by Kylie Walker
On Monday she went to her self-defence class, running by his billboard as she did and once again feeling the tingles in her belly when she looked at his lips and remembered their kiss. She still didn’t answer his phone call. He left another message telling her that he didn’t want to bother her; he just wanted to tell her that he hoped she had a good day.
Monday night she and Lexi went into work and after she was dressed and oiled and glittered she went out for a smoke before she began her first set. Roxi was out there and Chloe got the feeling that she was waiting for her.
“So did you enjoy your days off?” her boss asked her.
“I did,” Chloe said. “I got a lot done and yesterday I just had a lazy day. It was nice.”
“Good. I have another client requesting you specifically.”
“What? Who is it?”
“Judge Wilks. He dropped two grand and he’s a good tipper too.”
“Oh hell no! Lexi pointed him out to me the other day. He’s seventy-five years old and he walks around with a tent in the front of his pants. He’s disgusting.”
“Chloe, I think that you and I agree they’re all disgusting. This is your job.”
“Fuck! I hate this job, Roxi. I’m sorry, but I hate it. I’m so sick of being these disgusting pervert’s wet dream.”
“Do you think when you worked at that diner those old men you were serving coffee to every day weren’t looking down your blouse and checking out your ass as you walked away? How many of the old geezers copped a feel? How many times did you walk out of there with a thousand bucks? This job is a way for you to get something out of what they’re going to take anyways.”
Chloe hated when Roxi was right...but she was. “Shit! Fine, I’ll do it. How long do I have to dance for the old creep?”
“Just tonight,” Roxi said.
“Alright but if he so much as touches that freeze-dried old member of his I’m calling Jake to toss his ass out.”
Roxi laughed, “Go give him a heart attack,” she said.
Chloe went inside, but she wasn’t laughing. She went to the bar and handed Lexi her smokes and lighter and said, “Guess who wants a private dance?”
“Who?”
“Judge Wilks,” Chloe told her.
“Oh my god. I think I just puked in my mouth.” Lexi said, looking like she might be actually get sick. “Good Luck.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Chloe went to talk to Mike next. “Hey Mike. How’s it going tonight?”
“It’s going,” he said. “How are you doing, Chloe. I missed you the past couple of days.”
“It’s good. I had a couple of days off. I wish I didn’t have to come back.”
“Keep the faith girl; it’ll happen one of these days.”
“I’m trying, Mike. Tell Jake to stand by and give me track two.”
“Whoa two? You really don’t like this guy do you?” Chloe just laughed and went on back. The judge was sitting right up front and the table was behind him. The tent in his pants was already standing at attention. Chloe felt the bile rise up into the back of her throat.
“Hey there pretty girl,” he said.
“Judge. Are you ready?”
He ran his hand across his bulge and said, “I’m always ready.”
Chloe called out to Mike and he turned on the music. She put her hand on the pole with her back to the old man and she closed her eyes. She tried to breathe in the music...tried to let it flow through her veins...She started moving her legs, just rocking to the beat. She let it find its way into her hips and finally as the music began to flow freely, so did her muscles. She spun herself around the pole, opening her eyes as she came back around, just to make sure the old creep was still in his chair. He was still there and his right hand was still resting on the front of his pants.
She closed her eyes again as she lifted her top leg and did a split against the pole. She grabbed it then with two hands and spun around on the one leg that was still on the floor, arching her back slightly. She found herself wishing that Derek was sitting there in his seat. She wished that she could open her eyes and find herself looking into his. As she gripped the pole and lifted both her legs to spin around she took another peek at her customer. The old Lech had slid his hand down into the front of his pants...it was going to be a really, really long night.
Chloe made it through the shift without vomiting and when they got home and into their pajamas she and Lexi opened a bottle of wine and took it out onto the porch facing the ocean.
“Jesus what a night,” Chloe said.
“Yeah, I got hit on four times and each one got uglier and creepier, and you want to know what the worst part is?”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“I left tonight with less than a hundred dollars in tips.”
“What? The nasty perverts aren’t just sex-starved they’re cheap too!”
“I think it was Jasmine,” she said.
“Jasmine? She stole your tips?”
“In a way. She does this new dance after she takes her top off where she makes her boobs go up and down...separately. It’s freaking bizarre...but the creeps love it. They throw bucket loads of money at her to get her to do it again. It doesn’t leave any left overs for my tips, I guess.”
“She moves them separately? How is that even possible?”
Lexi took a drink of her wine and said, “I have no idea, but I’m telling you she does. You have to see it. It’s so weird.”
“I don’t think I want to see it,” Chloe said as she scrunched up her face. Just imagining it gave her the creeps.
“I was thinking about asking Roxi if I could try dancing,” Lexi said suddenly. It was like she’d been thinking about it and was only finally able to make herself say it out loud.
“No! Lexi no! You don’t want to do that, honey. Think about how gross they already are with you behind the bar and imagine it ten times worse than that.”
“I know what it’s like...I watch them every night. But I’m so tired of making everyone’s leftover tips. How much did you make in tips tonight?”
Chloe shrugged. Lexi cocked an eyebrow and Chloe said, “Okay fine, I made a lot, but I had to try and concentrate on my pole while a hundred and fifty year old man rubbed his shriveled up old pole. Sometimes I don’t think it’s worth it.”
“What do you do to get through it?” Lexi asked her.
“I visualize the future. I see myself in a classroom filled with happy little faces soaking up the knowledge that I’m imparting upon them. I’m not going to do this forever...not even for very much longer.”
“I wouldn’t be doing it forever either. But Chloe, I have aspirations too and I can either keep working that bar and get there in five years, or I can learn how to dance and get there in two. It’s worth thinking about anyways and talking over with Roxi.”
Chloe hated the idea. Lexi had no idea what it felt like, how demeaning it was. Chloe didn’t take off her clothes and she still left that club every night feeling dirty and like she’d done something wrong. The girls that they worked with who did take their clothes off definitely had a skewed sense of their own self-worth. Sometimes she wondered if they all already had that before they started working there, the same way that she had. She didn’t see that in Lexi. Lexi was just a girl who was tired of waiting tables for twenty dollars a day in tips so she’d taken the bar tender job at the club...but that was the problem with spending too much time in that place, Chloe thought, the depravity was contagious.
Chloe finally called Derek back that night. He picked up the phone and she could almost hear the smile in his voice as he said her name. It had been a long time since anyone had been that happy to hear from her and it felt good, in spite of whether she wanted it to or not.
“Chloe! How are you?”
She lay back on her bed with the phone to her ear and said, “I’m well. I’m sorry I didn’t call you back sooner...”
“Don’t be sorry. You have a life and I understand that. Please don’
t think I’m pressuring you to call me. I just crave the sound of your voice.” Things like that were so dangerous. His words made her feel warm and safe...Damn it!
“Well, anyways,” she said, “I just wanted you to know I wasn’t ignoring you. It’s just been a busy couple of days,” she lied.
“I understand. I have a busy week coming up. I have to go to New York for a couple of days for a real estate conference. Can I see you when I get back?”
She’d called him tonight prepared for that question. Of course he wanted to see her again. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea, Derek. I agreed to go out with you once...honestly to get you off my back. The second time was because I had fun the first time, but I’m just not looking to get involved right now.”
“I understand. But Chloe I’m not asking you for any kind of commitment. All we’re doing is having some fun together, right? I’m not asking you for any more than you’re willing or able to give me. The second I take it too far, all you have to do is say so.”
He wasn’t the one who was taking it too far. It was her. She was way too attracted to him. She didn’t trust herself to keep her head when he was around. She was still drawing energy from the memory of that simple little kiss. When he was ready to try and take it further, would she have the strength to say no and walk away? When she didn’t respond he said, “What about this...how about a day date.”
She smiled, “What is a day date, exactly?”
“I don’t know...something innocuous. Lunch...a walk in the park...the aquarium...the zoo...”
Chloe was laughing, “The zoo, really? Real estate moguls go to the zoo?”
“This real estate mogul would spend the afternoon at Chuck E Cheese if that’s where you wanted to go.”
How the hell was she supposed to say no to that? Apparently, she couldn’t because she heard herself saying, “I like the zoo.”
Chapter 19
Chloe woke up on Thursday morning looking forward to her “day date” with Derek. It had been a long time since she’d been to the zoo. She tried to lie and tell herself that was the only reason she was excited but she knew the truth was she’d missed him.
That kiss on Saturday night was fantastic, but after a few days of living off of it she was only left wanting more...way more than she knew that she was willing to give, if that made any sense at all.
She wore a pair of khaki shorts and a light pink tank-top. Once she was dressed and had slathered on a pound of sunscreen she straightened her hair and went out to have breakfast with Lexi.
“Hey, you look cute,” Lexi told her. “Where are you off to?”
“The zoo,” Chloe told her as she poured a cup of coffee.
“The zoo? What are you doing, research for when you’re a teacher and you’re forced to go on field trips?”
Chloe laughed, “I like the zoo,” she told Lexi.
“Who are you going to the zoo with?”
“What makes you think I’m not going alone?”
Lexi sniffed the air and said, “I smell the distinct fragrance of Red. You hoard that bottle like it’s gold. You don’t wear it to work and the only other time in the past two years I recall smelling it on you last week when you went out with Derek Stark...”
“Geez! You don’t need to be a dancer, you need to be a detective,” Chloe told her.
“So, you and hunk a hunk a burnin’ love are having a zoo date are you?”
“We’re going to the zoo, together, it’s not a date.”
“Right. I slept with Brett last Saturday night. That wasn’t sex. He hasn’t called me since, that’s not being dumped.”
“Oh Lexi, honey! Why didn’t you tell me? This is why you’re talking about becoming a dancer isn’t it?”
“No. It’s not a big deal, really. I wasn’t even going to mention it. I don’t know why I did.”
“Of course it’s a big deal. Have you called him?”
Lexi looked horrified. “No way. We had sex all night long. He said he would call me. No way am I desperate enough to call him and ask why he hasn’t called.”
“Oh honey. I’m sorry. They’re jerks, all of them. But listen to me, this isn’t about you. You didn’t do anything wrong, this is how men are. They have a one track mind and they think women were put on this earth to serve them.”
Lexi laughed and said, “Poor Derek. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten you all riled up right before you went on your “not a date” to the zoo.”
“Oh don’t worry about him. He’s well aware of how I feel about men.”
There was a knock on the front door then and Lexi told her, “They’re not all the same, Chloe. Even when I get my heart broken, I know that. But you have to kiss the frogs to find the prince. Don’t give up, and don’t count dream boat out there anytime soon, okay?”
Chloe hugged her and said, “You’re okay?”
“Peachy,” Lexi said. “Have fun.
Derek brought a gold colored Jaguar when he picked her up for the zoo. It was a convertible and after he helped her in and closed her door he said, “Would you like me to put the top up?”
“No, I like it,” she said. “How many cars do you have?”
“Personally, or the business?” he said as he pulled the Jag out onto the road.
“Personally?”
“Three. The SUV is mine and this one and I have a Mustang.”
“And for the business?”
“The Bentley is a business car and the Town Car and we have a couple of economy cars that the agents drive when they go show properties.”
“So how was your trip to New York?” she asked.
“Boring,” he said with a grin. “There is nothing more boring than being in a room full of real estate people and I had a hard time keeping my mind on business anyways.”
“And why was that?”
He gave her a smoldering glance and said, “I couldn’t get my mind off our “day date.”
“When was the last time you were at the zoo?” she asked him.
“I went to the Bronx zoo about three years ago...I guess that was the last time.”
“The Bronx zoo huh. What made you go? Was it a date?”
He grinned, “No, it wasn’t anything so exciting. I met my father and my brother there. My father was representing the family of a man that was mauled by a tiger at the zoo. He was there to take pictures of the habitat and the area the attack happened. I was only in town for that afternoon, so we met there for lunch. They have a pretty good little café there...Hey, are you okay?”
He’d lost her at “representing the family of a man that was mauled by a tiger.” She had a flash of a memory. Jesse was interning at his father’s firm. One night when he was actually sober and not treating her like shit he told her about this family who came in looking for an attorney to sue the zoo and maybe even the city since that was who owned the zoo. They said their father had been mauled by a tiger that got loose due to a faulty lock on his cage. Jesse’s father wasn’t able to take the case. He was representing the zoo on a case of their own. He referred them to one of his friends who was an attorney...
“Chloe? What did I say? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Was she that stupid? Did Derek know Jesse? Was this whole thing about getting close to her and keeping her close until Jesse got out? She looked at him again. He looked genuinely concerned...but he could be a very good actor...just like Jesse had been.
“So what happened with the case?” she asked.
“I honestly don’t remember...maybe I never knew. I see my father and brother as often as I can, but we rarely talk about their cases. That one just came up because of where we were that day...Why, Chloe? What is it about the Bronx zoo that made you suddenly look like you want to rabbit on me again?”
It wasn’t the zoo. As usual, it was Jesse. He was in her head again, almost every day. A month and a half and he would be free and then looking over her shoulder every day would have to become second nature once again. She looked back
over at Derek. This man has everything going for him. He would have way too much to lose if he let himself get involved in a silly scheme like the one she was imagining in her head.
“I’m sorry,” she said, finally. “It’s not you. The talk about lawyers just reminded me of a creepy client at the club, that’s all.”
He curled his lip and said, “Then no more lawyer talk today.”
*****
They made it to the Roger Williams Park Zoo just before noon. When they got to the front gate Derek took her hand and as soon as he did she was convinced...she was letting her paranoia rule her thoughts again. Derek was real, he was genuine...she could feel that.
“What first?” he asked her.
“Monkeys,” she said without hesitation.
Derek smiled slightly and said, “Okay, monkeys it is.”
They followed the signs to the gorilla exhibit. It was a natural habitat where they were swinging from trees and long, thick cords that were strung across the wide opening. Chloe watched them swing from one tree to the next, sometimes letting go with their hands or their tail and flying through the air to catch the next one.
“You like the monkeys?” Derek asked her with a smile still playing at his lips.
“They’re gorillas,” she corrected, “And yes, I like them. They look so free when they’re up there in the trees like that.”
“They do,” he said. “It looks like fun.”
When Chloe was satisfied that she’d seen it enough she took hold of his hand again and pulled him along to the next exhibit, the lion habitat. Chloe loved the lions. It was so easy to see why they called them the “King” of the jungle. He just sat there with his golden paws crossed in front of him like he didn’t have a care in the world. His shaggy brown mane and his large rib cage expanded and fell in a silent rhythm while his yellow eyes took in everything around him. His sleek gold fur rippled across his long, muscular frame and he seemed to be almost sleeping. Then in one big, fluid movement he was suddenly up on his feet. He glanced around at the humans who stared into his cage and as if just to prove he was bored with it all, he yawned and stretched like a common housecat.