Jill gripped the photo tightly as she stood in front of the club and steeled herself before crossing the threshold in to the darkly lite, noisy den of sin.
She stole a glance at the photo once more, her sister’s smile giving her a bit more courage as Jill stepped up to the counter and paid the entrance fee.
Another quite glance at the photo reminded her of the that last time she’d seen her older sister, the two of them all dressed up for a night out on the town, ready to break some hearts. They’d been separated at some point, which wasn’t usual really and Jill knew Karen could taken care of herself, but it had taken almost a year for Jill to track her down to this place.
As she walked in to the main room, the music beat out an incessant rhythm and the partially clothed woman on stage swung around the brass pole. Jill had no idea why Karen was working at a strip club, but she was determined to find out.
Jill found a seat as far away from the stage as she could and watched as dancers and patrons came and went, sipping on the diet cola that she’d been forced to order from the ditzy waitress that had come over.
She’d had to do a double take at the large breasted asian dancer, she could have sworn she recognized her from somewhere, but that clearly was as ridiculous as the implants the poor girl had stuffed in to her chest or the truly horrible broken english she’d overheard her spouting to a customer.
When the waitress returned, Jill decided she’d seen enough and asked if the manager was available. It wasn’t long before a man approached her table and she took one last look at the photo before stuffing it in her purse.
“Hi, I’m Doug, the manager. What can I do for you?” he said, extending his hand.
“Jill, I’m looking for my sister Karen and was told she was working here.” Jill said, standing and shaking his outstretch hand.
He was different that what she had expected, but then again, she’d expect some old perv groping his staff at every chance he got.
Doug wasn’t that old though and he looked like any other business man might at his place of business, professional, but not stuffy. His smile was warm and he exuded confidence.
“I know a few Karen’s, why don’t we go to my office, if she works for me I’ll have her paperwork on file there.” he said, stepping slightly to the side and extending his arm inviting her to lead the way.
She forced a smile across her lips and walked towards the back, as they walked across the club, the asian woman she’d seen before cross their path and Jill’s head followed her as she tried to figure out where she knew her from.
Doug’s office was near the back of the building and again surprised her with it’s modern furnishings and spotless decor. Doug took a seat behind the desk and she took one in front.
“Now, what was your sisters name again?” he asked as he unlocked his computer.
“Karen Tinsel.” Jill responded pulling the photo from her purse and showing it to him.
“Yes, she seems familiar.” he responded, scratching his chin.
“Speaking of familiar, you seemed to recognize Gucci back there, do you know her?”
“What? Guuci?”
“Yes, the… ah… well endowed asian girl that passed by use on the way to my office.”
“Oh… well, I don’t know… maybe but I don’t see how.” Jill said embarrassed that he’d noticed her staring at her.
“Why don’t I tell you about her while I search for your sister in my records…” Doug said and Jill suddenly felt flush and a little light headed.
“Well… ok.” Jill responded, not sure what else to do.
