“Wait. You aren’t going to finish the performance?” Nikos asked.
“Ask one of the other girls,” she said, smirking as she winked before she stalked the floor, easily evading the men she didn’t want to work with before she found a customer, and Nikos had to say he was impressed. He knew that man, and he had a lot of money.
Nikos sighed as he slumped in his seat, thinking to himself that Honey was truly the best girl here, and he couldn’t even have her, whether his uncle was an obstacle or not because she didn’t want him. It was the first time a girl had managed to charm him without him charming her first.
He guessed it was for the best, though.
It was never good for anyone’s health to taste the forbidden fruit, or in this case, poisoned honey.
C H A P T E R
21
HONEY GRACEFULLY SLID FROM THE TOP OF THE POLE BACK TO THE BOTTOM, LANDING ON HER FEET. She faced the new girls who stood on the stage with her this afternoon, a couple of hours before opening.
“Always rub baby powder on before to avoid any chaffing or discomfort,” Honey advised the new girls. Most of the time, the new girls came in with limited knowledge about exotic dancing if they hadn’t come from another club like herself. Everyone thought it was easy to do until they attempted to climb up the pole and realized they couldn’t get far, or they tried to do a basic spin but stopped midway.
If they were ever going to get a mainstage performance, they would have to practice and learn how to become one with the pole, and that was where the OG girls like herself and Amber came in.
She hadn’t really wanted to do this. Usually, she spent her time in the morning to herself, and when it was time to pick up her son from school, she did that before waiting for her sister to come to her apartment and babysit. She usually tried to get here an hour before open to get a quick practice session in, but Nikos had asked her to come earlier to help out. Now, Olivia was going to pick up Kai from his school on her behalf.
“And be careful too. Don’t do any tricks that you can’t do. I’ve seen plenty of girls have terrible falls,” Amber added.
“How do we get to the top like you do?” one of the new girls, Wendy, asked as she struggled to push herself higher than a few inches.
“You need strength,” Honey said, and someone snorted.
Honey looked at the culprit, who was the new Black girl. She was young, fresh-faced, and pretty. Honey was actually surprised she had been hired, thinking at first that Georgios had finally changed some of his discriminatory hiring practices. But Honey had heard whispers that the new girl had gotten the job because of Nikos as she would go around bragging about the relationship she had with Nikos prior to working at this club. That had gotten the girl into a couple of fights already, and it had only been a week since she got here.
“Is there a problem?” Honey asked because she wasn’t one for catty attitudes. She didn’t have the patience for it.
“Honey,” Amber whined, nudging her slightly, knowing that she didn’t take disrespect lightly here.
“It’s easy. I can do that,” Rheagan bragged.
“Then be my guest,” Honey said, gesturing to the pole in front of her. “Let’s see you make it to the top.”
Poorly covered whispers shot out around the girls as they watched Rheagan gingerly step forward, grabbing the pole before looking up to see how far it went to the top. It seemed she hadn’t been expecting Honey to give her her full attention. But if it were attention that Rheagan wanted, then Honey would oblige.
There was always an arrogant girl or two who came into the club that needed to be humbled, and Honey didn’t mind helping her with that.
“Fun fact. Most of the girls here can’t make it all the way to the top because they’re scared of heights. Also, it’s harder to make it back to the bottom,” Amber said in a warning tone.
Rheagan glanced around at everyone who was waiting for her before she hooked her arms and thighs around the pole. Honey took a step back along with Amber, and they both watched as Rheagan climbed the pole, and the other girls cheered for her, but it didn’t take long for Rheagan to pause nearly halfway up when she made the mistake of looking down. It seemed that her distance from the ground scared her as panic spread across her face. And when she tried to pull herself up higher, she froze.
The girls continued to cheer for her, but Honey knew that Rheagan wasn’t going anywhere. Amber knew that too as she gave her a look.
“What’s going on?”
Honey glanced over her shoulder to see Nikos step onto the stage and walk over to her. He stared up at Rheagan with curiosity, and the other girls had gone quiet with the new club owner in their faces. It seemed that Nikos intimidated them.Honey guessed they probably hadn’t made their acquaintance with his flirtatious ways yet, which was honestly surprising. Nikos never missed the opportunity to flirt.
“Just a new girl needing to know her place,” Amber said, shrugging. “Should I go get James?”
Honey thought about it before she glanced at Nikos, taking in his build.
“Want to help her get down?” Honey asked Nikos since he was right here, and then she wouldn’t have to bother James, who usually waited at the bottom of the pole for the girls to get over their fear and drop down.
“Why do you ask?” Nikos asked in a seductive tone, and Honey sighed.
