their money to some country hick.

  Pure had started it all for me, but it wasn’t my ultimate goal to own a string of strip clubs. It was just a starting point, and now, I was getting to where I wanted to be. I spent a majority of my time at the construction company, checked on Mamaw every chance I could, and I came to Pure every once in a while at night. A lot lately it seemed. I kept telling myself it wasn’t because of the girl that was currently in my office.

  I turned back to Randy whose eyes were darting back and forth to the stage, watching Vanessa twirl around the pole, music blaring from the speakers. The place was packed and that was a great thing to see, but I hated being in this type of environment. I would take the peace and quiet anytime.

  “Well, for starters I need to know why Monroe is working tonight. I called you and told you to take her off the schedule. Do you not recall that conversation?” />
  “Sure, boss. But she showed up, so I just figured I would let her work.” He swiped a hand through his hair, trying to stay focused on my face, but he couldn’t help himself. Just like half of the guys in here, he was thinking with his dick first even though he was supposed to be working and that was unusual for Randy. Sure, I was a guy too and it wasn’t like I didn’t notice the girls, but I tried not to see them as just a piece of meat up there swinging around the pole. I guess I could thank my ma for that one.

  “I don’t give a shit that she just showed up. I told you she was off the schedule, so that means she doesn’t work. And last time I checked you’re the manager, not the owner. Got it?”

  “Well….” He looked like he wanted to say something else, but after one look from me, he forgot what it was and closed his mouth, scratching the back of his head. “All right.”

  “And get back to work. I’m not paying you to sit at the bar and watch the show, you know better than that. Is there something going on with you that we need to talk about?” He seemed almost on edge, his foot tapping away the whole time anxiously.

  “Nope, everything’s good, Mr. Buchanan. Just taking a quick break, I’m getting back to work.” He gave me a thumbs up before turning in the opposite direction quickly. I watched until he started making the rounds to each table to check in with the customers.

  I trusted Randy, but it definitely seemed like there was something up with him lately, another reason I needed to be at the club more often. Maybe he needed a vacation. I didn’t want to have to come to the point of firing him, so hopefully we could figure out what was going on before it came to that. Mamaw would whip my ass with my granddaddy’s old belt that still hung next to the kitchen stove if I fired him. That tiny old woman still had some bite left in her, so I know she would at least try it. But if I had to, I had to; I wasn’t about to let my business be run into the ground just because he was a family friend.

  “Miller, what’s happening, buddy?” I felt a hard smack on my back and grinned when I turned around to find Tanner standing there. It surprised the hell out of me, but I was glad to see him. Tanner and I had been best friends growing up in Oconee County and raised a whole lot of hell together back in the day. I saw him all the time because he worked for me at the construction company, but I don’t think he had ever stepped foot in Pure, even with it being the first business I opened.

  “Marissa know you’re here?”

  Tanner’s shit-eating grin faltered for just a second before he shrugged his shoulders. “Naw, man. Marissa and me…well, we’re not getting along real well right now.”

  “Really?”

  Tanner and Marissa had been together since high school. Initially, she kind of ended up being the third wheel to me and Tanner, but she liked to get in about as much trouble as us, if not more, so that didn’t last too long. They ended up getting married straight out of high school and were coming up on their eight year anniversary which was pretty amazing. A lot of the people that I graduated with were just now getting married. I couldn’t even think about that whole situation. I had too much going on to worry about that.

  “Yeah.” He rocked back on his heels before taking a sip of the beer he was holding. “Actually, she moved out, staying over at Mary-Elizabeth’s.”

  “Wow, that sucks. She finally figure out how big of an asshole you are?” I was trying to lighten up the conversation, because honestly, I didn’t know what to say. I really hadn’t expected something like that to happen between Tanner and Marissa.

  “Nope,” he replied with a pop. “Decided she wanted to bang some other dude in our bed and clearly wasn’t expecting me to come home from work early the other day when we finished up that restaurant job downtown.”

  And to think I had been in shock before—my mind was officially blown.

  “I’m sorry, dude.”

  I didn’t know what to say, and by the look on Tanner’s face, I don’t think he really wanted to dwell on the whole situation. I could tell he needed to get his mind off of things, so I grabbed one of the VIP booths and took care of my best friend because that’s all I could do. I even bought him a few lap dances. I think he about shit himself when Misty straddled his lap and rubbed her tits in his face. I knew for a fact he had never been to a strip club because Marissa would’ve pitched a fit, and he most certainly had never been that close to another woman before, even with all of the trouble we used to get into.

  “Can that girl over there be on my lap next?” Tanner asked, slurring slightly. I followed where he was pointing toward the bar, just in time to see Monroe leaning over the counter, grabbing a water bottle from the bartender. Having spotted her, I couldn’t manage to tear my eyes away. “I mean, she’s not my usual type. A little on the short side, but that ass—”

  I smacked him upside the head. “Shut the fuck up.”

  “Ow.” He rubbed the side of his head. “Sorry, man. I know how you don’t like the girls to be treated wrong, but trust me, I would treat her real good.”

  I glared at Tanner, not liking the way he was talking about Monroe one bit. He was lucky he was my best friend because had it been anyone else, I would’ve already been beating the shit out of them.

  “You do whatever the hell you want. As long as it’s consensual and outside of the club, I don’t give a fuck. But she’s off limits.” I watched Monroe as she made her way into my office and finally turned my eyes away once she closed the door.

  Tanner was watching me closely, and he muttered something that I couldn’t quite hear, before changing the subject and averting his attention back to the stage. He was nursing his fifth beer of the night with a couple of shots mixed in and seemingly enjoying himself, so I stood up, trying to calm my leg down that had been tapping away for the past thirty minutes non-stop.

  “I have a few things to check on. You all right by yourself?”

  “I’m good, I swear. Quit worrying about everybody but yourself, Miller.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” That wasn’t the first time I heard that from Tanner and I’m sure it wouldn’t be the last. I guess I did tend to try to take care of everyone else first, but how I grew up had a lot to do with that. And it was probably the reason I was itching to get back to my office to check on Monroe. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit then.”

  I tried to tell myself it was because I wanted to make sure she was doing okay. Last night had to have been a little rough on her even if she was acting the opposite. I could tell she was a tough girl even though she was just a tiny little thing.

  I couldn’t help but stare at her just about the whole time while I attempted to eat dinner and listen to Tara. She ended up having to grab my attention a few times and repeat whatever she’d been talking about. She was getting annoyed with me and kept asking me if I saw someone I knew. I was relieved as hell when our dinner was over and we went our separate ways. I was hoping that I would run into Monroe, but not the way I did.

  I spotted Randy on my way back to my office and saw that he was helping one of the waitresses with a big group that looked to be here for a bachelor party. At least he was behaving more professionally, like his usual self. Maybe I didn’t need to worry about him and was just overthinking the situation. Plus, Mamaw was always getting onto me about trying to micromanage everything and I knew she was right, I couldn’t do that, but I sure as hell could try.

  I slowly opened the door, smirking when I saw Monroe by the filing cabinet. She must’ve kicked her shoes off at some point because she was barefoot, her head barely reaching the top of the cabinet due to her petite size. She swayed her hips back and forth, mesmerizing me, yet to realize I’d entered the room, and I could just make out the wires that connected what must have been ear buds to her phone.

  I watched for a few more minutes, enjoying the show, until she caught me red-handed and jumped about a mile backward, pressing a hand to her chest.

  “Mr. Buchanan…Miller…you scared the crap out of me. I am so sorry. I was just…I work better with music
and not the kind playing out there. And there’s a whole lot of work here to be done. How long have you been standing there?”

  She shivered slightly and I inched closer. She took one step back. We played this game until her back was pressed against the wall, her eyes wide. I immediately retreated, images of the frightened look on her face from last night flashing through my mind, and she visibly relaxed.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  She took a big gulp before shaking her head. “You didn’t scare me…you don’t scare me…at all. Even after last night.” Her eyes shut briefly before she reopened them and gave me a weak smile.

  She was trying to shove down the memories of what that jackass had done to her, and what he was trying to do. Who knows what would’ve happened if I hadn’t come along? Just thinking about it made me sick to my stomach. Thank God, Tara and I had driven separately, and I was there when Monroe needed me.

  You know that feeling? The one where you can sense someone before you even see them? That’s what I got as I walked into Padrino’s, and then my eyes landed on Monroe’s from across the restaurant. She had this natural beauty about her. She didn’t wear much makeup, but really she didn’t need to and I liked that about her. I was around women all the time that caked it on and I never understood why.

  She didn’t appear comfortable with the guy that she was with, but that didn’t take away from how gorgeous she looked, that red dress hugging every single part of her body like a glove. She wasn’t my “normal” type to be honest. Monroe reminded me of one of those delicate porcelain dolls Mamaw collected and kept up high on the shelf so us rambunctious boys didn’t break every last one. She wasn’t fragile like those dolls though. Sure, she might not have been able to fight that asshole off, but she was still tough as nails.