Chapter 2

Momentarily, she stood frozen in front of the horrifying scene. 

The previously amethyst-tiled floor was now marred with spilled drinks, and expensive wine bottles lay shattered around her.

On the floor, lay a stripper with a bruised face while a man in a leopard print suit hovered over her.  

The man forcefully tugged at the stripper’s hair and yanked her up with it. He landed a smack on her cheek and June gasped in trepidation. 

For some minutes, She was immobilized, unable to take any action, as she watched the assault in shock and horror. 

As the stripper began to bleed through her nose, June’s instincts kicked in, and without hesitation, she stomped across the hallway and lunged at the man, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck in an attempt to intervene. 

Not that she could take the man. He was hefty and way stronger. But she couldn’t bear the assault. 

The struggle between her and the man went on for some seconds, and for a moment, it seemed as if she might have the upper hand like she might take on the man until the man forcefully slammed her against the wall. 

Fuck! Who was she kidding? 

She winced at the excruciating pain that throbbed through her veins as she collapsed to the floor. 

At least, his attention was now on her and not on the stripper which was exactly what she wanted. 

The man bent down, meeting her gaze with bloodshot eyes. A cold fear rattled her inside but she held the man’s murderous gaze. 

“You wish for death too?” he sneered, tilting her chin with disdain.

In response, June spit-coughed at him. A stupid act but she cared less. She wasn’t going to grovel to a piece of shit. 

The man’s face twisted vindictively. “You’re a bitch too.” He swung his arm in the air and June knew exactly what he was going to do so she managed to twist her neck, causing the blow to miss her cheek and land painfully on her neck. 

She felt the sting deep into her bone. 

When the man turned his back to her, walking back to the stripper. June burst into mocking laughter, making the man tilt his head to her. Confusion playing out on his face. 

With her back against the floor, June challenged the man. “Do you feel better about your pathetic self?” 

The man cocked his head. 

It was a risky thing she was doing. Provoking the man. Not to talk of him about to do her harm and get away with it But it was the only thing she could do to pull away the pathetic man’s attention from the stripper. The stripper couldn’t take another blow. But she could. 

The other strippers crowded at the entrance of the dressing room and exchanged worried whispers, puzzled by June’s daring but understanding the danger of intervening. 

Pissed that they did not try to intervene, she didn’t blame them. She knew what happened to girls here. 

“Feel better about being pathetic?” she side longed the man. “Beating up two women knowing damn well they can’t take you.”

His menacing gaze locked on her, and he advanced towards her with a threateningly. Though trembling with terror, June held her ground, meeting his gaze head-on. 

He clutched a large amount of her straps in his fist and yanked her up.

“What did you say?” 

She couldn’t tell herself if it was bravery or pure stupidity that had her spewing out. June clenched her fist. “ I said you are pathetic.” 

 The room fell into an eerie silence. The man’s amusement wavered as June continued to glare defiantly at him.

Was she terrified? Yes. Would she back down? No. 

“Your stupid bravery will only get you killed.” His grip tightened around her straps. 

“At least I’m not a coward like you.” She spat at him. 

His response was an unsettling mix of laughter and surprise. 

“Beg. I’ll forgive you if you apologize for your foolish bravery and loose mouth.” 

She scoffed. “You might as well do whatever the fuck you want to do asshole. Because I’ll die than apologize to woman beater.” She yelled at the man’s face. 

The man's grip on her loosened, taken aback as if he’d expected her to beg him. Then he snarled. 

“Fine. I’ll give you the death wish you desperately want. Today is the day you meet your maker.” 

June smirked. “Pity, I’m not religious.” There was one thing for sure. She always had a comeback on the tip of her tongue. 

Enraged, he began to rain kicks on her stomach, each one emphasizing his words “Fine. I. will. Give. You. The. Death. You. Want.” 

A sharp, pulsating ache throbbed through her body making it nearly impossible to catch his breath. The kick went like forever sending waves of agony through her body.

Then it came to an abrupt stop, leaving June trembling on the ground. When she finally managed to crack open her eyelids. She saw the receding steps of the man’s shoe. 

 She clutched her stomach in agony, and let out a sigh of relief. 

Her triumph didn’t last long. 

Her eyes caught the man dragging a decorative vase towards her, making her heart lunge into her throat. 

Fuck! Today was really the day she died. 

Her eyes darted around nervously looking for an escape route. But she was too weak to sprout herself up. Her ribs hurt like hell. So does her stomach. 

 Indeed she was stupidly brave. Hey, there was a bright side to it. The man wasn’t fixated on the stripper anymore. And the stripper wasn’t going to die.

But you may. 

She whimpered. Maybe she should have begged his ass? 

Funny, if she was given another chance to decide differently, she would still make the same decision. 

Just as the man rose the vase over her head, June closed her eyes. It shouldn’t hurt much right? Right? 

When it crashing sound came, it landed close to her ear followed by a series of curses. 

Her eyes snapped open. 

The bouncers were already dragging the man away from the club. 

Oh, thank fuck. She wasn’t going to be crippled after all. 

Relief washed over her at the same time a hand wrapped around her, lifting her to her feet 

Her vote of thanks turned to a glare when her eyes landed on the helping hand. 

Her fucking best friend, Lola. 

“Are you okay?” Lola asked. 

“Oh, look who is here?” Her tone held a hint of sarcasm. 

“Whatever that means.”

 “Where the fuck are you when my head is about to be sliced into two by a vase?” 

When June said she didn’t blame the other strippers for not intervening, she wasn’t referring to her best friend. 

“Who did you think called the bouncers huh?” Lola pointed a finger at herself. “bitch, me. I did.” 

She scoffed, her eyes scanning the hallway. “Whatever.” 

“Fuck. Your neck.” Lola’s hands brushed against her neck. “My god, it looks so painful.” 

“It’s nothing.” 

“This is not nothing. I can see the man’s print on your neck.” Lola winced. “What are you looking for anyway? You should be seated and probably find something to do with your neck. Oh god, it’s so red.” 

June ambled to the stripper’s side when she found her, leaving her whiny best friend. 

She ignored the sharp pain she felt as she bent down beside the stripper and raised the stripper’s head to her thigh. 

She checked to see if the stripper was still breathing, though she wished she could do more than that. 

Her hand fumbled in the small pocket of her miniskirt in search of her phone, hissing out a few seconds later when she realized there was no way her phone would fit into the small pocket. 

“Your phone?” she said to Lola behind her. 

“Why?” Lola asked as she pulled her phone out. 

“Calling the paramedics.” 

Lola’s movement halted. “You can’t do that.” 

“I can,” She said in a frustrated tone. 

“I already called the club’s medics,” Lola replied. 

She rolled her eyes. There was a rule that whenever an accident broke out in the club. Only the club’s medics should be called to protect the VIP's privacy. Right now, privacy was the least of her concerns

“She needs to be attended to immediately. She can’t wait two hours.” That was the amount of time needed for the so-called club’s medics to arrive. 

“Still.” Lola hesitated. 

She snatched Lola’s phone from her and didn’t bother to argue with her. Then she called 911. 

She explained in detail the condition of the girl and how it happened. She wasn’t supposed to. Then again, she didn’t care. If she had her way, she would also call the cops to report an assault and battery case. 

“You know shouldn’t tell them what happened too right?” Lola said. 

“Do I look like I care?” she shot back.

“Maeve is so not going to like this.” Someone said from behind. 

Maeve was the owner of the club and a scary-ass woman. But she was too overhead to care about what Maeve liked or not. She couldn’t bring herself to be terrified of the consequences of her actions. 

“What is going on?” 

She rolled her eyes. Here came the devil herself. 

Maeve. 

She wore a black pencil skirt and black chiffon with a black turnover coat. Because of her penchant for black clothes. She was coined the grim reaper. 

Before anyone could answer, The paramedics emerged from the hallway. 

She stood and made way for them. 

She raced through ways to escape Maeve’s wrath as the paramedics patched the stripper. 

One of the paramedics asked, “What happened here?” 

Before she could answer, Maeve jumped in “She fell.” 

She wasn’t shocked. Just disgusted. Maeve sounded so unremorseful. 

“How?” The personnel said in disbelief. Anyone could tell, the injuries on the stripper weren’t merely from a fall.  

“This is a strip club. She fell from the pole. Accidents like that are common here.” Maeve’s voice did not crack. 

The paramedics didn’t believe Maeve. But he left it as it was. “Who will accompany her?” He asked as he and his subordinate pulled the girl unto the gurney. 

“No one.” Maeve plastered a fake smile on her face. “Please take care of her.” 

The paramedics exchanged a look before wheeling the stripper out of the VIP section. 

A second terror brewed in her as her eyes caught Maeve deadly glare. 

“Follow me,” Maeve said to her, Lola, and two other girls whose name was Mila and Daisy. They were the only strippers left in the hallway. The rest swathed away when Maeve arrived. 

June brushed off any concerns about Maeve’s potential punishment as they made their way to her office. As long as she could keep her job and her pay intact, she was content. Those were the only things that truly mattered to her.

 Before entering Maeve’s office, she took a deep breath, positioning herself near the door.

Maeve spun and crossed her arms over her chest as she leered at them. When her glare shifted to June, she almost choked on her tongue. 

“Who called 911?” Maeve’s words came out quickly, almost catching June off guard.

“I did,” after a beat, she replied, her voice cracking under the pressure.

Maeve strode towards her, “You did?” 

Just as she nodded, a resounding slap cut across my cheek, leaving a sore sensation on her face. It hurt like hell. 

“What is the first rule you must abide by?” 

“She was barely breathing. And no one could administer a first aid treatment.” She countered. 

“The first thing to do is call Vue’s medics,” Maeve yelled to her face. 

She was tempted to laugh at Maeve’s face. But she thought better of it “Vue’s medics take forever. If I had called them, they probably wouldn’t be here by now.” 

“Are you arguing with me right now?” Maeve queried. 

“No.” I lowered her head. “Just stating the truth.” 

It didn’t surprise her that Maeve was more concerned about the privacy of her so-called VIP than the safety of her employee.

“I won’t let it happen again,” June said. But she was damn sure if something like that happened again. She would call the paramedics first. 

“Was anyone there when the incident broke out?” Before she could respond, Maeve waved her off. “Not you June.” 

She rubbed her burning cheek as Mila, another stripper narrated the incident.

According to Mila, the stripper defrauded the man. Even that did not justify what he’d done to her. She still wished for him to rot in jail. 

Maeve backtracked, stopping when her legs hit the desk. “So she duped him?”

Again, she wasn’t surprised that was the only thing Maeve was about to make out of the narration. 

“The harassment was still unwarranted,” Mila said softly.

“Yeah. He needs to get punished for it.” Lola agreed. 

Maeve nodded her head. “She will be compensated accordingly”

A notch of annoyance and irritation twisted her gut at Maeve’s indifference. 

“What?” Mila’s eyes popped out. 

“I say we report this to the police,” Lola said. 

“No amount of money can heal her of the trauma she went through today.” Her breath hitched with fury. 

“Which is why she will be compensated accordingly depending on the degree of her trauma,” Maeve sat on the edge of her desk. 

“That’s it? Money will be thrown to her face?” Mila scowled “Shouldn’t he get punished for this?” 

“If she didn’t defraud him, her bones won’t be broken,” Daisy chimed in after a long silence, earning an urge in her to slap Daisy across the face. 

“How could you say that?” Mila directed an annoyed gaze at Daisy. 

“It is the obvious truth.” Daisy shrugged. 

“You look too pretty to be walking around with an empty head,” She muttered under her breath. 

“What did you just say to me?” Daisy gasped. 

“It’s the obvious truth.” She taunted back. 

“What?” Daisy fumed. But June paid no attention. “Did you just call me a pretty face with an empty—” 

“Shut up. you both.” A loud bang on the desk interrupted their squabble.

“We can’t let this one go like nothing happened.” She said. “Last time it was Lola. Now this.”

“What happened to Lola?” Maeve narrowed at her. 

“A rando pushed her off the pole.” 

It wasn’t a surprise Maeve couldn’t remember this when it happened just a week ago. 

 “And why is that? Your narration isn’t complete.” 

Frustration pushed June over the edge, and she couldn’t contain herself any longer. “Because he’s an asshole. They assault women and get away with it!” 

“Lola, how about you tell your friend what truly happened?” Maeve deadpanned. 

 Lola looked down at her fingers. “He didn’t push me. I fell myself.” 

“That isn’t…” Her mouth fell agape. Lola had previously told her that he pushed her.

“He said he will pay me triple if I can reach the highest height of the pole.” 

“Good. She hurt herself voluntarily so did Gina who thinks it was smart to scam a Vip.” Maeve concluded. 

Her jaw tightened. “Gina doesn’t deserve it,” she countered. Gina didn’t deserve to be beaten to the brink of death.

“No, she doesn’t.” Mila added. “and we need to make a report.” 

“Then what?” Maeve asked

“Don’t know. He will be punished somehow.” Mila shrugged. 

“You think the local cops can serve him justice?” Daisy scoffed. “He’ll probably get bailed easily and that will be the end.”

She hated to agree with Daisy. But she spoke the truth. Men that frequented the VIP section of the club were not people that could be punished by the law. 

“So let's get to why you guys are here.” Maeve drawled “The cops may come for questioning. When they do I want us to be on the same page. You didn’t see anything. Or she fell off the pole “ 

Predictable…

“This is so unfair,” Mila mumbled. 

“Yeah. How about you quit?’’ Maeve barred. “If it’s so unfair you are all free to quit.”

They fell silent. 

“How about you go first, June? I will gladly accept your resignation letter.” Maeve taunted. 

After a long moment, and none of them said a word, Maeve uttered, “That’s what I thought. So what happened?” 

“I didn’t witness it. I was super drunk. They say she fell off the pole though.” Daisy twisted her hair around her finger. 

Of course, Daisy was the first to comply. 

“What about you June?” Maeve raised her eyebrows. 

She threaded my fingers. “I was in the bathroom. I didn’t witness the incident.” 

Maeve’s lips curled up “Good.

 She felt a gag rising but managed to hold it down.

 “What about you Mila?” Maeve leaned back, her hand splayed on the surface of the desk, and she directed her attention to Mila. 

As the room fell silent, Mila closed her eyes, seemingly struggling to find the right words. Her mouth opened, but she hesitated and then remained silent.

“Mila? What did you see?” Maeve prodded, her tone demanding answers.

Just as the tension in the room was becoming unbearable, a knock on the door interrupted them. June felt a sense of relief wash over her. She couldn’t bear another minute of the oppressive atmosphere in Maeve’s office.

Andy, the receptionist, walked in, breaking the tense atmosphere. “A VIP requires June,” he informed.

June exhaled audibly, seizing the opportunity to escape the suffocating room. Without waiting for Maeve’s permission, she quickly walked out.

 Being a Friday, she knew exactly which VIP had arrived, and she despised how her body couldn’t help but feel excited at the thought of seeing him.

She took her time to change her clothes and clean her wound up before going to meet the VIP.