Stronger With Her (11 page)

N
o, no, no, this isn’t happening, I keep repeating in my head. There’s no way that James fucking Owens is here in this shit hole. Why would a man of his social standing be here. I chose this place because it’s in a different county from where I live and work and I could have anonymity.
Fuck.
I’ve got to finish this routine and get the fuck out of here. Hopefully he didn’t realize that it’s me since I’m wearing my wig, contacts, and pounds of makeup. I make sure not to look his way again and continue with my dance, trying to make every man feel special for the two seconds I spend with him. As the song winds down, I make my way toward the curtain and end my dance in the splits, a move that is always a crowd pleaser. I don’t waste any time getting up and rushing to the back, knowing that Trevor will collect any cash that’s still on the stage.

Once I’m in the dressing area, I take a minute to calm my nerves. I look at myself in the mirror and know that I don’t look anything like Stephanie the computer nerd. My Vixen persona is highly developed and hasn’t failed me yet. But, just to be sure, I’m not going to take off my disguise, in case James tries to approach me. Wait a second, he was here last time but he had a beard. I knew he seemed familiar; he’s my dolphin!

This is all too much to process. I sit down on the disgustingly dirty bench and try and catch my breath. I can spin this, somehow, I have to. He can’t know that I take my clothes off for money. It will ruin my reputation before I get my business off the ground.
Think, Steph, what would Erin say?

I hear the door open and I look up expecting to see Trevor standing there with my money. Unfortunately, it’s another equally big man, but one I don’t want back here.

“Stephanie, I know it’s you,” he says. I’m going to try and lie my way out of it.

“I have no idea who you are or how you got back here. My name is Vixen and if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get dressed,” I say covering my bare breasts.

“Stop. Just stop this. What are you doing here? You’re a computer genius for fuck’s sake. You don’t need to dance nude for money, especially with what I’m going to be paying you.” He takes a step toward me and I scoot back.

“Get the fuck OUT OF HERE!” I scream as loud as I can, hoping that Trevor is close by. Fortunately my wish is granted as he barrels into the room.

“Sir,” Trevor says as he puts a hand on James’ shoulder, “you need to go back out front. Employees only in this area.”

“I’m not leaving without her,” James says, brushing the hand off his shoulder. Wrong move, James, wrong move.

In a split second Trevor has James pushed up against the wall and his arm wrenched behind him. “I don’t believe you understood me correctly, sir, but you’re going to have to leave this area,” Trevor says as he pulls James out of the room, closing the door behind them. I jump up to lock the door so no other uninvited guests show up in here. Then I hurry to get my bag and put my clothes on. Now I just have to figure out how to get out of here without dealing with James again because there’s no telling what he’ll do next.

Once I’m dressed, I pace around the room trying to come up with an escape plan. Most of the time I’d use the back exit, but it’s been closed off because of some construction mess they’ve got going on. I’m sure the fire marshal would shit a brick if he knew about that.
Think, Stephanie, think.

A knock at the door stops me from my laps around the room.

“It’s Trevor, you can open the door now,” I hear from the other side. I hurry over to let him in.

“Thanks for showing up when you did. I appreciate the assist,” I say hugging his waist quickly.

“No problem, you know that’s what I’m here for. Although, I will say that this guy isn’t like the others. Once we got out of here, he calmed down and I got him to talk a little. He says that he knows you and he only wants to make sure you’re okay. Do you know him?”

I look away in defeat. Might as well come clean with the one guy in this place who has never let me down.

“Yeah, I know him from my legit work. I just didn’t want anyone from that side of my life to find out about this, you know?” I feel the burn of the tears starting to form.

“I know you’ve done everything you could to keep this a secret, but it looks like you’re going to have to tell him something,” he says as he pulls me into a hug. “He’s not leaving and he hasn’t really done anything to warrant calling the police to have him removed. I can walk you to your car if you want, but I don’t think you’ll be able to avoid him forever,” Trevor looks down and kisses my forehead. He’s so good to me.

“I know you’re right. I’m going to have to face the music sooner or later. Might as well be now. Is there a private room available I could use? I don’t want to do this out on the floor or in the parking lot.”

“I’ll go make sure that number six is open. That way you’re at the end of the hall with total privacy. Give me five minutes and go on in,” he says as he walks back into the club.

If I’m going to be completely honest, I might as well do it as Stephanie. I start removing my makeup, false eyelashes, contacts and wig, returning my appearance to my “regular” self.

Ten minutes later I’m standing outside of the private room. I’m losing my nerve and thinking about making a run for it, knowing James is in there. I could get away quickly and easily and not have to deal with this tonight. No, I tell myself, just get it over with, like ripping off a bandage. I take a deep breath for courage and put my hand on the doorknob, hoping that I don’t lose the first job EPOM has gotten.

I’
m pacing like a caged animal in this room. After the bouncer told me that I was going to get to talk to Vixen, I calmed down a little. I’m still reeling from the knowledge that my newest contract employee is also a stripper. It just doesn’t make sense. Sure, she’s absolutely fucking gorgeous, which is somewhat rare in this industry, but that’s not all. If I really think about it, I knew there was something different about her last time I saw her. Some of the pieces are falling into place, but I still have more questions than answers. The top one being what the fuck is a computer genius doing in a crappy strip club?

I check my watch for the hundredth time but only ten minutes has passed. I’m starting to feel caged in, and that usually gets my blood boiling. If she doesn’t show up soon I’m going to go find her. I’m not leaving here without the answers I need.

I stop pacing when I hear the door knob turn, spinning around to face her when she walks in. But, the door never opens. I’ll give her a few more seconds then I’m going to pull some caveman shit and pull her in here. I count to ten and when the door fails to open, I stalk over and practically rip it off its hinges. I’m shocked to find the hallway empty.

“Son of a bitch,” I yell at the wall. I take off toward the front of the club, hoping to catch her before she bolts. Once I get to the main room, the crowd has grown and there’s no clear path to the door. I start shoving people out of my way, not really giving a fuck if anyone is pissed off. Most people don’t challenge me because of my size so I use that to my advantage. It takes more time than I would have liked to make it to the door but I don’t see her anywhere.

“Where the fuck is she?” I ask the bouncer that threw me out of the dressing room.

“Who are you looking for?” He answers without looking at me.

“You know good and goddamn well who I’m looking for. Where the fuck is Vixen?” I step up and bump his chest with mine. We’re equally matched in height and size so any physical altercation would be interesting.

“Sir, you need to step back if you expect me to answer your questions,” he says calmly. He obviously doesn’t understand the urgency of this situation, but I still give him the space because I want to know where she is.

“Where is Vixen? She was supposed to come see me in the private room, but she never showed up. You told me she would.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but Vixen has left. She asked me to tell you that she had to go.”

“She what?” I feel my blood pressure spike and my fists clench.

“I think it’s time for you to go, sir. I hope you find what you’re looking for,” he says as he opens the door and indicates that I need to leave. I don’t fight it, because what I want isn’t here anymore. I brush past him, making my way into the parking lot and toward my truck. I can’t believe that she did this. Monday morning is going to be very interesting, indeed.

I’
m a chicken shit. I just couldn’t do it. Facing James in that place is too much. I’ll have to deal with the consequences on Monday. Maybe I’ll just communicate with Joe only from now on. He’s a good guy. Hopefully that will keep a buffer between James and me until I get the project finished.

After Trevor walked me to my car, I’ve been sitting in the dark for a while trying to get my thoughts in order. My heart is beating so fast it feels like it’s going to come out of my chest. I try the deep breathing exercises that my therapist taught me after Erin’s suicide. It takes several minutes but I finally begin to calm down. Once I can think clearly again, I start my car and back out of the space. As I’m leaving the parking lot I see James walking out of the club. I try to drive carefully past him, but he steps in front of my car. I have to slam on the brakes so I don’t hit him, which would probably hurt my vehicle more than it would him.