chopsticks. Felicia recounted her day. She’d spent it trying to
talk down Black Dawn from publicly replying to a bad review.
Then Liam called. I felt familiar
butterflies in my stomach but they were friendly butterflies this time. He told
me he had a surprise for me. I was loath to leave Felicia and Aimee, though, so
I asked him if he wanted to join us at dinner first.
Within 10 minutes he was at the table,
ordering his own bowl of pho. Felicia and Aimee could not keep their eyes off
him, a fact that was almost embarrassingly obvious. He was casual in a leather
jacket and a white shirt, his long brown hair swept to the side, looking his
usual nonchalant and very attractive self.
He sat next to me, his arm draped over
the back of my chair while he chatted with Felicia about Black Dawn and the now
infamous review. He calmly advised her that it would blow over within a day and
that the band just needed to assert their ego. I felt proud of his level head.
I couldn’t contain my curiosity.
“You mentioned you wanted to go somewhere tonight?”
Liam cleared his throat and looked at
Felicia and Aimee with mild embarrassment.
“Yeah, I wanted to take you to the
Slipper Room.”
Felicia’s eyes widened. “Ooh. I’ve always
wanted to go there. Everyone’s talking about it. Didn’t The New Yorker just write them up?”
“Uh, what’s the Slipper Room?” I asked.
“Kinda a weird place to take a girl on a
date, though,” Felicia commented, one of her perfect eyebrows arched.
“Well, now it’s more of a group outing,”
Liam shot back, with a smirk.
“OK seriously guys, where are we going?”
Aimee cut in.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist,”
Felicia said. “You girls want to see something you’d never see in Minnesota?
Well, get ready.”
* * *
The music was thumping as we walked into
a huge airy space. The room was stuffed with tattooed men and women with
fashionable haircuts plus groups of very pretty and very loud gay men.
What really caught my attention though was
the nearly naked woman on stage. Yes, naked . Aimee and I stared,
bug-eyed.
“Uh, where are we?”
“Welcome to the Slipper Room, ladies,”
Liam replied, grinning. “And welcome to the re-birth of burlesque.”
We were definitely not in
Minnesota. I’d never been to anything like this. Heck, the only place I’d seen
a woman naked in public before was my gym’s locker room. I suddenly realized
why Felicia had thought this was a weird place for a date. Despite this, there
were still plenty of guys and girls sitting together and holding hands. It was
blowing my mind.
We found a place to sit near the back.
Liam brought me a drink, which turned out to a delicious combo of gin and
elderflower liqueur. I sipped it, eyes widening.
“If you’d left it to me, I would have
ordered a Sex on the Beach,” I joked.
“Hey, I’m never going to knock sex on the
beach,” he returned, eyes dancing. I could feel myself turning scarlet and
turned my eyes to my drink.
The performances were completely
scandalous. Women in sparkly outfits, heels, and long gloves paraded around the
stage. But the acts were hardly sexy—the women struggled to get out of
their sequined dresses and some could hardly dance.
But boy were they funny. They performed
tricks and wore themed costumes based on old surfer songs, indie, and classic
rock. There wasn’t a lick of AC/DC. One woman even performed as if she was a
marionette.
But what most caught my attention was
that most of these ladies were chubby or even overweight. Their cellulite,
wobbly bums, healthy tummies, and full thighs were all on display. At first I
was too embarrassed to really look at them but soon I couldn’t stop staring at
these women who looked pretty much like me but with better make-up, higher
heels, and, uh, less clothing.
“I can’t believe this,” I finally said to
Liam. “People pay to see these shows?”
He shrugged. “It’s crazy popular. My buds
always want to
talk down Black Dawn from publicly replying to a bad review.
Then Liam called. I felt familiar
butterflies in my stomach but they were friendly butterflies this time. He told
me he had a surprise for me. I was loath to leave Felicia and Aimee, though, so
I asked him if he wanted to join us at dinner first.
Within 10 minutes he was at the table,
ordering his own bowl of pho. Felicia and Aimee could not keep their eyes off
him, a fact that was almost embarrassingly obvious. He was casual in a leather
jacket and a white shirt, his long brown hair swept to the side, looking his
usual nonchalant and very attractive self.
He sat next to me, his arm draped over
the back of my chair while he chatted with Felicia about Black Dawn and the now
infamous review. He calmly advised her that it would blow over within a day and
that the band just needed to assert their ego. I felt proud of his level head.
I couldn’t contain my curiosity.
“You mentioned you wanted to go somewhere tonight?”
Liam cleared his throat and looked at
Felicia and Aimee with mild embarrassment.
“Yeah, I wanted to take you to the
Slipper Room.”
Felicia’s eyes widened. “Ooh. I’ve always
wanted to go there. Everyone’s talking about it. Didn’t The New Yorker just write them up?”
“Uh, what’s the Slipper Room?” I asked.
“Kinda a weird place to take a girl on a
date, though,” Felicia commented, one of her perfect eyebrows arched.
“Well, now it’s more of a group outing,”
Liam shot back, with a smirk.
“OK seriously guys, where are we going?”
Aimee cut in.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist,”
Felicia said. “You girls want to see something you’d never see in Minnesota?
Well, get ready.”
* * *
The music was thumping as we walked into
a huge airy space. The room was stuffed with tattooed men and women with
fashionable haircuts plus groups of very pretty and very loud gay men.
What really caught my attention though was
the nearly naked woman on stage. Yes, naked . Aimee and I stared,
bug-eyed.
“Uh, where are we?”
“Welcome to the Slipper Room, ladies,”
Liam replied, grinning. “And welcome to the re-birth of burlesque.”
We were definitely not in
Minnesota. I’d never been to anything like this. Heck, the only place I’d seen
a woman naked in public before was my gym’s locker room. I suddenly realized
why Felicia had thought this was a weird place for a date. Despite this, there
were still plenty of guys and girls sitting together and holding hands. It was
blowing my mind.
We found a place to sit near the back.
Liam brought me a drink, which turned out to a delicious combo of gin and
elderflower liqueur. I sipped it, eyes widening.
“If you’d left it to me, I would have
ordered a Sex on the Beach,” I joked.
“Hey, I’m never going to knock sex on the
beach,” he returned, eyes dancing. I could feel myself turning scarlet and
turned my eyes to my drink.
The performances were completely
scandalous. Women in sparkly outfits, heels, and long gloves paraded around the
stage. But the acts were hardly sexy—the women struggled to get out of
their sequined dresses and some could hardly dance.
But boy were they funny. They performed
tricks and wore themed costumes based on old surfer songs, indie, and classic
rock. There wasn’t a lick of AC/DC. One woman even performed as if she was a
marionette.
But what most caught my attention was
that most of these ladies were chubby or even overweight. Their cellulite,
wobbly bums, healthy tummies, and full thighs were all on display. At first I
was too embarrassed to really look at them but soon I couldn’t stop staring at
these women who looked pretty much like me but with better make-up, higher
heels, and, uh, less clothing.
“I can’t believe this,” I finally said to
Liam. “People pay to see these shows?”
He shrugged. “It’s crazy popular. My buds
always want to
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