Since Natalie cut down her hours in D& J's, she's had a ton of free time in her hands.
Well... Free enough to be dragged around to all the lingerie stores by a giddy Kaller. It's been two hours now and Natalie could swear that the shit-eating grin never left her face. There is a certain bounce in her walk and the way his ass jiggled in her bum shorts crowned everything.
It is safe to say Kally is happy for two of them. Yes, Natalie is happy. Excited, even. But, that happiness has dropped a notch. She isn't used to staying out for a long time and her feet is killing her!
"Kaller, why are we still going to more stores? I thought you said that was the last one?" Natalie whines with a tiny pout.
"Oh, shush Natty! This is the last store I promise!" Kally bites her lip mischievously before laughing, "Well, after this one with have to go to Totally Bands!"
"Why do you we have to go to an accessory store?"
Kally rolls her eyes as she surfs through collections of clothes. She turns to Natalie with a hand on her hip, "We need to get you those cute bows and scrunchies for your hair!"
"But I have enough bands at home,"
"Of course you do, honey! But you need to get those cute and sexy ones since you know work in LowiSe," Kally says as she pulls out a very tiny plaid skirt and compares it with Natalie's waist.
"I never knew I'd have to wear a bow to pole dance," Natalie shrugs with a thoughtful look.
"You don't have to," Kally smirks, "But you should." She winks at the end and Natalie doesn't know why she felt so embarrassed.
After half an hour more of strolling in and out of lingerie stores, the duo—more like, Natalie—decides to make a quick stop at McDonald's.
"We've been friends for like three days now and I just realized, I don't know anything about you. Like where you live," Kally begins once their waiter dropped their orders.
"Oh," Natalie wipes her bottom lip with a napkin, "I currently don't have my own place. I stay with my cousin, Polly."
Kally makes a face before tearing into her hamburger.
To diffuse the awkward silence—even if the hustling and bustling gave the restaurant its own unique noise—, Natalie clears her throat.
"Um... What about you?"
Kally swallows thickly and takes a huge gulp from her strawberry smoothie before answering, "Oh? Me? I live just a few blocks away from LowiSe," she shrugs.
"Alone?"
"Nah. I stay with two bitches. I hate them like hell but they pay the rent so..." She trails off and Natalie laughs.
Of course, she knows how Kally feels. That was the same way Polly described the way she felt. As long as they pay the rent, it's all rainbows and unicorns...
A loud 'ding' sings from Kaller's phone and she pauses mid-sip to check it out.
"Oh, it's one of them. They..." Kally blinks once. Twice. Three times before she shoots up from her chair, making the plates on the table rattle and the Natalie's banana split almost tipping over.
"HOLY FUCK!" Heads shoots in their direction immediately. Jaws drop. Hands racing to cover the ears of their minors, but it's too late, anyway. An embarrassed blush crawls up Natalie's neck.
"Excuse me, miss! No cussing in the restaurant!" Their waiter yells from the counter and Kally looks up from her phone to shoot a nervous grin.
"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry everyone! I take back my curse!" She yells before sitting.
Natalie is already a full-baked chocolate muffin. Her fingers are massaging her temple, "What the hell was that?!"
"Oh. It's nothing, just that they burnt my microwave. Again," She replies, casually.
'Woah, and I thought Polly was a baby demon.:
Kally takes in a deep breath, "Okay. Now that that's over, where were we?"
"Why are you acting so unbothered?"
"That's because I am. They pay the rent and also the damages. As long as they don't blow up my ai—"
Another 'ding'.
Kally rolls her eyes before looking down on her phone. This time, she doesn't have time to blink because the words flew out of her mouth.
"MY AIR CONDITIONER! HOLY PEPPER MONKEY!"
Kally grabs her purse from the table before standing up, again. This time, she successfully drops all the plates on the floor. Groans and murmurs of irritation rings around the restaurant and Kally apologizes profusely.
"Natty, I'm so sorry! They say the neighbors are about to call the cops. They think there's a buglary in progress,"
Natalie smiles pitifully. She understands. Being a black woman makes her understand so many things.
"No, it's fine. Go save your apartment."
Kally smiles before pecking her cheek, "I'll see you tonight at LowiSe! Get ready for your performance!"
She yells before running out of the restaurant, dragging out sighs of relief from the mouths of the patrons.
Not able to take the embarrassment, she immediately pays for her meal and hails a cab.
Trying out all the clothes took about 2 hours. She decides to nap for another 2 hours. Thankfully, Polly is not home. Which means, flirty giggles won't be the last thing she hears before she sleeps.
Natalie makes it to the club twenty minutes to 9 o'clock. Her toes hurt from bouncing on it simultaneously. Her palm, soft from wringing it too much.
Immediately she enters LowiSe, the stench of sweaty bodies and deodorant wafts into her nostrils and she sneezes twice. It took about thirty minutes before Kally and Tony found her.
"30 minutes till show time. Kally, run her through the ropes. If you can't do it, I'll ask Susan to join you,"
Kally snorts with a smirk, "Pfft, I can totally handle it. Don't bring Susan into this!"
Tony looks at her, his eyes piercing, "I'll go get Susan."
Kally whines and stomps her feet, "Okay. Okay! Fine! I'll wash the toilet this time," she pouts and Tony pats her head.
"Atta girl!" He winks at Natalie before strutting away.
"Damn, that snake!" Kally grumbles before giving Natalie a quick hug. She looks down at Natalie's dressing. She wore a silver legging, a plain black hoodie crop top that just stops above her bellybutton. The waistline of her legging is so close to her bellybutton that there's nothing to show.
"You know you're performing tonight, right?"
"Yes. I know. I'm kinda nervous,"
Kally rolls her eyes, "Did you bring it?"
"Bring wha— Oh, the clothes! Yeah, I did. I don't get why you asked me to bring them though," Natalie bites her top lip as she pulls out a lace lingerie set.
When Kally had called her saying she'd need her to bring a set, Natalie had smirked evilly and pick out the sluttiest and thinnest set she could find as payback for dragging her all over the stores.
"You're wearing it."
Natalie face pales.
It took 15 minutes for Kally to force the piece of clothing on her, and Natalie is not happy. The 6-inch heel added some unwanted height. The light green lingerie stopped just below her knee and if not for Kally assuring her that the stage light will be off, Natalie wouldn't have agreed to put it on.
"You look nervous. Don't be nervous," Kaller squeezes her shoulder gently.
Natalie puffs air into the sides of her cheeks before her toes starts bouncing on the heels, "But... But I can't dance! Talk less of dancing on a pole!"
Sure, she's watched tons of romance videos but she's never really practiced the real thing.
Kally giggles loudly. She can identify pre-performance jitters anywhere she sees it and right now, the heavily endowed black woman in front of her is swimming in it.
"Natty, you'll be fine," She bites her lip, "Well, that's unless you fall face first on the pole. That'd be hilarious and totally embarrassing," she laughs hysterically.
Natalie glares at her, 'Falling from the pole is possible? Jesus Christ!'
"Okay! I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"
Natalie gulps loudly. Kally notices the horrified look on her face then she cups both of Natalie's cheeks, "You won't fall from the pole Natty,"
"You don't know that," Natalie mumbles, this earns a pinch in her cheeks by Kaller.
"Hush with that nonsense talk Natty! You'll do fine! All you need to do is tease them while shaking this moneymaker!" Natalie's cheeks feel hot as she glances at the strap heels on her feet.
"Bu—" Natalie is about to counter before the unmistakable voice of Saphena rings through the microphone.
"The moment we've all been anticipating! I hope your trousers are tight because 'Dashae' is about to come up on stage in 5...4..."
Immediately the countdown begins, Natalie's anxiety blew off the roof.
'What if I fall? What if my zipper falls apart? What if they think I'm too fat? Does my belly looks big in this dress?'
Her anorexia questions her but she has no time to slot it answers because when the countdown reaches one, the stage light dims and Kally gives her a smack on her behind for good luck before she takes a deep breath and struts right through the beige curtains.
She is thankful the stage light stays dim as she adds a little gyrate on her hips. She approaches the pole slowly. The visual of the thin YouTuber circling the pole while trailing the tip of her fingers teasingly enters her mind. She does the same thing; walking exceedingly slow towards pole.
'They're nerve-rackingly quite,'
"Tease them..." Kaller's wordings whisper in her ear and she circles the pole slowly. With a tiny breath, her legs part slowly in a center split.
One...
Two...
Thr— goes the crowd. Loud hollers and wolf-whistles scream all round the club.
Something blooms in her chest.
Power?
Control?
She stands and wraps a thigh around the pole.
Freedom?
A small blush tints her cheeks when the hem of the lingerie rides up to reveal a better part of her thigh.
'Don't panic, Natalie. The light is dim. They can't tell.'
Fulfilment?
Feeling a bout of confidence rush into her, She swings flexibly on the pole and as the crowd go haywire, a small smile stretches on her face.