Zoned: Waking Up

One week after Harper's party, after Jordon and the others talked about the situation at Neverland.

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"Alright, you beautiful, sexy queens, you're gonna get out there and make me some MONEY! "

"I see Tammy's been hittin' the slopes," Richi said as she leaned in and tapped the side of her nose. "I wonder where he keeps it, maybe we can sneak a ski trip," she laughed. I definitely wasn't opposed to it. A nice buzz and a good high always made for a fun night at work. As fate would have it, cocaine was definitely a part of the plan that night. Tammy ended up walking in, giving us both a line and a bump for "being the most beautiful women in the world." Incredible.

" LEEEEET'S GET IT GOING, GIRLS! I got bills to pay and drugs to do!" A final flash of intoxication and middle aged, sweaty man later, and Tammy had disappeared into his office. Sure, can't expect him to share it all with us, I thought.

"Are you ready to make men beg, my dear?" Richi touched up her eyebrows, and checked for snow remnants in her nostrils. She looked incredible, honestly. Her outfit was new, and fit her body perfectly. It was a harness-type piece of clothing, straps covering her upper thighs and neck. Her mask was gold, just like most of her jewelry, and fit the theme for a masquerade. I wasn't at all surprised with how great the look turned out. My outfit , was black and laced, with lace flowers that creeped around my torso and up my neck. A loose black ribbon was tied around my upper thigh, like a garter, just wide enough to cover a pair of eyes if necessary. The mask I had on had red lipstick and black eye makeup painted on, making my eyes peek through in an almost disturbing way. Anonymity is a turn on for some folks. Lucky us.
Richi stood up and stretched her arms. "I'm pretty excited to do this routine I've been working on," she said walking towards the curtain. "I've been wanting to get us a new comforter, and I know we can probably-" She stopped in her tracks, staring through the curtain.

"What? Who is it?" I asked.

Richi turned around and looked at me with annoyed eyes, "George just fucking walked in."

I just looked at her for a moment. "You're joking," I said knowing damn well she wasn't. "What the hell does he want."

"Pfft, I don't know. Why don't you go ask him," Richi teased.

I scoffed at her a litte.

"What? Like that's such a bizarre idea. I honestly am tired of keeping this thing such a big secret, dude. I don't want to carry that kind of weight around forever. If they get upset with us dancing, then so be it. It's not like we're dating any of them!" Richi honestly had a good point. I didn't have anything really to rebuttle with, she was speaking logically.

"I just think I like hiding it. It's kind of a rush keeping this secret,"

"Is that the only desire here? Keeping a secret for the sake of keeping a secret?"

"Maybe so, Rich. But I also don't want to be viewed as anything negative, we don't know how they'd react."

"Well what's the worst thing they could do, label us as 'whores'? I've been called worse, and again, if they get upset, it shouldn't be our problem. If they're allowed to be pigs towards girls in strip clubs, then we're allowed to be the girls in the strip clubs."

I sighed in defeat, "I guess you have a point. It really isn't that big a deal...."

Richi could tell that wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear after I didn't say much else. "We can still try to keep it between us, if you want. It's not like I wanna go out there unmasked and show myself off. I like being hidden, it's sexy. I feel sexy doing this, and I'm not ready for it to be taken away from me yet," she said reassuring me. "We just shouldn't get so stressed out about what happens, is all I'm saying."
Just then, the DJ on the main floor spoke into the mic, introducing the next dancer. "That's me. This is the new routine, let me know if it looks good from out there."
Richi got into position behind the curtain, and waited for her song to start. We had come up with and practiced a good handful of routines. When Tammy hired us, we were given almost full creative freedom with what we did on stage. He said, " as long as it brings in money," so we rolled with it. Over the years, we developed personas, and people really seemed to like them. A few other girls took on the idea and incorporated masks into their routines, as well. We all usually work in the evenings through the late night, getting off around midnight or 1am. We never work full 8 hour days, it's usually only about 6 hours, but Richi and I always make enough to keep us going and then some.

"And give it up for a home favorite; the lovely Lizzy!"

I watched Richi disappear through the curtain onto the main stage, listening to the crowd react. That first moment walking on stage is always the best, I thought. Richi was right. There were and are plenty of things to worry about, and whether or not our friends knew we stripped, well that's just not one of 'em, I kept thinking to myself. I quickly talked myself out of whatever ego-trip I was on, and stood up. I took a deep breath and walked through the curtain to the main floor.
The room was full of people, I was honestly surprised Richi could even see George walk in. I waded through the crowd, avoiding eye contact with people. I just wanted to locate ole boy. It seemed like he was also looking for me, as he bumped my shoulder, spilling a drink on himself and saying, "Oh, there you are. Sorry, I didn't mean to-" "Here, I'll get it," I said grabbing a cocktail napkin off the closest table. I dabbed the wet spot on his shirt for a moment, realizing I had no idea what I was doing. What the fuck, stop cleaning him, you're not A right now, I thought.
"Sorry," I said avoiding his eyes.

"It's alright, thank you. Actually, I'm the one who should apologize. My friends and I came here a while ago and there was incident with your masks, I think. It was you and, was it that girl on stage?"
I wasn't quite sure what to say.
"Anyway, I don't think they realize just how obnoxious they can be sometimes, I just wanted to apologize on behalf of our entire group. No one deserves to be treated the way you guys were."

"One of them slapped my friend," I said crossing my arms. George didn't seem to recognize my voice.

"Man, yeah I heard that...I can't really make up for that, I'm sorry. I understand if this place bans us honestly," George said as he rubbed the back of his neck. I could tell he was embarrassed.

"It seems like this isn't the first time you've had to clean up their mess," I said to him. He narrowed his eyebrows and shook his head a little. "What?"

"Nothing, you just sounded familiar for a second. Have we talked before? Were you working somewhere else before this?" He said a little suspicious. I really wasn't sure why I was having a back-and-forth conversation with him since he knows exactly who A-Rad is and what she sounds like. Honestly, I was surprised he didn't realize who I was sooner considering I had bright red hair as both myself and Maria the Stripper. Maybe they're all just morons, or I'm Clark Kent in a mask, I thought.

"Would you like a dance?" Why did I just ask that.

George laughed a little it, almost in shock. "Wow, sure. I mean, if you're offering," he sounded nervous. Almost like he had been caught peeping through a window. I led him to one of the private rooms off the main stage, and shut the curtain behind us. A Girl Like You by Edwyn Collins was playing. I watched George sit down on the couch and take a sip of his beer. He watched me intently as I sauntered up to the pole, keeping eye contact with me the entire time. I couldn't help but blush under my mask, knowing he couldn't see me but still thinking he could. I didn't let the anxiety control how I danced, I assumed he was just as mesmerized as I was by the moment. What's gonna happen next? Something juicy? Maybe so. I couldn't help but feel comfortable with him. The music moved me around in such intimate ways, even I was surprised with how smooth I was. I really wanted to make him sweat. I eventually carried myself to him, straddling his lap and inspecting him with my eyes. He took a sip of beer every so often, but never looked away. This is incredible. Who knew anonymously seducing your guy friend would be so hot.
The song continued playing, making it the most intimate 4 minutes George and I ever spent together. I couldn't keep myself from running my hands through his hair, and down his neck. For a brief moment, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, giving me goosebumps. I thought to myself, I'm gonna do the ribbon routine. Last time I had done that routine was with Jake, and he ended up finding out who was behind the mask. Maybe Richi's right, it shouldn't be a huge deal if someone finds out.

I pulled loose the ribbon around my thigh, putting it over his head and behind his neck. I pulled him close to my mask, and continued to sway my hips to the music. We made such intense eye contact, I stopped moving for a moment, momentarily letting myself get lost in his eyes. I could tell he was just as lost. It felt like we were about to kiss, but the interruption of my mask got in the way. I decided to continue the routine as I brought the ribbon up to his eyes, tying it in place and blinding him. He didn't say a word, but he seemed to trust me. I took my mask off slowly, carefully watching him to see if he would take the ribbon off. He didn't. I stared at him for a moment while he sat blind, observing his movements. I leaned in close enough to where I could feel his breath on my mouth. He smiled when he realized how close I was.
"Oooh, what are you doing ," he said grinning. I smiled back at him, knowing he couldn't see me. I silently grabbed his chin and pulled myself to him. Without actually kissing him, I hovered right over his lips, savoring him. He made a small groaning noise that sounded frustrated but also playful. Touching was definitely not allowed, but I couldn't help but let him run his hands up and down my back and waist. Before I knew it, we were kissing. Engulfed in each other like two DNA helix's, he ran his hands up to my neck and held my face. It didn't feel like he was kissing Maria, but A-Rad. A. Me. It was like he knew it was me without even realizing he did. I wanted to take the ribbon off and show him it was me. He tasted like cigarettes and Michelob Ultra, but smelled like oak and mint. I was intoxicated by him, feeling vulnerable and extra appreciative of his apologetic nature.
We seemed to have kissed forever, until we were interrupted by the sound of the DJ announcing the next dancer. I pulled away and stared at him.
George smiled and said, "Come back, please," as he lightly gasped. A snicker escaped my vocal chords and I replied with a gentle, "No." He seemed slightly out of breath, or maybe he was just sighing, but I continued to run my hands through his hair.
"What are the chances of you doing that again?" George asked as he reached for the ribbon obstructing his vision. I quickly stopped him by grabbing his wrist. "Oh, right. I'm not supposed to see your face," he chuckled, slightly defeated. " I thought maybe you'd forget about that part."

I looked at his blinded face for a moment before I leaned in to kiss him one last time. It was slow and sweet, nothing that didn't scream , "I'm in love with you." Had I fallen for him in that moment? Maybe. I definitely knew that there were a lot of conflicting feelings, all with being in love with Jordon and everything. With a subdued sigh, I put my mask back on , took the ribbon off of George, and stood up. Slave 4 U by Britney Spears was playing in the background. I leaned down over him and whispered in his ear, "Thanks for the dance," before making my exit to the main floor.

Great, wow, okay, glad I managed to get away with that.....What's Jordon gonna think?
"What? He doesn't give a shit," I said to myself. "That was so stupid."