The following morning I almost jumped out of bed. I was light on my feet, ready for the day. Nothing could bring down my mood. I checked my phone and there were no messages. Just the words about meeting tonight to finally put all of this to bed. To end my blackmailing, to get my life back on track.
The smile on my face felt like it was starting to hurt my cheeks. It was so big and wide. Since today was a day of no rules, no messages, and no demands I pulled out a comfy pair of jeans and a loose sweater and threw them on. Today was going to be a day of no nervousness, no worries about being caught, or fired, or the feeling of students' eyes staring at me from behind. Today was a day of relaxation.
Down in the kitchen I made some coffee and poured bowls of cereal for Sam and Emma. I was almost skipping through the room as I did each step.
"GoodMORNING!" I beamed as they both walked into the kitchen looking groggy, "isn't today a wonderful day?"
"It is?" Sam said, sitting down and taking a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
Emma just smiled back at me as she began to eat.
After breakfast we drove into school together. I blasted the radio and rolled down the windows. It was like I had just won the lottery. When I got to class I opened my papers and smiled at the class. Did they think I was having a breakdown? The crazy swings in my clothes and now my mood? It didn't matter. Nothing could change how I felt. The day was the perfect day.
Class after class flew by without a hitch. The sun was shining and I ate lunch outside letting the rays hit me and make me feel even better. I saw Tina and she was smiling too, maybe it was a great day for both of us. Was the blackmailer leaving? Giving up? Bored of us? It didn't matter. It was all about to be over and that was all I could focus on.
After another window opened and loud music drive home and I was upstairs in my room, laying on my bed, the smile still on my face. I had a few hours to kill so I changed into a pair of grey sweat pants and a bright pink hoodie and headed downstairs to the couch, turned on the TV and relaxed some more. My eyes went up to the camera looking down at me, I smiled, after today it was going to be ripped out, smashed and maybe even burned.
Pizza was on the menu again for dinner that night, all three of us ate it while we watched TV. As the hours clicked by Sam and Emma began to leave to meet up with friends and do their own thing. By 8pm I was alone again, just me and my smile. But I also knew it was time to go and get ready for whatever this meeting was tonight.
I opened my phone and looked up, "The Watering Hole". I wasn't expecting it to be a strip club, but I also wasn't surprised. Only a pervert like my blackmailer would pick a place like this. With that knowledge now in mind I decided what I was wearing was absolutely perfect, the only thing was I put on a sports bra just to make myself as un-sexy as possible.
8:40pm and it was time to leave. My sweatpants, hoodie, running shoes and smile all set off in the car on the way to The Watering Hole. As I got closer I started to get nervous. What if this wasn't what I thought it was? What if it was some kind of trick? What if they wouldn't even let me inside because of what I was wearing? I couldn't miss the meeting. "Fuck!" I said to myself as I saw the big glowing sign outside.
The parking lot was busy and I had to park near the back. There was a line to get inside which seemed off for a strip club, but apparently this was a popular one. The guys were dressed as you'd imagine, slicked hair, shirt half unbuttoned, gold chain. The girls too were as expected, short skirts, skimpy dresses, high heels. I did not fit in.
I got out of my car and locked it, walking slowly to the front door not really knowing what to do. My heart was pounding through my chest. All of the other people in the line were looking at me, sneering, whispering to each other. I went up to the bouncer.
"Ummmm excuse me..." I said quietly.
"Yes?" the bouncer replied, looking down at me, his eyes reviewing my clothing.
"I'm... ummmm... supposed to meet someone inside at 9... and ummm... I can't be late," I stumbled through the words as I looked up at him.
"Name?" was the only thing he said.
"Madison Edwards."
Without any delay he reached down and opened the rope that was stopping the line from entering the club. I was shocked. Who was my blackmailer? How did they arrange this? I walked through and looked back at the line, and the shocked faces.
Before I could even get through the door it opened for me, a young woman dressed in heels, thigh highs, panties and a bra, all black, greeted me. "Madison?" she asked.
"Yes..." I didn't know what to make of the whole situation. I was just following the flow. Completely out of control.
"This way..." she said and pointed to the left.
As I began to walk with her my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The room was lit by secondary lights, over the booths, over the stage, over the bar. The tables were full of people. Girls were topless almost everywhere I looked. Customers sat there with their tits out, strippers were grinding on men and women in the booths, alcohol was flowing into everyone. The whole experience was exciting and I could already feel my pussy tingling. That was not what I needed.
I did not fit in. My clothes, my hair, my shoes, everything was wrong, but it felt like my armour. This was my way of not getting dragged into anything. This was my way of getting my life back.
As we continued to walk I saw one booth open and I knew it was mine. I slid in without even asking my hostess. She smiled before asking if I wanted a drink. "Ummmm Martini?" I said, I don't know why.
I checked the time. 8:57pm. I wasn't late. Three minutes. I continued to look around, watching the show on the stage, the girl's costume quickly coming off, her grinding and spinning on the bar garnering hoot's and holler's from the crowd watching. My eyes moved to the booths near me, watching as a stripper's ass moved it's way up and down a guy's face. How much did that cost? I spied as a few people moved into a back room, a VIP room I imagined. I didn't know for sure, but I had an assumption on what happened back there. 9:02pm. They were late.
My martini came and I sipped it slowly. My heart beating even faster. Did I get the wrong night? The wrong place? Was this all a trick? I was getting angry and scared and everything in between. I needed this to be over. Why was this happening to me? 9:10pm.
"Fuck!" I said to myself as I finished off my martini. I contemplated leaving. I looked around again. "10 more minutes..." I mumbled.
9:18pm. I checked my phone for the hundredth time. Nothing. Two more minutes and I was planning to leave. My eyes did another look around the room, watching the new girl on stage for a moment before I saw someone walk out from behind the curtain just beside the stage, obviously coming from a back room. My eyes grew as I watched her blonde hair bob off her shoulders as she walked. She wore a leather jacket over a black t-shirt. Her legs squeeze into a pair of black jeans, and black leather booths adorned her feet. I swear I could feel the thud of each step as she walked towards me.
I couldn't believe Tina was here.
I watched as she continued in my direction, my brain wasn't making the connection, I still thought that she was here for something else, was she a stripper?
Her eyes locked on to mine. I smiled nervously. She didn't. Her face was like a stone, her direction didn't shift, she continued to walk towards my booth, towards me. My heart beat faster, my brain started to make the connections. It couldn't be. SHE couldn't be? Tina... was my blackmailer?
It was as if time slowed, each step she took seeming like an hour. My mind thought back through the things that had happened. How could she have been my blackmailer? She was blackmailed too! I thought about when she arrived and the timing fit perfectly. I thought about the night at the club and how I never actually saw the messages on her phone. I thought about how she said she was getting blackmailed, could it have all been a lie? And then I thought about the things she made me do. The revealing clothes at school, the toys, the photo shoot with Emma. It was all too much to comprehend.
I should have been angry. I should have wanted to kill her. But I was too shocked, too confused to do anything. Tina sat down beside me.
