Film at Eleven
Chapter 1 — Kelly’s New Job
“This is Kelly Lawson, reporting live and direct, and now back to you in the studio.”
Those were the words that ran through Kelly’s mind again and again. It seemed as if she’d been hearing those words for longer than she could remember, but ...
The news director looked at her. “I’m sorry,” he said finally, “but we just don’t have a spot open for a reporter. You do good research. I’ll give you that, but—”
But. Kelly was really starting to hate that word. “But if you’d just give me a chance,” Kelly said.
“I’m sorry, Kelly. Really, I am.”
Kelly nodded and she stood to leave. Maybe the man even meant it but it didn’t really matter. He wasn’t going to give her a job. That was what mattered. She’d interned here for two years during the summer, and when she’d got her degree, she’d thought sure that would get her the job she wanted, but no. They’d been willing to hire her, sure, but as a researcher, and that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to be a reporter. She wanted to be out in the field. “Thank you for taking the time to see me, Mr. Anderson.”
The news director nodded. “I’m really sorry,” the man said. “I really am.”
Kelly Lawson nodded numbly. What could she do? She just had to keep on trying. After all, this was her dream.
Once again, she found herself on the street as she walked home. This was stupid. They didn’t even need a full time researcher so her hours had been cut back, but what could she do. This was her dream.
The thought came to her somewhere on the way home. What she needed, she told herself, was to stop going in to see Mr. Anderson empty handed. What she needed was to find a story of her own. What she needed was something juicy so she could show these people what she could really do.
What she needed was a better place to live. Two roommates and the best she could afford was a dumpy, little dive. Actually, she couldn’t afford it. Her roommates were carrying her, although Gabby was starting to make noises about people not pulling their own weight, but Chloe was still on her side, at least for now, but how long was that going to last. They had decent salaries. She didn’t.
She’d come down this street so many times before that she almost didn’t see the place. It was just there, a seedy little building, at least from the outside, but when she saw it, something in her mind clicked. That was it, she told herself. That was her chance. She’d make her own story and her own tape and when the news director saw it, he’d have to hire her, and she’d have the advantage of anonymity. She wasn’t already a reporter with a face that was easily recognized. She could get inside without anyone even knowing who she was.
She went up to the door. There was a big man there sitting on a stool. “How can I get a job here.”
The man looked her up and down as if sizing her up. “You got to talk with Mr. Avery,” he said finally.
“Is he here,” Kelly asked.
Again, the man looked her up and down although Kelly had no idea what looking her up and down had to do with whether this Avery guy was here or not.
“So is he here,” Kelly asked again.
“Yup.”
“Can I see him?”
The man let her in. There was a woman dancing on stage, if you could call it that, Kelly thought. Damn. The woman was totally naked and if she got any closer to the guy in front of her, she’d be shoving her cunt in his face. That was just plain nasty.
“See the guy at the end of the bar,” the man said and Kelly nodded. “That’s Mr. Avery.”
Kelly nodded as she stepped into the club. She could almost feel the guys turning to look at her, almost as if they were wondering why she was wearing so many clothes, and there was the girl on stage. Hers was a different look. Probably wondering if I’m here to take money out of her pocket, Kelly thought, and then she giggled to herself, well if she had pockets, she thought.
Mr. Avery was sitting at the end of the bar just like the bouncer had said. He was a middle-aged man. He was heavyset and he had a moustache and his hard, little eyes seemed to lock onto Kelly almost from the moment she started walking towards him.
“What can I do for you,” the man asked.
“I need a job,” Kelly said.
The man just chuckled. “Honey, everyone needs a job, but the question is do you need this job?”
“I can do it,” Kelly said.
The man looked at the stage. “You see Destiny there?”
Kelly could see the stripper. She was pulling on her nipple even as she gave a customer a good up close look at her tits. Kelly nodded.
“She’s been dancing for me for three years now and she’s got no problem taking off her clothes. Are you saying you could do that?”
Kelly looked at the girl on stage and gulped. It was for her career, she told herself. It was for her story. It was so she’d have something to show.
“Are you saying you could do that,” the man asked again.
Kelly nodded. It was for her career, she kept telling herself. “Yes, I can do that.”
The man laughed. “Well all right then. I guess it’s up to you to see if you really can. Come along then. Follow me.”
“Why? Where are we going?”
Mr. Avery, it seemed, didn’t seem to be inclined to share that information so Kelly was left to tag along behind.
“This is Zeke,” the man said. “Zeke’s our DJ. Zeke, this here is ... what’s your name, honey?”
“Kelly.”
“This here’s Kelly,” the man said. “She wants to be a dancer so I figured we could work her into the mix.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
“What? You mean now?”
“Sure I mean now,” said the club’s manager. “Ain’t no time like the present to see what you can do.”
“But ... but I don’t have any clothes to wear.”
“Honey, the guys in here, they don’t care what you’re wearing. They care what you look like when you’re not wearing anything.”
“But—”
“Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet already?”
“No, but ... but I didn’t think you’d give me a job so quickly.”
The manager laughed. “Honey, I think you got me wrong. I’m not giving you a job. I’m just giving you a chance to get a job, but it’s pretty much take it or leave it, so what are you going to do?”
Kelly thought it over. She needed the money and if she could somehow make a tape out of this, so much the better. “I’ll take it.”
“Fine then. Zeke’ll work you into the rotation. You wearing underwear?”
Kelly nodded.
“I’d lose most of the outer wear then. I don’t know. Maybe you could keep the skirt and the blouse but even that’s a bit much. Definitely lose the jacket though, but the heels are nice. You can keep them.”
“Yeah but—”
“But what? You want a job here, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“This is how you get it. Now run along and get yourself ready,” and with that, the man pushed Kelly in the direction of the dressing room.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen, Kelly told herself as she stumbled toward the dressing room. Still, what had she thought was going to happen, that the story was just going to land in her lap. She started to regain her composure again. Okay, this was an undercover piece. You had to do stuff for undercover pieces that you didn’t really want to do. She understood that. Someday, she’d laugh about this, she told herself.
At least, she hoped she’d laugh.
There were four girls in the dressing room when Kelly pushed her way in. One was reading a magazine. One was looking at herself in the mirror, and one was holding court in front of an attentive audience of one.
“Who the fuck are you,” the court holder said.
“I’m Kelly,” Kelly said. “Mr. Avery told me to come here. He wants me to audition.”
“He does, does he?” The girl seemed to take Kelly in in a single appraising glance. “Listen here, girly. Avery wants you to audition, I can’t stop him from doing that, but you better not do anything that fucks things up for the rest of us. You got that girly.”
They might not have looked like they were listening but Kelly knew the rest of the girls were listening. “I got it.”
Kelly could feel the tension suddenly drop in the room. That was what they’d all been wanting to hear. “Well all right then,” said the other girl, “you can take a spot over there.”
“I don’t even know what to do,” Kelly said.
The speaker barked out a laugh. “You think one of us is going to tell you what to do,” said the talker. “Figure it out like the rest of us did.”
The girl who’d been on stage walked in at that moment. She gave Kelly a cursory look and then she looked at the others. “It’s pretty fucking dead out there, but I got me a dance.”
“Well la-te-da,” said the talker. “You expect us to give you an ovation.”
The dancer smiled. “I don’t expect nothing of the sort,” the girl said. She looked at Kelly. “My name’s Leigh,” she said.
“Kelly,” Kelly said again.
“Don’t let Gina get to you,” she said conspiritorially. “She does that to all the new girls.”
Kelly nodded.
“You met the rest of the girls yet?”
Kelly shook her head.
“That’s Amy,” said Leigh with a nod at the girl reading the magazine, “and Meg’s the one who’s always got her face buried in the mirror, and Bella’s the one talking with Gina and now I gotta go,” and with that, the girl was back out again.
Kelly looked at herself in the mirror. Just how the hell had she gotten herself into this mess.
She sat down and she put her purse down and she looked at herself in the mirror. Come on. Pull yourself together. What was it that Mr. Avery had told her?
Lose the jacket. Okay, she could do that. And the skirt, yeah, well, if she wanted to get a job here, she was going to have to get naked, and the skirt was going to cramp her style so she was going to have to lose that, too.
She stood up. She knew what she was wearing underneath. Black bra and panties. Nothing spectacular but now as she looked, she could see the bra through her blouse and that gave her an idea. Rebutton the blouse, then undo one, no two of the buttons. Tousle up the hair and yeah, that could work. She looked at herself again. Yeah, that could really work.
The dressing room door opened and in stepped Zeke. Kelly let out a squawk. “What the heck are you doing here?”
“I came back to see you,” the DJ said. “You ready to go?”
“You’re not supposed to come in. This is a dressing room.”
“So?”
“So. I could have been naked.”
“Yeah. Like I said before. So.”
“He does it all the time,” said Amy. “He’s just hoping to see you naked.”
“Shut up,” said Zeke with a laugh. “You’re giving away all my secrets.”
Amy just stuck a tongue out at the man.
“Seriously,” said Zeke as he once more turned his attention back towards Kelly, you ready to go up.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“All right then. Let’s go.”
Kelly followed the man out. This was crazy, she told herself. She didn’t even know what she was supposed to do.
“You got a stage name,” Zeke asked.
“A what?”
“A stage name. You got a stage name?”
Kelly shook her head.
“Oh geez. Okay, let me pick one out for you.”
Kelly grabbed the man’s arm. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” she said.
“Oh geez. What’s to know. You get up on stage. You dance to the music. You take your clothes off and you make the guys want to fuck you. Okay. Okay, I got a name for you. Okay, here goes.”
The DJ flicked a switch and his voice boomed out over the club. “Gentlemen, put your hands together for the very lovely Sasha, and now the Excelsior Club has a very special treat for you. She’s new. She’s hot, and she wants to show you what she’s got. Making her first ever trip to the Excelsior Club stage, gentlemen, put your hands together for Shiloh.”
It was only then that Kelly realized that that was her cue. She took a deep breath and then she marched out onto the stage.
There was an oh-my-God moment. All these guys were there and they were looking at her and for just a moment, Kelly wanted to turn tail and run.
But it was only for a moment. She’d come this far, she told herself, but if she turned tail now, then it would have all been for naught. She might as well get what she’d come here to get.
And that’s when Kelly finally let herself settle down.
She let her body move to the music. Zeke hadn’t asked her what music she’d wanted to dance to and she hadn’t thought to ask but it didn’t really matter. The music had a strong beat that almost seemed to thump inside her head and it was just so easy to dance to.
My God, Kelly told herself. Look at these guys. They were just eating it up. She undid the buttons on her blouse and she could tell the guys were wanting to see what she had inside.
She teased them a bit before sliding the blouse off her shoulders. Oh my God. Look at them. They were staring at her and it was so hot.
Kelly’s body continued to move to the music. She liked the beat. She played with her blouse for a few moments longer before she finally let it fall free.
She was down to her bra and panties but she wouldn’t be that way for long. Once again, she strutted across the stage. Once again, the guys watched. It was time, she told herself. It was time to show them her tits.
Her hands squeezed her tits through her bra. It was time.
The bra came off and somehow, that felt right. Every man was staring at her. Every man was staring at her tits and that was just so fucking hot and somehow, it just felt so right.
Once again, she strutted across the stage. She knew the guys were watching her. It was time for the panties.
Something told her no but it was something small and it was easily ignored.
Kelly swayed her body across the stage. She picked out a guy and she stood in front of him and then she teased the front of her panties down just a little and then a little more before she gave him a grin and let the panties snap back into place.
Kelly could feel the tension. She knew what the guys wanted. They wanted her to remove her panties.
Kelly grabbed a pole and she positioned herself in front of another man. This time, she was bent over. This time, she let a hand slide between her legs. This time, she was going to do it.
She knew the man could see her hand as it stroked her pussy through her panties. She knew he wanted her. She knew he wanted her bad.
Her hand slid out from between her legs and now it was on her panty-clad ass. The man was watching her. The man was watching wherever it was that her hand went.
That was good. Her hand rode higher on her ass and once again, her hand played with the waistband of her panties and still, the man watched. That was very good.
Her hand pushed her panties down and still the man watched. Down a little farther, the panties went and then further still. She held them at the top of her thigh even as her had stroked her ass. The man couldn’t take his eyes off of her. That was very, very good.
She let her panties fall and then almost as if it were an afterthought, Kelly stepped out of the panties. Once again, she leaned over the pole but this time, she spread her legs so the man could get a really good look at her pussy. He deserved it, Kelly told herself. After all, he’d gotten her really, really wet.
After that, it was almost anticlimactic, the way she strutted around the stage. Oh, she made sure all the guys got a good, long look at her naked body, but nothing compared to the teasing and eventual revelation she gave the guy who got to see her panties fall.
“That’s Shiloh,” Zeke’s voice boomed out as Kelly’s set finally came to an end. “It’s her first time, fellas, so let her know if you’d like to see her here again.”
The clapping was enthusiastic and Kelly turned and waved to the men before picking up her clothes and scurrying off stage.
“How’d I do,” Kelly asked Zeke as she passed by his booth.
The DJ flashed her a grin. “Honey, you did real good.”
“I did? Really?”
“Really. You did great. Now, go on back and put your clothes on, and I’ll bet Avery will want to have a chat with you real soon.”
“You think so?”
“Honey, I know so.”
Kelly practically preened as she went back to the dressing room. The job was almost hers and as soon as she got it, then she could get to work on doing her expose of the strip club industry. This was the type of stuff that was made for sweeps weeks. As soon as they saw this, they’d have to make her a reporter for sure.
Kelly put her clothes on. She wasn’t sure why but for some reason, dancing like that had made her totally hot. That was a question she’d have to ask the other girls, she told herself, after she’d gotten to know them better. What did they think about on stage. That sort of thing.
Kelly suddenly found herself feeling uneasy. Her purse, it wasn’t exactly where she’d left it. She knew. She picked it up and did a quick check. Everything seemed to be in there. “Did one of you look in my purse,” she asked.
None of the girls said anything.
“I asked if any of you were in my purse.”
“We heard you the first time,” Gina said.
“Yeah, and so?”
“So no one said they were, did they?”
“No.”
“Then that must be your answer then.”
Kelly stared at the dancer. There were plenty of things she wanted to say but she kept them in check. She needed to get on good terms with these people if she wanted to do her story, but from now on, she’d keep a better eye on her things until she knew what was going on here. “Well, must have been my mistake then,” she said. “I guess I’ll be going.”
“Fine. Bye. See ya.”
Kelly wasn’t sure why but the atmosphere in the dressing room had suddenly gotten cooler. “Okay,” she said. “Bye.”
The manager waved to her to come on over and join him at the bar. “Can I buy you a drink,” he asked.
Kelly smiled. “I don’t drink,” she told the man.
“A soda then?”
Kelly nodded. “I guess that would be okay. A Diet Coke would be good.”
The manager nodded to the man behind the bar. “I’ll have an apple juice,” the man said, “and the young lady will have a Diet Coke.”
Kelly raised an eyebrow. “An apple juice?”
The man nodded. “I used to drink,” the man said, “but I don’t anymore. I can’t afford to and besides, I like to stay in control. That’s important, don’t you agree?”
Kelly nodded even as she made a note to herself. So the manager didn’t drink. She wondered why. She wondered if there was a story there.
The bartender handed them their drinks. “So, how do you like our club?”
“It’s fine,” Kelly said.
The man took a drink from his glass. “Only fine. That’s it?”
Kelly wondered what the man was getting at. “I like it just fine,” she said. “I mean, I haven’t done this work before, know what I mean?”
The man took another drink. “I know,” he said. “I know, but I think you could be a natural at it.”
“Me?” In spite of herself, Kelly flushed just a little. It wasn’t like she wanted to be a stripper, but it was cool to think that this man thought she could be. She hoped he hadn’t noticed that.
The man nodded. “The men, they like you, and you know how to work the crowd. You could do better, but that just takes time.”
“Time?”
“I was wondering if you’d like to work here on a more regular basis.”
Kelly took another drink from her soda. This was it. This was her chance to get on the inside and really get some dirt on the place. “Are you offering me a job,” she asked.
The man smiled a little smile. “Not a job exactly,” the man said. “It’s more of an opportunity.”
“An opportunity?”
The man nodded. “A sweet, young thing like you. The guys are really going to like that so if you come work here on a regular basis, you can make a lot of money.”
“A lot of money.” Those words kept ringing in her mind. “A lot of money.” Wait, the man was saying something and she’d missed it. “I’m sorry, Mr. Avery. Um, what were you saying?”
“I was asking you if you wanted to make some money.”
“I, um ... um—” Kelly couldn’t seem to keep her focus. Why couldn’t she keep her focus? “I, um—”
“Is something wrong,” the man asked. “I think you were about to tell me how you wanted to make some money.”
She was ... what? No wait. Something was wrong. She ... she ...
“Is something wrong,” the man asked again.
The room wasn’t exactly spinning but then it wasn’t exactly standing still either. “Y-you did this to me,” she said. “Y-y-you drugged me.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now why don’t you get Shane to top off your drink and then you can follow me into the back.”
Kelly picked up her drink and she followed the man into the back. The manager motioned to a chair. “Sit down,” he said.
Kelly sat.
The man perched himself on the edge of the desk. “Now why don’t you tell me why you’re really here.”
She told him everything, how she’d come here to get a story to impress her boss, how she was looking for something dirty and sexy, something she could put on the nightly news, and most importantly, she told him how more than anything else in the whole wide world, she wanted to be an anchorwoman someday and how she’d do just about anything to get what she wanted.
She didn’t know why she was saying these things. She just did.
The man sat there on the edge of his desk and he looked at the girl. “Tell me something,” the man said. “Who knows you’re here?”
“I haven’t told anyone. Not yet.”
“No one? Not even a girl friend or a confidante. Someone you trust?”
Kelly shook her head. “I didn’t want anyone to know what I was doing. I’d be too embarrassed if they did. I figured after I had my story, I could tell them then.”
That was hardly the answer that the man expected to get. “Tell me. Do you like being a stripper?”
“I told you. I’m a reporter. I’m not really a stripper.”
“I think you’ve got that wrong.”
Kelly shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said.
“I think you got that wrong,” the man said again. “You’re definitely a stripper, but you’re not really a reporter.”
“I’m ... I’m what.”
“You heard me. You’re definitely a stripper but you’re not really a reporter.”
“I’m ... I’m ... no, that’s not right.”
“Of course it is. I mean just look at yourself. Would a reporter be dressed the way you are now?”
“No, but ... but I’m doing a story.”
“The story is that you’re a stripper. You’re not a reporter. You’re a stripper.”
“But ... but—”
“You’re a stripper,” the man said again. “It’s all you’ve ever really wanted to be. You might have thought about being a reporter but that’s not what you are. Just look at yourself. You’re a stripper. It’s all you’ve ever wanted to be.”
Kelly seemed to be struggling with something. She shook her head almost as if she were trying to clear her mind.
“It’s okay to admit the truth,” the man said. “It’s okay to admit that you like having guys watch you take your clothes off. It’s okay to admit that it makes you hot watching them do that. It’s okay to admit that sometimes you get so wet from stripping that you just wish you could jump over the tip rail and you wish you could shove your pussy in some guy’s face and let him lick you to completion.”
“I ... I ...”
“Do you like having your pussy licked, Kelly?”
“I ... what?”
“I know you do, Kelly. A girl like you with a hot, little pussy like yours. You’ve got to love that. Hell, you’re pussy’s probably in need of near constant attention, isn’t it?”
“W-what?”
“I’ll bet your pussy’s wet right now. Heck, probably just hearing the word pussy is enough to get your pussy wet, isn’t it? I’ll bet you can’t wait to go out on stage and show the guys you’re pussy so you can get even wetter.”
Kelly didn’t say anything but she could swear her pussy was getting wetter.
“You’re pussy needs almost constant attention, doesn’t it?”
She could feel her pussy getting wetter.
“Do you like getting your pussy licked?”
Kelly nodded.
“I thought so,” the man said. “That’s why you became a stripper, isn’t it? So you could show guys your pussy.”
There was something wrong with that logic but Kelly’s mind couldn’t figure out what it was.
“You like showing guys your pussy. You like showing guys your pussy because it makes you so wet. You couldn’t do that, could you. You couldn’t show guys your pussy if you were a reporter.”
No, of course not, Kelly told herself. She couldn’t do that if she were a reporter.
“That’s why you became a stripper.”
That made sense but then why did she think she was a reporter.
“It makes you so hot to turn guys on. You can’t do that as a reporter.”
No, she couldn’t do that as a reporter.
“That’s why you became a stripper.”
That’s why she became a stripper.