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Authors: Sasha Campbell

Scandals (20 page)

BOOK: Scandals
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34
Monica
I would be lying if I didn't tell you I was nervous as hell. It was one thing to be at the center of a stage in the middle of a large room, but doing a bachelor party was altogether different because the focus was on two people—Treasure and me.
I was on the small stage in the center of the room, twirling around a pole, while Treasure was giving the groom-to-be a lap dance. Most of the crowd of men were more interested in what she was doing, because she did it so freakin' well, but there were a few surrounding my stage waving money. I kept my head low. They thought I was trying to be mysterious with the platinum blond wig all in my face, but actually I was so nervous I couldn't look any of them in the eye.
They definitely weren't ballers or some of the lowlifes I've seen in Scandalous. Most of them seemed to be older, so I thought that meant they wouldn't expect as much, but I soon found out I was wrong.
“C'mon, make that booty clap!”
“Take off that top and show me them little-ass titties!”
I smiled, and ignoring their outbursts, I finished the first song. Thank goodness I had two shots of vodka before I stepped onto the stage. I was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol and was beginning to relax.
By the time the music changed to Usher's “Love In This Club,” I was untying my bikini top and moving over to the best man. He was making it rain five-dollar bills, so there was no way I was passing that up. I dipped low enough for my nipples to brush his cheek and took another crisp bill from his hand. By the end of the next song, I was relaxed, half-naked, and my garter was filled with money.
“Deja, come help tame this fool!”
I looked over at Treasure and laughed. The groom needed a two for one. I stepped off the stage in five-inch silver platform shoes and swung my hips over to where she was gyrating her naked butt in his face. I lowered onto his lap and was laughing and having so much fun, I brushed my hair back away from my face. I had risen and was lowering my little skirt when I heard four words that stopped me in my tracks.
“Monica ... is that you?”
I felt like I was in a trance as I turned my head in horror. My eyes collided with the last man I ever wanted to see me like this.
Tremayne.
He was sitting at the table with three other dudes with money in their hands. He had been shouting “Spank that ass!” just like the others were. Oh my goodness! I suddenly remembered him mentioning that his brother was flying in for their best friend's wedding.
“You know him?” Treasure asked, not missing a beat.
I nodded and rose from the groom's lap. Even under the dim lights I could see the hurt on his face. Never had I regretted anything in my life like I did hurting him. I had deceived him in the worst way.
Tremayne rose from his chair, walked over to where I was standing, then took my arm and led me over toward the side of the room. Several of the men were watching us, and I was so embarrassed, but he didn't seem to care. Luckily, Treasure had my back. She started dancing, and within seconds, all eyes were on her again.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he barked over the loud music.
I tried to get my lips to move but for some reason I couldn't get the words to come out. I mean, seriously, what could I really say at this point except, “I work here”?
Tremayne stared at me for a moment like he had expected me to say something other than what I just had. Believe me, if I could have been anywhere else at that moment, I definitely would have.
“You're a stripper?” he said with disbelief. Obviously he was having a hard time digesting the news.
“Yes ... I'm a stripper.”
His eyebrows went up. “And when were you planning on telling me this?”
I paused. Did he expect me to lie? “I wasn't.”
He shook his head. “Of course you weren't. Instead you were going to allow me to think that I was dating a divorced nursing student with two little girls.”
Okay, he was starting to piss me off. I placed a hand on my hip. “And this mother has two little girls to feed.”
Tremayne scrubbed a hand across his face like he was counting to three. Part of me understood his anger. I probably would have reacted the same way. I mean, come on. I lied about how I earned my living and was shaking my naked ass in front of his brother and their friends. Hell, I would have been pissed as well. I just thought he would never find out. I guess the joke was on me.
“I have never been so embarrassed in my life. I've had women lie to me before, but this ... this here takes the cake. First you worked in the ER ... then you're scrubbing toilets ... now this.”
I wanted to say something but I honestly just didn't know what was left to be said.
It is what it is.
I was stripping to make a living.
Tremayne paused briefly, glancing around the room at the bachelor party that was in full swing before returning his eyes to me. “Enjoy the party. I'm out.”
I watched him walk back to his table long enough to tell his friends he was leaving, then he stormed out of the room, leaving me standing there, more upset and humiliated than I ever imagined.
Treasure hurried over to where I was standing. “You okay?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No, I'm not. I-I can't do this. I need to go home.”
She nodded, understanding. “No problem. I'll get Honey to slide in. Go handle your business.”
I had to come up with an excuse about having bad cramps and bleeding too heavily to be dancing around in a thong before the club manager would allow me to go home. Only I didn't want to go back to my place. The girls were with Anthony. So I went the only place I knew to go.
“Monica, what's wrong?” Reyna said as she swung the door open and found me standing on the other side. I could tell I had interrupted her sleep. She had on a sleep shirt and her hair was all over her head.
I stepped into the living room and was bawling so hard I couldn't even get my words together. Reyna took my hand and led me over to the couch and made me sit. “Monica, you've got to slow down and talk to me. You're scaring me.”
She handed me a box of tissues and I took a few deep breaths and tried to explain. “Tremayne ... He came into the club tonight.”
Her eyes grew round. “You're shitting me.”
I wished it wasn't true, but it was. I started crying again. Reyna wrapped her arms around me and rocked me the way I did the girls when they were upset about something. It wasn't fair. I had finally met a guy I really liked—okay, I loved, and just like that, I had lost him. I guess I couldn't blame anyone but myself because I should have been honest with him in the first place, but after I realized I loved him, I couldn't even imagine telling him, “Hey, guess what, I'm a stripper.”
“It's going to be okay,” Reyna said soothingly.
“Reyna, I've never been so humiliated in my life!” I told her about doing the bachelor party and dropping it hot in the groom's lap and Tremayne recognizing me. I could tell Reyna was trying to keep a straight face, and the next thing she was falling back on the couch laughing.
“What the hell's so funny?” How could she be laughing at a time like this?
“Monica, you have to admit it
is
kinda funny. Your big ass tryna give a lap dance and your man just
happens
to be there.”
Hell, I didn't see anything that was funny.
She suddenly stopped laughing. “Oh my goodness! Monica. . . you're really hurt, aren't you?”
“What the hell you think I've been crying about since I got here?”
“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. It's just ... I never thought you would
really
strip, and once you did, you got so into your work you were taking it way too serious. At the same time you were trying to live a double life with this man who loves you. Sweetie, you should have known it was liable to backfire on your ass.”
Sometimes she can be so insensitive. I brushed the tears away. “Okay, so maybe I should have been honest, but would you have?”
“Hell no. I would have done the exactly same thing, but by doing that you have to be willing to accept the consequences.”
I know what she was saying was true, but that didn't mean I wanted to hear it. “I guess you're right.”
“Of course I am, sweetie,” Reyna said with a hug. “So what are you gonna do now? You quitting the club?”
“No.”
Her brow rose. “What do you mean, no? I thought you just said you were humiliated.”
I rolled my eyes in her direction. “I was, but that doesn't change the fact that I have two mouths to feed.”
“Yeah ... but ...”
I cut her off with a wave. “But nothing. I don't have a choice.” Believe me, if I could, I wouldn't step foot in that place again.
Reyna reached up and brushed a tear away from the corner of my eye. “What about Tremayne?”
I shrugged. “What about him? He got pissed and walked out on me. It's over.”
“But aren't you gonna try and talk to him?”
“For what? Nothing has changed. He would still have a girlfriend who's a stripper. And it was quite clear that's something he can't accept.” I started crying again and felt like a fool for even thinking I had a chance to start over new with an amazing man. My life was exactly what it was, a constant struggle. I was just going to have to forget about Tremayne and focus on graduating and taking care of the girls. That in itself was enough to occupy my time.
Reyna made us both a cup of tea and we sat at the table and talked until my eyelids drooped. She insisted that I stay over, and I was glad because I just didn't have the strength to drive home.
Feeling dirty, I took a shower. As soon as I was under the spray of water I closed my eyes and the entire event kept flashing through my mind. I still couldn't get past the humiliation, and the worst part about it was I had brought in on myself. I'd had every opportunity to tell Tremayne the truth and yet I kept lying to him, even after he had confronted me about working at the hospital. I thought I could keep the stripping a secret until I graduated. But not once did I stop to think what might happen if he found out the truth.
What the hell was wrong with me? I should have seen this coming, especially after that mess with Greg. I guess I just never thought of Tremayne going to a strip club. My mistake was, I forgot he was a man.
I lathered my body and rinsed off, then climbed out of the shower determined to stop thinking about Tremayne and get some rest. I crawled under the covers in the spare room and must have fallen asleep the second my head hit the pillow.
I dreamed about Tremayne watching me dancing in that club. It was so crazy because the next thing I knew he was pulling me into his arms, carrying me off to bed, and making love to me.
He stripped my clothes and slowly kissed me down my chest past my belly button, where he latched onto my clit and sucked until I was bucking and whimpering on the bed. He then slipped inside my kitty, and I rocked my hips meeting each stroke of his crafty tongue. I don't know how many times he made me come. Instead I savored every second, afraid I would wake up and the moment would be lost.
Tremayne slid up on the bed and positioned himself between my thighs, and I sighed as he slid inside. Oh, he filled me perfectly, and I gasped as he stroked in and out of my kitty with long, deep thrusts. I rocked my hips and called out his name, begging him to fuck me harder.
“Yeah, baby. Tell me, whose pussy is it?”
As soon as I heard those words, my hips stilled and my mind began to register. That wasn't Tremayne's voice. I opened my eyes and had to blink several times before the horror registered.
Reyna was on top of me.
“What the fuck?”
Slowly, she opened her eyes, then she stared down at me with this sickening smile on her face. “Monica, come on ... tell me it's my pussy.”
With one hard shove, I pushed her off me, and that bitch fell onto the hardwood floor.
“What you do that for?” she screamed and had the nerve to look hurt. I leaned over the side of the bed, and it was then that I realized she was wearing a strap-on dildo.
Something in me snapped. I sprang off that bed and punch her dead in the mouth. Then I kept hitting her until she stopped trying to fight back. “You're sick!” I screamed. “Sick!” I finally climbed off her and reached for my clothes.
Reyna just stayed on the floor, crying and wiping blood from her nose. “I love you, Monica! There is nothing sick about that. I've been in love with you for years, waiting for you to get over that bastard Anthony and notice me. But instead you decided to date that other dude and started hanging out with those strippers. I thought they would help you realize there was nothing wrong with being with another woman, but instead they were trying to taste your pussy, and I just couldn't have that.”
BOOK: Scandals
13.63Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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