Chapter 19: The Man Who Wrapped the Venue

"Selena you're finally here."
Tom saw me backstage at the nightclub and it was like seeing a savior.
"I told you not to call me by my name!"
I looked around, the backstage was very crowded, but no one noticed me and Tom, a little angry and gave Tom a punch, of course I did not use too much force.
Since the incident of Eric's sudden illness, Tom let me rest at home for two days and come back to work after adjusting my emotions.
Today just arrived backstage, I felt the ring around me was very gloomy.
"Did something happen?"
Unlike the usual noise, I felt that the whole venue was quite quiet, while the other actors were chatting in the dressing rooms backstage, and no one was working.
"Are you closing down here?"
I was a little nervous, Tom wouldn't really sell the nightclub in order to get me the money, would he?
"No, it's Damon."
Tom gave me a "what are you thinking" look.
My heart, which had been relaxed, almost popped out of my chest again.
Even though I thought I was ready to negotiate with Damon, I couldn't help but start to get nervous now that he was in the club, and I couldn't even breathe.
"He came over every day for the two days you were off, and just sat on the stage, cold-faced, and all the customers around him were scared away."
Tom was very helpless, but the nightclub had no reason to drive the customers away, and Damon was tipping very well.
"I told him today that you would come over and he kicked out all the customers, here is the package fee he gave,"
Tom pulled an envelope out of his breast pocket, and I saw how thick it was.
I thought it wasn't enough to cover Tom's turnover for one night, so how could he agree to it.
Until Tom put this envelope in my hand and said, "This is for you, it's less today, he said he needs you to dance one dance, if you stay overnight sign a separate agreement."
The moment I got the money, my original elated mood was ruined by Tom's last words.
I felt the thickness of the envelope, which should have been enough to cover the cost of Eric's latest treatment.
I struggled to turn up the corners of my mouth and put on my trademark work-specific fake smile.
"I'll try to make him happy."
"I trust you, you always take your work extra seriously." Tom patted my shoulder, reassuring me.
Tom always encouraged me in this way when I felt hesitant and unsure of myself.
"This is the work clothes he brought you."
Tom took out a new set of overalls from a side closet, different from the sexy bikini-like overalls I was wearing before.
The whole outfit is made of tulle and feathers around the production, in the chest and thighs are in the leather clothes decorated with black feathers. In the bare arms, thighs and waist is draped with shiny silver thread of tulle.
I have to admit, this dress is really very beautiful.
After Tom left the dressing room, I realized that Jenny had been hiding in the doorway.
"This dress is so beautiful, I fell in love with it at first sight."
"Why are you standing there, you had something going on with him, you know I'm talking about Tom."
During the two days I had off, I sensed a clear disconnect between Jenny and Tom.
"Alexander, the man you met at the mall, he was my boyfriend in high school."
I looked at Jenny incredulously, "That's a terrible thing, isn't it?"
I had heard of Alexander, he was the first boyfriend Jenny had dated when she was in high school.
Because Alexander followed his parents to move suddenly, but the matter was not informed in advance Jenny, Jenny suddenly lost contact with Alexander, the two therefore broke up unilaterally without any explanation.
Because of this reason, Jenny has not dated any boyfriend.
This is also the real reason for the slow progress between Jenny and Tom, she is full of distrust of men, she is worried that after being with Tom, Tom will be the same as Alexander did not say goodbye.
Usually Jenny also always put on a philandering look, and I understand that these are just her disguise.
Through the first two days at the hospital, I felt that Alexander was a very warm-hearted person.
Now that I knew about Jenny's relationship with him, it made me think that I didn't know what to do for a while.
And the expression on Jenny's face told me that she was feeling troubled by the matter.
"You know that Damon was at the nightclub for the past two days, right?"
"Tom has just told me, but what does this have to do with Alexander?"
I didn't really understand what the two things had to do with each other and asked Jenny in confusion.
"Damon brought a friend with him to watch striptease with him in the past two days, and that friend is Alexander."
What Jenny told me about this incident made me even more shocked.
It turns out that the world can have so many coincidences happen to us.
"Tom knows that Alexander is my former boyfriend, and Alexander has been looking for me to talk for the past two days, and even tried to invite me to a private dance for him, but all of them were rejected by Tom."
Jenny's expression was very painful, she seemed to not know what to do in the face of these two men.
I had told Tom about Jenny and Alexander, and Tom had said that he thought Alexander was a man with no sense of responsibility.
Now Alexander was showing up at the strip club with Damon, while trying to get close to Jenny, all of which broke the good feeling I had about Alexander while I was at the hospital.
"I think Tom is protecting you."
As friends, neither of us wanted to see Jenny upset again over a boyfriend she had already separated from.
Of course, I preferred to think that Tom was jealous.
"I know, but he said he couldn't find a chance for me and alone together, and he wanted to explain to me why he left then."
Jenny's expression was very conflicted and I could tell she was still missing the time she had spent with Alexander.
"Jenny, we need to move on and forget the past, that's what you taught me."
I put my hands on Jenny's shoulders and looked earnestly into her eyes.
"I've agreed to his request to perform a private dance for him, do you think I'm doing the right thing?"
Now Jenny was like a child who had done something wrong, and she looked at me very helplessly.
With this decision of Jenny's, I have guessed that she is really a very emotional person.
"I respect your decision, you just need to be yourself and follow your own heart."
I gently wiped away the teardrop that was about to fall from the corner of Jenny's eye and gently stroked her cheek to try to calm her down.
"You can calm down again, I need to get changed and go out now, my guests are still waiting for me."
I sighed and took the clothes Damon had brought and changed.
It was then that I saw that there was a mask to go with the clothes, this mask was inlaid with several expensive looking gems in addition to some black feathers, giving the whole mask a noble air.