Post by Zahara Matisse on May 21, 2016 23:29:42 GMT -6
Dance Like You Mean It
Saturday, May 14th, 2016
1:12pm
Pulling up in the front lot of the club, Zoey exited her truck and looked the place up and down with a critical eye. She’d visited establishments like this far too often lately for her tastes, but this was the first time it had been by choice. Last time, it was an errand for Katalina dealing with Holly and Ariel, but this time she was here to see a woman named Roxie about the services denied by Lana. Briefly the magician wondered, as she folded her arms across her t-shirted chest, if Katalina honestly knew any normal people with normal businesses and lives. Then the hilarity of that thought made her smile and shake her head, a giggle escaping from behind a hand lifted to hide it.
Pet’s Pussy Palace in downtown Los Angeles. Zoey fished her sunglasses out of her shirt pocket, having taken them off before exiting the truck but now finding that it might be best if her identity was kept on the down-low as it were. Pushing up the black bandanna she was wearing just a bit, she wended her way into the club which, at this time of day, was quiet for the most part. A bit of 80s rock was playing in the background and the stage was empty, but there were a few people partaking of the lunch menu while a couple of pretty waitresses and a bartender were manning the counters. Zoey wondered briefly how many of these employees would be shaking their goodies on stage in a few hours and the thought made her blush.
Walking along the main floor toward the bar, she eased herself onto a stool and folded her hands on the counter, waiting for attention from the bartender. A pleasant gentleman, he came over within moments and greeted Zoey politely.
“What can I get you?”
“I’m actually looking for a woman named Roxie.”
A brow elevates on the bartender’s face.
“Mind if I ask why?”
Lifting her sunglasses, Zoey offers him one of her disarming smiles.
“I’m a friend of Katalina Star. Roxie was suggested to me as someone I might learn a few things from.”
Dropping Katalina’s name got an ‘ohhhhh’ look from the bartender which indicated his understanding. He looked past Zoey toward the dressing room area, then back to the young woman before him.
“Well, I suppose you’d do all right on stage. I mean, you have an excellent body from what I can see…”
Blushing furiously, Zoey quickly shook her head and cut the man off.
“No, not for that! I mean in mixed martial arts! Fighting! Not dancing half-naked in front of strangers! Not...not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you! I’m just...well...shy, I guess?”
Embarrassment left Zoey’s cheeks colored even darker, which made the bartender grin more than she liked. Even so, he picked up the phone behind the counter and spoke quietly into it before hanging it up a few moments later.
“She says go on back. If you change your mind, though…”
Nodding and sliding off the stool before he could complete the thought, Zoey rushed off to the dressing room area. It was like a glam-rock concert exploded back there, what with stage costumes strewn everywhere, multiple makeup tables littered with cosmetics of every sort and lighted mirrors streaked and fingerprinted. Zoey wasn’t unused to such surroundings, but she didn’t feel comfortable here.
“Ah...Miss Roxie?”
One of the girls seated in front of the lengthened mirrors turns with a huge smile on her face as she jumps up to her feet sauntering up to Zoey, her heels clicking along the floor as her earrings and other assorted jewelry bounces along with...other endearing parts of her body.
“Like, oh my Goddess! We totes have the same name!”
Roxie giggles and hugs Zoey. Not passionately, as to not ruin the job on her nails as she keeps her palms flat on Zoey’s back. Never one to have met a stranger, Zoey returns the embrace despite her confusion. When Roxie draws back, Zoey returns her smile kindly.
“Do we? Well, how about that!”
Looking over the dancer, not due to her make-up or attire but her build, Zoey could see that the woman took care of her body. That was a plus. Not that Lana didn’t, but it was the only thing Zoey could ascertain at this point and the fact of it made her feel a bit more confident. Roxie smiles back at her then groans.
“I didn’t wanna be a brunette again.”
She sighs and begins fixing up her hair and groans even louder at what she assumes to be her reflection. They’re both Roxie after all.
“I didn’t even do up my makeup and...why am I so dressed? I’m not ready to perform...what was I doing the past couple hours?”
Roxie sighs and sits back down facing the mirror staring at herself.
“Oh. Yay! That was fast.”
Left wholly confused, Zoey was about to speak up when Katalina’s voice sounded off in her mind, that reminder that she’d given twice before the magician left their home in Malibu to come here.
”Roxie is...different, love. She truly makes Candi look like Hemingway. But she knows her stuff extremely well. You’ll just have to be patient with her.”
“Katalina sent me here to see you. She said you could teach me how to fight.”
Trying to keep it simple with the young dancer, Zoey patiently awaited her words sinking in.
“That’s a funny name. It’s like Cornelius, only not.”
The blond woman giggles and turns toward Zoey and smiles.
“Okay. I’ll totes teach ya. Just gotta go outside a bit.”
Without a word toward the others, Roxie rises from her seat and wanders off from the dressing area to the back door where she presses the handle and waits.
“The loading times are always the worst here.”
The woman eyes the door trying to hold onto her patience before she moves her hazels on over to Zoey looking her up and down some.
“So what do you think about womyn’s plight in this day and age?”
“That’s...a curious question. It isn’t something I’ve ever thought much about.”
And it came out of nowhere, too. Zoey never considered herself a feminist or someone who thought much about serious matters like that. People deserved the chance to make a happy life for themselves. Beyond that...it was their business.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have an answer for you.”
“That’s okay. So ya like music? I like music, I like...um, and the other one too.”
Roxie looks down for a moment and ponders then back up at Zoey and shrugs her shoulders.
“Okay.”
She giggles and opens up the door stepping outside in behind the club where she stretches out her arms.
“Yay! Hometime already. But bitch isn’t here to pick me up.”
She says adding in a pout at the end of it before looking back at Zoey.
“That was a fun shift, huh?”
Poor Zoey was as confused as could be. How...how did this woman manage to keep her job and maintain her responsibilities? She couldn’t bring herself to even think something insulting about her, but pity? That was a whole other matter. And just finding something to say in response took longer than it should have.
“Ah, yes...y-yes, it was.”
“Oh! Right, silly me. You wanted to learn how’ta fight. Okay.”
Roxie takes a firm hold of Zoey’s hand and begins walking her down the street before she starts singing absent mindedly under her breath.
“Take me away, take me far away from here. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Led along, Zoey had just enough time to click the alarm on her truck before she was drawn away by Roxie...but to where? To a gym or training center? To her home? The girl wasn’t a deep thinker, that much was obvious, but Katalina trusted in her ability and Zoey would do the same despite the misgivings creeping through her nerves.
“So, where are we doing this, then?”
“We’re doing it right now, silly billy bo-nilly. I mean...I can’t show ya stuff less you got a song constantly in your heart. What track is playing right now? Sing it out to me.”
And so the lines of “Lucky Star” began to slip past Zoey’s lips. She was no Madonna, obviously, but she sang sweetly for someone with an untrained voice. Once she got into the tune playing in her head, she began to lay out the notes with gusto, singing with passion if not with skill. Roxie listens to it with crossed arms. Not impatiently, but waiting until Zoey was finished. When she was, Roxie immediately asks the question.
“What’s that song mean to you?”
“That song leads me to the ring every show, reminding me of where I came from, who took me by the hand and set me on the path of my dream and who continues to watch over me as I enter combat with another person. It fills my heart with joy and determination...joy for those who support me as well as myself and the determination to do my absolute best no matter what.”
That much she could say without reservation, though she briefly wondered if Roxie would understand such sentiments. And immediately Zoey felt angry with herself for not giving the girl that much credit. Thankfully she kept her feelings to herself and put on her smile with a hint of determination mixed in.
“I don’t know if I can teach you then.”
Roxie admits, not exactly sounding the self she’s delivered thus far. She sounds rather serious. Concerned, troubled, depressed even.
“You have such a passion for that song, it’s just...it’s just that song, isn’t it? You don’t…”
She pauses and looks down licking her lips and then turns back up at Zoey.
“You listen to songs for emotion. That’s fine, it’s great, it gets you pumped, but you listen to the song...for the song. My style...you listen to the beat. You move to the music. You let it flow through you, you let it take control of what you can do. That’s why I dance, to keep that beat moving through me.”
Roxie continues looking troubled as she rests a hand on top of Zoey’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry. But unless I’m wrong, I just don’t think my lessons will get through to you.”
Wait...is that Roxie saying that? She doesn’t mean to be insulting, she’s just...again, depressed. At first, Zoey felt a twinge of anger inside of her. Then she gave Roxie’s words more thought. For Zoey, music was inspiration and what pushed her sometimes. To check her iPod would be to find a playlist for so many moods and situations that one might not be able to consider a state that she wasn’t prepared for. For Roxie, it was very different. Zoey thought a moment more, then responded.
“So, for you, music is sort of...fuel. You let the music and the lyrics dictate how you move and respond with your body in a fight. The music becomes your pulse, the force that directs you. And because of my way of using music, I wouldn’t be able to acclimate to your style…”
Rubbing the back of her head, Zoey smiled sadly and shook her head.
“Two down.”
Reaching up, she met Roxie’s eyes and set her hand upon the blonde’s, the one that rested upon her shoulder.
“Thank you regardless, Roxie. I appreciate your honesty.”
Roxie tilts her head along to the side and resumes her smile.
“I thought you were Roxie.”
“Maybe I am, in my own way.”
Giving the dancer’s hand another gentle squeeze, Zoey turns and begins to walk back to her truck, hands slid into the pockets of her jeans, the tune of “Lucky Star” whistled softly under her breath.
