2020-04-12 - Job Interview

It's early evening on a Sunday, and what does that mean for Gray Harbor's hottest strip club? It's just about dead. A few stray customers line the rail seats and tables, while the bar is mostly empty. Up on the club's main stage, a solitary performer works the sparse crowd to Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me." The middle-aged blonde looks as though she's seen beter days, but still manages to garner some tips from the assembled men.

At the bar, Antonio sits with a glass of red wine placed in front of him. His attention is divided between the beverage, his iPhone, and the main floor of the club -- and as between those, he's mostly buried in his phone on this slow Sunday.

Making an appearance this dead evening, is an unknown young woman. She's no leggy blonde bombshell, or your typical college girl; her mixed-race heritage is immediately noticeable, long black hair and light coffee skin tone, and her rather compact body is hidden beneath an old leather jacket. The black shorts and boots, however, are certainly meant to catch attention. She also has a backpack AND a duffel bag, both of which seem a bit too big for her size; and as she enters the club, the young woman peers this way and that, taking a moment to eye the lone dancer on stage in a way a predator gauges the competition.

At some point, the club bouncer will certainly notice her loitering there, right? But no, the girl doesn't wait to be noticed. Her gaze zeroes in on Antonio at the bar, and she begins heading his way before anyone approaches her. "Hey." She greets with a lopsided little smile. "Slow day?"

"Well, Sunday night isn't exactly prime-time. We still bring in the customers, though -- we've got the best drinks and the best girls in town. What can I get ya, sweetie? Antonio Williams, owner and proprietor, at your service." He cocks his head over toward the bartender, who makes her way over to the pair.

"I'm guessin' from that backpack of yours that you're either an entertainer or you're looking for a hotel room. And we don't got any hotel rooms." The club owner laughs at that, seeming to amuse himself.

Angel shoots a downward glance at her bags, then gives her hair an idle toss, followed by a playful tilt of her head. "I'm hoping to see if I can land a job, before I decide whether I need a hotel room." Putting down her duffel bag but not her backpack, she proceeds to lean an elbow on the bar counter. "I'm Angel. Angel Young." Cue smile. "So Mister Williams, I was just coming into town and saw this colorful ad at the station, about the town's premiere club hiring entertainers and waitresses. And like I said, I happen to be in the market for a job!" Now her hand lifts, resting under her chin to prop it up. "I hope that ad wasn't outdated, and you're still hiring?"

"Always hiring, of course -- hiring the best." The club owner swirls his red wine in his glass and takes a sip, afterwards a grin tugs at his lips. "Gray Harbor isn't exactly Las Vegas, you know what I mean? But we have a fun time here, and put on the best show in town. Do you have experience, Miss Young?" The club owner gives her a quick once-over, glancing from her outfit to her luggage and then back again.

Angel clearly doesn't mind the visual inspection; straightening up, she even strikes a quick pose for her potential boss. "I've waitressed before, yeah, and I've danced at a couple of places." Beat. "And... no, not in Vegas. But your establishment is definitely nicer than both of those places." She spares a glance around meaningfully, her gaze going back to the older blonde on stage before turning back to Antonio. "Would you like a quick demo, maybe? Consider it my resume?"

"Experience is good. We don't do anything too fancy here -- no laser lights or superstar guests or anything like that. Just the stage show and the private dance room." The club boss gestures toward the stage and the threshold that marks the entrance to the VIP room with his wine glass, and then drinks again. "You don't waste any time, huh? I like your drive and enthusiasm." That grin of his stays plastered across his lips as he cocks his head to the stage. "Be our guest, hmm? What type of music do you usually dance to?"

Angel rolls her shoulder in a vague shrug. "Rock. Jazz. Actually, as long as I feel the music, I can dance to anything. So, I'm flexible?" While she speaks, the girl is reaching up to peel the backpack off her back. And once that's dropped to the floor, she begins unbuttoning her leather jacket. "I assume you pay by dances? The last place I worked at did, and time wasted is money wasted. Unless you charge your customers by the hour, in which case I guess I should string them along a bit...." There is another tilt of her head, this one clearly quizzical and curious.

"You'd keep your tips on the stage and half of your private dance fees, yeah. You'd have to charge customers at least twenty bucks per song for a private dance, although I don't mind if you charge more." There's a knowing grin that follows his advice there, and he drinks again. "We don't get too many of high rollers in here, but if you play your cards right and owrk on the busy nights, you can make a pretty penny." The boss's smile stays on his lips. "Rock and jazz are good, for sure. We do a fair amount of hip-hop as well."

Angel considers the pay arrangement, slowly bobbing her head in understanding. "That's fair." The buttons are undone, but her jacket hasn't quite come off yet. No, not when pay is being discussed. "Do you pay at the end of each day? And, uh, in cash?" Clearly, these are important things to the girl. Probably not surprisingly considering she seems to live a fairly mobile lifestyle, no?

"Cash each night, that's right. No benefits or anything stupid like that, apart from free drinks while you're working. But if you're willing to work, you'll make good money here." The boss seems to play the role of a salesman while discussing the club, albeit a bit of the no-frills variety. "I've been known to pay bonuses for bringing in the crowds and selling dances, too." There's a wink that punctuates his words.

Angel actually lets out a girlish giggle. "Did anyone show up here asking about a dental plan? If anyone did you should tell them 'yes' with a straight face." She shoots one more glance towards the stage, as the blonde's dance draws to a close. Now she resumes shrugging off her jacket, revealing a black top that is a hybrid between a leather bra and a corset; she's not ridiculously endowed, but what she offers is natural youthfulness. "So, Mister Williams, you said hip-hop?" Smiling meaningfully, she slowly backs away from him, stepping towards the stage.

"Hah! Yeah, we don't do much with dental plans. Glad you understand that, sweetie. We can get some booty hip-hop going for you." The club owner inclines his head toward the bartender, who makes her way over to the DJ booth. Antonio sets his eyes on the stage then, taking a sip from his glass as that smile of his remains plastered across his lips.

She steps on stage, and paces across the breath with her head down, as if measuring how much space she has. As the hip-hop song Antonio picked starts playing, Angel steps back to the center of the stage and strikes another pose: one arm under her breast, her other hand resting under her chin, legs apart. The lyrics start, and her hips roll suggestively in step with it. Almost immediately, she breaks into a series of smooth turns and spins that clearly point to dance training; one leg out, then the other, and she stands back up with her back to Antonio. One arm is up, the other hand rests on her thigh, and she shakes her fine, young booty at him. A turn to the side, she does a couple of backsteps, turning a smile and wink at her future boss, before crouching down for a slow, suggestive hip roll....

The strip club boss's grin grows to a nearly ear-to-ear smile as the woman gets to work on the stage, and he lets out a cheer as she shakes her tailfeather toward the bar. "There you go. I guess you weren't lying that you have some experience with this, huh? That's good to know." The boss finishes his glass of wine and sets it forward on the bartop for another, and the pulse of booty hip-hop reverberates off the club's walls.

Angel flashes another smile upon hearing Antonio's comment, but she continues her display. She steps purposefully towards the nearest pole, grasping it with both hands and grinds her hips against it, making sure to spare a backward glance over her shoulder at the DJ booth. The grinding speeds up until it becomes another round of booty shake, at which point she lets go of the pole and turns around to face Antonio again. "It'd be pretty silly to lie about stuff like this. You're gonna find out pretty quickly and I bet you won't be happy. And Mister Williams, I didn't come here to piss you off." She quips as she walks to the edge of the stage, where she crouches down to talk to the owner. "So, did I get the job?"

"Of course, eh? I'd be happy to have you dance here. I think you'll be quite good at it, too. I'll give you a little bonus to get started -- help you get some cute outfits, that sort of thing. Three hundred. You just let me know if you run into any problems, hmm? I'm sure I'll be seeing you around here plenty." The boss winks once, taking a sip of his next glass of wine.