Chapter 15
I walked through the door and into the studio. Along the top wall was a long mirror while in the center of the room stood a pole, fixed to a podium a couple of feet off the ground.
“And you must be Alice?”
A woman walked towards me from the other side of the room. Her hair was black, slicked back into a ponytail. She wore tights and dance shoes, her body lean and lithe. She looked to be in her mid-forties, her face showing signsof wrinkles hidden under make up.
“Yes,” I said nodding, hanging by the doorway.
“Come in then, don't be shy.”
She continued towards me gracefully, her feet light on the floor, her movements precise.
“My name is Mrs Jones. I am to be your dance teacher.”
Dance teacher. Yeah sure, stripping teacher might be more accurate.
“You look unsure,” she said to me, her eyes burrowing into my face. “You've never danced before have you?” She said it less like a question and more like a statement of fact. She could see right through me.
I shook my head.
“Perfect,” she said, “you'll have no preconceptions, no bad habits. I prefer to work with a blank slate. Come closer, let me have a good look at you.”
I walked in towards her. Her eyes ran over me like a scanner, sampling every part of my body. I wore a pair of black tights, as she did, and a light white vest. I could see her nodding slowly as she looked at me, a placid expression on her face.
“Turn around,” she said, “slowly.”
I turned on the spot until I was facing away from her, back towards the door. I had half a mind to walk through it and away from this place.
“Good,” she said. “Now, walk around the room in a circle. I want to see how you move. Don't think, just walk.”
I started walking around the room as she stood to the side. I felt awkward with her eyes on me in the quiet of the room, knowing she was judging every step.
“Stop,” she said suddenly.
She walked towards me and stopped short. “You have a beautiful body Alice, very womanly, very feminine, and a lovely gait.”
“Gait?” I asked.
“Yes, the way you move, the way you walk, it's appealing to men.”
Wow, I had no idea that the way I walked was attractive, I thought it was just something that I did to get from A to B.
“You have curves that most women would die for. Men like that.”
I blushed slightly and turned my head away from her gaze. “I'm no supermodel.”
“No, you're not, and that's what makes you so entrancing to the men you'll dance for. These women you see on catwalks, you see on the front of magazines, they're not what men like. Men like curves, men like bountiful breasts and round bottoms, men like girls like you. That's what they pay the big bucks for.”
I was still trying to get my head around the fact that I was being fashioned into a trophy, a piece of meat to be ogled at and drooled over. I'd dance for Kyle, I'd dance for him for free, but a random stranger? I wasn't sure.
“You have doubts do you not?” It was like she could see what I was thinking.
“I do,” I said nodding. “This,” I pointed at the pole and podium, “it isn't me.”
She smiled a consoling smile and walked a little closer to me.
“Honey, everyone feels that way at the start. It is a natural reaction. But what you need to realize is that your body, your sexuality, your power over men - all of that is a gift. Why should you not profit from it? What should stop you from using your gifts? Don't be boxed in by guilt or shame or anything like that, life is too short.”
“Did you do it?” I asked suddenly.
“I did,” she said with no hint of regret in her voice. “I danced for men's enjoyment for many years. Now, as you can see, I'm not much to look at. I teach now, I support and I give confidence. That is why Kyle sent me to you.”
“But I've never danced in my life. I don't know how to be sexy.”
“Every girl has the power to be sexy. Every girl has that beast lying within, waiting to roar. I will bring it out of you Alice, I will make you a lioness.”
I couldn't help but stir slightly at her words, her passion. With instruction, maybe I would be able to do it.
“I am told that your motivation is money right now Alice?”
I nodded.
“That is where everyone starts. In time, you will come to enjoy it. Your motivations may begin to change.”
I highly doubted that. If it wasn't for the money Kyle had offered me, there's no way I'd be there. I didn't know if that would change any time soon.
Mrs Jones walked slowly over to the corner and clicked on a music player. Light relaxing tones spread across the room to my ears.
“A good dancer is a supple dancer.”
Why couldn't she just call it what it was - stripping.
“We will start with stretches and yoga. Are you ready?” She placed a mat to the floor and gestured me towards it.
“Good, then let us begin.”