Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (3 page)

Nana took amazing care of me. All the good memories I had were with her. I sometimes thought about calling her mom, but I didn’t think she’d like that since my mother was her daughter. Respect and all that jazz. Not that I respected Marybeth. She didn’t deserve anything from me. I felt numb and dead inside whenever I thought of her.

How could a mother just abandon her child like that? With nothing to say. She never wrote, or called or tried to see me. I didn’t even know where she was and I really didn’t give a damn. My heart felt frozen towards her and the life I had before Nana.

I would never do that to a child of mine. Single, poor, whatever. It was hard to live on love alone but love was the important part of any relationship. Nana drilled that into me. Love is the root of everything. She tried telling me I should just forgive Marybeth for leaving the way she did. That maybe she was just a nomad. Never settling.

Fucking bullshit. She wouldn’t have been a better mother even if she wanted to stay and settle.

⟡

I made it home and went inside. Nana was already in bed at this time, but I always checked on her to see how she was. Sound asleep.

I took a long, hot shower. Had to get that restaurant smell off me. I wrapped myself in a towel and made my way quietly to my room. I refused to take the room that was
hers
when she was growing up. Instead, I took the smallest room. Which wasn’t a big deal. It was big enough for a computer desk, dresser, bed, and entertainment center with enough walking space.

I persuaded Nana to turn Marybeth’s room into an exercise room. Which she did eventually a few years ago. Not much equipment. I didn’t really like to exercise, but I used the elliptical I bought often and there was enough space that when I was super stressed, I popped a CD in a boom box and danced.

It was heart pumping and helped me detox the day’s stresses. I’ve taken dance classes ever since elementary school. Even now, I was a size ten but with working out, I stayed toned and kept a nice figure. Thankfully, I had great metabolism, because I ate anything and only fluctuated within ten pounds of my weight. I wasn’t thin, but I didn’t wanna be. I was short, but my figure was statuesque.

I bought a corset when I was eighteen and it cinched my waist when I wore it out. Not that I went out much. Or really ever. I did like wearing it though. It made my boobs look hot. Lame but yeah. When I wore the 50’s style dresses I had with the corset, my size ten looked like pin-up model size six. But even without the corset, the dresses looked really good. I could tighten the belt or not wear one. I was blessed with curves and I wasn’t ashamed of it.

My blonde hair was long, to the middle of my back. My light-green eyes were the focal point of my face. When I was in Marybeth’s care, she said I had my father’s eyes. Well, I never met the guy, so I couldn’t say much. But they were pretty, even if they came from a ‘back stabbing, money stealing loser’ as she called him. Almond shaped, which made them look kinda beady. The long lashes helped. I didn’t think I was gorgeous, but I knew I wouldn’t have to put a bag over my head. That was just wrong. And insulting. How people could tear down a person’s feelings like that?

I hated bullies. I was a loner in school, but I stood up for what I believed in. If I saw it I reported it. That’s just the kind of girl I was.

Stepping into my boy short panties and a Marine t-shirt I bought from Walmart to support the troops, I walked to my bed. I picked up my iPhone and plugged in my headphones. I loved listening to music. It was another destressor for me. It was almost one in the morning and if I wanted any chance of getting up for class in the morning, I needed to hit the hay. I swiped my phone and checked to make sure the alarms were set. (I usually set like five. I liked to sleep, too and the snooze was always begging me to tap it. So I did. A lot.) I got under the beautiful green patterned quilt Nana made me and as I listened to Dashboard Confessionals, my mind thought back to Friday night and Dax. I fell blissfully asleep dreaming of his sexy smirk. I really hoped he came back Friday.

Scarlet

Today was my twenty-second birthday. I had class at eight o’clock and Nana had woken me up bright and early at six thirty with a muffin sized cupcake (my favorite!) with a candle in the center. She sang happy birthday to me and I ate the moist confetti cupcake (no icing, hated the stuff). Great way to start off my birthday. I got up, kissed her cheek and thank her.

“This was really sweet of you, Nana. Thank you so much.”

“Oh anything for you, darling. Hope you have a great day! I made you breakfast downstairs if you like.”

“You are
the
best.”

She laughed heartily and said, “I know.” Before winking and headed out of my room.

I put on my lounge pants and met her downstairs. The smell of bacon, pancakes, and eggs wafted to me.

I gobbled the food down. I normally didn’t eat a lot for breakfast, I was a toast with butter and sugar type girl. That’s what I usually ate. It was quick and I usually liked waking up at the latest possible time. Today with my five measly hours of sleep, was going to suck. I was interning at a middle school a few days a week since that was what I was going to school for. A few days there and a few days at the college. The class I taught was over by two-thirty.

Damn, I needed to get an outfit for tonight. A killer outfit. I added that to my mental list of things to do after my un-paid work. It was worth it though. I learned a lot from the teacher I was with.

I finished breakfast while Nana was half way done with hers. It was almost seven and I needed to take another shower so I was alert in class.

I hadn’t worked a Monday night in a while. I normally didn’t work those nights and I really shouldn’t have. Last night there was so much cleaning to do, or well, the manager had me cleaning like a little slave last night. That’s why I only bartended the weekend nights.

However, since it was my birthday, I got the day off. I kissed Nana on the cheek and went to go take a quick shower. I went back to my room with one towel wrapped around my body and one in my hair. I opened my top drawer, and looked at my pitiful selection. I owned really nothing but plain cotton under garments. Ugh. Not one skimpy, sexy bra or panties in the bunch.

I was changing that. Today. I put that on my mental list, too and I donned my underwear. I walked to my closet, which just an open doorway and a small space that had a clothing rod inside.

I loved old fashioned type dresses. I didn’t have many of them, they were expensive for me to get. I had discovered this shop on Amazon, and bought them whenever I felt like splurging from my nest egg. Since Nana didn’t let me give her any money, I had saved a hefty amount of money in the bank. The only time I ever spent a chunk of it was when I had to take the truck in. That was worth every penny though.

I scooted my small collection back, being mid-October, it was a little cool outside so I took a pair of low rise twill pants and a thermal navy blue hoodie that matched. I put on a wide black belt, then socks and my black Chucks. Even though I really wanted to become a singer and dancer on a stage, I didn’t really think that was going to happen. I’ve been to a few auditions here in the Houston area, but there was always someone more talented or better singing. I didn’t base my life around it, even though I think I did really well at both. Nana always encouraged me and I hoped one day it would come true but for now I was going to school for math.

I really loved math and I knew I could become a teacher when I finished up next semester. I did take a few dance classes, but that was to keep in shape mostly. I had a full schedule with work and taking professional dance classes were out of my price range. The money I had saved would only last a year at one of those fine art schools. I was able to get grants the first two years but when I became a bartender, I made too much money to qualify.

I only had one year left though. I had doubled up on all my classes the first three years so this semester, all I had was my internship. I went to the middle school I was wanting to teach at.

Next semester was straight up intern teaching at the school. Everyone said that was the hardest year. I really wanted to teach Algebra. I loved it. It’s a lot of fun for me even though everyone thought I was like a super nerd in high school. I wasn’t even in the top ten percent. Well, fifteen but that was because I didn’t really have a choice, it was me and Nana and I had to make sure I could get a secure job so when I left Nana’s, I could support myself.

I did want to get out more though so I could at least do the other things I liked more than math, but so far that was looking rather dismal.

Getting out of class by two-thirty, gave me plenty of time to go out shopping. I went to the Barnes & Noble behind the Chili's I worked at. They had a new book I was wanting to get before I went to get my outfit. I knew exactly what I wanted.

I said hi to the girls that always work there. Yeah. I am a book Slore. Can't really be helped. I loved to read. When I met a guy, I wanted him to be able to give me that
zing
I want. I wasn’t going to settle for anything less. Finding what I was looking for, I picked up the newest Cambria Hebert's Take It Off novel, Trashy.

I sat in one of the reading corners, and before opening the book, I thought back to Dax. He was mesmerizing. His eyes were such a light blue they looked like a cloudless sky on a sunny day. He wasn't GQ hot like models were, but he was rugged with that five o’clock stubble and that smile of his was wicked sexy.

"Do you need help finding anything, Scarlet?" The sales clerk, Dawna asked.

I was so lost in my own mind that I hadn’t realized over an hour went by.

"No, thank you so very much. I just picked this book up. What time is it?”

“It’s about four thirty.”

“Oh no! I need to get going. I need to get to Bow Peep Boutique."

"Ooh! That's a nice boutique, gotta date tonight?"

"Ha-ha, if only. No, actually it's my birthday. I wanted to wear something sexy tonight. I plan on going all out."

"Oh! Happy birthday, girl! I hope you have loads of fun! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" She winked, then went to go help another customer.

Dawna was real cool. She loved romance books just as much as me. We talked books all the time and she hosted a lot of author events.

I said bye on my way out and walked down to Bow Peep. Nothing was gonna stop me from looking hot tonight. The girls said dress up because they were taking me to a real ritzy type club tonight. I couldn't wait!

⟡

It was time. Nelly was picking me up along with Tiffany, Brina, Candy, and a few other girls at work I didn’t know too well. We all piled into her Armada and headed downtown.

All the girls loved my outfit. I decided to go vintage tonight. I had gotten Nelly, a server I worked with, to at least give my some idea and all she said was ‘think cabarets’. I didn’t really think anything by it. I knew those were live entertainment places from definition. In my head, maybe seedy looking type places from like the movies.

When I walked into Bow Peep, they had a selection of 1920’s style flapper dresses. I knew I couldn’t wear just the dress alone, but I had perfect black Lycra capris leggings to go with it perfectly for such a cool night. The dress was black, sleeveless with a lilac colored, lace design to create a type of ‘v’ pattern between the breasts and had a fringe skirt (thank God I planned to wear black underneath the skirt) that was black and lilac with a pretty black/lilac rose pin for the finish at the hip. I also bought a thin lilac sequin head band that I placed around my head to make the look real. I didn’t have high heels, but I wore pretty, black, ankle booties with them and no one said anything so I figured it was a win-win.

I've only been Downtown a few times. I usually got lost if I tried venturing down this way. But the roads Nelly took weren't too confusing and she pulled into a packed parking lot.

"We are not getting in here." Candy complained.

"Ha-ha! I totally got us a reservation! Why do y'all think I asked for $40 from you guys? The cover is $50 a head, and when I mentioned a birthday party, they gave us 10% off. Lucky us." Nelly explained.

We all got out and made our way towards the entrance. Holy smokes. The place was like something straight out of the past century. Besides the white and red neon lights saying, ‘Saints & Sinners Lounge’ the place could have been from the past. I loved it.

The doorman let us through and we had to walk down and around two hallways before another bouncer told us to pay. Nelly went up to the guy and explained and I looked around me to all the different pictures of different eras. All of them were dancers, or singers, some celebrities. I was behind them, following as they passed the desk and headed towards the bar. The word ‘Auditions’ on a yellow printed paper caught my attention. I looked up and saw it stapled on a wooden pole before stepping down into the lounge.

‘
Open Dancer Auditions, Saturday 11-2’

The guy at the desk asked, “You looking to find a job, girl?”

I didn’t really know what to say and the girl’s from my party had already made their way to one of the high tables in the middle of the room.

“Is this open to the public?”

"It says
open
auditions, little girl."

The guy was kinda rude. The man was standing behind the cover desk and he was tall, lean, muscular and dark. His skin was dark chocolate and he had blue contacts in his eyes. Looked to be in a constant state of boredom though. Maybe this lounge wasn’t the best idea. If this guy was bored working here, maybe it wasn’t the best place to have a birthday party at. But what did I know?

"Do I need to sign up or anything?"

"Are you serious? Because here we are nothing if not serious about our dancers."

"Yes."

"Alright. I gotta good feeling about you, sweet-cheeks. Names Disc." He held out his hand, and I shook it.

I didn’t know much about handshakes, but Disc gripped my hand firmly, shook it, and released it saying, “Happy Birthday. Hope you come and check us out Saturday. The fun is yet to start.”

That cheered me up a bit when he smiled like he cared about the place and I couldn’t wait to see what happened.

“Thank you so much.”

I waved bye and I went over to the girls. They had already started drinking and within a few minutes, I had a glass of Crown and a bottled water. I didn’t really drink all that much but when I did, I usually drank Crown Royal and chased it with water if I had to. It might be my birthday and I really shouldn’t care if I got wasted, but I was really excited to see what this lounge had to offer as ‘live entertainment’ and what I might be auditioning for. I didn’t want to be a stripper or anything.

The girls were talking drama about work and I only added a little here and there. I didn’t really hang out with them. Or anyone much really. They were really nice to take me out.

The lights in the room dimmed and a slow rhythm of music came on. I didn’t recognize it but then a spotlight came on the stage. My eyes were glued to it. Then a woman’s voice came on the speakers and the curtain was being pulled. The first girl in line wore a red sequined dress and there were four girls on each side of her wearing black ones. They all wore high heel shoes about four inches high. Then they started dancing sensually by each other, the red dressed woman was spotlighted, and then she started lip singing              @ to the song being played.

Their routine was intricate until the beat started getting a faster tempo, then their hips started pop-locking, their chests shimmied, and then their bodies dropped it to the floor in flourish before getting back up and continuing. Their dancing was electrifying, sexy and I knew I wanted to do that. Broadway was a dream, but I loved dancing more than I did singing or acting. I actually couldn’t act. But I loved musicals. I did a few in high school. The drama teacher said I had a great voice. Watching these girls who had little horns clipped in their heads, made me excited to try-out this Saturday.

I had a little bit more curves than these girls, but I didn’t think that would matter. I hoped it didn’t. With each new song and routine, my heart fluttered with anticipation. I knew I could learn those moves.

There was a little dance floor off to one of the sides and between dances they played a jukebox in which we had gotten up and danced.

All the waitresses were wearing white shirts with a red halo and two devil horns with Saints and Sinner Lounge over the left breast. On the back, the question, ‘Which are you?’ Some girls had the shirt torn the natural length and I saw some with it ripped a few inches below their breasts. All of their skirts were red pleated, school-girl ones that landed a few inches below their butts. They all had on red shoes. Some heels, some Chucks, some Keds. I guess whatever made them more comfortable.

The girls and I were having such an awesome time, and it brought my thoughts back to Dax, again. I wondered what he would think about a joint like this. Looking around, there were more men than women. Kinda made me think this could be a gentlemen’s club.

“Hey, Nelly? Is this a gentlemen’s club? Look around. There might be like ten women, including us, to the hundred men in here.”