Chapter 13: The Gambit

“Say that one more time?”

“I said that I’m dating your brother,” Sarah said repeating the secret, or rather former secret, she had just told Lara. The pair were sitting at a table in the hotel restaurant. The hotel had hosted the competition they had won that very day.

Lara sat at the table in complete shock with her mouth agape as she stared across at Sarah. Lara had assumed she had misheard Sarah the first time or perhaps she merely hoped she had misheard. But there was no denying it the second time. Her personal life and her professional one had come crashing together in an instant.

“Well, dating might be a stretch. We’re fucking,” Sarah said with a laugh. Lara struggled to find the words in which to respond.

“I ... what? When? How?” Lara stammered, her voice cracking slightly as she fumbled for words.

How do they even know each other?

“Oh come on, Lara. How and when do you think? When he came to the club, of course,” Sarah said.

When Shawn came to the club! Lara thought to herself.

It started to make more sense. Lara hadn’t told her parents or brother what she did for a living. They thought she was merely waitressing at The Pearl and not stripping. In fact, at the time, she hadn’t even told any of them she worked there at all.

Shawn had come into the club with his pockets full of money from his injury settlement and had paid for some time in one of the VIP rooms. Dave had ordered her to “entertain” the kid who had dollars to burn. Of course, neither Lara nor Dave had known who the high roller was until she had entered the room. Dave had been on the verge of firing Lara that day and refusing the order would mean no job and a blacklisting from every club with which Dave had an ounce of influence. So Lara did what she felt she had to. She had donned a mask, affected an accent and danced for him. Her plan had been to direct him towards another dancer but Shawn had been aggressive with his demands. Luckily, Sarah had interrupted them and agreed to take over before things had gone too far.

They went plenty far enough, she thought to herself, unable to suppress a shudder at the unwanted memories. All of this flashed through Lara’s mind as Sarah sat there with an easy smile on her face. The red head continued with her explanation.

“You were practically begging me to take over for you with him. He was loaded and an easy mark. Why would you pass that up? It didn’t make sense. And what can I say? I’m a curious sort of ginger cat so when I was finished with Casanova in there, I started asking him some questions. It didn’t take long to figure out, Lara. It was fairly simple. We aren’t exactly talking “Inception” levels of intricacy here. You worked there, he didn’t know. Nobody knew. And you wanted to keep it that way,” Sarah said. Lara brought her hands up to her face in reflex as the implications of what Sarah was telling her started to sink in.

“Oh, fuck. I can’t fucking believe this. Sarah, please tell me you haven’t told him what I do? That it was me in there?” Lara said, the blood draining from her face completely as she started to panic.

“Relax, Lara. I covered for you. He still thinks you are just a waitress. I wouldn’t out you like that,” she said, her voice softer now.

Lara examined Sarah’s face and considered the intent of the woman. Her demeanour seemed relaxed and almost jovial. There was no malice or spite in her words. This wasn’t a “gotcha” moment of a bitch performing a “take down” of a rival. It didn’t appear Sarah had an ulterior motive other than telling Lara the truth.

Lara’s mind whirred as she thought through some of her more recent interactions with Sarah from that point on. They had hated each other from the start, there was no denying that. But thinking hard about it, their relationship had thawed somewhat following on from that night. Sarah had been more pleasant to her in the last few weeks. Sarah had thanked Lara for the advice about Price. Plus, she had agreed to stop spreading rumours about Jack when Lara had asked. Maybe this was why?

That conversation in the changing rooms at the Pearl about Jack flashed into her memory. An offhand comment Sarah had made at the time.

“That’s what you meant that day a few weeks back when you joked that my “secret was safe” with you,” Lara said, a moment of understanding suddenly dawning on her. Sarah nodded.

“I couldn’t help messing with you a little. Sue me,” Sarah said with a wry grin.

“So you are the mystery girl Shawn has been seeing lately?” Lara asked. Lara shook her head in disbelief. She had even texted Shawn and wished him luck on his first “date” with Sarah.

“Yup. That’s me.”

“Sarah... why? What can you possibly be doing with him, if not messing with me? He’s nineteen years old, for fucks sake!” Lara asked her, clearly exasperated with the entire turn of events.

“It’s a four year age gap. Let’s not get carried away. And why? Why not? He’s fun. He’s got a sexy body. And he lays the pipe great,” Sarah said, raising her eyebrows suggestively as she said it.

“Stop. I can’t be hearing this,” Lara said, scrunching up her eyes and pressing her fingers into her temples.

“Well, you did ask. And don’t be coy, Lara. I know you’ve seen the weapon he’s working with, up close and personal. He told me that the previous girl in the VIP before me named “Lyla” had given him a damned good blo...” Sarah said, the mirth evident on her face before she was interrupted.

“STOP! JESUS CHRIST, STOP! This isn’t my life. I can’t believe this is happening,” Lara said as she buried her face in her hands completely. She didn’t want to think about that time in the VIP and was distraught at the fact that somebody else knew.

“Oh, take a chill pill, Lara. It’s no big deal,” Sarah said dismissively as she grabbed her milkshake and took another sip from it. Lara removed her hands from her face and looked over at Sarah in complete astonishment.

“No big deal? It’s perverted! It’s disgusting!” Lara blurted out. Sarah simply shrugged.

“If you say so. Personally? I think it’s fucking hot. Think about it. It’s like a good smut novel you’d pick up at the airport to read on vacation. Or some soft-core movie you’d catch at silly o’ clock at night,” Sarah said, her face filled with glee. She affected a movie trailer voice.

“In a world ... where desire and desperation collide, a beautiful temptress, her identity concealed by an alluring mask, takes the stage. Night after night, she dances for men but her life forever changes when her own brother arrives, unaware of the secret his sister harbours. Blind to the truth, he falls under her spell, drawn to the tantalizing promise of forbidden fruit... .”

“Enough. Fucking hell, you’re like Ann Rice over here,” Lara said, cutting Sarah off from her movie trailer impression.

“Admit it. It’s hot as fuck. And if it wasn’t you involved, you’d think it was hot too,” Sarah said. “Listen, no judgement here. I remember that day. You had just punched out a client. We all thought Dave would fire your ass. If you had refused to go in there, he would have for sure. You did what you had to,” Sarah said. Lara sighed. She knew Sarah’s view on this wouldn’t be widely held.

“Please, take this to your grave, Sarah. It would destroy my entire family,” Lara said, pleadingly.

“My lips are sealed. Like yours were. Around his cock,” Sarah said with a guffaw.

“You’d easily know you don’t have any brothers, Sarah,” Lara said shaking her head in bemusement. “Can we ... move on from that night? I still don’t know why you went after him. I mean sure, you wanted info on me. I get that. But why take things further? I just can’t get my head around it. He’s a year out of high school! What do you guys even ... do together?” Lara asked.

“What do we do? Well, yesterday he bent me over the...” Sarah began.

“Not what I meant,” Lara said pursing her lips as Sarah chuckled some more. “So it’s just about the ... the sex?” Lara asked.

“No. I mean, don’t get me wrong. The sex is great. But it’s other stuff too,” Sarah said. She paused as if thinking about how to word her next response. “Lara, we are surrounded by scumbags for half the day. It feels nice to be with a “normal” guy. Besides, he’s loaded.”

“What do you mean by that,” Lara said, starting to worry now. Shawn was popular with the girls when he was in high school but this was something different. Sarah could chew him up and spit him out. She didn’t want her brother taken advantage of.

“He’s buying you things?”

“Yes, and I’m buying him stuff too. Lara, nobody working at The Pearl is short of cash. Look, it’s not that deep. What guys are we exposed to every day at the club? Middle aged suburban dads? No thanks. Inferiority complex assholes who can’t deal with the fact that we make more money than them? Pass. Heroes looking to “save” us? Ugh. Old, rich farts who are just looking for a sugar baby. Been there, done that. Or perhaps the worst ones ... the Wall Street wannabe finance douchebag? Not on your life,” Sarah said, her face scrunched up in distaste at the thought of it. She continued.

“Shawn has his own money so I don’t have to deal with that nonsense but he wasn’t born with it so he doesn’t have that privileged rich guy attitude,” Sarah said, laying it out for Lara.

It was clear that they’d been doing more than just having sex. Sarah knew things. Shawn had obviously been telling Sarah about Lara’s life. Sarah had made that offhand comment about “Lara having academic ambitions” which was clearly a story from Shawn. Lara had little choice then to conclude that Sarah and her brother being together wasn’t just some joke. Lara had to admit, the more Sarah talked, the more it made a little more sense.

“I guess ... I guess it’s not that weird. He is a good guy. And obviously, he knows what you do and is cool with it. I guess that’s a plus. I mean, you met him in the VIP,” Lara said. Lara watched as Sarah frowned a little now, her eyes narrowing.

“I hope you’re not suggesting I’m not good enough for him? You don’t want your brother dating a whore? Is that it?” Sarah asked, her tone suddenly sharp and accusatory.

“Are you serious? Sarah, have you seen yourself? You are way out of his league. He probably thinks all of his Christmases have come at once. He’s dating a stripper. He’ll dine out on this with his buddies for the rest of his life, believe me,” Lara said, smiling for the first time since they sat down. Sarah smiled back, seemingly mollified.

“Well, I don’t know about his buddies. He hasn’t introduced me to any of them yet. But I am invited to your family barbecue in a couple of weeks. You, me, Shawn and both your parents! Fun for the whole family!” Sarah said. Lara grimaced as the memory of her parents mentioning the barbecue to her when they visited her new apartment flashed into her mind.

“I guess that’s him making things official with you,” Lara surmised. Sarah nodded before answering.

“Yeah, about that. He told your parents that I’m just a waitress at The Pearl too. So we are sharing that lie together, I suppose,” Sarah said conspiratorially.

“Probably for the best. My dad wouldn’t approve,” Lara said, somewhat ruefully.

“Oh, I’m sure I could win him round. Dad’s love me,” Sarah said with a wicked smile.

“I’m sure they do. My Dad is old school though. It’s why I haven’t told him. He’s a kind and gentle man but he has some pretty hard coded ideas about ethics and morals. You’d find him a tough nut to crack,” Lara told her.

“I’m good with a man’s nuts,” Sarah retorted and mimed cradling some balls in her hands. Lara simply rolled her eyes and went back to eating her fries.

“Yes! Girls, I fucking love you!” Dave cried out in triumph to the empty room as he stared down at the text message filling up the screen of his phone.

Lara and Sarah had just messaged him. The message said that the pair had won the lap dancing competition taking place at the “Silver Inn” hotel. Dave couldn’t have been happier. The Pearl was a new club and Dave had entered with the hope of winning the statewide competition at the first time of asking. And according to the girls message, he had succeeded. Now, he got to rub it in his rival’s face. Salvatore Gambini’s club, “Silk” had won the competition last year. Dave hated the man.

Gambini had the trophy for the “Lappies” as the competition was colloquially known, pride of place in his club. The trophy was the first thing you could see when you walked into his club. You couldn’t miss it.

Well, you’ll miss it now! I can’t wait to see the look on the arrogant pricks face when I waltz in and take his trophy, Dave thought to himself with glee. He’d have to reward Lara and Sarah for their stellar work, beyond just the prize money which he had told them they could keep. They deserved it. He’d wanted to win Sal’s favourite trophy. That had been the main aim. But the positive buzz would help too. The increased traffic into the club following the win was the cherry on top.

He leaned back in his large leather chair and basked in the feeling of victory as he sipped his glass of bourbon, alone in his office. His thoughts were interrupted though by the buzzing of his phone. He stared at the screen as it told him who was rudely interrupting his moment of victory. “Jack” in bold letters gave him the answer. His head of security. He grumbled to himself as he answered the call.

“Go,” he said simply down the phone.

“Boss, there is a guy here at the bar who wants to see you. I told him you were busy but he keeps insisting. He says he knows you?” Jack said from down the line.

“What’s his name. Is it Sal Gambini?” Dave asked, now excited at the prospect of the Italian-American delivering his trophy in person. His excitement was short lived.

“Uh, no. This guy’s name is Will Kane,” Jack answered. Dave frowned in disappointment.

“Yeah it’s fine, Jack. Send the kid up,” Dave said and ended the call.

To say Dave knew Will was a bit of a stretch. He was Lenny’s pal. Lenny had recommended him to Dave for one of Dave’s passion projects. Dave had filmed a lap dance tutorial video that he wanted to sell online to other clubs. The video had starred Lara after some convincing from the rotund club owner. Dave had needed some attractive male talent to be in the chair as she danced. Will had jumped at the chance.

Of course, it had never happened. Not like that, at any rate. Lara had balked at the idea of Will being in the video. Thoroughly balked. In fact, she’d gone ballistic. And so Dave had unceremoniously fired the guy on the spot.