The Sweetest Honey

It Must Be a Dream.

(Clara’s point of view)

I walk out of the VIP room holding the most cash I have ever held at one time. I try to hold it tight in one hand while rushing to the locker room. I go straight to my locker, getting to my money that’s locked up. I shove it all in my bag and set it at the bottom of my locker. I grab a few makeup wipes and head over to the mirror, and go to town, wiping all of the makeup off of my face. It takes a scary amount of makeup wipes, but I get it done for the most part. I also take off the wig and comb out my hair, then throw it in a messy bun. I am not fooling around. I want to go home to my bed. I don’t even take off my stripper clothes. I just throw the uniform I came in over it. I grab the bag and put on my shoes, and head out the door. I look around for Wendy and see her in front of the bar. I run up to her excitedly.

“Hey, I made enough for us both to go home tonight.”

I open the purse enough for her to see.

We both let out a little squeal. She grabs my shoulder

“ok, I am texting Mr. Krum, now let’s go to the back so I can get my stuff.”

We rush to the back, and she throws the dress she came in over her lingerie. She doesn’t even bother washing her face or anything. I can tell she really wants to go. She checks her phone.

“OK, he is fine with us both leaving he is sending a bouncer back to walk us to my car.”

“So what happened in the VIP room?”

she asks me.

“The guy got a call for work, so he gave me a huge tip and told me to enjoy the rest of my night basically.” I tell her.

“You are on some lucky streak or something.”

I smile and shake my head. The bouncer walks in.

“Ready to go, ladies?”

“Yup”

we both say at the same time and start to laugh. We walk around to the back and out the door to the back parking lot. That’s when a guy shoves the bouncer into us. We move out of the way, but now we are against the building next door. The bouncer stumbles a bit more before he gets on his feet again. Another guy comes toward us and blocks our view of the guy fighting the bouncer. Wendy and I both back up till we are fully against the brick wall. We can hear a bunch of noise going on behind the guy, but we are frozen. The guy came towards us with a knife in his hand. He had the craziest look in his eyes and was licking his lips. He smelt of cat pi** and old beer.

“Hey there, ladies, don’t make a sound, or I will have to cut you.”

“My associate over there will be done soon, and then we will be taking your purses and have some fun with you after.”

He smiles down at us with a mouth of rotted teeth. All I can think about is my parents. My father was killed in a mugging, and my mom nearly died too. What happened to her was so bad that she never would let me find out. She suffers from depression, PTSD and some injuries to her body could never be fully healed. Here, I am about to live through the same thing with my best friend. I feel something in me stir. It is like a switch in my brain is going off, and my adrenaline is sky high. My eyes begin to focus on his every move, and my heart rate begins to steady itself. I hear someone say something off to the side, but I don’t let it distract me. I watch as the guy starts to turn his head towards the person, and without a thought, I use a force that is flowing through me, and I punch him right in the side of the jaw. When I draw my hand back, it feels like my soul left my body. I feel empty, and it is hard to focus on any one thing. I hear a voice call out, but I can’t move. Everything looks blurry. I hear the voice say

“It’s ok, you are safe now.”

My vision is clearing up, and I think I recognize him. He is the handsome tan guy from the club. Wendy and I head over to the car, and she gets in. I grab the door handle, but it feels wrong to leave like this. The bouncer is hurt because of us. I look back up at him.

“Will he be ok?”

“I promise we will make sure he gets to the hospital right away. He will be ready for action in no time.”

I just shake my head. It still doesn’t feel right to leave, but something tells me to trust him. I open the door and sit down. Wendy hits the locks and takes a breath before turning on the car and driving away. At first, we are both quiet, letting out silent sobs now and again. I can see the house up ahead. Wendy speeds up and pulls into the driveway, slamming the car into the park. She hugs me, and I hug her back, and we just cry. I have never cried so hard in my life. Even when my father passed away, I was only two and had no idea what was going on. Wendy starts to let up, and we both sit back in our seats, listening to the song that was playing. “You sure as hell can punch for a skinny girl.”

Wendy says, looking over at me. We both crack up laughing like we lost our minds. I pull down the mirror and wipe the tears from my eyes, and Wendy does the same. She shuts off the car, and we both head inside. I close the door as soft as I can. The last thing I need is for mom to wake up and see us like this. We both tip toe up the stairs and softly close the door behind us. We are sharing this room until we can afford to renovate the other room and get furniture for Wendy. At a time like this, I couldn’t be more thankful to share a bed with her. We don’t even say a word to each other, We kick off our shoes and take our bras off from under our clothes and lay down. We don’t bother taking a shower or brushing our teeth. We just hold each other feeling raw after all of the adrenaline has left our bodies. I drift to sleep, but I keep tossing and turning through out the night. I feel restless. I look at the clock and it is 7:10a.m. I have hardly slept, but I need to get up. I decided that I wanted to go for a jog. It is near the end of June and it is already getting hot out so I will have to find something cool to wear. I get out of bed, leaving Wendy to rest. I go into the bathroom and brush my teeth. I jump in the shower just to rinse off the sweat and jump out super fast. I can’t wait to get my new water heater. I don’t normally go for jogs so I don’t know what to wear and I have no sunblock. I walk back into my room, wrap in my towel, and give Wendy a little shake. She opens her eyes, and they still look red sadly.

“Wendy can I borrow something to wear for a jog, and do you have sunblock?”

She takes a moment looking a bit confused, and she looks back at the clock. She scrunched her face at me.

“Clara it is like way too early. What is wrong with you, go to back to bed.”

I try to be gentle and speak softly to her. “Please Wendy I need a good way to get out of my head.”

I say to her, giving her pleading eyes and pouting my bottom lip out.

“Just go through my blue bag it has summer and workout stuff in it. You should find everything you need. Please just be careful.” “I will, I promise!”

I say eagerly. I grabbed her blue bag and unzipped it. I see a bikini and some tanning lotion. I dig further and see some sporty looking shorts and a tank top. I put those to the side and dig around a bit more before I find the sunblock. Wendy and I are both close in size, so it should all fit. I am a little bit bigger in the breast area, but not by much, and she is a little more athletic than I am. I get jealous sometimes because people always make fun of me for looking like a skeleton. She didn’t go without food for as long as I had. Her mother passed away in a hit and run 5 years ago, and ever since, her father turned to alcohol. It has been rough for her, but my mom couldn’t legally take her in when she couldn’t keep a job herself. My grandmother helped us out until she passed away when I was 8, and we have struggled even more since then. I honestly hope that mugging attempt doesn’t stop us from working. I want a better life for all of us. I need to get out of here before I cry again. I put the sunblock on all over, making sure to get every spot. The last thing I need is a sunburn right now. I put on the clothes and put my hair up in a high pony. I dig through my closet and find my old gym shoes and put them on. I go downstairs and see my mom lying on the couch watching an old movie. “I am going for a quick jog, mom.”

I say, walking past her.

“Really? OK, be careful. I love you.” She says.

“ I love you too!”

I yell back and close the door. I did a fast little stretch and got moving down the road. I think I will go to the park. It isn’t far, and it is super beautiful. I keep going, almost surprised that I can jog this far. I turn down the block and make it to the park. I look around at all of the beautiful plants and scenery. I notice a bush moving around. I kind of feel a bit of panic creep in even though logically, I know it isn’t a threat. Then a little squirrel pops out, and I let out a breath of air before I smack into a person as strong as a wall and fall to the ground. Well, that was embarrassing.

“I am so sorry. Are you ok?”

I hear a deep sexy voice say to me. I ran into them. Why are they sorry? I think to myself. I look up and see the man from my dreams. He is so much more handsome, though. I can see his muscles are huge like they can bust out of his clothes at any moment. I can also see tattoos poking out from his sleeves and on his neck. He smells of a caramel mocha coffee, and it makes me swallow hard. That’s when I realized he was trying to get my attention this whole time. “Is this a dream?”

I say, confused. He looks at me real worried, but then a flash of something else goes across his face. Something like understanding?