I pick some neon orange high-waisted leggings and a black halter bra as my second costume, and my third is a body suit with crystals in interesting patterns. There’s a rack of high heeled shoes, and I pick some pairs in my size that look good but hopefully also won’t make my feet bleed. Randall told me to go to the dressing room. We skipped that part of the tour last night, but I’m not going to go ask him. But it turns out that it’s not that hard to find, the door is behind the main bar.
When I enter, there’s already a bunch of people milling around and getting ready. One of them is Cosette. “Libby!” She jumps off the bench and tackles me in a hug, all signs of yesterday’s awkwardness gone. In fact, she seems like she’s bouncing off the walls. I struggle to not drop anything. “I’m so excited, are you excited?”
I laugh. “Yes. Only a really good job lets you go shopping before you actually have to work.”
“I know, right?” Cosette laughs too, a little too loud and hard. “I saw your locker, it’s over here.”
She points me down the row, and I see a locker that has a piece of paper attached to it with my name. I pull the paper off and turn it over. On the other side is the lock combination along with a note in neat handwriting.
I can’t wait to see you dance again.
There’s no signature, but there doesn’t have to be. I know exactly who wrote it. I put my clothes inside the locker and change into the blue mini-dress while Cosette sits down on the bench by me to do her make up. She’s fidgeting and jumpy while she does her make-up and she hasn’t stopped talking since we came over to the locker, filling me in on our colleagues. “Everyone is super nice. Those girls over there, they go into the orgy room and fool around with each other to make people more comfortable to start having sex. The girls over there in the black pants and bras are the waitresses. She’s a DJ.” Cosette gestures to a gorgeous tall woman who’s putting on some neon eye make-up.
I sit down next to her, strapping on mile-high back heels and pulling out my make-up bag. “This is all going to take some getting used to.”
“You can say that again. Working at night’s going to be so different. But, Libby,” she says, “we have jobs dancing. Dancing.”
A grin spreads across my face. “It’s amazing.”
Cosette draws liner across her lid in a dramatic cat-eye. She’s dressed in a black catsuit with a plunging neckline. She takes in my outfit. “What look are you going for tonight?”
I start to dab some orange color across my eyelids. “Mod disco.”
She laughs. “Sounds perfect.” Again, her laugh is loud.
She looks at me, and I startle, because her pupils are huge. Dread sinks in my stomach. I grab her hand before she can do her other eye. “Cosette,” I whisper, “Are you high?”
“As a kite, baby! Nothing feels like this. They have really good shit here.”
My mouth drops open a little, “I don’t understand.” It’s been a long time since Cosette has done any drugs, but it’s never a good sign. Whenever she gets high is a time I have to worry, because high Cosette doesn’t make smart choices. And I can’t lose her. I don’t think I’d survive it if something happened to her. Plus, it’s our first day? “Why today?”
She rolls here eyes. “Lighten up, Libby.” She elongates my name, drawing it out. “I’m just having a little fun. That’s what this job is right? Fun?”
“Cosette—”
“You’re too much of a goody-two-shoes, Lib. You need to relax.”
“I’m just concerned.”
“Yeah, well don’t be. I can take care of myself.” She snatches her make-up kit off the bench and goes back to her own locker. Shit. Did something happen? I always find out later why Cosette gets high or drunk and wish I could have seen it coming. This is the same. I have no idea what set her off, and I honestly don’t have time to worry about it, but I know that I will all night. Hopefully later, when she’s sober, I can ask her again.
My make-up is almost done when Randall strides into the dressing room. I do a double-take. Is he supposed to just come in here like that? When people could be getting dressed? I glance around, and I see that everyone is decent. But still, it seems weird. “New dancers, with me.”