Chapter 2

Sofia felt so irritated hearing their nude comments but she hid her irritation and kept on swaying her body around the pole.

Releasing her thoughts and letting her body twist around the pole seductively. She turned her ass to the crowd, went on all fours shaking her ass. The crowd erupted in cheers, she turned to face them. Slowly, she stood up, her back against the pole, her hands moving from her thighs to her cleavage.

“Oh my goodness!”

“Let's see those nipples, baby!”

“Gorgeous, I love your boobs!”

Her eyes travelled around the hall as she danced to the rhythm of the song, ignoring the words of the drunk men.

Suddenly,her eyes locked with a pair of cold brown eyes, eyes colder than glaciers.He locked his eyes with hers, not cheering or howling like the other men. He stared at her like the way a predator would stare at a prey before pouncing on it.

Instantly, she felt herself being self conscious of her performance as a result of his fiery gaze on her body. She felt like leaving, but her legs refused to heed to the desires of her heart.

Someone got on the stage and put money in her bra, he left and she looked up to see the man still staring at her.

Suddenly, she was weighed down by dread. Who is he? Why's he staring at her that way? Was he an assassin?

From the side of the blue hoodie covering his face,she could see his dark coloured hair.  She couldn't really get a perfect view of his face since he sat in the shadows, surrounded by skimpy dressed women who were seductively caressing his body to get a response from him.

Something about the way he stared at her gave me goosebumps, instantly.  She quickly tore her eyes away from him and continued dancing, twisting her body against the pole in hopes of finishing the dance quickly.

Slowly, the beat came to an end and she immediately left the stage, she wasn't permitted to pack the money littered on the stage after her performance, it was for her mother's creditor.

She left with only the money that was put in her bra, from the look of things. She got a tip of $500. She sighed as she walked out of the hall. 

Today wasn't really her lucky day, other days she made close to a thousand dollars or more.

"Oh my God. You performed so well today!" Cassie excitedly chirped as she waited for Sofia by the walkway.

"I am not happy, Cassie. Look at the amount of money I got" Sofia replied back, looking sad  as she showed Cassie the money in her bra.

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself, babes,” she said, comforting Sofia. “Tomorrow will be better. So keep up the good work,”

Sofia sighed as she walked into the dressing room, she removed the money from her bra and put it inside her bag."I'll have to go home now. My grandmother would be waiting for me. She has her medications to take."

Cassie quickly hugged her as she finished changing to her normal outfit, Sofia left using the back door.

***

Sofia got home and slumped on the couch, she was tired. Working as a stripper wasn't easy, she had to learn how to dance with heels. She was always lucky to leave the club before things got messy.

"Sofia, how was work today?" her grandmother asked as she came to sit by her side. She handed a  glass of water to Sofia,who sat up and collected the glass  mouthing a 'thank you'.

"Work was fine, mother. I got $500 tips!" Sofia replied, there was no excitement in her voice.

Her grandmother stared at me with love in her eyes,"That's fine dear. It's enough to sort out our electricity bill. Just be patient in no time, you'd have your life back. Hopefully your mother's debts would be sorted out soon”. 

Just the mention of her mother got Sofia hissing. Her mother left her with her grandmother, she never called or reached out to them. She got back two years ago, she drank, gambled and that's how they got into that mess and now she is lying peacefully six feet underground whilst her eighteen year old daughter pays her debts and takes care of her sick grandmother. 

She had no idea who her father was, if he was alive or dead. Her grandmother had taken care of her until she became sick and had to stop working.

“ I think it's time I also get a job so we can raise enough money to clear the debts on time. "Mrs Ross suggested with a faint smile.

Sofia shot her a hard glare immediately. "Don't say a thing like that. Your body is too weak for any job now” Sofia placed her hand on her grandmother's thighs. “Mother, please allow me to work. Everything will be fine soon. Just stay alive for me”. Sofia said with tears in her eyes.

 

Mrs Ross nodded her head reluctantly and slumped her shoulders. "We received another letter by the way" she informed Sofia quietly. “It's on the dining table, let me get it”

“Don't worry, I'll get it,” Sofia said, standing up from the couch. She walked to the dining table and found an envelope on the table. She picked it up, tore and removed the letter.

Sofia's hands drummed nervously on the table as she read the content of the letter quietly.

“Who sent it?” Mrs Ross asked, her brows furrowed in concern as she noticed the look on Sofia's face.

“It's another admission letter” She lied, she knew if she told her grandmother it was from her mother's creditor her condition would worsen that night.

The letter was to remind her of the amount of money left and how she wasn't doing her job well. He even suggested she should start paying in addition to the free services in his club. 

Sofia sighed as she thought of how she could handle the financial burdens on her. Her ballet classes weren't paying so much, she could die within a month if she added another job to what she was doing.

“Sofia, I should support you with the debts. You can't pause your dreams to take care of everything. I can just work for a few hours and earn money” Mrs Ross suggested again, this time she tried to convince Sofia.

“Mother, you can't even do certain things on your own” Sofia replied, she walked to the kitchen cabin and brought out drugs. “Just take your medications and get better”.

She gave her grandmother her medications, she stayed up a bit to ensure she took the drugs. She finally went to bed, her mind wandering around the possibility of running away from the City.

The next morning, Sofia woke up and had breakfast before leaving the house for her ballet classes. She got there a few minutes late, she had dark circles under her eyes. A sign that she didn't sleep the previous night. How could she, when she was bearing financial burdens at a tender age?

She changed into her outfit, stretched while watching the other ballerinas practice. The kid she was also teaching was there, she was happy the owner of the school had assigned a child to an adult.

A few minutes later, it was time for them to rehearse. She pointed her toes and arched her back gracefully on the hands of Jake, her best friend and ballet partner as they danced together gracefully to the rhythm of the calm music playing in the dance studio.

With beads of sweat covering her foreheads, she was damn tired. Her legs felt numb, she just had to pretend she was fine because she didn't want to bother her best friend.

She hadn't forgotten the eyes of the man from the previous night, she still felt like he was watching her from somewhere.

"Ouch!" Jake exclaimed as he let go off her body and twisted his toes. “Are you okay?” He asked Sofia.