Fiona loved dancing. It wasn’t her passion; it was her life.

She spent every waking moment listening to music and choreographing the accompanying routines in her head. As she put the slice of bread in the toaster and made a cup of tea, she danced around the kitchen.

“Watch out, Fi, darling. This ain’t the London Palladium"

“Sorry, Mum,” Fiona replied, taking out one earbud to hear what she said. Once she realised it was yet another monologue about A levels, exams, and university, she put it back in and carried on planning the next part of her routine.

She knew schoolwork was important, but she also knew if she could just get on the stage, she’d be noticed, and then she could just spend her life dancing. The problem was that when you lived in a shite hole of a town where nothing happened, who is going to notice you?

A knock at the door signalled it was time to go to school. She shouted to her mum that Nicole was at the door and she was off. Nicole had been her best mate since primary school. They had grown up together. They used to be so alike. Nicole used to spend her evenings in Fiona’s room with the two of them, dancing and laughing. But now Nicole was all about the boys. She didn’t care about Fiona’s dancing, even though she would still listen to her plans and watch her routines. Fiona knew, though, that Nicole would rather be somewhere else and was just glad she would still spend some time with her.

“Alright, Fiona.”

Fiona rolled her eyes as their next-door neighbour Dennis called out to them as he unloaded a couple of cardboard boxes from his van.

“Hiya, Dennis,” Nicole giggled.

Fiona couldn’t believe Nicole. Flirting with a guy twice their age. Dennis was just about to say something else when Fiona tugged Nicole away. She’d always been wary of him but lately, he was just being more and more of a creep. He seemed more interested in ogling Nicole’s big tits today, though, which was understandable. Everybody ogled Nicole’s big tits. Fiona was sure Nicole bought her blouses a size too small on purpose, just so they’d look like they were bursting out. Fiona glanced down. Hers were tiny by comparison. One boyfriend had told her he liked her tits; they were a perfect handful. She’d let him sleep with her on that basis. He came out as gay two weeks later, and Fiona was never quite sure if sleeping with her had been the final catalyst.

She kicked the stone along the pavement as she walked home from school. Nicole was meeting Gary, or whatever his name was. By the time she got home, she figured Nicole would have Gary’s tongue down her throat and his hand up her skirt.

She let herself into the flat and breathed a sigh of relief at the silence. Her mum was at work, and her latest boyfriend, Brian, was off doing whatever wasters like him did all day. She pushed the sofa back to clear a space, selected the track on her phone, and played it through the Wi-Fi speaker.

She began to dance. As the music played, she twirled and danced and lost herself in the music. She felt like she was floating, dancing on air, the rest of her life left far below. She pulled the hair bobble out of her long dark red hair and danced and twirled faster and faster until the music suddenly stopped.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

She opened her eyes. She felt the blush rising as Brian and her Mum stood there, shopping bags in hand, staring at her.

She flushed as her mother looked her up and down. “You should be revising for your exams, not dancing around the living room. You’re almost 18 years of age. And straighten the furniture up, for god’s sake.”

“Yes, Mum,“ she muttered and moved the sofa and coffee table back into place.

She stood waiting for her Mum to buy a couple of lottery scratch cards at Kwiki-Save. She read the notices stuck up on the community announcements board. Adverts for a gardening club, a book club for mothers which Fiona thought was a bit discriminatory and an ad for dancers for a new club. She re-read the ad.

Wanted: Have you got what it takes to entertain a crowd? New dancers needed with great pay plus tips. Phone 0864 1967 456

She looked around and carefully pulled the notice off the wall, folded it up and slid it into her pocket. She was itching to phone the number but knew she couldn’t let her mum find out what she was doing. Once she’d put the shopping away, she walked out onto the balcony and leaned over, watching the impromptu football match on the communal green. She dialled the number and turned away from the front door as it rang.

“Hello? Yeah, I’m phoning about the ad for dancers.”

“Yeah. I can come tomorrow. What time?”

“And where is it?.... Ritzy’s on Camden Row? Yeah, got it.”

She hung up and checked she hadn’t been overheard. She couldn’t believe it, an audition.

She changed in the toilets after school. She liked to dance in a tight top and baggy trousers, giving her unrestricted movement. She found Ritzy’s on Camden Row easily enough. She pushed open the heavy wooden door. The place smelt of bleach and stale cigarettes. She heard the final bars of Paradise City by Guns ‘n’ Roses in the distance. She walked down the corridor following the muffled voices. A blonde woman bustled past her, almost knocking her over.

“Alright, love, can I help you?”

Fiona stared at the man sitting behind a table. He was older than she expected. He looked in his 50s or 60s with a bald head and a serious beer gut. He held a cigar in one hand as he wrote something on a piece of paper with the other. A woman sat smoking beside him.

“Um, yeah. I’m Fiona. I’m here for the audition.”

“Grand then, up you go onto the stage. Play your music through the PA system there.”

She stepped up onto the stage. She glanced around. There were fireman’s poles on either side and a catwalk down the middle of the room. She imagined the chairs around the tables filled with people watching the show.

After connecting her phone, she pressed play and prepared herself. Once the first few bars played, she began her routine. She arched and spun, twirling around and around, then stopping, frozen for a couple of beats before reacting. She’d choreographed this as if she were a wood nymph being chased through the woods and felt the adrenalin buzz as she swooped around the stage.

“What the fuck is this love? The punters don’t want this. They want to see you get your kit off.”

He turned to the woman sitting beside him and shrugged.

Fiona stood frozen on the stage.

“But.. I thought you wanted dancers? The advert said dancers.”

“Strippers love. This is a strip bar. But we can’t say that in the advert. Look, we can try again if you want. But less of the arm waving and more of the getting your tits out. OK?”

Fiona turned. Her face burned. She held the tears back as she picked up her phone.

For a second, she weighed up going back on stage, then unplugged her phone, picked up her bag and walked off.

“Probably for the best, love,” the man called after her as she left. “You’re not exactly built up top,”

Fuck you, she thought as she pushed open the door and exited into the street. She was so cross she didn’t look where she was going and walked straight into someone.

“Hey, careful love... Oh, my God, Fiona?”

Fiona looked up. Fuck! Of all the people she could bump into, why did it have to be Dennis? She saw him looking at her, then at the door she’d just come out of.

“I didn’t know you were working here, Fiona. Does your mum know?”

She could see what he was thinking, imagining her as a stripper up on stage. She felt the blush rise on her cheeks.

“It’s not like that. I’m not.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I get it. You don’t want anyone to know. Top secret.” He winked conspiratorially. “I won’t mention a word. Come on, I’ll give you a lift home. My van is just around the corner.”

“Promise you won’t tell my mum?”

“Scouts honour.” He held up his hand making the Scouts symbol as he smiled a leery smile.

She climbed into the passenger seat of his van.

“Excuse the mess,” he apologised as he swept empty drinks cans, crisp bags and copies of The Sun newspaper from the seat. Fiona climbed in and held her schoolbag in front of her like a shield. The gears crunched as he started off. She watched him as he drove. He kept glancing over at her as if reassuring himself that she was really in his van with him. He kept licking his top lip as he drove.

“You’re a good girl, aren’t you, Fiona?”

“Um, yeah. I try to be,” Fiona replied, not quite sure where this was going.

“I know you are. I know you’re a good girl.”

He drove into a builder’s yard. The shop was closed. The shutters were down over the windows, and the place was deserted. He switched the engine off and turned to face her.

“I know you don’t want your mum finding out you were dancing at a strip club, Fiona. Do you?”

Fiona shook her head. “No,” she whispered. Her mum discovering she’d auditioned to be a stripper was the last thing she needed.

“So it’ll just be our little secret then, yeah?”

Fiona stared at him. He really was a disgusting creep, but she knew she’d just have to do this to keep him quiet. She slipped her phone into her hand as he turned to look out the window. Whether he was trying to think of what to say next or just checking the coast was clear, she didn't know, or care. She quickly pressed record on the voice notes app before he saw what she was doing.

He turned back and reached his hand over to brush her hair back from her face.

“Show me what a good girl you are.”

His fingers pressed on the back of her head, pushing her down. She slid off the seat and knelt in the footwell of the van. He released her head and unbuttoned his jeans. He pushed them down a little, and she could see the tent in his boxer shorts. He slipped his thumbs into the waistband and slid his shorts down too. His cock sprang free. It was rock-hard with a purple head. It glistened with a smear of precum.

“That’s a good girl,” he whispered.

Fiona stared up at him. It wasn’t the worst cock in the world, but she’d sucked bigger. She waited. She needed him to tell her what to do for the recording.

“So, you’re telling me if I don’t suck your cock, you’ll tell my mum, but if I do, it’ll be our little secret?”

“Yes,” Dennis whispered. “So be a good girl and show me how a good girl gives a blowjob.”

“And if I don’t, you’ll tell my mum?”

“Yes, you little slut, so suck my cock, you little whore.”

He pressed her head down with his hand. She opened her mouth and let the head slide in.

She gave exaggerated sucking and slurping sounds as he leaned back in the seat and groaned.

“Fuck, that’s it. You’re such a good little whore, aren’t you?”

Fiona nodded, giving him plenty of eye contact as she ran her tongue around his cock. She wanted this over and done with. While she sucked the head, she wrapped her fingers around the shaft and started to wank. She moved her hand up and down his shaft, moving faster and faster as she swirled her tongue around the underside of his cock head.

Dennis arched his back. He pressed down, forcing his cock deeper into Fiona’s mouth. She felt it hit the back of her throat and struggled not to gag. Drool ran down his cock as she tried to swallow. His cock filled her mouth, and she wanked him faster.

“Oh, you dirty little bitch,” Dennis cried out as his balls tightened. Without any warning, the first spurt of spunk hit the back of her throat. She coughed automatically as two or three further loads splattered into her mouth. She jerked her head back just in time for the final spurt to splatter on her face.

She coughed, trying to clear her throat to breathe. Dennis lay back in his seat.

“Oh, my God, what a dirty little whore you are, Fiona Riordan.”

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and pulled herself back into her seat. She searched in her bag for a tissue as the cum dried on her face.

Dennis started the engine and drove out of the yard and back towards their estate. He stopped around the corner and told Fiona it’d be better if her mum didn’t see her get out of his van. She quickly agreed. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to know she’d been in here.

She slammed the door shut and watched Dennis drive off, no doubt thinking about the blowjob he’d just made her give him. Well, two can play at that game, Fiona figured as she opened up the voice notes app and checked she had every word recorded.