It was early evening when Mal pulled into the employee parking lot back behind the club. A beefy looking man was the security guard at the door watching to make sure no one attempted to sneak out the back or sneak in. Mal shouldered her purse, locked her car up, and headed towards the door. Making sure there were no surprises around waiting for her.

"Evening Ralph." She smiled as she approached. "I see they have you working the dead job."

"Eh, you've seen one pair of tits, you've seen them all." He shrugged, before grinning mischievously. "Though I will admit to yours being the best I've ever seen."

"Why thank you." She grinned sincerely. Knowing the gesture was in no way perverted or innovation for more. If there was one thing the women who worked at the club valued, it was Ralph's professionalism and his honesty without there being an ulterior motive.

"Besides," He popped his neck. "Sure, as hell beats working the front door. I can handle being inside the club, but working the front door is just plain annoying."

"Been a lot of the self-entitled crowd lately?" She asked with a wince.

He nodded. "That and the obviously fake id crowd. Clay, I understand, but how Max could ever think those were real is beyond me, because they were not!"

Mal shuddered remembering that night more than a week ago when a group of High School seniors managed to sneak in. They had money, but once they got inside they had no tact. If they had acted calmly, they probably never would have been caught, but they were loud, they drank excessively, and they attacked several of the women. Some of the lap dancers, and some of the stage dancers. One of them managed to get up on the stage and ripped at her top demanding she blow him.

"I take it the men are fired then?" She asked with her arms crossed over her chest. "I swear I'm going to beat Ethan over the head if he isn't."

"Bit more than that apparently." He dropped his voice a bit. "I have a cousin in county lockup, as well as a cousin who wears the badge. They both confirmed that Clay was actually the older brother of one of the boys who got in. It was planned for them to get into the club for his brother's birthday. Ethan was informed by his attorney friend, and he is suing all of the parents, as well as Clay."

Mal shook her head. "Can't say I blame him, or I wouldn't have done the same."

Ralph nodded. "It's the talk of lockup, and according to the badge cousin, the parents are trying to work out a deal to keep this out of court. Ethan's terms are simple: either the boys serve time, or the parents pay him every dime."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "I know what my answer would be, but if Ethan demanded that, that means they are going to struggle with it. On the one hand, they don't want their precious selfish spawns in jail. On the other, they would be left destitute."

"As you say." He shrugged. He looked around before unlocking and opening the door. "Best get inside miss, the shadows look full tonight, and Ethan will skin my hide if you're late to the party."

She sighed and nodded. "Yes well, gotta earn that bottom dollar I suppose." She entered the hallway but stopped him from closing the door. "I've been meaning to ask, is your name really Ralph?"

He grinned. "Nah, it's Robert, but I look that cartoon character apparently. Trina's little girl was with her one afternoon when she came to get her check, and that little thing kept screaming I was Ralph. Which led to Ethan's movie night idea, by the end of it everyone agreed I was in fact, Ralph. So, the nickname stuck. Not that I'm complaining."

She laughed and let him close the door. She walked down the hallway to where the dressing rooms were. As she stepped inside the door, she saw all of the women sitting on their benches in front of their vanities. One, in particular, caught her attention, Kimberly, sat at her vanity, facing the room, her arms wrapped around herself, red-faced, glaring at nothing, and everything.

"Um, Kimberly, why are you at my station?" Mal asked as she walked into the room.

Kimberly snorted. "As if you don't know."

"I'm genuinely in the dark here," Mal said carefully not walking in any further. "Ethan called saying I had to come in tonight, that I was specifically requested and that was it. I figured I'd get the details when I arrived."

"Ethan called a meeting, but that's not why miss blonde bitch queen is pissed off." The aforementioned Trina looked up at her. "You remember that bachelor party happening here tonight?"

Mal nodded. "It's all Kimberly, Debbie, and Bertha have been able to talk about for weeks. If what they say is to be believed, they've dropped well over ten grand into this party, and they were lime lights for it. They wouldn't let us have any peace. Every time they saw us, they'd brag. After all, they were the most requested three."

Trina leaned forward with a knowing smile. "And pray tell Mal, how many of the last major parties have requested them?"

Mal shrugged. "I have no idea, I don't keep track. I just work when I'm told."

Trina nodded. "We know, I know that which is why you're not knowing is understandable."

"Okay, quit beating around the fucking bush and tell me, alright?" Mal said firmly. "You know I hate your games, Trina."

"It would seem, that as of last night," Bertha said stepping forward, her arms crossed under her breasts. Which every woman present knew it was in attempts to make her B-cup breasts seem bigger, "Our esteemed leader Kimberly was knocked down from her place at the top and was replaced." Bertha narrowed her eyes at Mal. "By you."

Mal still looked confused. "Huh?"

"You can cut the innocent act, we all know," Debbie said grinning viciously at her, crossing her legs and leaning back.

Debbie always put in the extra effort to appear sexy and superior, it was a fact Mal was warned about early on when she began working at the club. Debbie's four-foot-eight stature and A-cup breasts left her looking like a lolicon. Mal wasn't surprised by the high demand for Debbie. Neither was she surprised that out of everyone, Debbie had the biggest ego, and it was also the easiest to crash.

"Just how is Ethan in bed, hm?" Debbie continued with a wicked giggle. "Is he a gentleman, or is he a beast?"

"I don't know." Mal said strategically, "I would ask you, but he's not into little girls."

"BITCH!" Debbie shouted jumping to her feet.

Mal met her face to face, though it was more like face to chest. She glared down at the little woman and made sure her voice was dark and threatening. "Go ahead and try it, little girl. You may be able to claw and bite, but I've taken a number of self-defense classes. At the very least, you'll walk away with a broken nose. And given you rely on the pretty little face of yours, you can't afford to have it messed up."

Debbie, to her credit, did nothing more than glare. Mal shook the hair from her face and looked around the room. "So, let me get this straight, Kimberly was finally knocked off her high horse, something we all wanted. Apparently, her popularity dropped, and mine grew. Now I'm the most demanded. Am I missing anything?"

Bertha's lips pursed, but she didn't answer, and neither did Trina. Stacey stood from her seat in the back, crossing her arms, but Mal knew that was more her way of making sure everyone knew the situation was serious.

"Yeah, quite a bit. The private dressing rooms, you know about them?"

Mal nodded, "Reserved for the top three."

Stacey nodded. "They've been cleaned out. That's why Debbie and Bertha are in here, as well as Kimberly."

"So a new three are being chosen?" Mal asked looking around, "How is that a bad thing or even life-changing, I don't understand."

"It means," everyone turned the male voice speaking from the doorway to find Ethan leaning against the frame with one arm as he looked around the room. It didn't go unnoticed that Ethan's bodyguards J and Q were behind him. "That there's going to be some significant changes around here."

He walked into the room, J and Q stopped at the doorway. Ethan pulled some envelopes from his back pocket. Mal noticed most of them were tinted a pale pink from the letter inside. He handed one to Debbie.

She took the envelope in shock, she opened it and her face went white, before turning red. "So just because I'm not the most popular anymore I'm being fired!?" She turned on Mal, "You bitch! You did this! You convinced him to fire us so you could take over!"

"I assure you, she's not warming my bed at night." Ethan said firmly before looking at Mal. "Much as I want her to."

"If she's not sleeping with you, then why all of this hype? Why are we all gathered here, and why are the dressing rooms being cleaned out?" Stacey asked calmly.

It was the questions every woman present wanted to know, and with Stacey's calm tone, no one would shout them and cause more chaos. They didn't want to go against the woman who had been there the longest. For all of their quibbling that Mal could get them fired because of how close she was with Ethan, all it took was one word from Stacey, and they would be gone.

"Thank you for taking command like that Stacey, I will explain," Ethan said with a smile before glaring at Debbie. "Debbie, you're being fired because your usual clientele has had some interesting developments. While I may have suspected before, I had no proof and therefore could do nothing." He narrowed his eyes. "Things have changed. Of the men you usually dance for, and who requested you, several have asked you for private sessions outside of the club. I suspected you had been accepting, which as you know is against your contract. I now have proof. I'm the owner of a strip club, not a whore house.

"On top of that, at least ten of the men have been tried and convicted of being pedophiles. Of those ten, you've had liaisons with seven them, where you were paid to act like a ten-year-old girl. I've submitted this to the DA who's working their case, and it will play a factor in their sentencing." He glared at Debbie, "Get out of my club and do not come back. You're lucky I'm not suing your ass. As it is, I'm merely reclaiming all of the things that were credited to you through the club. Your apartment, your car, and your private account."

"I'll be homeless!" Debbie shrieked.

"Then I suggest going home." Ethan said calmly. "You signed a contract, and you not only violated that contract, in the apartment I provided for you I might add, but you committed several illegal acts. There is a warrant out of your arrest. If I can hazard a guess, I'd say that they are outside waiting for you to either get off work or for me to kick you out. Which it's the later."

He turned, leaving a broken Debbie forgotten. Mal would have felt sorry for her, having been in a similar situation. The only difference being, Mal didn't put herself there.

Ethan stepped to Kimberly and Bertha who were within arms lengths of each other. He handed them each an envelope with a pink letter inside. "You two are also being fired. Those boys may have been of age, but you also violated your contracts and abused the privilege of your dressing rooms to have sex with them where the cameras couldn't see. But we could see them going in there, and thanks to the nifty recording devices I have placed around, we heard what happened. Same terms that apply to Debbie apply to you as well. Thankfully, you two have been here long enough that you have accounts not tied to the club, as well as your own apartments. You have two weeks to get the cars back to the dealership, and if they are damaged in any way, you will be sued for the damages."

He waited until the core three had left the room before he turned to Stacey, "And as for you,"

"Have to fire me too, huh?" She sniffed looking away.

"You're not being fired." He said softly, "But you are being put on paid vacation until this whole mess is cleared. I want you back Stacey, there is no proof that you were involved in the incident, and I know you weren't involved, but you are cousins with Clay, he got the job through your recommendation. Which I know he pressed you for. You had no way of knowing he'd do this, but until the courts have made a decision, I need to make you scarce, so you're not caught in the crossfire. Inside the envelope is a check. I'll give you one each week. If you go quietly and agree to this, you can come back."

Stacey took the envelope and nodded. She sat down as Ethan looked around the room.

"As you can see we have some vacancies." He looked at Mal. "Yes, you were made number one before Kimberly's stunt, and you're taking her spot was going to happen regardless. After you, in second is Stacey, but seeing as she's leaving for a time, the next in like are Caryn and Jessica." He looked at the girl. "However, Jessica, you have a habit of not playing well with others, and you were also very close with Debbie. I can't tell you who to be friends with, but I know that's going to create conflict, so you won't get the third place." He turned to the woman sitting at a vanity behind Mal. "Third place goes to Vanessa."

"This is bullshit!" Jessica screamed jumping up. "You're only giving it to Nessie because she's black! And everyone knows you're sleeping with Mal! Regardless of what you say! Debbie was right!" Jessica turned to the women. "If we don't do something Mal's going to see us all fired! We need to strike!" Jessica shrieked throwing her arm up in the air.

For a long moment, where Mal was actually sweating a bit in fear, there was just silence. When none followed Jessica's example, she slowly lowered her arm stunned. Stacey stepped forward.

"I've been here the longest, I've seen girls come and go." She said softly. "But never have I seen one who could dance like Mal." She smiled a bit at Mal. "You've earned your place, and you should be proud. I can bump and grind good, I can mix drinks that will knock your socks off, but I have no grace." She turned to look at Jessica. "You, however, have no talent on stage, you can't mix drinks, you can't even carry a tray in flats without tripping, and you're not that good at lap dances. About the only thing you have going for you is your ass and tits. Which we all know is fake because your sugar daddy bought them for you before he dropped you." Stacey looked over the room. "All of us know that the women in the top three now have talent, beauty, and have earned their place there. Skin color and relationship status aside." With a sigh, she grabbed her bag. "And with that, I'm going home. If I'm quick enough, I may even be able to kiss my son goodnight."

"Say hi to Greg for me." Ethan said.

She nodded. "He may not want me to come back." She said stopping in front of him. "You know we've been talking about me quitting. He's making decent money now, I don't need to work here. Things will be tight, but not undoable."

He nodded. "Why don't you retire then, and I'll send you a retirement check once a month. It will be half what you usually make, but it's the least I can do for you and Greg."

She smiled. "He might like that."

The room went quiet again as the last woman to get an envelope left. Trina broke the silence. "Well, that happened."

"Alright ladies, pack your things, and follow us to your new accommodations." Ethan grinned. "We can leave the other ladies to get ready for tonight. We're opening a little later than usual anyway."

Mal went to her vanity, grateful to see at the very least that Kimberly was in too much of a shock to mess with her things. There wasn't really a whole lot she could do anyway. Mostly it would be to ruin all of the makeup, which would be pointless as it was all ordered in bulk by Ethan. What the girls wanted or needed were given to them, the rest was put into storage. As Mal didn't wear a whole lot, what little she had could be replaced in less time than it took for Kimberly to ruin it.

All thought left Mal as she stepped into the dressing room. Empty huh? Well, not anymore. She wondered if people brought in the furniture while Ethan was talking to the women. Her vanity was wide and long. Something more akin to a corner desk. The mirror was at least thirty-six inches wide, and at least four feet tall. Added to the floor to ceiling mirror against the wall across from it. Behind her, there was an armchair and a sofa. Not something she'd want in her home, but decent enough for this room she supposed. A door to the bathroom stood across from the door into the dressing room itself.

She'd never been in here, or any of the dressing rooms. She could see why Kimberly, Bertha, and Debbie had wanted to keep these to themselves. Willing to do anything to keep them.

"Which is probably how they lost them." She muttered as she set her bags down.

"What was that?" Ethan asked stepping inside and closing the door.

"Just thinking that the trio's willingness to do anything to keeps these rooms is what put them in their current positions." She said opening a door she didn't notice before. Finding hanging racks with clothes on them.

She heard Ethan sigh. "More than likely."

She turned and saw him sitting in the armchair, his elbows on his knees, his face down, and his hands fisted in his hair. "Do you regret your choices then?"

He resurfaced. "Absolutely not!" He took a calming breath and sat back. "It took all of my self-control to not yell or tell them that the cops were waiting for all of them, minus Stacey outside. J made sure to tell Stacey to wait until the cops were gone before leaving. Ralph is staying with her till Greg gets here."

"She called her husband?" Mal asked curiously as she unpacked.

"Yeah, the car she had was the club's anyway." Ethan sighed. "I'm sad to see her go."

"She was here with you when you started working here right?"

"Her and Greg yeah." He said with a nod. "Greg and I were bartenders, she was a beginner at the club. Part lap dancer, part bartender. They fell in love early on. Married a few years later. They worked and together put him through college, and she took a few courses at the community college. He got on at a law firm but was an intern for the longest time. She worked here to keep paying the bills. When they had Jimmy, he'd been promoted to full-time staff. Here recently, he was made partner, and the firm is doing quite well."

"Sounds like it was a matter of time then." She said looking over the clothes. "How did you come to own the place?"

"Ten years and working to make yourself invaluable to the owner has its merits." He said with a dark tone. "I worked, made myself his second hand. Coaxed him into making me a partner so he could "relax". I never liked how underhanded he ran the place. I started to make changes little by little. All those with criminal records were banned from here. I finally kicked the old man out a couple years ago, and I've been working hard ever since to make this place reputable, and on the right side of the law. The deal I have with the cops works in their favor as well as mine."

"So that brings us to tonight." She said not looking at him. "Did they have any other requests other than me?"

"Lace." He said, she could see in the mirrors that he was staring at her. "Something with lace. Apparently, the groom and his best man have a fetish for the fabric. Or at least so the best man claims, but that's what they requested."

"Do I detect kindred spirit in that?" She asked looking back at him with a small smile.

"I like anything you wear." He said simply.

She shook her head. "You're not at all worried that the girls will think their suspicions are confirmed?"

"It's my hope that they are made right." He said standing. "Tomorrow the papers should be signed."

She nodded. "Hopefully."

"Then why not?" He asked making her look at him. "Don't give me that age crap, I'm thirty-four and you're twenty-nine, it's not that big of a difference. Don't give me that employee and employer crap it belittles us both. Tell me?"

She took a careful breath and looked at him. "Ethan, I went from being a daughter to being married. I was abused in both places, in ways you can't imagine, and no I will not go into detail." She said raising her hand before he could persist. "I've faced more pain, and more horror, than any person, should bear, especially a child." She looked down at this next part, she had to drive this point home, to him, and herself. "I also," She sniffed and resurfaced, doing her best to keep her voice firm. "I can't have children."

That gave Ethan pause. She knew it, like every man, he wanted what she ultimately, could not give.

"The doctors confirmed it a couple years ago. Which is what led me to where I am." She said softly. "He left me for some tart little thing fresh out of high school, and she was pregnant with his child when he left. He doesn't want me to know, but I know. My lawyer follows them on Facebook and was trying to find an angle that he could against them. I told him not to."

She took a step back, "If you feel you can be with me, without having children that way. Maybe we can adopt someday." She looked him in the eye. "But don't try to think that you can get a miracle. I had to have a total hysterectomy, which is how Drew's affair started, I couldn't have sex, and he wanted it."

Ethan turned and left then. She took several calming breaths before choosing her outfit for the night.

}TLCW{

While she loved to dance, work was work. She wore a black button up shirt, and pants that tied up the sides. Her midnight purple hair was down, she only wore some makeup: the concealer to the hide the red in her cheeks as dancing always had her a little embarrassed, and the bags under her eyes to hide her exhaustion, a shimmering eyeshadow that made her pale eyes stand out more, and a smoky lavender lipstick to compliment her purple hair.

On stage on the second floor, the place where the private parties were held, she danced for the room of men. Slowly stripping. It took two songs to get her shirt completely off, revealing the lace camisole underneath. It didn't leave much to the imagination as her breasts, the natural F-cups that they were, were stretching the material so thin it could rip with just the right tug. Which she was sure was on all of the men's minds.

The groom to be was in the center. Wearing a king's crown on his head. While his friends were all loud and catcalling, she could see he was mesmerized. Perhaps hypnotized from the way he barely blinked. From the moment she stepped out, despite the other girls who had been requested giving their lap dances, he opted out, and just stared.

Another song saw her pants falling to her feet as she kicked them off the stage. The best man caught them and wore them around his neck like a trophy. Cheering and viciously shaking the groom. She danced a couple more songs on the stage, singing along with them as she knew the men liked. Kicking off her shoes, careful to aim where the men weren't. She twisted and dropped, rolled and twitched her fingers towards her as if beckoning the men towards her. To their credit, despite their drunken jubilation, they did not try to climb on top of the stage.

With her well and truly stripped as far as she would go, the dancing for the night ended, and she descended from the stage. All other men were well and truly forgotten when she sat down beside the groom, legs crossed, arm hanging over the back of the couch. She smiled at him.

"So, tell me, is it a lap dance, or a conversation?"

He looked at her confused. "Pardon?"

She just smiled kindly. "Generally, Grooms to be are in two groups. You have the ones who lament their single days and want as much dirty play as they get away with. There are a few in that category who want more, but we don't cater to such desires. The other group just wants to talk because they don't want to dishonor their wife just before they vow to spend the rest of their lives together."

"What kind do I look like to you?" He asked softly.

"At first glance," She said assessing, "you look like you belong the first group. However, after sitting down next to you, I can tell you're in the second group."

"What makes you think that I won't ask?" He said defensively.

"Hey!" the best man called from his seat, as if to help his friend, though she knew he could not hear the conversation. "Stripper! Get off your ass and do what I paid you to do!"

"Because despite what that sack of flesh lacking in morals may think if you," She said firmly, but in a kind tone, "You are loyal to your wife to be, you love her very much. You came because this is for them, and your woman knows this. Just as you trust her, she trusts you. We would make a fool out of her if you asked for a dance."

The groom closed his eyes and lowered his head, she could see him smiling, but when he resurfaced that look was gone. "Perhaps we could go somewhere more private?"

She took his hand and led him to a curtained stall, behind them the group cheered as the curtain closed. Despite the privacy, they provided, each stall had two cameras to make sure the rules of the house were obeyed. But the stalls provided that forbidden desire, intimacy, and seclusion for the shy. Mostly for situations like this where the groom to be could sit back and relax, and not have to do anything that would betray his bride.

The groom to be sat back with a relieved sigh. "Thank you."

"Not exactly what you were wanting I take it?" She asked pulling on the robe she'd set inside in hopes of this event.

"No." He admitted as she sat down across from him. "I wanted a quiet night at home, a deep-dish pizza loaded with everything. My Cammy has a thing against jalapenos and peppers. Maybe play a few video games, or hell, even watch a game like we did in the old days. Before we grew up and they became drunk half of the time."

He sighed as he rested his head back. "You're right, this was all for them. It shocks them to no ends that I'm with Cammy, they think she's boring. They keep asking if I have a mistress and keep checking to see if I do, and are disappointed when I don't. I believe this was part of Dex's plan to make me see how much "better" life would be without Cammy. But they don't know her like I do."

"More than that, I think they don't understand what kind of future you actually want." Mal said carefully. "They can't think past getting drunk every weekend, laying bitches, and working just to do it all over again. That freedom, that power they feel they have. You, on the other hand, have a goal, you have a future in mind. One that involves being married, with children." She took a deep breath. "Being the misogynistic pigs that they are, they think you're being manipulated, or blackmailed or something. No friend of theirs could possibly ever want that."

He nodded. "Pretty sure they've said the something along those lines a couple times.

"No offense." She said with a gentle smile, "But if that's how they're going to treat you and your bride, why are you still friends with them? Nostalgic reasons aside, if they can't be true friends and support you, why are they still in your life if all they do is make you miserable?"

He grinned at her, "Are you a stripper or a shrink?"

She laughed. "You'd be surprised how often we're both."

At that moment his phone rang. Thanks to being away from the music, and in the private booth he was able to hear it and answer it in peace.

"Hey honey," He said with a bright smile that warmed Mal's heart. "Yeah, no you were right. Dex did exactly as you said he would. No, I'm actually in a private booth with the leading woman tonight, and she's not half naked trying to dry hump me." He paused for a moment and looked at her a little worried. "She wants to face time, is that . . ."

"Perfectly fine." She said scooting across the couch as he got it up and running. She came to see a blonde hair woman, with a worried expression on her face. "Hi, you must be Cammy."

"You know my name?" Cammy said looking horrified.

"Only because you're groom here has told me," Mal said carefully not to touch the man in question. "Listen, Cammy, despite Dex's efforts, we here at Red Lights have a code. If a person demands a lap dance, we're obligated to give him one. However, in cases such as this, the groom is often taken to a private corner, much like this, and nothing happens. We just sit, or talk, or don't, and let the outside think what they want. I can assure you, despite Dex paying extra, if your groom doesn't ask for it, then I won't do it."

Cammy relaxed visibly and seemed close to tears. "You sound sincere."

Mal smiled softly at her. "Given that, I was once where you are, and my groom did the opposite, I don't blame you for your worry. Actually, my groom did more than that. His so-called "best friend" was a girl, and despite all of their assurances, he did sleep with her several times before, leading up to, and after our wedding. As I said, if they ask for it, I can't say no, but your man has been true to you, and he's a treasure gifted from Heaven, don't let him go."

Cammy smiled, with tears running down her cheeks. "Thank you, I won't." She sniffed and looked back at her groom who had been too scared to talk. "I promise honey, on our anniversary it will be spent at home, with a deep-dish pizza with everything for you, and a plain cheese for me. We'll watch a game, or a movie, something, but it will be just us. Hell, I'll even try to play those video games you like so much."

He grinned at her, "Sounds like a plan sweetheart, I love you so much, I can't wait to get married."

Mal watched the couple and smiled brightly hoping her tears weren't showing too much.

}TLCW{

Three hours later, and the club was winding down, meaning cabs were being called for the bachelor party, with the groom who was the only one left sober, making sure the drivers were paid and they all got to where they were needed. Dex, the best man in question, was sober enough to question why his "best friend" was still sober and not sucking on the pretty stripper's tit. The groom, to his credit, grinned, saying he already had the pleasure of that and much more.

Mal merely chuckled at the glee that crossed Dex's face. She did her best to look stoic when he looked at her hopeful. She shook her head, saying he wasn't the groom. She knew Dex was going to go around telling everyone what the groom "did", unknown to him, however, was Cammy and her groom already had the plan figured out. The groom would tell Dex that little tidbit, just keep Dex off of him, and tomorrow at the wedding, if Dex said that to Cammy she would grin, and say she knew, she watched. Everyone else was told to say the same thing if Dex approached them. They were sure Dex would be silent, too shocked to say or do anything for the rest of day.

Mal laughed hysterically after Dex had been escorted away by the groom and she found herself alone in her dressing room. She walked into the bathroom and stripped down before stepping into the shower. Given that she was exhausted, she knew when she got back to her apartment that the club owned and managed, she would curl up on her bed, her two cats Nebula and Cosmos would snuggle in with her, and they would all pass out. Since she splurged and got them an automatic feeder set on a timer for three times a day, she didn't have to worry about feeding them. Though they did appreciate the tuna she gave them, and the salmon on occasion.

When she walked back the dressing room, Ethan was sitting in the chair, she was grateful she dressed in the bathroom. He looked up at her, his eyes held a bit of longing, but his expression was thoughtful.

"I thought about what you said, and you're right, it's a lot to think about." He said with a careful nod. "Because again, you're right in the fact that I had a vision of you pregnant with my child." He looked up with a blank expression, "But I don't need that to find happiness with you."

"Ethan," She said crossing her arms, "Now's just . . ."

"Not a good time, I know." He said standing, "But we've got time. You work on your divorce, then yourself, and I'll work on the club. We'll see where we end up, is that alright with you?"

She could only nod and watch him walk away again. With deep careful breaths, she collected her purse and sweater before heading out. In the hallway were the other women. She sighed exhaustedly.

"What now, another attack?"

"Actually," Trina said with a smile, "We wanted to walk you out and congratulate you. You know I never wanted the spotlight. I just dance to pay the bills. I've got a kid to feed, but unlike Stacey, I ain't got no man."

"I know you didn't have anything to do with the former trio being kicked out," Vanessa said with a bright grin, her chocolate colored skin shiny in the fluorescent light. "But I'm glad they're gone, and I'm glad you're in charge now. You've been a great person and fun to work with. I hope you get everything you want to tomorrow and keep working here."

Mal grinned as they began to walk. "Of course, I'll keep working here, where else will I get paid this well and get to dance for a living?"

Their laughter had her leaving with a smile and a bit of energy as she climbed into her car. She thought for a moment something felt a bit off but paid it no mind. She would be home soon. She'd have the car checked out tomorrow. She drove the winding road with ease, she drove up the hill fine, but when she put her foot to the break, it went all the way down but didn't slow. Going down the hill, she only sped up. The curve coming up was too sharp, she did all that she could think, and still, the car flipped, and crashed into the river. Her head hit the dashboard, and that was the last thing she felt.

A bright light filled the world behind her eyelids and she took a testing breath before opening her eyes. Where was she, a kind of private theater? Then, she remembered, all of her past lives, and where she was. Only, instead of it being her irate pathetic excuse of a guardian angel, there were many other angels in the room and one without wings.

"Well, this is new." She couldn't help but chuckle.