Rotten

by Brooks, JL

  Taking a drink of water, I pulled it together and looked her square in the eye. “Your resume is impressive, but I noticed a gap in employment. What have you been doing for the past three years?”

  Melanie looked down once again for a moment before meeting my stare. “My husband went to Salt Lake for work during the recession, and I had to stay home to care for the kids.”

  “Was he in construction?”

  She nodded. I knew Vegas took a hard hit as it was one of the most dependable jobs to have, and in an instant, the bubble popped. Melanie had worked her way up through the ranks of the MGM Grand, the Mirage and finally the Bellagio before quitting. I felt a miniscule amount of sympathy for her. She had been out of the game too long and had no way back in. Vegas was ruthless; everyone knew that.

  “I know you assume I am not going to give you the job simply based off of our history. I’m not above forgiveness; I just need you to answer a few questions for me.”

  The pause was deafening as if there was no one else in the building. We both knew I had no questions about her job history – only questions concerning our own history with each other. What could possibly justify years of making someone else’s life hell?

  Her eyes danced around the room, knowing exactly what I wanted to hear. They stopped on David and followed him to the bar. She looked back at me and then down.

  “You know, I used to think that my mom hated your dad, so I hated him, too – and you. I later found out that I was wrong. She was in love with your dad, but never stood a chance with him. She was nothing more than a notch in his belt, and that made her furious. She and I aren’t that different.”

  Her eyes were far away as she avoided looking at me directly.

  “What does that have to do with David?” I tilted my head curiously, glancing at him and then back to her. As she lifted her head up, her face was now full of despair.

  “Everything…you know why all us girls were so mean to you? We knew that getting into David’s pants was easy. Getting his heart was impossible because it belonged to someone else. I know why my mom hated Knox now; it’s the same reason I hated you.”

  “You were in love with David? Why did that have anything to do with me? He barely paid attention to me.”

  She closed her eyes and breathed out deeply. “No one could have his heart because it belonged to you. I hurt you at first to get back at your dad, then it was to get back at him. I know now that was stupid on my part. I was raised on bitterness, and look where it got me.”

  Her honesty rendered me speechless. Melanie Francis had been the most popular girl in school, and to me, she was the devil. Never knowing what I did to deserve this, I couldn’t fathom that love would cause someone to go to such extremes. Technically, it was infatuation mistaken for love, but still, it was mind blowing. When assessing a situation from a clinical standpoint, there is no emotional connection. Therefore, one is able to see it from a reserved standpoint. I could picture myself as if time had stilled, and I was being asked, “What is going on here?”

  My mind instantly started to break down and analyze every part, categorizing as if it were a diagnosis. You cannot justify irrational behavior. And there it was. How could you justify years of making someone else’s life hell? You couldn’t. There may be rational explanations for irrational behavior, but there is never an acceptable reason for doing so. As humans, we have this deep-rooted fault of not being able to see beyond ourselves. I am not exempt from this; I know that about myself. Whereas Melanie felt anger and shame, I felt pain and shame. In a sense, we were not that different; we just expressed our emotions differently.

  I held her application in my hand and thought deeply for a moment. This is where I would have to separate myself from my emotions and do what was right. She was the most qualified applicant for the position and needed the work. It had to be bad enough for her to swallow her pride and walk into my daddy’s club. I could put her on probation to protect myself and the others should things turn south. I had one more question before the girls came over to meet her and extending an offer.

  “Will working with him be an issue?” I pursed my lips and watched her closely.

  She immediately shook her head, a glimmer of hope flashing in her eyes. “No, that’s the past. Best leave it where it lies, right?”

  I called the ladies over and they asked their questions. Together the four of us agreed she was the best candidate. I reached my hand across the table and waited for her to reach back and shake it. I could see the tears well up in her eyes as she mouthed a “thank you” before gathering her things.

  “Welcome aboard, you start tonight, seven sharp. Look hot.” With a grin, I sent her off and immediately walked to the bathroom and vomited.

  David knocked on the door, able to hear my retching in the quiet club.

  “Toni, you okay, babe? Need me to get you something?”

  I could hear the worry in his voice, the way his tone was quiet and gentle. “No, just give me a minute, okay?”

  He let me be for a while as my arms braced against the cold porcelain. Thank God someone just cleaned in here or I might have been even sicker. As the contents of my stomach emptied out, I only prayed I did the right thing.

  Erin’s flight landed a little earlier than anticipated. David sank into a chair off to the side with his ball cap pulled low, wearing sunglasses as if he were on a secret mission. I was not sure if anyone would outright recognize him, but I could tell he was in no mood to be bothered. On the ride to the airport, I asked him how he felt about my decision. He seemed indifferent and just said he trusted me. I was dizzy from vomiting and tried to drink a little soda to settle my stomach. Between that and the butterflies of Erin’s visit, I was somehow more of a wreck.

  I peered over the rail and noticed her dark blond curls spilling out of her messy ponytail as I meandered up the escalator. Her eyes met mine and the loudest screech echoed through the atrium. People moved off to the side as she shoved her way through the crowd. Her chunky, turquoise necklace bounced off her sheer tank shirt with each bound, the thick, silver bangles clinking as she moved.

  As she squeezed me tightly, I whispered in her ear, “Ready?”

  Without further prompting, her hand glided behind my head and freed my own ponytail. I swished my hair back and forth like a bad shampoo commercial. Erin bit her lip and gave her most serious stare while pressing into my body with a seductive embrace. I wanted to look at David, but it would have ruined the moment. I did, however, see the other arriving passengers gawk at what was taking place. Her hand moved gently down my back to my ass when I hiked a leg behind her calf. She tilted her head into my neck where David couldn’t see and giggled lightly.

  “You are so fucking mean, I love it!”

  Her hands continued to roam my body frantically, and her nose nuzzled along my neck as I leaned mine back to offer her better access. I could feel the eyes staring and could imagine how tight David’s pants were getting. She quickly spun me around, gave a hard slap to my ass, and cackled loudly as I jumped.

  As we walked towards David, I could see him shift uncomfortably, the sunglasses lowered as he gave me a dark smirk while shaking his head. He stood and Erin suddenly grabbed me and stopped, pulling me slightly back.

  “What? This is David. David, Erin.” My hands moved back and forth to introduce them. The fist that was pulling me back now shoved me to the side where I stumbled as she sauntered the rest of the way to where David stood.

  “Holy fuck, you’re David Stark!”

  She was loud enough that he started to dart his eyes back and forth, hoping no one heard her. Drool started to form at the corners of her mouth. Not really, but I could picture it. He looked at me nervously as the hunter suddenly became prey. With an outstretched hand, it was his way reinforcing some personal space. It was hilarious. I purposely kept who he was a secret just so I could see this moment.

  “Holy fuck, I am. Nice to meet you, Erin. Toni said I would want to bang you.”

/>   His words made me cough just then as I choked on my own tongue. His evil smile peeked out at me, yet Erin was fan-girling too hard to see it.

  “K, hornballs, I have a club to run if you don’t mind.”

  I walked towards the carousel to grab her bags without waiting for them to catch up. I was thrilled Erin came to see me as I needed it so badly, but I knew her, and I knew him, and I wasn’t thrilled about that. I didn’t care if they fucked; I just preferred not to force myself through the dance leading up to it.

  Watching the conveyor belt start to spit the luggage onto the rotating carousel, I kept my gaze fixed on the opening of the wall. David walked up behind me, and I could feel the bulge in his pants press hard against my hips as his large hands began to massage my shoulders.

  “You seem kind of tense, woman. You should be happy right now; your friend is here.”

  I relaxed a little into his hands and leaned back against him. “It’s just been a long day and the night is young. I am nervous about working with Melanie tonight. It’s going to be great or go bust. Luckily, Erin knows her way around a bar, too, so she can help if needed.”

  “You should be sitting at a table having a good time. Let the girls train Melanie; they can hold their own.”

  Erin bumped my shoulder and piped in, “Yeah, let’s get shit faced and get you up on a pole. Bowchicabowwow.”

  As I dropped my head back, David leaned down and kissed my forehead, causing my eyes to close. Hooking my thumbs behind me into his pockets, I started to relax a little. When my eyes opened and met Erin’s, she stood pale, looking between us. Shaking her head, she started to follow us back to the car.

  We pulled into David’s driveway to drop everything off and change before going to the club. He carried her suitcase into his bedroom and laid it in the corner.

  “Um, where is everyone sleeping?” Erin looked around, somewhat distraught.

  “You and I are sleeping in here; David is going to sleep on the couch.”

  He walked past me, plopped himself down on the sofa and kicked his feet up as we made ourselves comfortable. He pulled down his hat over his eyes. I knew he was tired, too. Walking back into the bedroom, I looked at Erin’s face, and her eyes were the size of saucers.

  “What the fuck is going on here? Are you banging David Stark? How could you keep that from me?”

  “No, no, no, we’re not having sex. We’re friends, that’s all. You can fuck him, really. I can’t promise he will talk to you later, but hey, you won’t be able to walk for a week.”

  She sat on the bed and started flipping through her phone before chucking it into her large purse. “Seriously, Toni. David Stark. In his house, in his bed. This is unreal.”

  My lips started to turn downward. This was what worried me. Despite his tough guy exterior, this ate at him. He liked sexual advances on his terms. He was very temperamental and moody about it now that he was older. He opened his Facebook page and showed me the multiple requests from girls with large breasts in bikinis with phone numbers. Twitter was the same. He would often leave his phone at the house on purpose, claiming that he could use mine or the club’s. When approached by strangers, it was always hockey this and hockey that. No one ever saw just David.

  “Hey, chill out, okay? He puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else. Granted he’s a little obsessed with his cock, but he’s a guy and it’s huge, so I think that’s normal.”

  Erin made the sizzling sound of a burn and threw a bra at me. “A little defensive are you? I highly doubt the big, bad David Stark needs you to defend him.”

  I recalled the ice rink and shoved down the protective nature trying to seep through again. “You’re right; it’s a reflex. Never went away.”

  I walked out and into the bathroom, shutting the door. Splashing cool water onto my face, I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. I no longer recognized who was looking back. The woman in the mirror was not the one I had become, but more like who I was. Despite my age, I still had a youthful appearance. My skin was clear and smooth, lightly tanned with a dusting of freckles rising across the top of my nose. My blond hair was naturally highlighted by the sun and had slightly grown out from missing my scheduled beauty salon appointments. I was changing along with everything around me, whether I liked it or not.

  The entire house smelled like barbeque chicken and garlic. I rubbed the corncobs down with butter and freshly crushed black pepper and parmesan cheese before setting them on the grill. The fridge had a near-empty bottle of cranberry juice to go with the lemon vodka he kept in the freezer. The mix tasted entirely too good going down. We had another two hours before we needed to get to the club, and dinner was almost ready.

  After setting out the buffet of items on the table, not much was said between the groans of pleasure about how delicious everything was. I had been cooking since I was here, but nothing this elaborate. My mood changed as I acclimated to Erin’s presence. She visibly calmed down around David, and he began to warm up. She broke the ice in her true fashion.

  “So you’re the one who popped little Toni’s cherry. Lucky bitch.”

  He looked at me affectionately and rubbed my thigh. “That I did – one of the greatest moments in my life.”

  Erin looked at me and started laughing loudly. “Ya know, normally that’s the other way around. The girl is all-sentimental about her first time. You would think she wouldn’t shut up about you, especially after you made it big, but I never knew about you two until this past week.”

  David’s hand froze on my thigh. He never stopped to think I would never include him in my discussions of the past. As a friend, she loved these new tidbits of personal history and was eating up as much as she could. I was notoriously private about such matters.

  He squeezed my hand beneath the tablecloth in comfort, knowing I was growing more upset. Erin didn’t know about the incident; there was never a reason to tell her.

  “So I take it she told you about Goliath right?” He turned to me with the most calm expression, knowing I was about to strangle him.

  Between bites of roasted potatoes, Erin looked at both of us curiously. “No, she didn’t. But something tells me that since your name is David, and she did tell me you’re obsessed with your cock, that the moniker fits the description.”

  David picked up his beer and winked. “You’re a sharp one, doll face. Want to see it?”

  My fork dropped along with my mouth.

  Please do not bust out your dick during dinner, please do not bust out your dick during dinner. Oh hell, there goes the zipper, I need another fucking drink.

  Immediately standing up and opening the fridge to claim the last of the juice, I took a long swig straight from the vodka bottle as David pulled down his pants and introduced Erin to Goliath.

  I heard the deep intake of breath and rapid heartbeat from across the room. Erin would be the first to confess she was a size queen. I wouldn’t know anything about that, yet she assured me, size does matter. She cooed as if it was a butterfly, and he proudly displayed it like the Stanley Cup.

  “Hey Toni, come here, someone is happy to see you. It’s been a while since you two have talked, he wants to say hi.”

  I refused to look at him. I looked everywhere but at him, although curiosity was absolutely killing me. “No thanks, I am good. I will send a postcard or something.”

  I am not having conversations about his dick…

  Erin started to taunt me. “You have David here, there’s no reason to fear Goliath.”

  My hairline trigger fused, and the bottle hit the wall before I realized it left my hands. Both of them knew what position I was in. Although I knew it was all in good fun, I couldn’t stop the rage starting to boil in me. I bolted out of the door and started to run as fast as I could down the dark road. Both of them were running after me, but I refused to stop. The noise between my ears was louder than the shouting coming from behind. I hadn’t run in a few weeks, and my body started to thrive on the endorphins.
I knew my muscles were going to be tight, but it was the only thing I could do to calm down. It was better to take it out on gravel than some poor person at the club. Perhaps getting shit-faced was a terrific idea.

  After I ran nearly two miles at top speed, David found me while I was catching my breath.

  “Honey, I’m sorry, that was a low blow. You know we were just messin’. I’m an asshole – I wasn’t thinking.”

  “Don’t filter yourself for my sake; this is my issue, not yours. I’m fine, drop it.”

  He let out a heavy sigh, yet resisted trying to console me. We walked in silence slowly back to the house and got ready to leave. I hugged a mournful Erin as soon as I hit the door; she had walked into a circus.

  “I’m just wound tight, love; I’ll do my best not to ruin your visit.”

  It took a bit before the mood elevated, though after sitting down at the club with a full bottle of tequila, it didn’t take too long. I gave myself permission to hug a toilet; sometimes you needed a bender to make you realize you could always feel worse. It was interesting seeing the place from a patron’s point of view; everything looked different. Erin eyed the poles, and I knew what she was thinking and could bet money she would be up on one before the night was over. She was the one who convinced me to try the classes after I told her about growing up in the club, and she encouraged me to keep going despite everything else.

  David did not sit with us for very long, leaving us to catch up. We politely declined the company of several burly men, but for the first time in my life, I indulged in my first lap dances. Jodie insisted on setting the bar and gave me the hottest dance I had ever seen a woman do. She smelled like cherries and vanilla and showed me why she ran the hive. I had never wanted to have sex with a woman before, but after that, I began to reconsider my thought process. The other girls came over and gave equally impressive performances to both Erin and myself. Luckily, I still had cash from my night of bartending and tipped the girls generously.