Private Dancer (20 page)

        
Faith couldn't help the tears, and ran out of the dressing room in time to witness Sugar Baby's whipped cream act.
Oh, they don't expect me to do anything with peaches do they?
Soon afterwards, another dancer, Medusa, did things with snakes that would surely give the blonde girl nightmares.
Definitely have to talk to Roy about the peaches.
Then mayhem as one of the waitresses screamed, Tony trying to wrench the girl's breast out of a customer's grip as best he could. Faith shook her head and bolted, winding up at The Lounge only to find she'd been 86'ed.

        
*  

        
Cori was furious at the boss. "How dare you?"

        
"I really have to remember to lock my door," Reece calmly told her coffee cup.

        
"Why did you do that?" She knew Reece had been angry, but to ban Faith from the club was a bit much.

        
"I don't want to see her here." A full red lip jutted out sullenly.

        
"You are such an asshole sometimes…I could just scream!"

        
"And that would be different from what you're doing now?"

        
"As a matter of fact, yes." Cori screamed, startling Reece enough to drop her coffee on her desk, infuriating her. The tall woman hurled the mug at the wall in anger, her control already hanging by a thread.

        
"
Out!
" she fumed

        
"Now that I have your attention..."

        
"
Out!
" Reece advanced on the woman.

        
"No. I want to help you." Cori backed up some.

        
"I didn't
ask
you for
help
," she sneered.

        
"No, you didn't, but you need it, Reece. You need somebody and I want to help." Cori backed up some more, never taking her eyes off the tall woman.

        
"I never
needed
anyone, I don't need you!" Reece was practically toe to toe with the frightened but determined woman.

        
"Now, Reece, I think you're wrong. You can't possibly think that this is easy for me. I'm going to have an aneurysm in a second here." She backed up until she fell into the couch. The boss stood over her breathing heavily, a large dark wet spot covering her thighs. Cori was trapped, and she cringed.
Great, of all times to finally be on this couch.

        
"So, are you just stupid? Or do you not value your life much?"

        
"Perhaps both, but I want to help. I care about Faith, and, God help me, I care about you. This has been hell for all of us and I need to make it right. I can't deal with this, and I
know
you can't either. Please accept my help." Cori knew she was right on the edge…she only wished she knew which way she was going to fall.

        
"And what're the conditions?" Reece asked reluctantly.

        
"Huh? Reece, when you care about someone, there's no strings. I don't expect anything in return. Well, maybe a hug."

        
The angry woman thought about it for a moment and her features softened a little. "I guess I can do hugs."

        
"Um, maybe you want to change out of those pants first?" She chuckled nervously.
What, do I have a death wish? Shut up already.

        
Reece looked at her crotch, gave the dancer an evil little smirk, leaned her arms on either side of the dancer's head, and bent down into her face. Cori closed her eyes and prayed. Moments passed and she wasn't attacked. She peeked out of one eye and saw a half a smile on the boss' face and shot her eyebrow into her hair.

        
"Share with the class?"

        
"I look like I peed myself."

        
Cori started to giggle. Reece shot her a glare an she silenced immediately.

        
"Good girl, Cor, you should always fear me."

        
"Funny thing, boss, after all this time, I don't really think you'd physically harm me."

        
"I hurt people. It's my nature. Don't think that you're special in any way."

        
"Oh yeah, but somehow I think if you hurt me, you'd regret it. But not as much as you do hurting Faith." She looked directly into the sad blue eyes. "You did hurt her, you know."

        
"Yeah well, who does she think she is..."

        
"Um...pot and kettle, Reece. You think your shit don't stink?"

        
"Fuckin' A, Cori! You know what she did."

        
"Yeah, she introduced you to your heart."

        
The tall woman narrowed her eyes.

        
"Sorry, boss, it won't work on me. I think I know you better than you do. You want to know what I think?"

        
"No."

        
"I think she broke your heart."

        
Reece looked down and closed her eyes. She concentrated on the feeling inside that she'd been feeling ever since the blonde walked out of her life. Then the feelings she had right before she fled Cori's house; pain, emptiness, fear. The kind of things you can't fill with alcohol, sex, or rage. Nothing was making it better. Yes, her heart hurts. It hurts something terrible.
This is love? It can't be,
she thought.
It can't be this fucked up. I never wanted to touch someone as much as I do her. I want to make her blush, laugh, scream out my name. Why can't I give in?
She felt like hitting something…
No, I can't do this.
She opened her eyes and Cori was still there. She hadn't run away.
She's right, you idiot, you hurt Faith. God, does she feel like this too? Because of
me
?

        
"Cori?" It was nearly a plea.

        
"Boss?"

        
"Help me?"

        
Blue eyes got stormy and before either one knew what to do, the tall woman was sobbing.
Oh my God! Reece Corbett is weeping in my arms!
Cori tried her best to console her friend, but this had to be the most awkward she'd felt in her life. She adjusted the tall woman's placement on her and cradled her head, rocking back and forth and making soothing sounds. But the boss tried to fight it off.

        
"Fuck, what am I a child?" Reece sniffed.

        
"God, Reece, it's okay. You're allowed to cry for shit's sake." She kissed the top of Reece's head. "Tell me why you're crying."

        
"It hurts and I can't make it go away."

        
Cori's own tears fell with that admission. She turned Reece to look at her. "Well, boss, I can't either. But I can tell you who can."

        
*  

        
Wowee.
Cori was stunned into silence. Reece was holding on to her for dear life as sobs wracked through the older woman's frame. The dancer was crying too, at the depth of emotion and trust her friend was sharing with her. She knew this was a turning point in the tall woman's life and wouldn't let go for the world. There was one thing, though; she was sweating up a storm with the combined body heat of two crying women. Feeling confident enough, she stroked the damp black hair and bent her head so their foreheads touched. Reece refused eye contact, but didn't let go.
That's a good sign,
the dancer thought.

        
"God, Cor, this is so humiliating." Reece scrubbed her face roughly with one hand.

        
"Boss, I'd never tell," Cori stated confidently.

        
Red rimmed blue eyes caught her own with a very weary look.

        
"Don't you trust me?" Cori spoke softly through her own tears.

        
Reece gave her a look that needed no words. Apparently she did trust Cori more than she thought. Or she wouldn't be lying on the woman soaking her shirt with tears. "Hey? Why are you crying?" She frowned.

        
"Because you hurt and I can't help you."

        
"You know? Just now, when you said that, I think you did." Reece forced a smile. "Just stop crying. I hurt enough people already."

        
"Yeah. Okay." Cori sat up and the boss stood and went to her closet. "Where are you going?"

        
"I'm going to change my clothes. I need to shower right this very minute." She opened her office door and found it to be quiet.

        
"Hey, boss, looks like it's just me and you."

        
"You might want to call what's her name and tell her you're still alive. She must be worried about you."

        
"Tell you what, I'll make that call, and we'll go back to your place, okay?"

        
"Hmmm, my place? What's the agenda this time? You gonna fake orgasm
and
give me a lap dance?"

        
"Stop." Cori slapped at the tall woman's arm. "I just think we'd be more comfy talking in your house. That is, if you still want to," she added carefully.

        
"Yeah, I think so. I'll leave, you use my phone." Reece walked slowly towards the exit contemplating this new turn of events. She hadn't cried since she was a child. Why now?

        
It was the idea that she might have caused Faith to feel the pain she was in. That's why. Her eyes welled up again. "Shit! Get a grip!" she told herself. "You're a grown woman for Christ's sake. Act like one," she scolded herself.
Yeah, a grown woman who just now for the first time learned what a friend is. How to care. Finds her heart. Falls in love...
She shook the last thought from her mind as she exited the club. Taking a breath of the cold air exhilarated her.
Maybe there's more to this talking thing than I thought,
she pondered.

        
*  

        
Faith was watching her new favorite channel again, pigging out on chips and Pepsi. It didn't take long for her to abandon the idea of sleeping at night. She settled into the up all night, sleep all day routine. After all, the only people she knew had that same schedule, why fight it. As for acting, she regretfully put that idea aside for another time. One day, her dream would come true. Just not right this moment. She was patient; she would wait. Mary was giving Lou a piece of her mind when the phone rang.

        
"Yeah," she chewed into the receiver.

        
"That's how you answer the phone?" Cori laughed.

        
"Why not? Who else would be calling here at 5 in the morning?" She stifled a soda burp.