Paper Dolls

by Emma Chamberlain

  “You’re cute… Ever think about dancing?” She was openly staring at me. Not just my face and my eyes, though she did spend a lot of time there. I felt like she could see my body somehow.

  My eyes went wide and I choked on the bite of burger that I was chewing. The little coughing fit that followed wasn’t my most attractive moment. She reached out and tried to soothe me by rubbing my back with a strong hand. I guess she had to be strong to hang onto the poles.

  I cringed, thinking about that wasn’t helping. “No,” I managed. “Not my thing.”

  “I didn’t mean to…” Her voice trailed off and she seemed a little hurt but also semi-guilty for even suggesting. “I just mean, you’re pretty and you could.” She wasn’t hitting on me. She was just being nice. “Anyway…” she said, sort of sad. “I’m on soon. It gets boring in here,” she gave me an awkward smile. “Thanks for talking.”

  Her hand rubbed my back as she walked off.

  When I came back to the situation I noticed that Skylar was standing up now and the blonde woman on the stage was on her knees and touching her, pulling her face into her body and looking right into her eyes as Skylar tucked a twenty into her g-string.

  “I’m almost done,” the girl said. “If you want a dance. It doesn’t cost much and I will touch you.” Her voice was all sexy and low as she whispered. I could tell she was smiling at how easy Skylar was to turn on. The woman dragged her body up Skylar’s face as she moved to stand. Skylar was completely wrapped up and breathing this girl in, as she rose, she had zero chill and she was four five seconds from wildin’, I saw it in her as I stared.

  I blinked and just laughed a little at the situation. The girl backed from the stage, Skylar’s eyes following her all the way. The lights dimmed for a moment while the girls exited and then they rose again when the next set came on. The music switched smoothly to something more high energy.

  “What do you want to do,” I said over the noise.

  “I think I need a cold shower,” Skylar said, still entirely out of it, mind filled up with sex.

  “I don’t think they have those in here,” I teased. “Do you want to get a dance or hang out?

  The strippers from before were exiting the side stage door and coming out. The blonde dancer caught sight of us and locked on.

  “Guess I have my answer,” I said. “Okay,” I said.

  The stripper came up and got really close to Skylar, practically pressing her breasts into Sky’s face.

  “You wanna go over to one of the private booths and have a little fun?”

  “Umm, yeah, she does,” I said.

  We followed her to one of the booths and I hesitated.

  “You two can just go-”

  I didn’t even get the rest of the sentence out before Skylar grabbed my wrist and yanked me into the booth.

  “You’re not leaving me.”

  “You’ll be fine,” I laughed. “I do not want to watch this, no offense.”

  “Fine,” Skylar sighed, sort of worried but wanting to go.

  I slipped back out of the booth and stood for a second, unsure of where to go. I drifted back over and picked up my beer, taking the pitcher with me back to a table near the private area.

  Now, I just had this to occupy myself. The next three girls were dancing away but I wasn’t really paying attention. I’m sure it seemed rude but I didn’t know what else to do but stare at the amber colored liquid as it moved in my glass and take the occasional drink.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked it.

  Olivia: Have I lost you yet to some irresistible sex goddess?

  Olivia: You are not going to like what’s happening to me. -_-

  Olivia: Natalie is insane.

  Olivia: This is Natalie. I have confiscated Olivia’s phone. ~n

  Avery: Natalie… what have you done? Give the phone back to Olivia.

  There wasn’t even more than a few seconds before Natalie wrote right back.

  Olivia: Not until she plays my game. ~n

  Avery: What kind of game?

  Olivia: None of your business lil knight. Don’t worry though, she’s in safe hands. ~n

  Two seconds after that I received a picture of Olivia sitting on Natalie’s lap and staring at her awkwardly with a cocktail in her hand in some dark place with weird splotchy colorful lighting. Natalie seemed happy. It looked like they were probably just hanging out and talking so far. I couldn’t make out much of anything except for their position and their faces.

  Avery: Bring her back in one piece.

  Olivia: Psh. Will do daddy. Please don’t be cross. ~n

  Avery: Gross. You’re fired from giving nicknames.

  Olivia: Forgive me father. I have sinned. ~n

  Avery: Skylar’s having more fun than I am. Thank god... but they had good burgers.

  Olivia: Don’t make me come down there. Stop being a pussy and ogle some girls. ~n

  Avery: You’ve got the only one I want to ogle. I like girls for their brains and personality, I’ll have you know.

  Olivia: Livia is fucking hot and she’s got kinks. Don’t even give me that shit. You’re as basic as the rest of us. You’re just afraid to let anyone know or see. ~n

  Avery: Jesus, I was joking about the last part. Calm down. The stripper Skylar is hot for came out and they’re in some private booth right now. It’s kinda funny.

  Olivia: Yes, father. ~n

  Natalie kept ignoring my bait.

  Avery: One of the strippers asked me if I’d ever thought about dancing...

  Olivia: Yeah, I bet she did. That hot little body… ~n

  Avery: I’m not exactly wearing the best clothes for someone to see my body and I was sitting down.

  Olivia: We’re all girls, Avery. We’ve all worn similar clothes. We can all tell what you’ve got ~n.

  Avery: You really think I’m hot, Nat?

  Olivia: Hate to break it to you ,babe. Livia would not be jonesing to marry you if you weren’t fire-alarm strength steamin’. You think I’m hot right? Think about it. I was your predecessor. ~n

  Avery: You’re hotter than me.

  Olivia: Says the girl who doesn’t know she’s fucking hot. ~n

  Avery: No, I’m serious. I really think you are.

  Olivia: Oh yeah? Wanna get a room? ~n

  Avery: Funny. Only if Olivia was in said room also.

  Olivia: Oh, so you want a threesome? This is news… Pardon me while I confer with your soon-to-be wife. This might be something we can arrange. ~n

  Oh god, I’d typed it out and hit send before I’d even thought. It was just a joke. Mostly. It was 99% joke and 1% curiosity.

  Avery: NATALIE! DO NOT…. UGH.

  I didn’t want to insult her by saying it was a joke but I didn’t want her talking to Olivia and saying that I was asking her for a threesome.

  Olivia: Shhhh… The grown-ups are talking. ~n

  Avery: Give Olivia the phone right now.

  Olivia: Just for that shit, the phone is now going into my pocket. I have a few things yet to do with your woman. Have fun Avery! ~n

  Oh, she was DEFINITELY being condescending and fake.

  I looked to my right and noticed, Sky was still in the private room.

  The song overhead was sexy and the bass thumped. It must’ve gotten darker outside. Somehow it was darker inside. Or maybe I was imagining things.

  Up on stage, two girls were dancing with each other. It might’ve been the beer, I dunno… I realized though, when one of their eyes hit me that, I’d actually been staring.

  If Natalie and Olivia were having their fun and Skylar was getting some kind of crazy awesome private lap dance then I might as well get something out of this night. It wasn’t like I was cheating.

  I got closer to the stage, without forethought. The girls were still dancing but through the flashes of the light I still saw eyes on me. We were watching each other. I only looked at her body when she was forced by her dance partner to turn.

  I
took a drink and pulled out a chair. Her long brown hair flowed down her back, hiding the strap of her simple blue top. I knew it would be gone soon anyway. They were putting on quite a show. Everyone in the audience was preoccupied with them but that girl wasn’t looking back at any of them, she was staring at me.

  When people saw me, I didn’t notice until Olivia. Now, I saw it. The way this girl stared into me. She was seeing me. I blinked and looked away, realizing what I was doing. I reached into my pocket and withdrew some money and leaned up, placing it on the stage at her feet.

  I couldn’t touch her. She was a far-away piece of idolatry.

  The chair scraped the floor as I got up. I felt it catch a crack in the dark concrete but the music drowned all the sound out. I stood beside it and backed up a few steps until a hand grabbed my shoulder and I jumped.

  “HEY!”

  It was Skylar, back from her private dance. Her eyes were sparkling and she was happy. Not the kind of happy that comes from some internal fixed point but the kind that comes from a moment of bliss. The stripper was nowhere to be seen.

  “So, you like her?” She said, her eyes straying up to the stage.

  “No, I was just watching,” I said, following her gaze.

  The girls were dancing separately now and the one that had been watching me was on the left of the stage, closest to us.

  “You should get a room with her,” Skylar suggested.

  “No, Sky-”

  “It’s great! You should! This is your last night. Have some actual fun, Aves.” She had to yell over the music.

  Now the music was dying, a signal that it was about to change.

  Fuck. That meant the dancers would be switching as well.

  “Come on,” Sky prodded, pushing me toward the wing where the strippers would come from behind stage.

  “I don’t want a lap dance,” I said honestly.

  Not from her. I’d never had one before but I knew that I didn’t want some random stranger shaking their body in my face. I wanted my fiancé. It wouldn’t feel right.

  “I swear, if you don’t loosen up I’m gonna kick your ass.”

  Skylar wanted to shake me. I could tell by the way she was gripping my shoulder.

  “Shit, calm down.” I reached out to put my hand over hers. She loosened her grip as soon as I touched her. Her hand flew away from me and that momentary happiness in her dampened.

  “Just chill and let me handle this,” she suggested.

  The girls were coming out of the back now and she waited until she saw the one that I’d been staring at and pulled her aside, talking in a low voice so I couldn’t hear what she was saying.

  Sky pointed back at me and I looked away quickly, not wanting to be caught staring again.

  They came over and Skylar stood to the side.

  “Avery, this is Devon. She’d very much like to take you to one of the little booths over there.”

  Skylar was nodding and grinning like an idiot. I looked from Devon to Sky and attempted a smile. It wasn’t very successful.

  “Sorry, I didn’t really-”

  Skylar was glaring at me and holding up a fist, shaking it a little to intimidate me. All it did was make me feel bad.

  “Hear your name- when she said it. What was it again?” I finished my sentence much differently that I would have if I hadn’t gone through that massive guilt gauntlet.

  “Devon,” she said, coming closer to me.

  She was smiling but not in a predatory way. I’d always imagined strippers as being super sexual and aggressive but she was actually being a little shy.

  “Nice to meet you, Devon.” I held out a hand for her to shake.

  She pursed her lips and laughed as she took it lazily. I guess most people didn’t shake hands with their stripper before a lap dance. I was so in trouble.

  We were now past the point of time considered polite for a handshake but Devon didn’t let go of my hand. She pulled me in by it. Skylar followed behind us, rubbing her hands together and grinning. She’d succeeded where almost anyone else would’ve failed.

  “Fuck,” I grumbled.

  “What’d you say,” Devon asked, not hearing me.

  “Nothing. Sorry, I left my beer over there and I didn’t want them to think that I was done.”

  “Oh, no problem. I’ll just get them to send us some drinks in the booth.”

  She grabbed one of the scantily clad waitresses passing by and told her to bring a pitcher and what sounded like a few rounds of shots.

  I hoped we had enough money to pay for all of this. I didn’t want to have to call Olivia to come bail us out on the bar tab and the stripper.

  The booth she picked was at the back and it was the most private. It seemed swankier than the rest and I saw more money being spent. There was a little wall surrounding each of the booths and you had to go around it and follow it as it spiraled around to reveal a circular booth with seats and a table in the middle. There was ample room at one side and that’s where she sat me down.

  “Avery, I like that name,” Devon said.

  She didn’t sit down, just stood over me, holding my hand. Skylar hadn’t followed us in and I wished she had. I hadn’t even noticed until it was too late and she’d left me.

  “Um, where’d my friend go?” I asked.

  “She’s waiting at the bar,” Devon said. “She wanted me to give you an extra special dance seeing as you’re about to be married.” She let go of my hand and leaned down, touching my face with her fingers and moving them over to my ear.

  She was barely touching me and I was very aware of her presence. She smelled like cherry blossoms and jasmine. It was an interesting combination. Her eyes were deep brown and her skin reminded me of the color of almonds.

  “What’s your fiancé’s name?” Devon asked.

  Her fingers went down to my chest, sinking into the open V of my blouse. This was getting strange. I was hot all over and my leather jacket was so heavy. I wanted to take it off but I didn’t want to give Devon more skin to touch.

  “Olivia,” I replied, thinking about her.

  Devon’s brows rose as she dipped down, beginning to dance for me.

  “I bet she’s pretty.”

  Her face was gone, replaced by her butt. She got down low, almost sitting on my lap and moving her body in time to the music playing from the stage. I nodded like an idiot, in answer to her question, pulling my hands back from where they had been resting on my thighs.

  I knew there was no touching. The signs posted here and there told you that but I felt like taking an active role was committing and committing was cheating.

  Her butt ground into my lap, making me clench my legs together. I should try to relax and just let this play out. I needed to get through this without freaking. I had no idea why it made me feel like this. Olivia had given me permission. Neither of us here were being forced to do anything. I just felt bad and good at the same time.

  Devon was gorgeous and she seemed sweet. I’d never see her again so that wasn’t an issue. She turned and shimmied over me, her breasts draping down into my view. They were perfect. Not too big and not too small. Some of the other girls had huge breasts. You could tell that they were fake. Hers were real or, at least, they looked it.

  I wasn’t going to touch and find out. Until she took my hand and pried it from under my leg.

  “You can touch me, Avery. I don’t usually let people do that but for you…”

  She put my hand on her breast and I wanted so badly to take it away. I could feel the firmness and the change of her nipple as it hardened.

  “I like you,” she told me.

  “Um, thanks,” I got out.

  She let go of my hand and I dropped it back to the booth seat. She shrugged a shoulder as she continued her very rhythmic dance. She’d probably expected me to go right along with it. When her face swam back into view it blurred and I blinked a few times to clear my vision.

  It still wasn’t right. I was getting weird. She
handed me a shot, reaching behind her and grabbing it without looking.

  She must do this a lot. I bet it pulled in a lot of money.

  I took the shot she gave me without even blinking. It roared down my throat and exploded inside of me, feeding the feeling I was getting as reality shifted a bit.

  Now, I could see her but she was different. She was Olivia. I smiled, silly and a little drunk.

  “Hey, baby.”

  “Oh, alcohol makes it all better, huh?”

  I frowned. It looked like Olivia but that wasn’t her voice. I shook my head, trying to clear it.

  “Not really.”

  The world spun a little and she was getting closer.