957

He pulled out his phone and the raised it up, wiggling it at her. “Have I been so bad that I can’t get a photo with you?” he asked.
She smirked. “Are you going to come back and see me again?” she asked.
He smiled. “Are you nuts? Hell yes, I am,” he replied.
“And behave yourself?” she asked.
He grinned, shrugging noncommittally.
She turned, taking the bill and wad of cash with her.
“Okay, okay,” he said, causing her to pause and wink at the other man.
“Okay?” she asked.
“I’ll behave,” he said, smiling disarmingly at her.
“Good boy,” she said, winking at the other guy again.
The two men stood, and she moved to stand near the more brazen one as he handed his friend his phone. She felt him put his arm around her waist as many others had done in the past and smiled as the man raised the phone up. His other hand came up and grabbed gently at her arm, causing her to glance down.
“Oops,” the other man said. “Let me do that one again.”
She smirked and looked back up. “Sorry,” she said. “My fault.” She smiled sweetly, cocking her head as the guy took the picture.
“Thank you,” the other said. She winked and turned, looking at the other one. “Picture?” she asked.
He grinned and nodded. She smiled, looking up and admiring his bald head for a moment.
“You know,” she said, moving over to slide into his arm as the brazen one took the other man’s phone, “I’ve always liked a man that wasn’t afraid to celebrate his baldness and not hide it with a hideous toupee or anything.”
He smiled widely, his arm pulling her tight and causing her to giggle.
She turned slightly, winking at him, and he must have taken that as a sign that he could misbehave, as he reached up and placed his hand right on top of her breast just as his friend took the picture. She sighed and rolled her eyes, spinning out of his grasp and shaking a finger admonishingly at the two.
“Bye, my naughty boys,” she said, waving.
The two men waved and walked out, glancing back a time or two as she turned to walk back to the waitress station. Going over to the machine, she started to input the total that they’d given her, and she smiled, seeing the small stack of money. Grinning, she turned and went about helping her other customers, an extra spring in her step.
After a couple more hours, her shift ended. Kimber came by and said goodbye as she cashed out.
“You working tomorrow?” Sam asked.
Kimber smiled widely and shook her head. “I’m starting to take Saturdays off like Kara does,” she said. “Our group of friends is starting to meet again after the summer. Tomorrow we’re having a big party to celebrate everyone getting back together.”
Sam smiled as she put in her totals. “That sounds fun. Y’all hang out and play games and such?”
Kimber smiled widely, then laughed at some private joke before answering. “You could say that,” she said. “I’ll see you next week!” she said.
Sam snickered and turned, then saw Tracy and the store manager, Bill, talking about something in the office. She glanced over, seeing Tracy stand and look over in her direction.
“Sam,” she called out. “Got a second before you leave?”
Sam sighed, feeling like they were going to ask her to stay late. “Of course,” she said, smiling and quickly finishing up her count. She quickly walked back to the office, through the employee locker area, waving at the flirty boys in the kitchen, and the stood at the doorway to the office.
“Hey Samantha,” Bill said, looking up and smiling at her as she came in. She saw his gaze stay on her face and knew that he had lots of practice maintaining eye contact. She smiled, appreciating that little detail about him.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “Am I in trouble for something?” she asked, her guilty conscience getting the better of her.
He chuckled and shook his head. “Not at all hon, just come in and sit.”
Tracy shut the door behind her and the two sat in the chairs in front of Bill’s desk.
“So, as you know, the two adult sections usually have Kimber and Kara on Friday nights, and Kimber and Rochelle on Saturday,” he said. As he spoke, he scratched his nose with a pencil and left a faint smudge.
Sam nodded, quietly laughing inside.
“Well, Kimber just let me know that she’s not going to be able to work Saturdays anymore, except on rare occasions, and Rochelle quit last night to go work at an actual strip club.”
Sam was surprised. Rochelle seemed like the opposite kind of person that would do that. She nodded and began to think that she knew where this was headed.
“First, thank you so much for filling in the other day for Kimber’s section,” Tracy said. “From what Kara told us, you did an outstanding job and there weren’t any incidents.”
Bill nodded. “It’s important, especially in those two sections where we allow the girls to go topless, that the waitress knows how to flirt just enough to keep the people happy, but not provoke any unwanted behavior.”
She nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate that.”
“Still, we know it’s not the type of thing that most girls would condone, or even want to do,” Tracy said. “I mean, I know I couldn’t do it, so I just… I have the most respect for you that you were able to go and do that on such short notice.” As she spoke, Tracy reached out and touched Sam’s arm, squeezing in comfortingly for a moment. “I don’t know if you could tell, but I was really flabbergasted and at my wit’s end that night.”
Sam smiled. “Honestly, it was really fun up until the end,” she said, then realized that she shouldn’t have mentioned the Logans.
“Oh?” Bill asked. “Why’s that?”
“Oh, just some overly handsy people,” she said. “It wasn’t a big deal. They were acquaintances of my sister. She’s going to talk to them about it and let them know it made me uncomfortable.”
Bill nodded. “Well, be sure and let a manager or security know if something like that happens,” he said. “We can’t afford to lose good waitresses like yourself.”
She smiled. “Aww, I appreciate that, Bill. Sincerely.”
“So obviously,” Tracy said, “you’ve probably guessed that we wanted to offer you the spot in Kimber or Rochelle’s sections for the Friday and Saturday evening shift. It would be a semi-permanent placement and you’d likely double your current tips. You’d be working Friday nights in Rochelle’s old area, and Saturdays in Kimber’s.”
Sam smiled and thought about it for a moment. It would be work, of course, but the money she was getting was nice, and doubling that would be pretty ridiculous. Plus, her “history” boyfriends would love the fact that she had a semi-permanent spot in one of the topless rooms, not to mention her other regulars. Keith was a different matter though. If he found out, he might not like it. Plus, her sisters would know too. She didn’t even want to think about her parents.
“Now we don’t expect you to tell us today,” Bill said. “Just let us know soon, because Kimber’s spot is open for tomorrow, as is Rochelle’s.”
Sam smiled; her mind quickly made up. “You know what,” she said, “I’ll do it. As long as I can have a Friday or Saturday night off every once in a while to spend with my boyfriend.”
Tracy smiled, as did Bill, and he stood to shake her hand. They talked about the details, that she’d be getting a standard increase in her hourly wages, something she didn’t expect, and the tips would be split with the other topless waitress, not the entire staff like the other waitresses had to.
She smiled, seeing how much more potential for earning she was going to have.
“We’ll start training a floater that will be expected to fill in for you when you aren’t available or just want to work in a tamer section for the night,” Tracy said.
Sam smiled and nodded. “Sounds great.”
“So, Sam,” Tracy said, “before you go, I wanted to ask you something.”
Sam smiled and nodded. “Anything,” she replied.
“Bill, I’m gonna head out for the day and walk Sam to her car while I’m at it,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay,” he said, scratching his nose with the pencil again. “Thank you again, Samantha. See ya Trace.”
Sam stood, realizing that Tracy wanted to speak to her privately, and quickly went to gather her things so that the older woman didn’t have to wait on her long. Tracy was waiting for her in the kitchen, joking with the cooks. As soon as Sam grabbed her things, the two started walking toward the parking lot.
Once outside, Tracy stopped and smiled at Sam. “I just wanted to make sure that you were really okay with this,” she said. “I mean, you’re young, you’re gorgeous. This… this is just a job, you know.”
Sam smiled and nodded. “I’m excited about it,” she said. “I mean, it’s really not all that much different than working in the other rooms,” she said. “I honestly, the other night, I actually forgot that I was topless for awhile.”
“You’re sure?” Tracy asked again.
Sam smiled. “I’m finding that I’m getting more and more comfortable being nude around other people,” she admitted. “I’m okay with it.” “Yeah, don’t mention that your raging hormones and the abuse you suffered from Pastor Dickhead have turned you into a walking lady-boner,” she thought.
Tracy nodded. “And your family?” she asked. “What about your sisters?”
Sam shrugged. “They… they know me,” she said, shrugging. “I used to be a good, church-going girl, but… things changed and now… I’m just happy to be me in the moment. I like the way it makes me feel when people… appreciate what I’ve got. I mean, I’ve never been the girl that people have noticed for her body, before. I really like it.” Tracy nodded, smiling as Sam continued. “Plus, Mom and Dad recently told us that they know about where we work, and that we weren’t fooling anyone. They said it was good life experience.”
Tracy smiled. “And your boyfriend?” she asked.
Sam rolled her eyes. “He’s oblivious to a lot of things,” she said. “I was actually thinking about dumping him a few days ago, but he’s been doing better since then. He said he gets why I work here and that he’s okay with the fact that I like it. I’ll talk to him about it tonight,” she said. “Liar,” she thought.
Tracy smiled. “Okay. I just wanted to make sure that you didn’t feel like you needed to do this, you know. I mean, we’ll find someone to work that section if you don’t want to.”