Sins of the heart

Angelique had always admired how the city lit up in the night. Thousands of lights coming to life all at once to disturb the inevitable darkness.

This night was different. Way different.

Her stomach in knots, she nearly felt lunch climbing back up her throat. Trembling fingers gripped the edges of her trench coat and her sea blue eyes were wide with terror.

‘Royal Club’- read a threateningly large neon sign above the door leading to a basement. It’s red light cast an odd glow on the bouncer standing underneath, making the bald man look ten times more scary. As if the tattoos and constantly squinted eyes weren’t enough.

The poor blond haired guy standing across the street was ready to bend over the nearest trash can at this point. She did not want to go there or anywhere near the place, but the clock had already hit midnight five minutes ago, and she hardly had the choice.

Forcing her stiff legs to move, Angelique finally gathered enough courage to approach. She tried to look brave, keep her head high. Emphasis on “tried”. Her steps in the high heels were clumsy and her complexion had turned greenish.

She was terrified

“Hello, my name is-“

“The back door.” The guard grunted out without a second glance at her

“But..”

“The staff goes through the back door.” He repeated, already annoyed.

She hadn’t expected a friendly welcome, but this was hardly encouraging. “Right, thanks..”

Oh dad, why did it have to come to this?, she thought sadly, almost on the verge of tears.

There was only one reason, and one reason alone, why she had wind up questing for the right entrance into a strip club - Her father’s addiction to gambling. It was bad, but she hadn’t realized just how much, until a couple of days ago, when she found him in the middle of the living room surrounded by three armed goons.

Apparently he’s in debt to a very dangerous man, and of course, being the bad gambler he is, he’s broke as a joke.

So there she was, scouting for the back door of some Russian club to relay his debt by dancing.

Five more minutes later she was finally let inside by another guard. The building wasn’t much to tell a story about, but once the door opened she was left awestruck. Red color dominated the surroundings, oozing luxury. Pictures of naked women were hung along the walls, not allowing her to forget where she was for a second.

The interior was magnificent, and the least of her problems. When the guard led her to the changing room, she was greeted by ear-splitting voices of two women.

“Oh my God! I’m sweating like a pig!” The first one exclaimed, slumped into a chair near huge, brightly lit mirror

“You are one actually” the other lady chuckled

“Shut the fuck up, zoe. I gained only two pounds and they are on my butt unlike yours.”

“What are you trying to tell me, you fat-Oh.” The angered woman, Zoe cut herself off when she spotted Angelique awkwardly at the doorway. Her long fake lashes fluttered, the green eyes hiding underneath scanning the newcomer from head to toe. “Who are you”?

“My name is Angelique…. I am the new….um…. dancer.” Her discomfort couldn’t be hidden by any amount of bravery.

The girl sitting on the chair snorted, “Dancer, huh?”

“Don’t mind that bitch”. Zoe gave the other woman a mean look, her smile returning as soon as she looked back at the blonde girl. “Here we don’t avoid the word stripper, darling. It’s what we do. “She motioned to herself as if it were obvious.

And it was.

She was wearing laced underwear with a transparent rob and pair dagger heels. Her makeup looked heavy enough to fall right off her roundish face. There was hardly anything that didn’t give away her profession. Even her dark red hair had glitter in them.

“Come on in, Jess is about to get off the stage and it won’t be pretty if you stand in her way”, The red head pulled Angelique inside the changing room. “By the way, my name is Zoe and that grumpy witch is Lila.

“I dare you to call me that again.”

“Ignore her, I guess it’s that time of the month.” Zoe said dismissively. “Angelique you said? That’s cute, I think I have the perfect stage name for you.”

“Stage name?” Angelique cocked her eyebrow. Why would anyone request her name in the first place?

“Duhhhh. We don’t use our real names. Do you know what bunch of stalkers come here? It’s hard enough without them moaning out my real name when I grind on them.”

This made Angelique cringe.

The door to the changing room swung open, “God, I will kill that old ballsack! So gross.” Another woman stormed in, her dark tan skin glistening with sweat. Her blushed cheeks were puffed out in rage and her lips parted. “Some old dude groped my ass again.” She fumed, pausing only when her eyes met Angelique’s.

“Who’s this?”

“Hey, Jess. This is our little Angel.” Zoe introduced, smiling brightly.

“It’s actually Angelique”-

“An Angel you say? This one looks like she fell from a driving truck instead of heaven. Is she going to perform today?” Jess frowned, her arms crossing right under her gigantic triple D sized cups.

“That’s rude Jess,”Zoe said. “ “Anyways I’m on it, Zoe said, grabbing her shoulders. We’re going to give you a makeover. Blonde hair will drive men wild and insane, but the rest….. hm…… we will work on it.”

Before the young woman could protest she was pushed into one of the chairs. Zoe was quick to apply makeup and do her hair. By the time she was done, Angelique could barely recognize herself. She looked… older, and… sexier. The long lashes and wide black streak of eyeliner completely changed her features.

She didn’t have much time to admire herself again before she was pushed behind a red curtain to change.

“Thank God I have some of my old bras here, otherwise we wouldn’t have anything to give you”. Zoe shoved the underwear into Angelique’s hand with two jelly-like things.

“Uhm? What are those?” Angelique questioned, holding one of them between her fingers.

“Jeez this girl is really dumb” Lila grumbled.

“It’s for your boobs, darling. Put them into your bra.” Zoe instructed, chuckling.

“Do I really have to? I mean…”

“Angel, no man is going to get an erection from a wobbling twig. Do it. “Just try not to lose them. Girl before you did, it was a scandal”.

“That’s not exactly calming”. Angelique sighed, stuffing the pads under her bra. They felt strange. But even more uncomfortable were the thong. The thin satrap didn’t hide anything at all.

“isn’t there a different underwear I can wear?”

“No! Its your first day! It’s show or go!” Zoe ripped open the curtain, her red lips curled upwards. After a very brief moment of silence she nodded in approval. “You’re set.” Put on the shoes and let’s go. The next show is about to start soon and I already told the DJ that an Angel will be coming up next”

The white lingerie she was given was quite fit the act. Not that it mattered. Her stomach was already wrenched by worry.

“You can dance right?” Lila asked, preparing for her own act.

“They wouldn’t hire someone who couldn’t” Zoe argued, looking annoyed by the dark haired girl.

“I am a dancer. But not a…..stripper”. Angelique admitted, her eyes cast downwards. Modern dance didn’t require showing bare butt to bunch of horny men or to wear ridiculous shoes. It required precision and passion for movement. She feared to imagine what her friends would think if they found out about this.

“Well, now you’re a stripper, so sick it up” Lila scoffed, turning her attention back to doing her makeup.

“As I said, ignore. Let’s go” Zoe urged, having caught the glimpse of sadness in Angelique’s eyes. “You know what I love about stripping”? She asked once the two were out of hearing range of other girls. “Once you’re on that stage, you’re not you”

“How does that work?” Angelique chuckled bitterly, swallowing the lump in the back of her throat. The walk was way shorter than she hoped for. Zoe stopped in front of another door. Loud music was blasting from the speakers and boisterous roars of crowd could be heard all the way down the hall.

Zoe leaned in,whispering in her ear quietly, “simple. Up there you’re not Angelique. You’re the angel.