“Can I help you?” Honey asked. It hadn’t been her first time being approached by one of the customers. She didn’t recognize him, but she could tell whenever a man was a john. They had this look in their gaze whenever their eyes fell on her, like they had seen her naked before, and right now, this man’s eyes were filled with glee, like a kid getting to meet their hero. Internally, Honey cringed. She hated whenever this happened, and this was one of the worst parts of exotic dancing— dealing with delusional men.
They had these fantasies of entering a personal relationship with them, thinking they had made some kind of personal connection with them because they danced for them. It was annoying, and to be frank, Honey didn’t have time for it.
“I liked your performance,” he said, confirming her suspicions.
“Thank you,” Honey said curtly before she tried to walk away.
“Wait!”
Honey bit down her sigh as she waited for whatever he had to say next.
“I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner,” the man asked sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck. The shyness didn’t match his build. “Or maybe breakfast, whichever is best for you—”
“Look,” Honey said, getting to the point. “I don’t do dates with customers. Thanks for watching my performance, but there will be no dinner or breakfast. Have a good night.”
She turned on her heels, ready to leave when she felt a hand wrap around her arm. Honey looked back at the man with wide eyes.
“Let go of me,” she said firmly.
“I’m just asking you out on a date. A date won’t do any harm,” the man insisted.
“And I said no, so let me go,” Honey said as she tried to pull back, but his grip was tight and firm. There was no way she would be able to push him off her. “Get off of me.”
“I’m doing you a favor by even asking a girl like you on a date, and you’re telling me no,” the man said as he squeezed her arm tight enough that she gasped from the pain.
“Get the fuck off of me,” Honey said as she grabbed her purse on her left arm and smacked him across the face with it. Only then did his grip release before his hand shot out and grabbed her face. She reacted instinctively and struck him multiple timeswith her purse until he let go of her face and stumbled back. Her jaw hurt, but instead of tending to it, she immediately scrambled for her pepper spray and taser that she always kept on her in case of situations like these. Her heart raced against her chest painfully as she kept her eyes on him without blinking.
She was so focused that she hadn’t realized someone had come to her aid until she saw Nikos skid to a stop between herself and the man. Honey had to admit that this was the first time she had ever been happy to see Nikos. She nearly smiled in relief until she realized how small Nikos was compared to the man, and Nikos wasn’t a small guy, but the man in front of them was even bigger than James.
“Honey, are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” Honey said as she gingerly touched her arm, feeling pain still lingering there from when the man grabbed her.
“Who the fuck are you? Her boyfriend?” the man asked angrily.
“You need to leave now,” Nikos said firmly.
“I just wanted to take her out on a date,” the man argued.
“And I said no!” Honey spat, annoyed. It was as if the man was deaf, or she was speaking a foreign language. But the reality was that he didn’t care for her opinion at all, and that was how most of the men who came here felt.
“You heard her,” Nikos said. “She said no. Respect her decision and leave.”
“And what the fuck are you going to do about it?” the man asked as he took an angry step forward, descending on them with his towering build. Honey flinched, wondering if she should run, but then Nikos pushed the man hard enough that he fell to the ground. The man stared in disbelief, and Honey was surprised herself too. The man looked like he had never beenon the ground before, especially by someone smaller than him. Suddenly, rage screwed his face into an angry scowl before he pushed himself off the ground and swung. Nikos dodged the punch and threw one of his own, making the man stumble. It turned into a scuffle as they traded blows, but though the man was bigger, Nikos was more agile, throwing bone-crushing punches to the point that blood spilled from the man’s mouth.
“I’m telling you to leave now,” Nikos said, “before I call the police.”
Those words only seemed to enrage the man as he dug into his side pocket, pulling out a pocketknife.
“Nikos!” Honey cried out as she watched the man swing the knife wildly in Nikos’s direction. Nikos tried to dodge it while throwing his own punches, but soon the knife sliced his arm. Honey gasped as she nearly dropped her purse with plans of running to get help, but Nikos and the man tumbled to the ground, and the knife fell out of the man’s grip before Nikos started raining blows onto him until his hand was coated with blood and the man was knocked out.
“Nikos,” Honey said as she raced over to him when she was certain the man was down. Nikos breathed heavily. Blood dripped from his nose, and she could already see the bruises forming on his left cheek.
“Let’s go inside,” Honey said gingerly as she helped him stand to his feet. Nikos grunted out an agreement, and they went through the side door, walking through the club. She felt eyes follow them, probably from the customers and the girls, but she ignored them all and led Nikos to the back. She took him into the lounge, where the workers took their coffee breaks and relaxed during their break times. It was empty right now, with most people out on the floor and the dancers in the dressing room.
“Dammit,” Nikos cursed. “He slugged me in the nose.”
Honey didn’t know what to say. She was still reeling from what just happened, and she hadn’t expected Nikos to be her savior. Honey went through the cabinet and found a clean cloth before she grabbed some ice cubes and wrapped them inside. She sat down on the table in front of Nikos and pressed the makeshift icepack against his face.
