Page 13 of Dancing With Lies

With muscle memory alone, she plugged in the only real appliance she had, her coffee maker, and went through the motions of filling the machine with water and coffee. A tub of powdered coffee creamer sat with other flavored powder creamers, a necessity since she wouldn’t allow a fridge in the apartment. It might cause a spark, and that was just too dangerous for her.

It wasn’t just losing her parents that had given Roxie this complex about fire, possibly even pyrophobia, it was the fire in the nightmares that truly freaked her out. The fire at Elmo’s had only exacerbated the problem, but she’d learned to cope with it. On a morning like this, she could barely stand the thought of plugging the coffee maker in, but her brain demanded the caffeine, so she let her body do the work.

Instead of dwelling on the nightmare, she thought about her schedule as the coffee brewed. She had a class to give in the afternoon and she was pondering a new business venture. The insurance company didn’t want to pay up, but she’d find a way. Well, Dylan James would. He was good to Roxie and she appreciated that. She’d have had no idea who to turn to when the insurance company first started to balk at paying out. She hadn’t owned Elmo’s outright, but she’d owned a good share of the business. She expected something from the insurance company, even if the fire was the result of arson.

And that was the problem really. The insurance company was making out that the fire had been deliberately set by the owners. Roxie knew that wasn’t the truth, but she didn’t know who might have set the blaze.

Roxie filled a mug with coffee, added the hazelnut powder creamer, and was about to unplug the coffee maker when she spotted a mug she’d bought for Nathan, back when she’d started to believe that he might be the one that could change her life. “I’ll spend eternity making you coffee” was printed on the mug, something she’d meant when she saw it.

With a frown, she unplugged the machine, wound the cord around the white plastic, and took her coffee into the living room. She had no idea where Nathan was or what exactly had gone wrong with him. Or if he was coming back.

But did she want someone that could just vanish on her like that coming back into her life? She’d given him dozens of chances and forgiven far too much already from the man. The old Roxie would have set him free after the first time he disappeared on her, but she’d wanted this time to be real too much to give up.

Instead of dwelling on it, Roxie got up when her coffee was finished and took a shower. Once she’d dried her hair, braided it, and put on makeup, she put on a pair of denim shorts and an Arctic Monkeys t-shirt she’d bought when she went to a music festival a couple of years ago. She didn’t feel like dressing up too much.

The nightmare would fuck her up for the rest of the day, as it always did, and she just…didn’t feel like it.

Emily messaged her around 11 am to confirm the class she was giving later, and Roxie sent back a short message. Maybe she needed to walk this off?

She headed out of her apartment, hopped on the bike she kept chained behind the Lemon Fresh dry cleaners, aiming for the boardwalk. She rode past resort after resort, the aquarium, the upside-down house that drove her bonkers when she saw it, and dodged traffic as best she could. She thought about stopping for some lunch at one of the many restaurants she passed but changed her mind when she saw the SkyWheel, a huge Ferris wheel along the Boardwalk and Promenade as it was officially known.

The sound of the waves crashing on the beach was already soothing her and she soon lost herself in investigating the tourist attractions and watching people go by. This always helped her calm down, even if it made her feel like she was invisible. That’s what she wanted though, really, to just disappear among the crowd.

She biked back home an hour later and cleaned up before changing into proper attire for the task at hand. A short pair of black nylon shorts and a black tank top did the trick. She braided her hair again before lacing up a pair of black ankle boots on her feet. It was time to do battle with her elderly clients.

It wasn’t glamorous, teaching old ladies, but since Elmo’s burned down, she took jobs where she could get them. It paid her rent and kept her fed at least. She’d been offered jobs at other clubs, but the younger girls needed those jobs. She’d take the few freelance gigs she got and let the girls take the club gigs. She’d get by with a little help from her friends, she thought with a smile.

* * *

“Don’t say it, Roxie, don’t say it.” She muttered a few hours later as she stared at a dozen old women eager to learn how to dance like the dancers they, probably, looked down on. They’d break a hip if she showed them the real stuff and she knew it.

She was giving this class as a favor to Emily. Some of Emily’s mom’s friends were fascinated that Emily had befriended such a unique woman, as the older Thompson woman put it. They wanted to know more about Roxie’s sexual exploits than about how to wind their saggy old limbs around a pole. A pole that would probably give them skin tears anyway, she thought, as she plastered on a smile and looked around the room Emily had provided at her house. One of the old biddies with false teeth that were far too large had just asked her how to please her husband in bed.

Roxie had almost told the woman with hard eyes and far too many wrinkles to count to find her husband a much younger woman if she hadn’t figured that out already, but she’d bitten her tongue and held back the harsh words. “I’ll show you a few tricks that might work.”

This class might take more than one lesson, judging from the eager looks of all the women as they gathered around in sweat suits and leotards that hid things Roxie really didn’t want to think about. Not that she was against the older generations exploring their sexuality, she just worried about their hearts, and other parts, being overused if she taught them too much. Plus, she was in a really, really bad mood.

It was the kind of mood that would have normally seen her calling in to Elmo’s and telling them she wouldn’t be in today unless she had a client coming in who liked the sting of pain. She’d be better tomorrow, after a night’s sleep with no nightmares.

She managed to get through the class and set up an appointment for another class at the building where she taught women who wanted to be professionals, real professionals, at the job. Once she got home, she settled in for the night, ordered some food from Uber Eats, and waited to feel tired enough to get to sleep. She’d just cleared away the carryout boxes and the glass of red wine when her phone started to buzz.

“Roxie?” Her friend Amelia said once the call connected.

“Hey, girl! What’s up?” Roxie asked, wondering why Amelia had called. Not that she didn’t like the woman, it was just that the pair didn’t talk very often anymore. Not since Amelia got married and started teaching classes at a facility for dancers only. She was getting out of the pole dancing life and Roxie couldn’t blame her. She was currently on maternity leave and filling in for her was one of Roxie’s part-time jobs. It was nice to teach a real class of dancers, not just the occasional job doing a gig here and there.

“I’m just letting you know that the dancers at the class really like you and the facility would like to hire you full-time, if you’re interested?” Amelia made a shushing noise and Roxie knew she was probably rocking the baby in her arms.

“I don’t know how long I could keep doing it, I have plans but I’m not sure they’re going to pan out. Can I let you know in a few days?” That might not be enough time, but Roxie knew she’d have to make a decision of some kind if she wanted to keep eating and paying her phone bill.

“Sure, take your time. I’ll be out for a couple of more weeks so there’s no rush. And thank you so much. I knew you’d be perfect for the class.”

“Thanks, Amelia. How’s that baby girl doing?” Roxie asked and the conversation carried on for a little while longer before Amelia’s little girl woke up and started to scream her head off. Amelia quickly said goodbye and Roxie had to smile. There were options for her future, at least. If she wanted to get out of the lifestyle she’d lived for so long. But did she? That was a huge question she didn’t have an answer to.

4

Roxie

“This will look great for afternoon tea.” Wendy held up an outfit that nearly made Roxie’s jaw drop. ‘This’ was a red Dolce and Gabbana Cady midi dress that Roxie reached for, ignoring the horridly floral minidress with poplin sleeves.