Don’t Call Me Angel

Chapter Two~ Something Familiar

     All Charlotte could think of was that she needed a drink but sadly Justin made them move out to a fancy new housing addition in a town that didn’t have much but a gas station and a post office. Being only thirty minutes from New York wasn’t so bad but she didn’t want to be found so she drove in the opposite direction not even paying attention to where she was going until she was as far away as she could get from that piece of s**t. 

     As she drove around for forty five minutes until she reached the only thing that would be out in the middle of nowhere. A strip club named ‘Tease’ with a pretty decent hotel next to it. Then decided it was a good enough place to stop.  

     After finding a parking spot she made her way into the  provocative blacked out bar that had an interesting industrial theme. With exposed pipes, brick and cement walls, and copper accents it totally made the place look like an adult play ground.

     Walking past the dancing girls Charlotte found the bar top where there was a couple seats open in a row and decided to pick the one in the middle hoping it would keep people from speaking to her. A woman, she assumed to be the bartender because she wasn’t as naked and done up as the other girls, came straight up to her with a warm smile on her face.

     “Hello Angel, what can I get you?” She asked loud enough to hear over the bad music. Just the sound of her calling her angel made Charlotte cringe with disgust. Making the bartender lift up an eyebrow in question but she decided not to push it. 

     “Don’t call me that please. I’ll have a fireball shot and a Jack and Sprite please.” She said as she did everything in her power to avoid eye contact.

     “Coming right up babe.” She said as she turned around to get to work on the drinks. 

     While Charlotte sat there twiddling her thumbs as her mind clouded with the thoughts of Justin and his stupid mistress. All she could think about was the little signs that she should have seen. The thousands of times he promised her that he wasn’t cheating and proceeded to call Charlotte crazy for even thinking of the accusation. 

     An angry scoff fell from her mouth as she remembered how he made her feel she was the problem in the relationship. 

     “Here you go baby cakes,” the bartender said in a sweet and soft voice as she placed Charlottes drink in front of her “Is something wrong? You seem like you are having a bad day.” 

     Finally pulling her eyes off of her hands, Charlotte looked up into the face of the very beautiful woman. “I caught my husband cheating today.” She whispered barley loud enough for anyone else to hear but the lady behind the counter.

     “That f*****g bastard.” She yelled while her face turned slightly red. “Hey cherry!” She screamed across the room. Trying to gain someone’s attention. 

     “No I don’t want or need a dance. I’m just here because it was as far as I could go to get away.” Charlotte stumbled through her words but she knew what was coming. Honestly she wasn’t nervous being in here and sadly she knew why. 

     When Charlotte was younger and she ran away from home she struggled finding a job that would provide her with enough money to buy a small place. So instead of working three jobs at gas stations and super markets she made the only logical decision and became a stripper. That was actually how her and Justin met. He was out with some old work buddy’s when she was working one night. One thing led to another and they started dating and eventually got married. But look how that turned out now. 

    While Charlotte was thinking of the past a very skinny, pale and bubbly red head came up to her with a gigantic smile on her face. “Hi baby girl! What can I do for you?” She asked then proceeded to turn to face the bartender that called her over. 

     “Cherry this is ...?” The lady looked at Charlotte remembering that she never asked her name. 

     “My names Charlotte.” She responded nicely. 

     Nodding her head the bartender pointed to the girl standing next to Charlotte then gestured to herself. “Charlotte, this is cherry and I’m Lola.” 

    “Hey.” Charlotte mumbled nicely but she couldn’t hide her anger and sadness.

     “So sweetie, what are you doing here?” Asked cherry.

     Charlotte glanced at the two lady’s and then down at the bar top. Her drinks were placed in front of her and she didn’t notice. So she picked up one shot and threw it back without hesitation. 

     “I needed a bar where no one would find me. This place was better than any I guess.” She shrugged to the girls. 

     After a minute of silence Lola spoke up next. “Why don’t you want anyone to find you?”

     Taking a deep breath Charlotte picked up the second shot and took it like she did the first. Tears filled her eyes but she pushed them back “I walked in on my husband having an affair with his assistant.” She whispered quietly. 

     The girls gasped slightly before looking at each other with the same question running through their mind. Cherry being the sweet girl she is reached in and wrapped her arms around charlottes shoulders giving her a tight hug. “It’ll all be ok baby girl.” She said trying to comfort the woman in front of her. “But.... why did you come to a strip club?” Cherry hesitantly asked.

     Suddenly Charlotte burst into a fit of laughter thinking about how odd it must look to see a woman like herself walk into a strip club with no hesitation. This just making Lola and cherry even more confused than before.  

     “When I ran away from home at sixteen I had no choice but to become a stripper. I guess I’m just comfortable in places like this. It’s like a second home.” Charlotte told them as she continued laughing. 

     “Omg seriously?!?” Cherry started to jump up and down in excitement while Lola smiled with pride. 

     “Yup, my name was...angel.” The thought of the name she had given herself and how it became Justin’s nickname for her, made her blood boil. 

     Not noticing the change in Charlottes attitude Lola asked, “Then what do you do now?” 

     “I’m a professional photographer. I do it all from weddings ,celebrity events, advertisements, and more.” She shrugs as she stirs her drink slowly. 

     The silence grew on as Charlotte did her best not to look up at the ladies around her but when cherry yelled “LENNY!” over the music it made charlottes head pop up so fast to look for why she was yelling.

     A man dressed in all black came from the front office area looking directly at Cherry, Lola, and Charlotte. “What the hell do you want cherry?!” Lenny responded as he walked towards the ladies. 

     “Lenny, this girl right here is a professional photographer and I know you said you were wanting to get knew head shots and posters made for the club!” Lenny looked down at Charlotte sitting on the bar stool still staring at the mysterious and angry looking man. 

     “Is that true?” He asked with an eyebrow raised. He was a short fat man with very black hair. Charlotte also noticed he had a slight Brooklyn accent. 

     “Yes sir.” Charlotte responded. 

     “What are you doing tomorrow?” He asked seriously. 

     Charlotte thought about it for a minute. Technically she’s completely free and she’s planning on staying right across the road tonight so if he wants photos then she could manage pretty easily especially because she remembered to grab her equipment. “Um yeah I’m open, I’m gonna be staying across the street tonight so tomorrow is perfect.” She responded. “But aren’t you going to ask about pricing?” 

     “No. Just bill me.” Lenny said before turning around on his heel and started to walk away. “Be here at noon!” He yelled.

Cherry and Lola where looking at Charlotte wide eyed and huge smiles plastered on their faces. 

     “So now ‘Angel’, would you mind showing us your act?” Cherry sweetly asked while she raised a seductive eyebrow making Charlotte laugh. 

     “Trust me, I’m not anything special.” 

     “Please?! I feel like you owe me now that I got you another job?” Cherry winked.

     “I don’t even have an outfit or anything.” Charlotte said taking another swing of her jack and coke. 

     “I have a never worn lingerie set in my bag that I was saving but it would look perfect on you. Plus you look to be about my size?” Replied Lola. She wasn’t lying we were the same build and style. 

     Cherry popped out her lower lip giving Charlotte puppy dog eyes. “Fine but only one dance!” She Just replied as she threw up her hands in surrender. 

     Both girls started screaming in excitement and before Charlotte could do or say anything else they started pulling her towards the back room where the girls got ready. 

     The only thought going through Charlottes mind was that Justin would kill her if he knew she was doing this but then the images of him screwing another women in their bed flew through her mind. Honestly she didn’t really give a f**k about what Justin thought anyway. 

......