***THIS WORK IS ENTIRELY FICTION - Viewer discretion is advised. Copyright Bohemian Writings***
She led me back into the dressing room. Well one of the dressing rooms. There were so many different rooms filled with beauty bars, tanning booths and finally we got to the locker room. I put my bags down and she opened up a locker with her key.
“This will be your temporary locker – you can put your stuff in here for the night. If you get hired you can rent out a real locker. Get changed and come back to the front.”
I quickly changed. I was grateful that I had already done all my prep at the hotel because my hands were shaking. I finalized my best outfit all white and the classiest look I could pull off. I didn’t know what the other girls looked like as I hadn’t seen anyone else except the hostess. It was clear that this small locker room was for the new hires or potential girls. I finalized my look and ventured back to the front counter almost getting lost.
Once I found my way back, there was another woman with the check in house mom. She was tall, lean, blonde and older. She looked like she owned the place (I would find out later that she did). She looked me up and down. I had taken care to blend out my tattoo. She walked a slow circle around me, I clenched my fists to keep them from shaking. She noticed and said, “Don’t be nervous.”
I don’t know why I was nervous – she asked me where I had worked before and I rattled off all the places in Austin. I couldn’t tell if she was impressed with my experience or not. I must have passed the preliminary test because she simply said, “Come with me.”
She led me out through a series of dark hallways, past the new hire dressing room and out onto the floor. I was blown away but my face said I had been there before. The vaulted ceilings were three stories tall. I noticed that the DJ booth was on the third floor like a sky box high above the main floor. The entire floor was seductively lit. The Game Room was the actual name and there were all types of taxidermied animal heads and full figures lining the floor. The mainstage had a jungle theme and the girls came from behind a dark velvet curtain. There wasn’t a pole on the main stage and the girl on rotation just seemed to float above me. All the chairs were leather and grand. The tables were large for accommodating meals and I spotted a few girls with a client in the corner eating lobster and steak. I followed the lady who still hadn’t introduced herself over to an empty side stage.
She motioned to the stairs on the side for me to get up and offered her hand to help me up the stairs since it didn’t have a railing. I as gracefully I could managed to get onstage. I knew that this was my audition so I just let my muscle memory do the work. Without a pole like I was used to in Austin, I really didn’t know what to do with my hands. I felt so awkward but just kept going, slowly and sensual. This went on for about 30 seconds and then she motioned for me to come down. Without saying anything she led me back through the hallways and to the counter.
I couldn’t tell if she liked me or not until she motioned to the girl behind the counter to come out.
Touching my arm, she said, “so she is definitely hired.” My heart soared. Go through everything with her and give her a tour.”
Turning to me she said, “Welcome to the CLUB.”
With that she walked away and disappeared back to somewhere else in the never-ending dressing room. The house mom finally introduced herself, “I’m Susan. What is your stage name honey?”
“Cali”
“Perfect”
She went back around the counter and showed me how to sign-in on the sheet. As customary, since it was my first night so I didn’t have to pay any house fees. She gave me a tiny application to fill out and then a giant packet that just had the Club logo and Entertainer on the front.
“You’ll want to read this before you go out but I’ll try to go over everything on the tour.”
I quickly filled out the application and gave it to her. Before you come in tomorrow you’ll have to get fingerprinted. She gave me a map with directions and instructions of how to verify my citizenship status. Even though I had given my driver license to her, in Dallas, there was a problem with clubs hiring underage girls that were not legal to work in the United States. In one instance the girl was underage and VICE had implemented finger printing to make sure that this didn’t happen again. I nodded like I understood and then we started our tour.
The dressing room was just as massive as I had thought. There was the small room where I changed that led into the main room. Which was three times the size. There was also another small room that said VIP off to the side, which I was told was reserved for the club’s top earners. Off of that room was a salon, which had girls talking quietly while getting their hair and makeup done by stylists.
This was my first glimpse at my competition and I was absolutely floored. They were so beautiful. Mostly blondes with giant implants. I immediately thought of Mere but they were even more gorgeous. Like models. I wondered why these girls would even be dancers but would find out that this club was not like the others.
“This is the salon, the tanning booths, the showers and sauna, the lounge” Inside the lounge there were a few dancers enjoying a bottle of Vueve.
“If you sell a bottle you can keep it and bring it back here to drink it if you want or we can cork it for you and send it home with you. It’s better to just modestly drink on the floor, you do understand,” Susan explained to me. She looked more like a corporate trainer than a house mom. She was organized and pretty, mid-forties, brunette. I wondered if she had worked here before retiring. I could tell that this was not the place you wanted to get intoxicated – I needed to be on my A-game at all times if I was going to make any money. These girls were hustlers.
We exited the dressing room through a secret door into a hallway that was lined with books.
“This is the library. There is to be no loitering in the halls. You are seated at the bar, on stage or talking to a client. The library leads into the den. This is where you will probably give most of your dances. The rules are: only 3 dances before you are paid, you are encouraged to charge $40 per dance, not $20; One foot on the floor at all times. Once you are finished with a dance you get dressed. There is no walking around the floor nude. If you need to go to the bathroom or check in with the DJ you must get dressed beforehand,” she continued, “You are allowed one shift drink at the start of your shift and it must be ordered from this bar.” It seemed like a lot of information all at once. There was a stage in the middle and this one had a pole, thank god.
She led me to a stairwell that was darkened with black velvet lining the walls. As we walked upstairs she started talking again but in a whisper, “This is the VIP floor. You are not to come up here unless you are invited by a manager or a client. You do not loiter here ever. You find a booth and try to keep the atmosphere intimate. This is where you will make most of your money.”
As we got onto the landing I could see that the entire floor was black velveted. The ceiling had holes poked through and lit from behind making it look like stars. The décor was leopard and other animal print on the chairs and rugs. Sconces lighted the entries to the booths which also had candles on the table. I could barely make out the shadows of a couple in one of them. The only thing that confirmed their presence was the bloom of smoke and cigarette cherry that was illuminated in the darkness.