She turned and looked at me again, and then ignored me the rest of the time she was on stage. I was more stunned than anything, which is probably why I stayed and watched my sister gyrate around on stage in little more than a piece of dental floss and high heels.
When her set was over, I was preparing to polish off my drink and leave, but she came out from the back room as another dancer took to the stage and came up to me. Even in the dim light of the club, I could see the fire in her eyes.
“You’re buying a lap dance.” she hissed at me, although she was smiling sweetly.
I let her lead me through the beaded curtain to the VIP rooms, she found an empty room and once we were inside she pushed me onto the couch.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked.
“Me? What the hell are YOU doing here?” I shot back, “You’re a fucking stripper? I thought you were a bartender. Jesus, if mom and dad ever found out about this…”
Our dad was pretty open minded, but Cindy was still his little girl, even if she was 28 years old. I doubt he’d be thrilled to know that his little princess was a stripper. Our mother on the other hand was somewhat conservative, and I knew she wouldn’t approve of her daughter shaking her tits for money. In fact, if my mother ever found out, she’d probably disown Cindy.
“Oh God, Eddie, please don’t tell mom and dad about this. Look, I’m sorry I lied, but… I was a bartender. Look, I’ll explain it all later, when I don’t have to shout to be heard.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell them, but you and I need to talk.” I said, calming down.
She nodded and sat down on the edge of the small stage that took up the back wall of the VIP room.
“So Candy, huh?” I asked after a moment.
She offered me a half hearted chuckle, “Yeah, I figure it sounded sexier than Cindy. It was a three way tie between that, Tiffany or Diamond.”
“So what do we do now?” I asked, “I mean it’d be weird getting a lap dance from my sister.”
“And it’s too loud to have a casual conversation.” Pip said, “Although I will say it is nice to see you. Despite the circumstances.”
I hadn’t seen much of my sister the last couple of months while I was dealing with my divorce. We texted each other a few times, but that was all the contact we had while my ex and I were hashing things out.
“Yeah, it is good to see you again, and I’m not just saying that because I’ve seen you mostly naked.” I said.
She laughed a bit and smiled, “Our time is almost up. What time is it anyway?”
I glanced at my watch, “A little after 11.”
“Okay, you know that diner a couple blocks over? Meet me there after the club closes and I’ll tell you everything.” She said.
“Sounds good,” I said.
“Would you do me a favor though?” she asked, standing up.
“Sure.”
“Would you stay the rest of the night? It’d be nice to see a friendly face while I’m up there. Plus, you’ve already seen me in all my glory. Can’t be any weirder than it already is.”
I chuckled, “Sure, I’ll stay.”
“Thanks big brother.” she said, smiling.
She gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, “We’d better get going, the next song’s already started, and they’ll make you pay for another dance if we don’t get out of here.”
We made our way back to the club proper and she disappeared back into the dressing room. I ordered another beer and settled in at one of the tables to watch my sister and all the other girls go through their rotations on the stage. My sister had three guys buy VIP dances, I bought one from one of the other girls, and switched from beer to soda as the night went on. I noticed Pip was looking at me a lot more when she was on stage, and smiled every time she did. She also seemed to put more energy into her routines than when I first saw her. At one point before she went off stage she blew me a kiss. I had to admit, at least to myself, that I was getting a little turned on every time she came on stage.
Finally closing time came and the DJ gave the corny “You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here” line. I left and drove to the diner my sister mentioned, ordered a soda and some mozzarella sticks. I played around on my phone while I waited. About twenty minutes later Pip showed up, now dressed in a plain white t-shirt and jeans, her hair tied back in a neat ponytail.
“So what’s the deal?” I asked after the waitress came over and my sister ordered a soda. “You said you were a bartender.”
“I was,” she said, “But one of the girls thought I was… let me see… how did she put it exactly? Oh yeah, she said I was, and I quote ‘Too fucking hot to be stuck behind the bar’. She thought I should be on the stage with her and the other girls. Only I didn’t have the moves, so she and a couple of the other girls offered to teach me. Over the next few months, when we had free time, we’d get together and they’d teach me the fine art of taking my clothes off for money. When they felt I was ready, they convinced the owner of the club to give me a try. So he pulled me off the bar and put me on stage. The other girls helped me out with my hair and makeup, lent me outfits, and on my first night, I made just over $500. I was a little nervous at first, but the more I danced the more confident I became, the more confidence I gained the more money I made. That was a little over a year ago.”
“So you were a bartender. You just left out the part where you transitioned into a stripper.” I said.
“Yeah, that’s not something you can drop in casual conversation. Especially not to mom. Plus the money’s good. I made a little over $800 tonight.”
“Jesus,” I muttered, “I make 800 a WEEK.”
“And this was a slow night, on a good night I make over a thousand, easy.” she said “Speaking of money…”
She pulled out a 20 and slid it across the table.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“Well you never did get your VIP dance, so here’s your money back.”
I pushed the bill back across the table to her. “No, you keep it, you earned it.”
“No, I’m not taking your money, Eddie.” She slid the money back towards me.
“Yes you are.” I said pushing the 20 back to her.
“How about this?” she said, and put the bill in the middle of the table. “That should pay for two sodas and a half eaten order of mozz sticks, plus a nice tip. Let’s get out of here. I really don’t feel comfortable talking about this in public like this. Can we go back to your place? I haven’t had the chance to see your new place yet.”
“Sure”, I said, popping one last mozzarella stick into my mouth.
Cindy got in her car and followed me as I drove back to my place. Since it was 2am, there was hardly any traffic on the streets so she was able to stay right behind me the whole way. We reached my apartment building and after finding parking spaces in the lot behind the building we made our way up to my apartment.
“Nice,” she said looking around.
“I know it’s not much, but it’s home.” I said, “My swinging bachelor pad, baby!” I said trying to imitate Austin Powers.
“Never do that again,” Pip said, laughing and sitting down on my couch.
“Sorry,” I said, “You want a beer?”
“Sure.”
I grabbed a couple of beers and joined her on the couch.