The Well Wisher

Club M, as far as strip joints worked, was a good place to work. Sure it was a front that laundered money for the mafia, which everyone knew. And it was personally run by don Romano, but club M was safe.

And Pearl would know, she had worked in a lot of awful places before coming to club M. It had been like a ray of light, both for her and for Daria. 

Gio did not try to steal their tips from them. They had actual contracts with health insurance, and were actually protected from the clients. Even the ones with more money than sense who thought they could just throw money and do whatever they wanted. It was a sweet gig working at club M, and Pearl did not regret working there.

The one and only time she had thought of quitting had been when she was new and found out that one of the girls, Elle was dating the big boss.

The relationship had set off alarm bells for Pearl, and she had thought that Gio was one if those bosses who thought they had a right to every girl in their club. But the months had gone on, and the man had not looked at any other girl, let alone made a pass at them.

She had later found out that the two had been going steady for close to two years. In the industry they worked in, real romance was hard to come by. So Pearl had gone from being wary to shipping the two with an enthusiasm that bordered on obsessive. At least that was the way Daria always described it, but Pearl could not be bothered to listen to anything her best friend said. Especially since Daria had taken it upon herself to set up various charms, all of them aimed at wishing the couple a happy and long lasting union.

The two of them even had a little bet going as to when Gio and Elle would make it official and get engaged. As the years had gone on, the terms of the bet had changed. Going from guessing just the expected time, to wondering over things like whether the proposal would be done in public or in private. Whether it would come at the beginning or the end of the year. What type of ring Elle would wear, or if there would be any ring at all.

But as time had passed and there has seemed to be no engagement coming, Pearl's hopes had begun to dim. She and Daria had eventually given up their little bet. They had spent days cleaning their shared apartment of the little talismans that Daria had made. During the following months they had binged on ice cream and chocolate, both of then pretending they were mourning the death of a male lead in the drama they were watching.

And then, wonder of wonders, just a few months after they had given up experiencing true love through others and cried their eyes out because of it… it happened.

All Pearl saw was a glint of bling that had not been there before and she was off, squealing at the top of her lungs as she ambushed Elle.

Daria had been able to mask her excitement better, and when the other girls had swarmed, she had gently pulled Pearl away. That day their post work ritual had once again included chocolate and ice cream. But this time instead of crying they had been giggling like school girls, smiling each time they made eye contact.

In their line of work, they dealt with a lot of broken marriages( husbands coming to them because their marriages were in trouble, or coming to them to get their marriages in trouble). It was nice to know a solid couple, even if it was just one couple.

Pearl wished them all the happiness in the world and then some. Even if she never found her Mr Right, at least Elle and Gio had each other. Besides, even she never found a man to settle down with, she had Daria, and having a best friend who loved her wholeheartedly was almost as good as having a man. So Pearl was happy, both for herself and the newly engaged couple.