Why Did Men Have To Be Like That?
Cherry was used to taking care of herself. She only accepted that guy's help because he had first-aid supplies on him and she didn't. She was too stunned to say she could do it herself if he gave her the stuff.
He seemed to be under the impression that she was a kid. Well, she was dressed like one. She had been coming from the arcade. She only needed another 2,346 tickets if she wanted those AirPods. That shouldn't take more than a few days at most.
Who was he? He looked vaguely familiar. She was sure she had seen him somewhere before.
No matter. It would come to her. These things always did.
Cherry needed to head home, make dinner, and turn herself into someone else for the night. She was going back to The Wolves' Den because she tended to score big there. That was where all of the rich creeps liked going.
She liked being at clubs the moment they opened so she didn't have to stay up too late. Most of the time, she made it home before 2 AM and woke up before 10.
Tonight she had decided to be Kim—a 5'4" woman with average curves wearing black shorts and a red halter neck crop top with silver hoop earrings, green eyes, and curled ombre hair that went from brown to blonde. It was always fun trying out new wigs. She had gotten this one less than a week ago.
Cherry had fun with different wigs and fake tattoos the most. Sometimes when she was feeling particularly adventurous, she even wore wigs with unnaturally colored hair. She tried not to do it too often though because of how much it stood out.
She stood out enough on her own with her natural hair. Goodness knows she had been hit on by a bunch of older creeps who had a thing for redheads when she worked as a waitress.
Why did men have to be like that? Honestly!
Luck wasn't on her side tonight because the bouncer wanted to argue with her, thinking she was using someone else's ID. This didn't happen very often—these people usually didn't care—but when it did, she had to have an explanation ready.
"You look nothing like this picture," the bouncer said stoutly.
Cherry sighed. "A girl isn't allowed to dye her hair or wear makeup? That picture was taken years ago. Of course I'd look different."
"Come on, let her through! You're holding up the line!" someone behind her complained.
The bouncer did let her through and she shot that guy a grateful smile. He seemed to take that as her flirting with him since he approached her once they were inside. He wanted to buy her a drink.
Cherry wasn't about to refuse that since he might be the perfect target for the evening. His clothes were certainly expensive.
He didn't spike her drink though. She was almost disappointed.
He was in his early twenties so he wasn't some old creep preying on a younger woman. The only other thing she could test was whether or not he was a cheater. She didn't see the telltale faint line of a missing wedding ring but that didn't mean he wasn't attached.
A lot of men came to these clubs to cheat on their girlfriends without them knowing. She would never understand that mindset. Why bother being in a relationship if you were only going to cheat?
Cherry had never been in a relationship herself. She hadn't seen the point. She used men; she wasn't about to let them use her.
A normal life wasn't in the cards for her. Hadn't been ever since her dad first went to jail.
She had accepted that at this point. She was fine with the way things were. Logically, she knew she wouldn't be able to carry on like this forever because if she looked too old, she wouldn't be able to lure anyone in but she did have a baby face. Hopefully, that would hold out even in her forties since this was the only way she had to make real money.
It was hard work coming up with this many disguises and pretending to flirt with guys she couldn't care less about! Not as hard as being a waitress had been though. She would take this over that any day.
Cherry was still trying to figure out how to potentially nail the guy who bought her a drink when he did it himself. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and there were a bunch of texts from someone called 'babe' with a heart emoji.
She surreptitiously peeked at the texts and inwardly sighed when she saw that he was lying about where he was. He was pretending to be at home playing video games right now.
Definitely a cheater. She was perfectly justified stealing his credit cards and any available cash now.
It would be easier to do when they were on the dance floor so she suggested they go dance with a flirty smile. The jerk went along with it eagerly. Ugh.
On the way to the middle of the dance floor where it was so crowded no one would see what she was doing, she nearly stopped dead in her tracks. That was the guy from earlier! She knew he was familiar!
Cherry had seen him here before. Multiple times. She was pretty sure he caught her when she slipped on someone's spilled drink the other day. She hardly ever saw the same faces more than once aside from staff at these places. He had to work here.
He wasn't a bouncer or bartender. Every time she had seen him, he was wandering around.
Security, maybe? No, she had seen the security here. They wore all black and had headsets. They didn't wear nice blazers and slacks.
Maybe he was the manager. But what would the manager be doing out and about on the floor so often? She had never seen anything like that at the other clubs she frequented. She would have to keep an eye out to see if that sort of behavior was normal.
Spotting him made Cherry uneasy for some reason. She didn't like this.
She did her best to ignore him and that sinking feeling, steal from that jerk, and get out of there so she could go home. She made her escape out of the alley from the bathroom window like usual and told herself that maybe she should avoid The Wolves' Den for a while, even if they did have good pickings.
There were plenty of high-end clubs in Manhattan. She would be fine at any of the others. She didn't HAVE to go there.