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You’ll be fine.’ Flame had spotted us in the wings and looked over.
    ‘Go while she’s there, that way the podiums are never empty.’
    I walked along the catwalk thinking, don’t fall over.
    Three champagnes and no dinner had made me light-headed.
    ‘Hi,’ I said as Flame prepared to walk backstage.
    ‘How’s it been?’
    ‘Fucking dead.’ She stalked off. Lovely. Still, I had to remember she’d just lost her ‘sort-of ’ boyfriend.
    I gripped the pole with one hand and walked around it. You got a good view of things from up there.
    I checked out the other dancers. One of the girls sat on the edge of the podium with her ankles on a guy’s shoulders so none of the other men could see between her legs. An old man wearing a cardigan sat down and I smiled at him and crawled up to the edge of the table like I’d seen the others do.
    ‘Are you new here?’ His false teeth clicked as he spoke.
    ‘Sure am.’
    ‘You’re very pretty.’
    ‘Thanks.’ I waited for him to give me money but he just sat there with his hand in his pocket. I got up and danced around the pole. This was getting embarrassing.
    I was glad I’d taken Anais’s advice and stuck some money in my garter so I didn’t look like a complete loser. Tim came up and I thought he should be good for a twenty.
    I got down on my knees in front of him, all sexy-like.
    ‘Hi, Tim.’
    ‘Hi.’ He opened his wallet, took out a business card and handed it to me. ‘I really like you,’ he slurred. ‘I think you’re a really nice person for a stripper. So, if you ever want to go out for coffee . . .’
    Coffee? I thought. Coffee?
    Tim looked back at his workmates. They were getting up to leave.
    ‘I’ve got to go, beautiful. Cal me.’ He walked off banging his leg into a chair. This was going from bad to worse. The old man sat there, moving his false teeth around with his tongue. Final y he withdrew a crumpled ten-dollar note from his pocket and held it up. I put it in my garter and noticed it was slightly damp. I unzipped my latex number and took off my bra. Everyone else in the place looked over, copping a free perve. Anais stalked down the catwalk trailing a whip. Thank god. I put my top back on and gave the old man a tight smile: ‘Gotta go.’
     

Chapter Six
    As I stood at the bar working on champagne number four I realised I’d made thirty dollars but spent twenty; hadn’t learned a single thing about Frank and my feet were beginning to ache from the boots. Great result.
    Two men walked into the club and sat at a table not far from me. Five girls homed in on them but stopped when I got there first. The champagne was making me proactive.
    ‘Mind if I sit down, gentlemen?’ I plonked myself in a spare chair without waiting for a reply. ‘My name’s Vivien.’
    ‘Alex,’ said the older and more suave of the two, ‘and this is my colleague, Grant.’
    Grant had a buzz cut and a sunburned face. He was also extremely pissed and gaped at the dancers, eyes glazed and mouth hanging open.
    ‘He’s originally from Queensland,’ Alex explained.
    ‘Ah,’ I said.
    Emma came past and Alex ordered a double scotch for himself, beer for his friend and another champagne for me. Grant was mesmerised by Emma’s tits and slowly reached out a hand like he was about to go the grope.
    ‘Boobies,’ he said.
    ‘Grant!’ Alex smacked his hand down and Grant giggled. Alex and I exchanged a look. He had dark, sexy eyes.
    ‘What have you boys been up to tonight?’
    ‘Nothing much, been to the casino and now here.
    I like your boots.’
    ‘Puss in boots,’ slurred Grant. ‘Pussy in boots.’ He laughed at his play on words.
    ‘Not only devilishly handsome but a rapier-like wit,’
    I said.
    Alex studied my face. ‘This your only job?’ he asked.
    ‘I’m studying to be a beautician.’ I tilted my head to the side and he looked dubious. Emma came back with the drinks. Alex paid and told her to keep the change while Grant stared at Emma’s