4

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach, my insides twisting into knots. I didn’t want to humiliate myself. There was something about this man, and the way he held his gaze with mine…

I knew if I stayed here, continuing to watch him stare at me, I would feel even more worse than I already did. I needed to get out of here, and fast. I needed to get away before he approached me, because I knew that nothing good would come out of it. I needed him to stop looking at me.

I quickly slipped my mini-dress back on before I made my way off the stage.

“Great performance, sweet cheeks,” a man said, he wolf-whistled, and spun me around, tossing one hundred dollars at me. His arm moved to my waist, but I quickly slapped it off, walking away as fast as I could, leaving him cursing and pissed off.

I pushed through the crowd and made my way to the bar, suddenly needing a drink. I was angry, my blood boiling to the surface. I was angry that people saw me as a whore when I was a pure woman, and had never slept with a man willingly. I was doing this job to stop me and my sister from going hungry and being homeless…

Not because I was easy.

I allowed the liquor to burn down my throat as I continued to sip from the cup. I wished it would make me feel better and help me calm down.

But I just felt worse and worse.

“Why aren’t you performing?” roared a voice.

I spun around to see that Boss had followed me again. The man couldn’t even leave me in peace for two minutes without complaining at me endlessly and biting me in the ass.

“Didn’t I explain to you that you were being punished, goddammit?” he bellowed angrily.

“Yes, Boss…” I stumbled shakily, swallowing down a lump in my throat as I slammed my drink down back onto the bar table. “I was just taking a break…”

I could feel my eyes prick with tears, not wanting to go back to the stage to dance, especially after I’d seen that man in the crowd.

“Can’t I just serve drinks today?” I pleaded.

Boss slapped my face, and my hand leapt to my face in shock. I couldn’t believe it.

I couldn’t fucking believe it…

“First you turn up late, then you have the audacity to take a break when you’ve hardly done any work?” he snarled. “Stay in your lane, you whore. Get back to work.” His voice dropped to barely above a whisper, and I knew he meant business, and that I shouldn’t argue with him. He’d hardly ever raised his hands to me before…

Things were only going to get worse for me if I defied him.

I could feel silent tears roll down my cheeks, even though I did my best to hold them back. I couldn’t believe he slapped me.

This bastard…

How dare he.

My heart hammered against my chest, my breathing labored. I took several deep breaths in and out, doing my best to regain my composure. I knew it wouldn’t benefit me if I made a scene or argued back.

It was either putting up with this or having to live on the streets…

I had to keep reminding myself of that whenever things got too tough.

“Okay, Boss, I’ll get back right away,” I mumbled.

“Okay, good. I have a man who wants a private dance, and he’s willing to pay a lot of cash,” he hissed matter-of-factly, getting straight down to business. “Make sure you do everything he says. You’re not screwing this up.”

Make sure you do everything he says…

His words replayed themselves over and over to me, like a form of torture. Etching themselves into my memory. I knew this wasn’t good…

It meant if this man wanted to touch me, I would have to allow him…

I could feel my heart in my throat, feeling too weak and exhausted to fight back. I just wanted to get this night over with, and then go home to my bed. The sooner I got this over with, the better.