Blinded By The City Lights.

Weeks turned into months and my life didn’t really change. I still worked at the salon during the day and danced at the club during the night. Pete had cut back my hours though and I was working more in the salon and if I was honest, I preferred it. I didn’t earn as much and rent was becoming a struggle again, but I was happier when I was away from the dirty club with its perverted men.

Val and I became good friends. The blonde headed girl was real sweet though had serious trust problems when it came to her boyfriend. She was always convinced that Matt was cheating on her, ‘always fucking groupies when I’m not there’ . I doubted that this was true; I mean who’d want to cheat on someone as beautiful as her? But I never said anything, after all I didn’t know her boyfriend and it wasn’t my place to judge him.

I sat on the window sill and looked out at the rainy sky. My freshly rolled joint lay unlit on the glass ashtray beside me. How had my life gone so fucking wrong? It didn’t seem all that long ago that I was a young, naïve teenager who just wanted to see the world and follow the music that had changed my life. All I had wanted was to be happy, after all the shit I had put up with as a child I thought I had deserved some happiness, guess I was wrong.

“I miss the good ole days,” I mumbled as I flicked open my lighter and lit up my joint.
Inhale, exhale, on top of the world.
“What did I ever do to deserve this?”

My eyes closed as I enjoyed the bitter taste hash always left in my mouth. Drugs had become my escape from this fucked up world. They were the only thing that helped me forget how horrible everything has become.

In my drug-induced state my mind began to drift until it reached the mysterious man, Shadows . Since the night he had told me to “try and escape” I hadn’t seen him. It was odd, but I missed him. There was something about the tanned, hazel eyed man that meant I couldn’t get him out of my mind.

The sky had turned a dark shade of indigo and I sighed knowing it was time to head to work. I stubbed out my joint and took a deep breath; I just needed a break from it all. Work had become overwhelming, I was more disgusted than ever at the thoughts of me touching me, seeing me as a mere piece of meet - their little play thing. It was horrible.



My show was over for the night and, feeling exceptionally tired, I stepped outside for a well deserved doobie. It had stopped raining but the air still had that stuffy feel to it and my sweat dampened hair stuck to the back of my neck making me uncomfortable.
I dug out my half smoked mary jane from the bottom of my bag and lit it quickly, inhaling the unhealthy toxins.

“You know… those things will kill you.”

I jumped at the sound of a male voice and turned to face him . A small smile found its way onto my face, “Yeah, yeah whatever.”

I heard him sigh, “Why do you do all this?”

My smile turned into a bitter smirk and I cocked an eyebrow, “You mean why do I smoke pot and dance seductively for sleazy men? Why do I degrade myself for money?”

He nodded but said nothing, letting me continue my mini-rant.

“I do it because I have no other fucking way of earning money. I was in this city an entire year before I could scrounge up enough money from other jobs to get an apartment. I had to live in a homeless shelter. Do you understand how horrible that was? I work here because it’s the only way I can keep a roof over my head!” I glared at him, but my anger was quickly subsiding. “I work here because I don’t want to have to return home.”

His eyes filled with pity and concern, “I’m sorry Cherry. I thought… well I guess I don’t really know what it thought.”

Tears welled up in my eyes and I got angry with myself for it, “Yeah, well then don’t judge people before you know their story.”

“Well why don’t you tell me your story?”

I threw my mostly-smoked joint onto the damp ground and let it sizzle. Then I turned away and headed back into the club, just needing to escape this man who wanted to know things about my past.
He finger grazed my wrist and he called out for me to stop, and as much as I didn’t want to, I did. Like I said before, there was just something about this man.

“Look, Dollface, I can understand that you probably don’t want to tell me your story, I mean we barely know each other. But, I want you to know that I see you as more than a stripper.”

A bitter bark of a laugh escaped my lips, “Yeah I’m sure you do, that’s why you come here to see me and then tip me for my ‘personality’ .”

He smiled a little at my joke, “Okay, I’ll admit that the first time I came here I was just looking for a way to escape my girlfriend. But then… then I found you. You’re why I keep coming back darling.”

I rolled my eyes; I couldn’t believe the shit he was trying to feed me. He honestly expected me to believe that he only turns up to the club to keep an eye on me? I wasn’t that stupid.
“Whatever Shadows, don‘t try to convince me you care about me. I‘m not an idiot,” I made to stalk away but once more he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back into his warm arms. He leaned down and kissed me on the lips. Now whether you’re a prostitute, a stripper or an escort there has always been one common rule. No kissing of the lips. To kiss someone on the lips implies feelings being felt for the other and if you’re in the business like I am you know you can’t have feelings for anyone. Especially not a client. I had never kissed a customer on the lips before and never planned to, but I couldn’t stop myself from returning Shadows’ kiss. His lips were soft and gentle against mine, surprising me. With his tattooed and muscled arms I expected him to be rough, not gentle. It was a nice surprise.

He pulled away from my lips and the cold city air hit my lips once more. I missed the feel of his lips on mine already, craving to taste him again.

“Don’t ever tell me I don’t care for you. You don’t know anything.” His hot breath hit my lips and I shivered.

In that moment I didn’t care that he was my client or that he had a girlfriend, all I wanted to do was kiss Shadows once again. I leaned and let my lips grace his once more and for once, the world seemed to fall into place.