Chapter 1
Clarke groans, clicking ‘end call’ and flinging her phone onto the sofa.
“No luck?” Raven asks inquisitively, glancing sideways at her best friend who has now begun pacing back and forth like a caged tiger.
“Nope! This is the fourth let down this week! I don’t think I can take much more of this! What’s wrong with me Rae? Not even coffee shops want to employ me!”
“Hey! You’ve got a lot to offer my little blonde amigo you know that! It’s just, you know, times are hard right now, businesses want the smallest workforce possible to save costs, something will come up soon!”
A hand reaches out to squeeze a knee reassuringly but Clarke doesn’t really feel any better. “I know but- I’m really desperate right now! You know we need more money coming in to keep us in this apartment and I just feel so guilty because you’ve got a job and I haven’t”.
Raven furrows her brow thoughtfully for a minute before glancing at Clarke cautiously. “You know, I could always give my uncle a ring, I could of sworn he said the other day that he really needs another bar worker, do you remember I was telling you about that girl Shelley, well she-“
“No!” Clarke interjects. “No way am I working at your uncle’s house of sleaze Raven!”
The brunette’s mouth drops open in mock hurt and Clarke finds a finger jabbing itself into her ribs in protest to the allegation.
“It is not sleazy! Yes admittedly, some of the things that his place offers, well- but that’s not the point, it’s for V.I.P’s only Clarke! It’s high class! You have to be a damn millionaire to even be allowed in! that must count for something? Just think you could find yourself mingling with the rich and famous!”
“I don’t want to mingle with the rich and famous!” Clarke huffs. Celebrities and people infinitely richer than she is had never really interested her. Most were more than likely stuck up, egotistical and over indulgent.
“I’m sorry Griff but I don’t really think that you can afford to be picky”.
*****
Clarke was feeling apprehensive as she took in the large unmarked building in front of her, the outside was incredibly unassuming, you wouldn’t be able to guess what was behind its doors from the plain exterior.
Tentatively she made her way up the steps and towards the entrance, pausing at the intercom system attached to the wall before finally plucking up the courage to push a button that she presumed would connect her to someone inside.
“Hello?” a rather stern sounding female voice cut through the air making an already on edge Clarke flinch slightly.
“Erm hi, this is Clarke Griffin, I have an interview”
She’s painfully aware how nervous her voice makes her sound and she isn’t entirely sure why she feels that way, she’s only inquiring about a job as a barmaid, of sorts. Maybe it’s the added pressure of knowing that this is kind of a last resort and she promises herself that no matter how much the idea of working in such an establishment puts her off, she must accept it if she is offered the job. She must push her moral ideals to the back of her mind, for the foreseeable future anyway.
“Come on up”
A click signals the doors being unlocked and Clarke pushes on, taking a large intake of air as she enters.
A large ornate foyer awaits her where she finds the woman who had spoken to her giving her the once over, no emotion evident on her face, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Clarke almost shivers under the scrutiny and pats down the front of her blazer, wondering in a moment of panic if she had spilt something down it earlier on in her rush.
When stony almost grey eyes find hers Clarke gulps.
“Slightly overdressed aren’t you dear? What job do you think you’re applying for exactly?”
The remark certainly doesn’t help Clarke’s nerves as the woman sighs and motions for the blonde to follow her up a large marble staircase.
After traversing the entirety of a long hallway Clarke is promptly dropped off without another word from the woman behind a door with ‘Mr Lazaro’ embossed in gold lettering on the mahogany.
A minute or so after knocking with shaky hands the door swings open to reveal a rather portly man dressed in an expensive looking shirt and suit. His expression is warm, welcoming and he positively beams at Clarke as she slowly offers her hand in greeting.
“Mr Lazaro, Clarke Griffin” her hand is taken and subsequently almost crushed by the latino man’s strong grip. She stifles the urge to grimace but only barely when she is eventually released from his hold.
“Ah Clarke, my little niece’s best friend right?”
Clarke almost laughs out loud at this, knowing full well that Raven would not at all take kindly to being called little.
“Yes, yes I am sir”
The man chuckles, stepping backwards and allowing Clarke to enter his small and surprisingly modest office space.
“There’s no need to be so formal, don’t forget you’ve seen me in my rather fetching Hawaiian print shorts before now and please, call me Jonah”.
It’s true, she had, at a family barbeque held by the Reyes’ one summer. She hadn’t spoken much to him at the time and she didn’t feel as if she really knew the man but the way he spoke so casually made the butterflies currently residing in Clarke’s stomach tame their fluttering a bit.
“Take a seat Clarke, now, tell me, why do you want this job?”
There’s a few beats of uncomfortable silence as the blonde considers the question. Of course she wouldn’t even have given the job the time of day unless she absolutely had to but admitting to your prospective future boss that you’re merely desperate is not the best way forward.
“I- erm, well-“
Jonah smiles kindly, interrupting Clarke’s embarrassing stumbling over words.
“It’s okay Clarke, Raven has informed me of your situation”
Clarke suddenly feels as though the blazer she is wearing has become far too constricting, feeling heat flood her body and a reddish tint washing over her pale cheeks.
Jeez, thanks a bunch Rae. Way to make a girl lose all confidence.
“Are you a fast learner? A good communicator?”
A good communicator? Well I’m not really giving that impression from this interview am I.
“Yes, I like to think so, I always work as hard as I possibly can in everything that I do”.
“Perfect, then I think I’ve just gained a new employee in you Ms Griffin”
“Really?” is all Clarke can choke out as she gazes at the jovial man softly swinging in his swivel chair from side to side incredulously.
“Really, you’re Raven’s best friend and in my eyes that means you’re family, I’m willing to give you a chance if you’re willing to give this place a chance, I can see it in your eyes that you aren’t sure but all I ask is that you interact with my clients with respect and politeness and serve them drinks, I won’t ask any more of you than that”.
Clarke nods appreciatively, feeling the corners of her mouth twitch up into the first smile that has appeared on her face since stepping into the building.
“Just one more thing, you know the type of people we get here so confidentiality is of the utmost importance, I will warn you that breaches of this has resulted in attempts to sue, my former barmaid Shelley is learning that the hard way as we speak. My clients do not want the media finding out about the things they get up to in private, do you understand that Clarke?”.
“I understand”
“Good, now if you would like to find Yvette downstairs she will sort you out with uniform, I trust you will be okay to start work tomorrow night at seven?”
“Yes, yes of course! Erm- is Yvette-“
“The one with a permanent deadpanned face who most probably let you into the building this morning? Yes”.
Clarke allows herself to grin this time. She likes Jonah and as long as she abides by the most important rule she can’t think why she won’t get on just fine here.
*****
With a grumble Clarke does the last button of her white shirt up, well, the last button that can handle the strain anyway.
As she shrugs on her leather jacket she curses her mother under her breath for making her particularly well off in the chest department, it’s not as if she likes to show her impressive cleavage off, she can’t exactly help it and it’s just typical that her uniform would be this tight fitting, of course it would, it goes with the environment. With one last tug of her black trousers which also do a good job of flaunting her curves she’s out the door and off to her first evening’s work at Grounders.
The foyer is much busier than it was yesterday morning and Clarke has to manoeuvre around a small group of men wearing suits who are talking animatedly about somebody called Kiki, Clarke rolls her eyes and moves away from them as quickly as possible, she just doesn’t want to know.
The main bar area is reasonably quiet apart from a few people scattered around sitting in the various booths, the atmosphere is relaxed with soft music the undertone to the hushed conversations, the room isn’t dark but it isn’t bright either with purple up lighting and dimly lit lamps on every table the only sources of illumination.
“Hey, are you Clarke?”
Clarke turns to find a pretty blonde girl with her hair tied back but draped around one shoulder leaning over the bar and gazing at her.
“Yeah that’s me, hi”
Raising a hand feebly in greeting Clarke inwardly chastises herself.
Don’t act like a socially awkward nerd Clarke, this isn’t like you.
“Hey, I’m Niylah, you’ll be manning the bar with me tonight!”
“Oh right, great”
Great? I hope that didn’t sound sarcastic, I didn’t mean it to sound sarcastic”
As Clarke wanders over shrugging her leather jacket off as she goes Niylah smiles. “You’re nervous?”
“Very perceptive” Clarke smirks back, beginning to relax slightly now that she’s behind the bar and away from being out in the open.
Niylah laughs shortly, “there’s really no need to be Clarke, I’ll show you the ropes and you’ll pick it up as quick as anything!”
“That’s not- that’s not what I’m nervous about”
Niylah hums in question resting her hand on her chin.
“It’s- this place, it makes me feel slightly uncomfortable”
“Oh? Don’t tell me I’ll be working with a prude?”
The question sounds harsh, somewhat unfriendly and Clarke flinches at the word.
“No, I’m not a prude!”
By this point a man with the most dazzling white teeth Clarke has ever seen has wandered over to the bar and is looking expectantly at her.
“Hey, what can I get you?” Niylah asks but the man doesn’t take his eyes away from Clarke, more specifically Clarke’s cleavage.
A pale hand flicks in Niylah’s direction in dismissal. “I would much prefer this pretty little thing to serve me”.
Clarke rolls her eyes for the second time that night and has to hold herself back from making a ‘yuck’sound.
“I’m sorry sir but she’s a newbie and hasn’t started her training yet, I will have to get you your drink”.
The man turns, for the first time in Niylah’s direction and gives her a disgusted look. “Are you meaning to tell me you’re not going to allow me to have what I want?”
“Sir-“
“Listen, let her get your drink otherwise I will get it, poured terribly by the way and then I’ll throw it over your head, you hear me?”
Clarke hears a loud gasp from Niylah but she doesn’t care, she isn’t going to let an entitled man get away with speaking to a woman like that.
The man huffs but thankfully doesn’t cause a scene and waits patiently for Niylah to do her job before flaunting away with his head held in the air.
“Not a great start Clarke” Niylah hisses narrowing her eyes.
“What? You should be thanking me for sticking up for you”
Fingers reach up to pinch the bridge of her nose and the blonde curses under her breath.
“Didn’t Jonah tell you in your interview? The client always comes first, people pay big money for our services Clarke, you don’t want to go around pissing them off!”
Clarke sighs, turns out this job is going to be more difficult than she thought. She knew she would end up having a problem in being around ‘the elite’ and their selfish ways but she never figured she would stumble this quickly.
Her night was only going to get worse from here on in.
For a while not much was happening apart from Clarke attempting to pay attention to Niylah telling her how to pour the best glass of wine and showing her the most efficient way of rolling a beer keg.
A lot of the evening was spent people watching. Clarke took in the sights of men in varying stages of inebriation coming to and fro and she tried to imagine what kind of sordid shenanigans they had come here for.
She wondered how many of them had loving wives, children at home and it began to make her blood boil even though she of course didn’t know the truth of it. You could almost smell wealth as they staggered or sauntered by with a particular swagger and it made Clarke feel sick.
Clarke was incredibly glad when she noticed on her watch it read 12:30 am. Only half an hour to go before her shift finished. She couldn’t deny the fact that her eyelids were beginning to droop, she couldn’t deny the heaviness of her lashes as they batted against one another in a flutter of tiredness. She wasn’t entirely used to being awake at this time, despite the fact that she’s a college student the party life just doesn’t do anything for her, instead she throws herself into her work and ensures that she gets a good night’s sleep so that she is nice and refreshed for the following day’s lectures.
She knows that she’s a nerd and she fully embraces it although unfortunately for Clarke Griffin being the model student doesn’t always work in your favour, maybe if she was more used to being awake at all hours what happened when she turned around drowsy and hazy wouldn’t have happened.
“Oh shi- oh my god I’m so sorry!”
Clarke looks on in horror at the sight in front of her, at the incredibly expensive looking crisp white shirt that is now stained a dark red colour and soaked through with wine.
A shirt that happens to belong to the most beautiful woman that Clarke has ever seen.
As shocked forest green eyes roam upwards to meet blue Clarke’s breath is stolen right from her chest. She has never in her life seen such a colour like it and momentarily she’s captivated, transfixed.
“I’m s-so sorry, I erm- didn’t see you there”
The woman nods in almost understanding, her immediate anger evident on her face softening slightly as the jittery looking girl in front of her stumbles over her words.
“Erm, I would offer to pay for a replacement but it’s my first day here and I’m not lying when I say that I’m absolutely broke”.
Clarke chances to peek upwards back at the woman’s face, she had previously been burning a hole in the hard wood flooring just hoping that it would swallow her whole.
God, she really is SO beautiful.
Asides from those viridescent depths she owns the most plumpest, softest looking lips and the most silky luscious brunette hair which is draped over one shoulder. The now ruined shirt is matched with a suit and tailored black trousers combination.
“What’s your name?”
Furrowing her brow slightly in bewilderment at the question Clarke replies in the smallest voice she has ever emitted.
“Clarke”
The brunette hums, seemingly considering something.
“Well, Clarke. If you can’t pay in money we will have to figure out another method of payment”.
She tilts her head slightly to the side, almost puppy like in silent question.
Clarke swallows thickly. Another method of payment? What.
“W-what do you have in mind?”
There’s a beat of silence and Clarke begins to feel slightly impatient. What a terrible first night at work this has been. She just wants to get home to bed.
“Hmm well, I’ve been coming here a while now and do you know what? I haven’t left feeling very satisfied…”
Satisfied?
The woman seems to sense the shift in Clarke’s body language to a state of absolute panic so she presses on.
“I’ll be back tomorrow night and you will give me a lap dance, if I’m pleased with your performance I won’t let your manager know about our little incident tonight and I won’t create a scene until he fires you on the spot, do you think you can do that for me? Clarke?”
Clarke gulps, the brunette has leant in, completely ignoring personal space boundaries, her lips impossibly close to the blonde’s left ear.
The way the woman had said her name, whispered it, an intention behind it had caused an unusual feeling to brew in Clarke’s stomach and it jolted her to the core.
She has no fight left within her, the annoying man at the beginning of the evening had been no problem but this, this was different, something about the brunette had battened down her defences and made her powerless, so powerless all she could offer was a slow, barely there nod in agreement.
“Good, I will see you tomorrow evening” and with that she was gone, walking away with an air that just exuded the utmost power.
Clarke turns on her heel, slowly letting out a breath that she didn’t realise she had been holding in. “Wait, what’s your name?”
“Lexa, Lexa Woods”
*****
“Only you Clarke, only you would spill a drink down the most influential business woman in the 21st century, the youngest ever CEO, the CEO of Tri-tech industries on your very first day of a new job”.
Raven chuckles, rolling around on the sofa and holding her stomach. “I just can’t believe it”.
“Okay Rae, when you’ve finished laughing at how crap my life is would you PLEASE help me! Just what am I going to do? I’ve never done a lap dance for anyone in my life let alone someone who probably has the authority to send me to jail if I don’t do a good enough job”.
“Don’t be dramatic Griff, look, there can’t really be a specific art to it, you just need to unleash your inner sexual goddess, it can’t be that hard!”
“I don’t think I have an inner sexual goddess and besides I’m going to be too damn nervous to even move I bet” Clarke slumps down on the sofa, a pout appearing on her lips, “not to mention the fact that I have a fucking fiancé!”.
“So you haven’t told Finn yet?”
“Rae, don’t be stupid, what would that achieve? I don’t even want to tell him that I work at that horrible place as I know he would just get jealous and think that I’m up to something”.
“Well you are up to something”
“Not helping Reyes!”
“I’m sorry Clarke but there’s not much you can do about it, do you really want to lose your job after one day? Think of the money!”
Clarke huffs, folding her arms.
She’s in a no win situation and she’s just going to have to suck it up.
*****
“Are you going to be okay to man the bar by yourself for a bit? Whilst I… attend to other matters”
Niylah smirks, “second day and you’re already slacking off”.
“I’m not slacking off, I’m attending to our clients’ needs, that’s what you said I should do wasn’t it?”
“Hmm, not in that way though. I just can’t believe you’ve got yourself in this situation, never have I seen anything like it. I’ve been hearing from the girls that apparently Ms Woods is incredibly hard to please, she’s been through them all and it doesn’t seem as if she likes a single one so good luck kid, you’re gonna need it”.
She didn’t know what time Lexa was supposed to be arriving and the waiting game was driving Clarke insane.
But then the time finally came. A girl that Clarke had only seen in passing previously walked up to the bar.
“Clarke… room 102, she’s waiting”
She knocked on the door tentatively, nerves practically flooding her veins, every inch of her skin.
When Lexa revealed herself from behind the door Clarke almost stopped breathing, not only in fear but the fact that once again she was struck down by the woman’s beauty.
“Clarke, come in”
She was wearing the same kind of attire as the night before, tailored trousers and neatly fitting shirt which hugged the outline of her body somewhat deliciously.
Clarke didn’t know what to do with herself as she stood awkwardly in the room, allowing Lexa’s eyes to roam her body shamelessly, taking her in with almost animalistic intent.
But it didn’t make Clarke uncomfortable, it should have done but it didn’t. She had never seen anyone look at her in that way before, so hungry and it almost gave her a confidence boost, almost.
She watches as a soft pink tongue peeks out to run along a full lower lip and Clarke swallows hard.
“You’re beautiful”
Clarke can’t help but blush at the compliment, her entire body flooding with heat, she averts her gaze to the floor knowing full well that she’s acting like a shy schoolgirl who’s just been asked on her first date. All she can muster up is a meek “thank you” in response.
“Would you like a drink?”
She moves with such ease, such grace, as though she’s floating rather than walking as Lexa makes her way over to the minibar, pausing mid-air with a decanter of whiskey, looking expectantly at Clarke.
“Erm, no thanks”
“Suit yourself” the brunette pours herself a glass before positioning herself on a chair at the side of the room. She swills the whiskey around the glass before taking a sip. Clarke watches that perfect pale neck bob as she swallows and her skin prickles with something other than fear. What is going on?
“Is this going to be a waste of time?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I’ve never seen someone look so nervous before, I’m not going to bite, or do I have to go and find Mr Lazaro right this instant?”
“NO!”
Lexa smirks at the sudden outburst of emotion in Clarke’s voice and she reaches down to place her whiskey glass on the floor. Reaching around behind her she flicks a switch on the impressive looking stereo and music begins to softly filter throughout the room.
“Well then, what are you waiting for?”
That hungry look has returned to Lexa’s eyes and Clarke almost feels as though she’s melting under the intensity.
She doesn’t know what to do, she doesn’t want to be in this situation but she can’t deny that she feels somewhat drawn to this woman and the energy around her, it’s impossible to understand in the moment but she feels almost hypnotised by those magnetic greens and as the slow but rhythmic beat fills the air Clarke’s hips begin to move.
Come on Clarke, find your inner sexual goddess.
She almost laughs as Raven’s earlier advice enters her mind and she doesn’t know where the hell it comes from but as the beat picks up pace she feels an unusual confidence wash over her.
Sauntering towards the beautiful brunette Clarke is surprised to find her own hands sliding up, down, across her body slowly and she’s almost pleased to see Lexa bite down on her lower lip at the sight of the blonde.
Just go with the flow Clarke.
A few more beats are spent stood just out of Lexa’s reach, swaying her hips, fingers snaking over her body, feeling herself just as much as she’s feeling the music. Hoping she’s giving off enough of a teasing vibe.
Turning around she slides her hands down her legs slowly, dropping her body and rising back up knowing full well how good her ass looks in this fine tight material, pushing against the fabric. Clarke could of sworn she heard a low rumble, an almost groan from behind her but surely not?
“Clarke…”
The blonde glances over her shoulder, raising her eyebrows and smirking as her fingers trail up and down her arms.
“Come here”
For a split second the ridiculous thought of going against Lexa’s wishes enters her mind before she relents, moving her body in time with the beat as she straddles the brunette’s lap.
She doesn’t allow any other thought to intrude on her mind, she knows how wrong this situation is, on every level but right now she doesn’t care, right now she’s lost in the moment, lost in the intensity of having Lexa so close to her.
Her hips gyrate, fingers entwining through her blonde locks, tilting her head back to the ceiling, letting her eyes flutter close.
She knows full well, she can feel Lexa’s eyes tearing into her and unlike at the bar and how objectified she felt at that guy staring at her cleavage right now she almost feels happy at the fact that Lexa might be enjoying the show and crazily she almost feels the urge to want to please her.
So she tilts her head back even more, pushing her chest outwards as she moves slowly and sensually.
“Fuck, Clarke”
There’s no mistaking, Lexa definitely groaned this time and there’s no mistaking the stab of arousal that courses straight to Clarke’s centre at hearing the exclaim.
When blue next meet green Clarke almost lets out a small helpless noise at the sight that beholds her. Lexa is looking back at her with an unmistakable look of absolute lust and it shocks her at just how much it makes her skin feel aflame, just how much more she feels drawn to the brunette now that they are this close. This close she can smell so clearly the heady scent of Lexa’s perfume, it overtakes her senses, pulls her in even more and Clarke is powerless to lean in even closer, so close that her nose accidentally brushes the soft skin underneath the brunettes ear, where the scent is at its most strongest. This pulls a soft caught sigh from Lexa’s throat and on instinct her hips buck upwards causing accidental contact of Lexa’s thigh between Clarke’s legs.
Clarke whimpers. She actually fucking whimpers.
Instinct has overtaken them both and as the current song ends and the next one starts she’s isn’t even listening to the music anymore. She can feel the warm breath of Lexa’s against her cheek, her nose still full of Lexa’s scent and her body is now doing its own thing as she begins to subtly grind down against a warm thigh, a steady ache growing and growing just longing to be relieved.
But two strong hands with long lithe fingers find her hips and dig into the flesh hard enough to still her movements.
“Clarke, stop”
Slowly drawing back into a sitting position they find each other’s gaze.
“I said a lap dance and it’s safe to say that I’m not going to your boss after that so it’s okay, you don’t have to- it wouldn’t be fair of me to let it continue the way it was going, you’ve paid your debt and I’m grateful”.
“But-“
“Clarke”
It’s stern, commanding and Clarke can’t help but nod in defeat, slowly sliding off Lexa’s knee and getting rather weakly to her feet.
Lexa gets up off the chair, not forgetting to pick her whiskey glass off the floor and down the rest of the golden liquor before moving to the bed and picking up her expensive suit.
As the brunette reaches the door, suit in hand she turns, flashing a charming smirk in Clarke’s direction.
“Thank you Clarke, may we meet again”
And with that she was out the door and gone.
Clarke whistles, running a hand through her hair and perching herself on the end of the bed.
What a crazy couple of days.
She didn’t know what scared her more, how quickly she lost control of her body, just the effect Lexa had on her or the fact that she didn’t think of Finn once throughout it all. In fact she had felt alive for the first time in ages.
What is wrong with her? She has a fiancé back home yet here she is performing lap dances and very nearly more for a millionaire CEO with a picky taste in women but who somehow seemed to react to her. It’s wrong, oh so very wrong but she can’t deny the way her skin still tingles and the steady throb which is still insistent between her thighs.
“May we meet again” Clarke whispers.