Locking myself in my office the next morning I made the call to Solara. I put my wireless earbuds in, clicked on the number Paxton had texted me last night, and tapped the call button.
After a few rings, she answered in an enthusiastic tone, “Solara Crown.”
Expecting to hear a crisp business-like voice on the other end, I was shockingly surprised to hear a sultry, yet outgoing, woman. It was like bursts of light coming through the phone. And I would have giggled, if it hadn’t been for her last name… it tripped me up. This wasn’t his wife. Erin had told me she was in the hospital. Was this his sister?
My lack of immediate response had her asking, “Hello?”
I focused on the reason for my call and spoke efficiently, “Ms. Crown, this is Charlie Chase.”
“Hi, how can I help you?”
“Mr. Crown said I was to call you about sending an invoice for my services yesterday.” I almost bust out laughing thinking that if she didn’t know why I was calling, she might wonder about what the dubious services might be.
She paused long enough to make me uncomfortable – that maybe she was thinking they were salacious services – so I hurriedly said, “The Facebook ad?”
It was her turn to laugh. And she did it robustly. “Right.” Her voice took on the friendly tone she answered with. “Well, I’m so glad you called. The Facebook ad is still running, and it’s getting a lot of hits. That was a fantastic idea, even if Paxton was annoyed that you paid for it yourself.”
“Sorry about that.” I responded a little sheepishly. “It just felt like the right thing to do at the time.”
“Well, it worked. Why don’t I send you a quick contract for marketing services, and when you get your final credit card bill, just send us the invoice.”
This was a weird conversation. I rhythmically swiveled myself back and forth in my chair, and realized I didn’t want reimbursement. Her no-nonsense delivery pulled me in. I wanted to be her friend. She reminded me of me, in a business sense, and I thought in another life we would be good friends.
“Ms. Chase? Are you still there?”
“Yes. Sorry.” Christ! I was usually the professional one, and I was acting like a ditz. “You can call me Charlie.”
She drawled slowly, “Okay…Charlie. Does my proposal work for you?”
“Yeah, sounds great.” I rattled off my personal email address and then asked, “how long have you worked for the company?”
She laughed again, amused by me. “I was born into it. My parents started a small studio here in Phoenix when my brother was little. They now own twenty across the country.”
“Paxton’s your brother?” My question was intrusive for someone who was just…well, I don’t even know what I was. But I didn’t care. When she continued, she sounded curious, so I would need to tread lightly.
“He is…” She drew it out. “He’s also the President of the company. I thought you met him.”
I stopped my swiveling, and sat up straight in my chair. “Not officially, no. He was running out of the studio yesterday afternoon as I was coming in.” I closed my eyes briefly and put my head back. I was getting all wrapped up in my lies.
“Huh.” She paused, and then continued, in a conspiring tone. “We should go out to dinner when we’re in town. I would love to meet you.”
I needed to get off this call. Quickly. I snapped myself back into business mode and told her that sounded great. “Send me the contract, and you have my cell number now, so, just let me know about dinner.”
She laughed again at my rambling, and we hung up.
Pulling out my earbuds, I threw them down on the desk next to my phone. I put my head back on my chair and let out a heavy sigh. “UGH!!! What am I doing?”
The rest of the day passed slowly, the clock hands on my watch moving like molasses. All I wanted was to get to my six o’clock class.
At five thirty, I shut down my computer, grabbed my pink bag and purse, and headed out to the studio.
Entering the lobby, I was greeted by a number of girls that had become regulars for the Tuesday night class. Erin jumped out from behind the reception desk and squeezed me tightly. “Charlotte! Oh my God! He loved our ideas! I had to tell him about the Facebook ad though. I had to give him your number. I knew he would know I couldn’t have paid for it myself. I tried to call and warn you he would be calling.”
“Yes, I know. He called last night.”
She grimaced and apologized again. Her face crinkled up when she asked, “Was he nice to you?”
“He was…polite.” ‘What the fuck is a thought partner?’ His voice in my head almost made me laugh. I was saved by the instructor popping her head out of the studio telling us we had ten minutes. It was Dani from the other day, and I gave her a little wave before she went back in.
I spoke to Erin over my shoulder as I slipped off my shoes. “I need to get dressed. I’ll talk with you after the class, okay?”
Erin went back to checking people in. I went to the back to change.
Once again, I selected a pole in the back, but Dani told me to move up front.
“You’re really good Charlie. You should be up front. The others can follow you.”
“Oh no, I’m good back here.”
She picked up my water bottle and knee pads and brought them to the front of the room. “Yes. You should be up front.”
Her tone was authoritative, so I didn’t argue again.
While I stretched, she went to the music system and cued up her playlist. While we were waiting for the rest of the class, she started a conversation with me about the competition.
“Did you sign up?”
“No. I just found out about it yesterday. Do I have time? To put a program together?”
“Sure. We can choreograph something easy for you. Something basic, but sexy. You’re better than you think, Charlie. Do you want me to work with you?”
In a fleeting moment, every reason why I shouldn’t ran through my head: Mark, my reputation, my boss, how people perceived me, the stripper connotations, and Suzanne. Then I said emphatically, “Yes!” A giggle escaped me. “Yes! Yes!”
She laughed at my exuberance. “Wait after class so we can talk.”
Class was exciting, and fast, and I was energized by Dani’s confidence in me. As I moved, I started thinking about what a program would look like. What song would I pick? What would I wear? When the last song ended and Dani turned on the lights, we clapped for her and she threw up her hands at us. “Everyone have a great week! Stay sexy, stay strong.”
I pulled a short wrap skirt out of my bag, tied it around my waist, and put my backless sweater back on over my head. Placing my bag over my shoulder, I approached Dani to ask her about choreography.
She was wiping her face with a towel, and she grinned at me as she threw it in a laundry basket.
“You really want to compete?”
“I do, actually. I love it here. And the timing seems right. It sounds like fun. Can you really do something for me in such a short time?”
“Sure. Let’s start Thursday. I don’t usually teach the night class; I’m filling in tonight. Can you come during the day?”
The slippery slope I was on just got a splash of olive oil. “Sure.” And then the devil danced on my shoulder.
We agreed to Thursday and Friday after the noon class. I skipped, uncharacteristically, out into the lobby to have Erin sign me up for the event.
She was busy with a customer, so I shot off a text to Mark. Can you meet me for dinner?
His response came back right away. 8pm? Flemings?
I looked down at my attire, knowing I was not appropriately dressed for Flemings, and texted back, Sure
While I waited for Erin, I flipped through the display rack of outfits thinking of what I would wear for my event. They all looked like bathing suits for the most part, but more mesh, and definitely with sparkles. A black one caught my attention and I pulled it off the rack to get a closer look. The bottoms were high on the hips, and dipped low below my belly button. The bra top had feathers across the top of the cups, which were jeweled with crystals. A layer of mesh lay between the straps in the front, and was covered in jewels that were made to look like a drape-choker necklace.
Caressing the material lovingly, I imagined that it wouldn’t matter what music I selected, I had to have this outfit.
“You’re so funny, Charlotte.” I turned to find Erin leaning over the top of the counter, her chin in her hands, smiling at me.
I walked to the counter, placing the items on the desk as she sat up straight. “Why do you say that?”
“Because you so obviously love it here.” She shrugged. “You’re fun to watch.”
“Thank you. I guess.”
“Are you going to buy those?”
“Yes, and I need you to sign me up for the competition.”
She paused and then a huge grin spread across her face, her full lips spreading wide, showing off her pretty teeth. “Really?”
I smiled, blushing. “Yes, really. Now ring up my clothes and sign me up for the competition.”
Packaging my clothes gently in white and pink tissue paper, she placed them lovingly in a baby pink bag with a red heart sticker in the middle of it. The heart had the word LOVE in it.
“Aww, that’s cute! LOVE, on the heart. I like it.”
Erin had placed the bag on the counter and I was reaching for it when she responded. “Yeah, I always wondered if Mr. Crown did that on purpose, or if it was just a coincidence.”
I put the bag over on the couch with my purse, and took out my wallet so I could pay for the registration and the outfit. As I crossed the room back to her, I asked, “What do you mean?”
“LOVE? The word? LOVE.”
“Right. I know it’s a word. What do you mean about it being a coincidence?”
“Live Once Vertical Enterprises? His company? He and his brother have a couple of businesses they manage. I don’t really pay attention. Maybe I should. Do you think I should?”
I gazed at her in utter awe, and confusion. Was it really possible her life had been so sheltered, that she had no idea how to be part of a workforce? I didn’t have the heart to tell her about my conversation with Paxton the night before, so I simply suggested that she may want to take a more avid interest in how things were managed around here. “You love it here; you should get more involved in the business. You might surprise yourself.”
She handed me a form to fill out, and I entered as ‘Entertainment Level 1.’
After entering all my personal details into the system, she handed me a packet with all of the information, including times and the location.
“So, you and Dani will need to arrive 45 minutes before your event time. Sometimes they run early. Once you decide on your music, you need to upload the mp3 file to the website listed in your packet. Your code is right here.” She pointed at the packet where she had put a sticker with the studio name, phone number and the code she had written on with a sharpie.
“That’s it?” I had expected it to be more thrilling.
“That’s it. Now you just need a program.” She laughed and smiled at me mischievously. “I can’t wait to see what you and Dani come up with. She’s amazing.”
“Thanks, Erin. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m having dinner with my fiancé tonight and I don’t want to be late.”
We said our good-byes and I drove through the elite Houston neighborhoods to the restaurant. Mark was waiting in the bar for me, talking on his cell phone, a martini in front of him.
The barbie doll hostess greeted me and I pointed to Mark, indicating I would join him in the bar. She put the menus back in the hostess stand and told me to let her know when we were ready to be seated.
Waving me over, Mark put his finger to his mouth, indicating I should be quiet, while he finished his call. It struck me as rude and dismissive, since he was already in a bar filled with people.
I slowly, and quietly, maneuvered myself up onto the stool next to him and silently, almost just above a whisper, told the bartender that I would have a dry vodka martini.
Crossing my legs, I waited patiently for Mark to finish his call. I turned and watched him, twirling my finger up into the air, trying to tell him to wrap it up.
He looked at me, brows furrowed, and ran his finger through the air from my calf to my neck, and twirled his finger around. He mouthed, “What is this?”
I laughed and almost choked on my drink. I mouthed back, “Get off the phone.”
It was this kind of funny banter that I enjoyed with him. Feeling a little more lighthearted than I had this morning, I smiled at him and relaxed. Maybe our problems weren’t too deep after all.
Ending the call, he put the phone on the bar, face up, and turned to greet me. I leaned in to give him a kiss and was greeted with a disapproving remark. “Seriously, Charlie, what are you wearing?”
I still had on my leg warmers and backless sweater. My wrap skirt was a little short, and had slid up the side of my thigh, revealing the hem of my boy shorts. Taken aback, I thought momentarily that they could have been mistaken for underwear, but his reaction was a little harsh and I told him so.
“Mark, they’re just workout clothes.”
“Could you have changed before you met me?”
“Actually, I have something I want to share with you. And before you react, just know that I’m really happy about it, and I hope you will be too.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re pregnant. We talked about this, Charlie. We agreed we would wait another year or two, when things settled down for you at work.”
A knot lodged in my throat, and I struggled to keep it down.
“Uhm…actually no, that’s not what I was going to say.” I took another sip of my drink, hoping to keep the tears back. His words felt like a slap, and I wasn’t even sure I wanted to stay for dinner now.
He waved to the hostess that we were ready for our table.
“Hold that thought, babe.” He asked the bartender to bring our drinks to our table, and we followed the hostess through the restaurant to a booth in the back.
The surroundings were blurred from the rise of my unshed tears as I walked behind him. My steps were heavy.
Once seated, he asked, “What was it you wanted to tell me?” With manicured hands, he unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up on his forearms.
I blurted out, “I’ve been taking pole dancing classes.”
He paused his rolling, “As in stripping?”
“Not stripping. Pole dancing.”
“Stripping. Is that what this get-up is about?”
My face flushed, and my anger rose. “It’s dancing, Mark! And I really like it. It’s harder than you would imagine, and, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m in better shape than I’ve been in a long time.”
“It’s still stripping, Charlie. Put a pretty name on it, but it’s for trash.” Not making eye contact with me, his eyes scanned the menu.
I inhaled sharply, and felt sick to my stomach. When had he become such an ass?
“I signed up for a competition.”
He slowly lowered the menu to the table. He squinted, and looked me in the eye. “I’m not following you, Charlie.”
I rushed on, “It’s in two weeks. I’m doing a beginner program and I would really like it if you would come.”
“No.”
“No, you won’t come?”
“No, you aren’t doing it.”
“Why would you say that?”
“It’s embarrassing, Charlie. And I won’t have my future wife doing something that’s beneath us.”
“You mean beneath you?” I asked him sardonically.
“Beneath us, Charlie. We’ve worked hard to get where we are. I won’t have you risking some scandalous story because you want to play sorority girl.”
Words wouldn’t come to me. I sat in shock, staring at the man I no longer knew. I would never have expected him to be so closed minded, and my anger simmered. Not wanting to say anything I might regret, I slid out of the booth, grabbed my bag, and stood to leave.
Quietly I said, “I’m going to head home. We can talk about this later.”
“You don’t want to stay for dinner?” His obtuseness almost made me laugh.
“I’ll get Taco Bell.”
I walked quickly to my car before my tears could fall.