Chapter 4: The Red Angel

Izzy and Val arrange to meet later on, once Val finishes work, and Izzy has had her job interview. Even though Val has a background and personality very different from Izzy, Val feels comfortable having Izzy staying in her home. While Val has always been more attracted to women than men, there is something special about Izzy that excites Val in a way that few people do.

“How did the job interview go?” asks Val when they meet later outside Ted’s Pharmacy.

“Great! I start tomorrow night,” smiles Izzy. “They wanted me to start tonight, but I need to prepare. Pole dancing isn’t something you simply leap into doing without limbering up first. Fortunately I kept myself fit while I was in prison.”

“So where are you working?” asks Val.

“The Red Angel Club,” replies Izzy. “Have you been there?”

“No. I don’t normally go to night clubs. I’ve never heard of the Red Angel Club.”

“Yeah, I can understand that. It’s a small private club on Theatre Street,” replies Izzy. “I’ll try and get you a guest pass once I get settled.”

“I’m not sure that I should go into a place with pole dancers performing,” replies Val. “What if one of the pharmacy’s customers recognises me?”

“Then you’ll have something in common with them. But if you don’t want to see me perform, then that’s no problem.”

“Oh! I would love to see you perform,” replies Val, overcoming her usual diffidence. “It’s just that Ted expects me to be a model of perfection.”

“I think your employer controls too much of your private life,” replies Izzy. “From what you told me before, he’s not going to sack you for being a normal person.”

The more Val and Izzy talk, the more comfortable the pair become with each other. Val’s initial offer to Izzy was simply a bed for a few days. However, before the evening is done, Izzy has accepted Val’s offer to move in full time. Val is delighted. Her search for a flatmate is solved, and it’s someone Val would happily have share her bed.

Over the next few days Val’s friendship with Izzy blossoms into something far more intimate. It’s difficult to pinpoint each step of the process. The shared joke, the casual touch, the glimpse of the other naked, all fuel the smouldering desire building between them. Since Izzy tends to be the more dominant of the two of them, it’s Izzy who ventures to kiss Val while the pair are making breakfast one morning. That kiss opens a floodgate of pent up passion.

Until then, Val’s sex life has been confined to her occasional date with her long-time friend, Raewyn, and one-night-stands with casual girlfriends. However, dating Raewyn isn’t easy since she’s an air hostess, and she travels a lot. Izzy had the occasional flirt with a fellow prisoner while she was incarcerated, but the opportunity for anything physical was extremely limited. Consequently both women are in desperate need of sexual gratification.

With Val due to leave for work in half and hour, the pair need to be content with a quick exploration of each other’s body, and some passionate kissing. The promise of more later tonight is what sends Val on her way to work with a huge smile on her face. Izzy also feels happier than she’s felt in a long long time. With Val working during the day, and Izzy at night, they can only get together at lunchtime, or for a few hours in the evening before Izzy reports for work.

Izzy has a niggling worry about Val’s attitude towards Izzy’s line of work. Izzy isn’t sure what Val really thinks on that issue. Does Val imagine that Izzy has countless men drooling over her body as she shed’s her clothes, and how does that affect Val. Jealous? ... anxious? ... titillated? Perhaps it is time for Izzy and Val to find out. Without asking Val, Izzy arranges for a guest pass to the Red Angel Club to be available for Val tonight.

As usual, Izzy meets Val for lunch at the Windmill Café. They find a table in the annex at the back of the café. While they wait for their food, Izzy hands the Red Angel Club guest pass to Val.

“I want you to come and watch me dance tonight,” says Izzy in a tone that suggests Val is expected to agree.

Although Val is far from being submissive, her easy going attitude means that she’s happy letting Izzy take the lead in their developing relationship. Val accepts the pass, not letting on that she had already decided to ask Izzy to get one for her. Like Izzy, Val knows that if their relationship is going to develop, then Val needs to see Izzy’s performance, and the club at which she works.

That evening Izzy escorts Val into the club. It’s still relatively early, so the club is fairly quiet. Val has never been into a night club before, although she’s seen what they look like in movies and on TV. The Red Angel Club is nothing like what Val imagined. Firstly the basement club is much smaller than Val expected. There’s a stage with a pair of steel poles mounted between stage and ceiling. In front of the stage are eight round tables, each able to accommodate four or five people ... fewer if everyone needs to see the stage. To the left of the stage are three private booths on a raised platform. To the right of the stage is an area that hidden by thick dark red curtains. On the wall facing the stage is the bar, next to the entrance and toilets. The subdued lighting has a hint of red, presumably to match the club’s name.