IN LOVE WITH MY ONE NIGHT STAND

Hailey shifted uncomfortably in her chair as her restless hands grabbed the handle of the teacup in front of her. She watched, rather absentmindedly, the steam floating from the nice smelling cappuccino inside.

"Hailey, say something?" the blonde girl from across the table said. Her own manicured fingers held a teaspoon that she used to stir her cup of coffee as she stared at Hailey, waiting for her to speak. She was wearing a branded crop shirt and ripped jeans, her blonde hair packed in a high ponytail, all these in heavy contrast to what Hailey wore—a shirt that has the name of a well known downtown cafe, a pair of dark jeans and a plain shoulder bag. With her deep brown hair braided down her back.

"I..." Hailey hesitated, her pale hazel eyes roaming around the bakery that they sat, "are you sure about this, Jenny?"

The blonde haired girl sighed deeply as she reached forward to grab Hailey's hand from across the table, "Hailey, c'mon. We're friends, we're roomies, you know I'd never do anything that I know would hurt you"

"Yeah, I know," Hailey said, "but Jenny, a nightclub? As a stripper?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"There's nothing wrong with that, besides it pays good money. I should know, I've been working for barely two weeks and look at me" Jenny shrugged with a smile, "I look amazing"

Hailey smiled as well, "yeah, you do"

"See? And you need to look good too and this is the opportunity," Jenny pressed.

Hailey looked away, she was still having doubts, "but...the clothes...Jenny I'd be half naked"

"Only half" Jenny said teasingly, "Look, you need this money, you know you do"

Hailey knew Jenny was right. She needed the money badly, the place she was currently working, hardly paid enough for her to live on, let alone to send home to her sister. She sighed as she thought about her older sister.

"Cora," she mumbled, "I need the money for Cora"

Jenny nodded, "you do. Remember, you promised yourself that you're going to take your sister—"

Beep!beep!beep!

Jenny was interrupted by the beeping sound from Hailey's phone.

"OMG!" Hailey exclaimed as she stood up abruptly, grabbing her bag, "I'm gonna be late for work"

Jenny stopped up as well, "wait! Before you go to your boring job, are you in or out?"

Hailey paused and bit her lips, puffing her cheeks slightly.

"Hailey, c'mon" Jenny whined.

"Fine. When do I start?"

Jenny squealed happily, clapping her hands in excitement "Tonight. But in the meantime, I'll go tell Luigi the good news!"

"Luigi?" Hailey tried to remember where she heard that name.

"The manager, the one in charge of recruiting the pole dancers?"

"Yeah, okay." Hailey said before rushing out. The pole dancers, she thought. She was going to be a pole dancer…a stripper. She was gonna work as a stripper...wear all those skimpy outfits. She sighed at the thought.

It didn't take long for her to reach the cafe she worked in. Opening its swinging doors, she looked around to see the place already half filled with customers. As she walked forward, she caught sight of her co-worker who hastily walked towards her.

"Hi, Terry" she gave a warm smile as he approached her. Today his red hair had been packed high in a man bun.

"Hailey! What happened? You were almost late today" he asked as he handed her an apron.

"Almost" she giggled as she dropped her bag.

"Thanks," she said, collecting the apron and tying it around her waist. "I..uhh...I had breakfast with Jenny"

"Hmm," Terry raised a nonchalant brow, "anyway, start taking orders before the boss asks why you were almost late. Start with table nine"

"Table nine?" Hailey groaned, "you mean that grumpy old lady in a tutu?"

"No, I mean that grumpy old lady in a tutu with her snobby daughter," Terry chuckled.

"Ohh, no! She brought her daughter?" Hailey sighed dejectedly as she looked at table nine, where an old lady dressed comically in a pink tutu sat with a deep frown and a fattish woman with a low forehead sat opposite her.

"Can you believe last Wednesday she was asking me rude questions about my origins? She was asking why I argued that Cubans, Mexicans or Spanish are different when we all speak the same language and look the same!" Hailey squinted her eyes in their direction, "One day, I'll tell them what I really think of them, after I rip that stupid tutu off her fat waist"

Terry passed her a tray and a notebook, "That day you wouldn't have a job here anymore. Now, go on"

Hailey sighed as she began to work, taking orders from customers at the Cafe, groaning inwardly as she moved in the direction of table nine.

Nora's. That was the name of the cafe, Hailey worked in. It wasn't that big of a place but it had a cozy interior. The chairs and tables were made of real scented rosewood and were always decorated with holiday themed table cloths. The counter held a lot of yummy looking confections, from cakes to scones, cookies, croissants and even sandwiches, they also served the best beverages one of which Hailey was an expert on making—hot cocoa.

"Hailey, visitor" Terry voiced.

"Huh?" Hailey turned to see Terry walking in with Jenny. "Jenny, Hi...what are you doing here?"

Jenny smiled, "Well, it's already closing time, so I'm here to you take out"

"Take me out?" Hailey asked, slightly confused.

"You guys are going out?" Terry asked as he walked past Hailey.

"Yeah we are!" Jenny squealed happily.

"No we're not. What are you even talking about?" Hailey asked and Jenny rolled her eyes. "What?"

"You're such a stick in the mud" Jenny said, twirling a strand of her blonde hair in her manicured fingers.

"Yeah, she really is" Terry

conquered, shaking his head to see Hailey giving him a hard stare.

"What? You are!" he said before turning to Jenny "I wish I can join you guys, since Miss Boring here isn't interested, but Dave and I are having our anniversary dinner tonight" Terry smiled with a wink.

"Awwn, that's so adorable. Where are you guys going?"

Terry shrugged with pride, "Motnaro's"

Hailey who had been arranging trays, turned back, "Motnaro's? That expensive restaurant in Queens?"

"Yup!"

"Whoa," Jenny smiled, "that's sounds fancy"

"It is!" Terry giggled, clapping his hands in excitement. "We've both been saving up for it. Dave even booked us a room in the hotel"

Both girls looked utterly surprised. Motnaro's was a five star restaurant with a hotel and very expensive, Terry was damn right to be excited if he was even going to spend a night there with his boyfriend.

"Congrats, Terry" the girls wished him.

"Thanks, guys," he smiled happily, "now aren't YOU guys going somewhere?"

"Oh yeah, Hailey c'mon!" Jenny dragged her by the hand.

"But I'm not done yet—"

"It's closing time, Hailey," Terry said, pointing to the near empty chairs and the other employees that were leaving.

"Okay, but what about you?" Hailey asked as she removed her apron and hung her back.

"I'll wait for the night shift to start and then I'll leave" Terry winked.

"Great!" Jenny said, dragging Hailey out, "Bye Terry. Tell Dave I said hi"

"Alright, girls"

And so they went, Jenny literally dragging Hailey along till they were standing in front of an expensive looking boutique.

"You're kidding," Hailey said as she looked at the building. "We are not going in there are we?"

"Yes, we are," Jenny said, walking inside followed meekly by Hailey.

"Jen, what are you doing? We can't afford anything here!"

Jenny ignored Hailey and walked on. The boutique was beautiful and classy. They were designer label clothes on high racks, the lights illuminated everywhere making Hailey gasp silently in admiration. This was a place for the elites, not someone like her OR Jenny.

Soon a smartly dressed woman walked up to them, "Good evening, Ladies, do you need help with anything?"

Jenny shook her head, "No, we'll just take a look around" she said to see the woman nod and walk away.

Hailey was still staring curiously at Jenny. She couldn't be serious, she couldn't actually be serious about shopping here! "Jenny what are you—"

"What do you think?" Jenny interrupted as she came to Hailey with a sequined pink cocktail dress. "It suits me, yeah?

Without saying a word, Hailey stepped forwards and checked the price tag, "$300" she said, slowly raising her eyes to Jenny, "have you gone loca?"

"Calm down. I'm paying for it" Jenny said as she continued to pick clothes from the rack all around them.

"Paying for it? With what?"

Jenny scoffed, "toilet paper" she picked another dress to place it on her chest.

"Seriously Jenny, this things are expensive"

"Yeah, but I can afford them now. Just shut up and pick something you like"

Hailey hesitated, "but…"

"Go on, we don't have all night" Jenny said. She understood Hailey's hesitance, they both usually struggled to survive, working long hours for very little pay but now that Jenny got the job at the club, it was all going to change and Hailey will soon learn to get used to it.

"I like this one" Jenny heard Hailey say as she pointed to a branded shirt.

Jenny smiled. Yeah, she'll get used to it.

******************†

"Did you have fun?" Jenny asked as they both walked home. They had done quite a lot of shopping, getting both clothes and shoes as well.

"How did you even afford all of these, though?" Hailey asked back as she raised the bags they were both carrying.

Without answering at first, Jenny ran forward and hopped on to their porch and opened the front door, ushering Hailey inside.

"My new job," she said, "and soon to be yours"

"Wow," Hailey exclaimed lightly, entering their little apartment and dropping the bags on the floor.

"So," Jenny said as she dropped the bags that she was carrying and landed on their old couch. "Let's order take out"

"Take out?" Hailey asked as she wiggled out of her clothes. "Plus all our shopping? Isn't that just…extravagance?"

"We don't have time to cook. Work is in an hour, remember?"

"Oh…yeah" Hailey voiced as she walked over to the bed and sat down.

Looking lazily around.

Soon, if the pay was as good as Jenny claimed they could move out of this place. Her eyes roamed the studio apartment they sat in. It wasn't anything attractive in the least. They hardly had any fornitures, just an old couch, a bed and a side table. The wallpaper was downright depressing and so was the squalid kitchen.

"You think if we have enough money, we can move out of here?" Hailey asked as she made her way to the bathroom for a quick shower.

"Yeah, we can. This isn't just any nightclub we're talking about, it's Clink Boston! We are even lucky as hell to get a job there" Jenny said, as she began arranging the clothes she was to wear, "There's a girl who does private pole dance, Leah, she owns a nice apartment in upper east side"

"Whoa. That's one of the most expensive places in New York City" Jenny nodded, it really was. "To rent a place there is expensive as hell and she even bought a house? Whoa"

Jenny smiled, "yup"

An hour later, both girls were dressed and ready.

"I feel like a stripper" Hailey mumbled as she looked herself over in the mirror.

"You ARE a stripper" Jenny said absentmindedly as she dabbed her face with a makeup brush.

Hailey's eyes were fixated on her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a short black gown that stopped at her inner thighs, it was a sleeveless sequined thing that emphasized the size of her bust. Underneath all these, she wore black fishnet tights and ankle high stilettos.

"Don't tell me we're gonna walk the streets of New York like this" Hailey said, turning to look at Jenny who wore almost similar clothes with very little difference.

Without answering, Jenny threw her a dark brown coat as she wore one herself, "Ready?"

Hailey wiggled carefully into the coat, still feeling strange about all these. "Yeah, I'm ready"

"Great" Jenny said with a deep sigh, "it's good you're not chickening out as usual"

Hailey, who was tying the handles of her coat around her waist, stopped and looked up. "What do you mean, chickening out? I don't chicken out"

Jenny let out a mocking laugh," Really now? Weren't you the one fidgeting like a sixteen year old girl when I asked you to join me at the club?"

Hailey's defense mode got activated, "I wasn't fidgeting. I was just….it's something new, okay? Something I have never done before—"

"And was almost chickening out on" Jenny interrupted.

"I wasn't chickening out!" Hailey defended hotly. If there was one thing she could never stomach was being called a 'chicken'.

"Prove it" Jenny provoked with a smirk on her face.

"Prove it, how?"

Jenny thought for a second, "Okay, Luigi told me we're gonna be having some VIPs today."

"Okay?"

"You are going to get one of them down," Jenny smiled brightly.

Hailey looked confused, "get one down? You mean to corner one of them?"

"Exactly," Jenny answered.

"What? I can't seduce a stranger!" Hailey retorted. She's heard stories, crazy stories and she wasn't about to be a character in those stories by going to seduce a man she's never met before.

"Fine, okay" Jenny sighed, "But turn around for me first" she said, holding Hailey's waist and turning her around.

"Wait…what are you…" Jenny bent over to check something in her waist, "what are you doing?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see your tail feathers, YOU BIG CHICKEN!" she said, laughing mockingly at Hailey.

"Hey!" Hailey frowned but Jenny kept on chanting and making chicken sounds. "Okay, fine! I'll do it, how much is the bet cause I won't do it for free"

"Hmm.." Jenny thought. She wanted to make this bet big, to challenge Hailey, it was important to do so if she was going to survive in the night club. "If you get one of the VIPs down and spend a whole night with him, I'll give you $1,000"

Hailey's eyes went wide open, "$1,000?" She repeated, "Where will you even get that amount of money?"

"Don't bother about that, are you in or out?"

Without wasting a second, Hailey answered, "I'm in!" With that, the both girls left their apartment on their way to the nightclub.

Reaching the nightclub, Hailey starred in mesmerization. It's not like she hasn't been here before, but it was during the day when she first came with Jenny and the place wasn't alive like this. Right now, the place was bursting with life, neon lights shining and illuminating everywhere, music was heard from within the tall building and at the top was a neon sign board that read 'crink. As they walked on, Hailey noticed the expensive looking cars parked behind and around the building.

"Whoa" she gasped, "this place really IS for the elite"

"Told you so" Jenny answered back, her hands deep in her pockets as she approached the entrance of the club where two huge bouncers stood. "Hi Ted, Gerald"

"Evening, Jenny" both bouncers greeted, they had deep voices that startled Hailey.

"This is Hailey," Jenny introduced, "she's one of us now"

"Hi" Hailey greeted.

"Well, hello Hailey. I'm Ted and this is my brother Gerald" The first bouncer said with a smile and Hailey couldn't help but smile back. "Well, come on in Ladies"

Both girls smiled as they walked in, it was inside that really amazed Hailey. The lights, the decor!

"Hola, chicas!" A male voice called and the girls turned around to see a tall and bald man, approach them.

"Luigi!" Jenny smiled.

"Jennifer" the man smiled back, hugging her before his gaze fell on Hailey, "Hello, Hailey"

"Hi" Hailey responded, trying to remember if she's seen this man before. Her mind took her back to the day she came here and she recalled that he was the manager of this place.

"You're welcome to this big familia"

He said jokingly. "I hope you'll love it here" he said before patting her back and walking away.

"Okay. Are you ready?" Jenny looked at Hailey.

"Let's do this."