It was on the main floor, to the far left of the runway. The only reason we had let it be out in the open was because it wasn’t close to the rest of the tables. During opening hours, Hollis had security stand guard if he ever had to step away. It was sweet.
And although I may have paid for the damn thing, this was Hollis’ domain.
I remember the day we met, it was at a party that Carla had dragged me to. I’d only managed to stay half an hour before I’d had enough and left, but during that half an hour I’d met Hollis who had been the DJ.
I’d snapped him up and offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse. He was seriously good at what he did.
Not wanting to disrupt anything I looked around for the aux cable and plugged it into my phone. I fiddled with the volume on the deck and hit the button for pole one. I watched the end of the runway as a silver pole rose from a small opening in the platform and hit shuffle on my playlist.
A slow beat began pumping through the sound system. My eyes closed as the music flowed through me. My hands reached out in front of me and gripped the pole. I moved instinctively.
It had been so long since I’d danced like this. I’d missed dancing, not for people but just for myself. It took a couple of songs to dust the cobwebs away and get my blood pumping, but I pulled through and found my rhythm again.
The phrase ‘dance like nobody’s watching’ had always been my motto as a stripper but now, it was the opposite. I spun and climbed like everybody was watching. All eyes were on me, I was the center of attention for just a moment.
Before that moment was broken, splintering into little pieces at the sound of a banging on the front door.
What the fuck?
I unlocked the door and poked my head out to see Callum standing on the sidewalk. Forgetting everything that had happened recently, I blurted, “How the fuck did you know I was here?”
“Your car is parked out the back. I was driving by and I saw it. I’ve been calling you.”
“Really?”Shit.
“I wanted to talk.”
Oh. “Okay. Do you wanna meet for coffee later?”
“What are you doing here? Isn’t the club closed?”
“It is, I was just getting some work done…”
“You alone?” His eyes looked behind me as if expecting to see someone.
“Of course,” I responded, slightly defensive at the implications.
“We can talk now then.” He pushed open the door the rest of the way. The music blasting behind me only got louder the more the door opened. Instead of fending him off, I ran over to the sound booth and lowered the volume.
“You need your music that loud to work?” He flashed a teasing smirk, he knew he’d caught me in a lie.
“Fine. I wasn’t working. I was letting off steam.” I mumbled as I took my phone off Do Not Disturb, and sure enough, his missed calls popped up. With no other important notifications, I placed my phone on the table and turned around to rejoin Callum. “Sorry about that, had it on Do Not Disturb. What were you calling for?”
I tried so hard to keep the hope out of my voice, for all I knew he might have come to tell me that he never wanted to see me again. I saw he’d made himself comfortable in one of the love seats, so I took the chair opposite him. I clasped my hand tightly in my lap to keep myself from fidgeting nervously.
“To tell you the truth, I missed you. At first, I tried to ignore it but it’s become hard to ignore. I also figured we needed to talk about Ava and Hallie.”
Shit. Here it was. I had been waiting all week for this conversation but in no way was I ready for it. “For the record, I missed you too, Callum.”
“I meant what I said, Mel. I never stopped loving you, this hasn’t changed that. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
As he spoke, I breathed in deeply. I could feel myself on the edge of tearing up, so instead of letting them go, I flung myself at Callum. Closing the three feet gap between us, Callum caught me in his outstretched arms.
It was so good to hear him say that.
I sat across his lap, arms wrapped tight around his back. I buried my face into his neck just breathing him in as I tried to relax. After a few minutes of simply holding each other, I pulled back. Looking him dead in the eye, I asked the big question, “And the girls?”
“The only time I’ve ever actually stopped to think about having a family was when I was with you. I would love it if I could be a part of their lives.”
