Read Liberty Begins (The Liberty Series) for Free Online

needed to work on my pole dancing, so I climbed up and flipped upside down. The song was a heavy, thumping tech number that the DJ probably intended to wake the two stragglers up so they would finally leave. Then housecleaning could come in quick and vacuum before the nooners arrived. Some guys liked to come in and look at boobs while they had a burger. I didn’t know why they found that appealing, but at least I could try out my glasses on them, and see if they liked to watch me twirl upside down.
    It was quiet for the next couple of hours. Housekeeping came, the lunch crowd came, and one other girl, Allegra, showed up after a while. We kept taking turns all day. We got into a groove, changing every four songs. It was actually fun — my glasses made me feel brave, like I was wearing a disguise. I had made about thirty dollars by four o’clock, about as good as I could expect. More girls were scheduled to show up soon but I was still hoping I could stay and work a double. Alex came out back while I was drinking some water, rummaging through my makeup for more of my favorite thick, chunky brown eyeliner.
    “Hi Alex!” I said, jumping up and smiling at him. He stepped back, startled.
    “ Liberty? Is that you? Are you smiling at me?” He put his hand over his heart. “Quick, somebody call the paramedics, I think I’m gonna have a heart attack!” He laughed and stopped cracking himself up when he noticed me frowning at him.
    “Okay, that’s more like it. Love the glasses, by the way. Now what do you want? Smiles like that from girls like you mean one thing: you want money. My ex-wife smiled at me like that all the time — still does,” he said, and now the smile had completely disappeared from his face.
    “I don’t want money from you ,” I said. I pulled my glasses down my nose for effect. “I want to stay and work the next shift so I can make more money from your customers .”
    “I got girls coming in,” he said. He leaned in. “But, you know what? You were nice to my VIP last night. Maybe next time I ask you, you’ll be even nicer.”
    I doubt it , I thought, but then I pictured John and my heart started pounding. I kept my mouth shut and gave a noncommittal nod to Alex. “Is John in town for long?” I asked, hoping that I sounded disinterested and nonchalant.
    Alex chuckled. “Finally, I know what your type is — rich and old .”
    “He didn’t seem that old,” I said.
    “But he did seem that rich,” Alex said and laughed. He seemed to relax, knowing that at least part of me was normal for a stripper — liking rich men. “I don’t know anything about it. I don’t know if he’ll be back or if he’s gone for good. Maybe if you’d given him a little taste of that sweet bod of yours...”
    I stopped myself from shooting him a filthy look. I needed that double.
    “Maybe next time, I will,” I said, and shrugged. I started putting on blush with a big puffy brush.
    “Good girl,” he said, and headed towards the floor. “You can stay.” I was really glad I was sitting so he couldn’t swat my ass again.
    Around five more girls started showing up. We wouldn’t get busy until ten or so, so I took my break and ordered some chicken tenders and fries from the kitchen. We got to choose a free shift meal from a small menu when we worked a double. A lot of the girls complained about the food, that it was all fried and fattening, but that was fine with me. I was starving, as usual. We had a bunch of bachelor parties coming in that night so I needed to keep my strength up — those guys got wild. I was glad I was sitting in the back in the dark so no one could see how quickly I was stuffing my face.
    I was shoving five of my last ten fries into my mouth when a voice made me jump. “Liberty!” John said. He pulled up a chair. My very full stomach dropped down to my suddenly-shaking knees.
    He smiled at me across the table. “We meet again. And I’m happy to report, luck has absolutely nothing to