"Hear us out", Ntando pled with Peace as they were trying to convince her, "these past 3 weeks have been hell to all of us, we all need to go out". They had their last exam of the semester, and it was on a Friday, Peace had to work, "I know guys, but I cannot cancel, this is my last weekend at work, I am going home on Monday I have to work." "We know that hence we came up with an idea, let's go groove at your workplace, your shift does not take long so you will be able to join us", she froze on her spot. She had told them she was going to knock off by 9 pm, "We are not taking a no for an answer, we also want to try that place, people recommend it a lot, especially men", Omuhle wiggled her eyebrows in amusement.
'Yes! Because they get special service'.
After minutes of arguing she finally gave in, her friends planned to go at 8 pm, she was to join them after work. She went to work, her mind full of ideas of what could go wrong. She planned to be nice to her Boss, not too nice because he might catch her strategy and she was just going to do whatever is asked of her.
A few minutes into her arrival, the Boss called for a quick meeting, "I won't take time, as you all know there's a party today, the girls on the main stage will be dancing in the club downstairs and those in the private rooms will take the main stage", he gave that order and left.
'Of course, it was going to go south, it always does.'
As all the girls were complaining she was worried that her friends were not going to see any waitresses but strippers around the club and put 2 and 2 together, or they would ask the girls about her whereabouts, and they would tell them what she was actually doing. She thought fast and sent a quick text to the group chat before going to work, "This Happened: I am serving the VIP area I will only be able to see you after work", she only hoped that none of the strippers knew her real name.
After 2 hours of dancing for men that shamelessly lusted over her, she ran to her room avoiding the possibility of her friends seeing her in those clothes. "You seem edgy tonight, what's up?", Daniel asked catching up with her, "My friends are here," she turned to him, "please make sure the Boss does not know about that, they think I waitress". Daniel saw the desperation in her eyes, "Sure", he quickly answered, and she nodded then rushed to her room. A few minutes later, she was ready to meet her friends downstairs, "Bitches!", she yelled all excited and they all turned to the voice that was shouting above the music, catching the attention of other people. "You look stunning as always", Azana kissed her on the cheek, "the place is great, but I have not seen any waiter/ waitress here", Peace was fully prepared for that question, "We were working upstairs, apparently it's a birthday party of some DJ that's why it is this full and they are closing at 3 am." She ordered a drink and shots, "There are strippers, I should ask for a job here", Omuhle jokingly said, and Peace's heart raced a bit, "It's a busy club, baby", she simply answered.
Mandy pointed at her with her eyes fully opened swallowing what was on her mouth as she suddenly remembered something, "HAA! I almost forgot, Omu told us about your situation, a whole bomb", they all turned to her. She was happy the topic had changed but sad it went to another matter she was trying to avoid, "Seems like someone is in a love triangle, who would have thought", Azana said, "Girl, you're dirty", Ntando said as they laughed it off. "Hey Sauce! Boss wants to talk to you", her whole body warmed up as one of the strippers called out for her. "Why is she calling you Sauce?", Mandy asked as they were all confused, "Because I am a waitress and our customers always ask for sauces, you know?", she also did not know what she was saying but hoped it made a little sense to her dear friends, "Guys, I will be back in a second I don't understand what he could possibly want after hours", she quickly stood up and left the table, leaving them still process her explanation.
'I will strangle Daniel'.
She flew up the stairs with anger, checking her surrounding in the hopes of spotting Daniel. "Boss, you called for me", she barged into his office, he gestured for her to come in, "I've been calling your phone, I am lucky you decided to party in the building today, I've never seen you here", she kept quiet, he was in a good mood. "Santiago wants you to dance for his DJ, their show is going to start in an hour downstairs", she shut her eyes closed, she could not believe this was happening, "I am sorry Sir, I will have to decline." He raised his eyebrows, already thinking she was starting with her drama, "Why?" "I am very drunk, I broke my ankle, I am with my friends, it is a short notice, and it is after hours", he had to pick his favourite reason. "Unfortunately, you owe me, and you are going to follow my orders, you walked perfectly coming here. You know very well that Santiago has the best deals, from now on you will not take alcohol until your performance", she wanted to scream or bite him, "Please take Kate, she is the best and she is available. I have friends who came here to accommodate me, and they do not know I am a pole dancer.", he looked like he was considering her request and smiled, "I do not care", she walked towards the door, and there was nothing more she could do, "By the way you look cute when you beg".
'Fuck you!'
She told her friends she had to work an extra hour, they were disappointed, but they said they will stay because they were enjoying themselves. She prepared for her performance with a heavy heart, "Santiago is ready to see you", Daniel pocked his head on her door. She sat in her mirror not believing what was going to happen to her. "You still smoking hot, girl you should show the others how to do it", Santiago engulfed her in a hug, she forced a smile as they met before the performance, "You do not look happy" "I am not happy with you always demanding stuff in the last minutes", she barked catching him off guard. "I'm sorry my love, I am very forgetful, this is the last time, I will give you a little something as my apology", he winked. Peace went on telling him how she had to leave her friends for the performance, he apologized but did not change a thing.
The show began, and she heard loud voices as she put on her mask in her room and headed out. "Wait! Wait!", her Boss called out, "You are not wearing the mask tonight, take it off" "You must be fucking kidding me, you know I do not perform without it worse in public", he did not seem to care, "The DJ does not want it." "I will not perform", she protested, "You know better than that", she furiously looked at the helpless Daniel and marched towards the stairs. Antonio was enjoying every bit of it. She was covered as she climbed down the stairs to the stage, which had a pole at the centre and a pianist at one end, "Please welcome the best to ever do it!", the light flashed on the stage and the whole club got dim as the MC announced her presence, "The greatest this club has ever seen, The Sauce!", people cheered, she could recognize some voices from the previous meetings, she only imagined the look on her friends' faces as they uncovered her face in front of the whole club.
The performance started, and she did her job, as usual, many people were in awe as they never afforded the VIP area, and she could not see her friends since the light was focused on her. She got into character and blocked out the faces of everyone who was there, she danced for whole 30 minutes. "Let's give 5 men a chance to be chosen by this goddess to give them a 15-minute dance", the MC announced, Peace did not care anymore she did what she was told, she was going to deal with the consequences later. Daniel had been busy raking the bank notes on the stage floor. The 5 men were brought in front of her, and she recognized one face, the guy who offered her a drink during their session and told her about his divorce, he seemed happy to see her again, so she chose him. He sat on the chair as she worked her magic around him, the audience felt like they were watching a movie.
After her performance she was escorted to her room to change, her tears threatened to come out, but this was not the place nor the time for it. "You made crazy money tonight", Daniel tried to cheer her up, "I sure did", she replied in a bored tone, "Don't you want to know how much it is?", she paused by the door on her way out, "Daniel, it is going to report in my account anyway". Her heart went crazy as she got closer to the club, she wore a cap and a hoodie hat on top to cover her face hoping people were too drunk to notice her. She could hear laughter as she passed by her Boss's office, they were happy after destroying her.
'Assholes'
"Girl, you got a lot of explanation to do?" "What was that?" "How long have you been doing this?" "I cannot believe what I saw" "And when we asked about the sauce you gave us a lame explanation", her drunk friends bombarded her with questions she did not even know where to start answering, "Guys, let's just go home I will explain everything", she suggested, "I am super disappointed in you, I cannot believe you did us like that", Azana drunkenly said hurtful words, "Guys come on I do not want to do this here", she said helping them pack up their stuff. She was trying by all means to block out what was coming out of their mouths.
Just when they were leaving the table, "Ifucking knew something was up with you and this place", the voice belongedto Akwande who was with Tazz and Josh. "I am not doing this with you,please move out of the way", she tried to move pass him, "A stripper?Peace really?", she got closer to him, "You've got no right judgingme, what were you doing here from the first place?" "We party here,that's why I asked what you were doing here the other day and you lied I knew Inever saw a waitress here but I chose to let it slide", Peace wanted tocut this short as they were catching the attention of others, "I do notowe you any explanation, now move", she moved pass him, "On top ofthat I tell you something so deep I never told anyone you use it for your good,I saw how you looked at Andile you guys know each other or even fucking, whoknows?", Peace nodded her head and let her tears fall, it was too late shecould not hold them anymore.
YOU ARE READING
A Sauce Down the Pole
Random"5,4,3,2, 1..Over", Peace counted sliding down the pole she's been dancing on for 30 minutes. She walked out of the stage and immediately took off the heels that were burning her feet the moment she reached backstage. "Dan", she greeted the giant ma...
