I felt strange as I went back to work. As much as I loved dancing, at the end of the day, I really was just doing this in order to pay rent and bills, and to further survive.

I got back on the pole again, pushing away all the research I did. I didn’t work, I danced.

I ended up doing floor work. So many men crowded around me, throwing money at me. I could even feel a hand rubbing his hand on my chest with a bill.

I continue to lay on the floor, letting the bills fall on me.

After freshening up in the locker room, I did a walk around. Most of the men were almost falling over on each other, and I saw Kosugi-kun trying to finesse some money out of one of them.

But there was only one man that seemed to be of mind.

Keiji sat at the bar quietly, with one of the bartenders talking to another customer with slurred speech. It glanced around.

“Ah, you noticed me,” I said. Shit.

“I could see your hair,” he said.

I had picked my hair out a little, making my curls pop more. “Glad you did.” I had to remind myself. I’m Angel here, not Rodrigo. Get it together.

I sat next to him, while gazing at him. “Has everything been good?”

“No,” he replied simply. “It’s been shit, honestly.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Have you been hearing about the break-ins?” He turned to me.

“Yeah.” They seemed like small-time burglary attempts with most of the robbers being chased out.

“I woke up...to one of those robbers...on top of me!”

“W-what were they…” I didn’t want to finish my thought.

“I had my pajamas completely off! It took me a while to realize what happened."

I motioned for Aki to give Keiji another shot.

“And the worst part…” he continued, “I barely did anything. It actually felt…”

He held his face in his hands. I rubbed his back. I didn’t say anything because what the fuck could I say? I could at least empathize with him, but what happened to him was real.

What if the same thing could’ve happened to me?

What if those nightmares could’ve been real?

I stared off into space.

“Hey, Keiji, I gotta go to the restroom,” I whispered.

“Okay,” he said, just before taking a huge swing from his drink.

I ended up leaving early that shift.