This isn’t what I imagined at all.
My thoughts are interrupted. “You must be Ashley?”
I jump in fright and put my hand on my chest. “Oh, you frightened me.” I smile, embarrassed by the kind but hot looking woman that has just approached me. “Yes, I am,” I mutter. “But I don’t want to use that name here if that’s okay?”
She smiles a knowing smile. “Of course. What would you like to be called?”
“Vivienne Jones.” I wince. God, this is so wanky.
“Nice.” She holds out her hand to shake mine. “I’m Tiffany Smith.” She gives me an over-exaggerated wink and I smile, knowing that’s her fake name.
“Eliza told me to look out for you.”
“Oh.” I frown. “Is she here?”
“Not yet, she doesn’t start until eleven when the club opens.”
I look around. “Isn’t it opened now?”
“No, no. This is just the starting crowd. Things don’t heat up until 11. 30 or so.”
“Oh.” I wonder what heat up means?
“Let’s get you a drink and you can hang with me until Elli gets here.”
Jeez, I’m like the new kid at school who is assigned a buddy. I fake a smile. This is awkward. “Okay.”
She walks over to the bar and I follow her like a child. This place is freaking uncomfortable. She walks to the side of the bar and opens up the black, glossy door into the back of the bar and I stand still. “Come in.” She grabs my hand and pulls me behind her.
“Don’t be nervous,” she whispers over her shoulder.
“This is just so far out of my comfort zone,” I whisper back.
She smiles cheekily. “It was for me, too, when I started.” She turns and looks me up and down. “You a law student?”
I shake my head. “Med.”
She smiles.
“You?” I ask.
“Engineer.”
I smile my first real smile. “Is this place really shitty? Should I just run now?”
She laughs out loud as she turns and pulls me along the back of the bar toward the end. “This is the best job I’ve ever had. It’s not what it looks like.”
I widen my eyes and glance back at the girls serving drinks behind us. She pulls up a stool and sits me at the end so that I am looking out into the crowd but out of the way. “What do you want to drink?”
Fucking Tequila!
“Cointreau and Coke, please,” I murmur.
She smiles and turns back to make it, while I sit perched on my stool like a freak in an exhibition. The men have started to notice me. Some are making eye contact and giving me a subtle nod. I nervously nod back in acknowledgement. I can’t believe the caliber of men in this place.
It’s ridiculous.
You just don’t see men this handsome out and about, and if they aren’t good looking, they are immaculately dressed and scream of success. So even they seem attractive.
A bouncer comes to the other side of the bar. He’s blonde, big, and muscular.
“Hi, I’m Matt.” He grins and shakes my hand.
“Hi. I’m Vivienne.” I smile awkwardly.
“You starting tonight?”
He seems nice and friendly and I shake my head. “No, I’m just here to look. I don’t think I’m starting at all.”
He looks me up and down. “Elli won’t let you go. You’re too hot.”
My confidence gets a much-needed boost. I drop my head to hide my smile and tuck my hair behind my ear. I feel my face flush with heat. “Have you worked here long?” I ask, to change the subject.
“Yeah, about two years. Putting myself through college.”
“What are you studying?”
“Environmental science.”
“Third year?” I ask.
“Fourth, but good guess.”
I smile, relieved that this place isn’t half as awful as I imagined.
Tiffany arrives back over. “I have to go back to the door. You okay here for a while?”
“Sure. What do you do on the door?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “I’m the greeter tonight.”
“Oh.” I frown at her expression. “And this is a bad thing?”
“Fuck, yes. It’s so dull. I usually lap dance. But the door girl is off tonight.”
My eyes widen and she laughs at my expression. “I used to think that, too, but seriously… I get paid a stupid amount of money to turn on gorgeous men.”
I bite my bottom lip to stifle my smile. “So, you are topless when you dance?” I ask.
She shrugs. “No, we wear tops.” She smiles cheekily. “They are just completely see-through.”
“Oh.”
She throws me a wink and goes back to her position near the door, and I sit frozen still, hoping nobody will notice the nerdy girl at the end of the bar. Over the next half an hour, I have three more drinks while I watch gorgeous men arrive, one after the other. Some are in groups, others on their own. Although, even the ones who arrive alone seem to know others that are here. How does this work? Do these men come here to socialize? I bet a lot of them are married and this is their dirty little secret. I watch them all standing around the bench tables, down on level two and around the bar. The chatter is loud, and they are all wearing expensive suits and smelling like money. Hmm, it must be expensive to come here. I glance around to make sure nobody is watching and I get out my phone and Google.
Club Exotic Membership.
I wait for it to load and a webpage comes up.
Club Exotic.
Gentleman’s Bar.
Club exotic is currently not taking new members. However, please feel free to put your name on the waiting list.
Hmm, God. No new members. That must mean they have their capacity. Matt walks back over to check on me. “You okay Vivienne?”
I smile and suck on my straw. I’m kind of having fun to be honest. “How many members are there here?”
Matt frowns. “I think there are about two thousand five hundred.”
My eyes widen. “God, that’s a lot. How much is it to join?”
“It varies. I think the basic bronze membership is around fifty thousand.”
I frown in horror.
“The silver membership is seventy-five.”
My mouth nearly drops open. “A year?” I frown.
He nods. “And the gold is about one-ten.?”
I nearly swallow my tongue. “What’s the difference between the memberships?”
“Bronze has access to the facilities.”
I frown. “Facilities?”
“Oh, there is an open bar and an award winning restaurant, a gym…”
“So, they don’t pay for anything when they are here?”
He shakes his head. “No. Oh, and they get vouchers.”
“Vouchers?”
“They get, like, ten lap dances a year, and I think they get a couple of nights in the Escape Lounge.” He gestures down the front and I see a door with a lit up sign over it.
ESCAPE CLUB
“What do the silver memberships get?”
“They get the same, but with unlimited lap dances and more vouchers for the Escape Lounge. Those guys have to pay for their drinks, though.”
I nod as I sip my drink. This is unbelievable. “What time does it open?”
“There is an 11am till 5pm session on Thursdays and Fridays. And then Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursday, and Friday nights.”
Shit, so the fuckers can slip in and out of here during work hours. Bring in the weekend with a bang, so to speak. “It’s not open weekends?” I ask.
“No, she caters for the business class. They are busy on the weekends.”
Yeah… with their wives and kids. Revolting.
“Suits us. We get weekends off.” He smirks.
Hmm, that is a big bonus.
My eyes drop to the door down below as I see a beautiful woman use a scanner key to get inside the Escape Club entrance. “What do they get for gold memberships?” I ask.
He smiles. “Anything they want with the comfort of confidentiality. Every member and staff member has to sign a confidentially agreement. An NDA. This place is more guarded than a prison. Not just anyone can join, either. You have to be sponsored by another member.”
My eyes widen.
“That’s why they pay the big money… To safeguard their reputations.”
“Wow,” I whisper.
“Some of them just come here to drink, but they know when they are here they are not going to be hassled or photographed, and no silly bimbo is going to go to the press next week for some cash. The girls here are more guarded of their reputations than the men.”
I sip my drink deep in thought. “Impressive.”
“Do you need another drink?”
I stare at my glass for a moment. I really shouldn’t, but I have to admit these are going down nicely. “Okay, one more, maybe.” I smirk.
He walks over and orders me a drink from one of the girls. I sit and watch my surroundings. This place has an electric feel to it. It’s not at all what I expected. The girls are all classy and the men aren’t ogling them like they’re a piece of meat.
Hmm, I’m kind of impressed, to be honest.
“Ashley, dear, you came,” Eliza interrupts my thoughts as she holds out her hand to shake mine.
I smile awkwardly. “Hello.” Wearing a tight black dress, she looks amazing.
Her eyes scan down my body and then back up to my face. “You look divine. Have you had the tour?”
I shake my head nervously. “No.”
“What is your name here?” she asks softly.
“Vivienne Jones,” I murmur.