They promoted him at the restaurant just when got tired of delivering sandwiches and had wanted to quit. To his dismay, he actually accepted the offer. The dream of saving money for a new car may just have been written in his fate. He now took over the management aspects of the sandwich business. Every night at two AM, he gathered money at the register and closed the store. It was an upgrade from delivering sandwiches at night and almost getting killed by hoodlums. He was making decent money now; enough for meals, keeping up with his portion of the rent, and fueling his gas. As a bonus, he got a free sandwich dinner every night.
After the drunk college kids left his store that night, he closed the register before heading home.
She grinded on a pole going up and down. The balding and drugged men looked at her with their mouths open. She moved her hips around over their glaring eyes. They followed wherever she moved. On the other side of the stage, another balding high man was offering her some money, she pranced over there and got down effortlessly. He placed that money under her stringed outfit that covered nothing, and she air-rubbed herself over his face. She went back to the pole and glided her behind up and down, shaking her bosom, as more men’s eyes followed her every little move. The air was stale and smokey. The music was loud and thumping, and the colorful lights came and went in strobes. Her hair was long, blonde, and full of hairspray. Her eyes and lips were painted in heavy colors. She smoked her cigarette as she danced slowly.
At the apartment, his roommate slept on the couch with the television and lights on. There was an ashtray with recent smoke from cigarettes fading away at the table. His roommate’s short hair was all messy, and he was drooling from the mouth. He took his shoes off and turned the television off. He turned the living room lights off and headed to his little closet sized room.
His room was messier than it typically was. He hadn’t had time to do laundry, so his bedsheets were still dirty and ruffled. He went over and smelled it. It still smelled of drugs and sex from days ago. He laid down on his bed, too tired to change his clothes. He turned off the lights and went to sleep.
A few weeks later, he finally met her at the strip club. He was one of the few guys there that wasn’t balding or old. She sat next to him, and they chit chatted while she smoked her cigarette. He inhaled the smoke that loomed near him.
“So are you gonna kick him out?” She asked him.
“I thought about it” he responded.
She took another drag; her red painted lips sucking on the little cigarette and releasing smoke, “I say just do it. He hasn’t helped you out with the rent in months! Months!”
“I know, but I’m a nice guy” He looked at the table and played with his finger.
“Being a nice guy doesn’t help pay the rent” She shrugged, “Listen. Tell him he needs to either get a job and pay up immediately, or you’re getting a new roommate or moving out.”
“I wish it was that easy.”
“Are you in love with this guy?” She laughed, “You make it sound like you’re getting a divorce.”
At this moment he looked up at her and said, “No, I’m in love with you.”
She looked at him frustratingly and blinked her eyes, “Hey…” She said as she shook her head and put the cigarette on the ashtray, “You know my situation. We’ve talked about this before; you’re my good friend and you always will be! I gotta get back on stage.”
And with that, she got on stage and spun on a pole. She glided down and spread her legs slowly amid the hazy air.
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Samasya Tapasya 
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