BurningBridges
Junior Member
Roman better have planned on pulling a vanishing act by the time Brooklyn returned, because if he was still there by then, she was going to claw his eyes out of his head, especially for his parting remark. Maybe not really claw his eyes out, but there was definitely some physical violence that he had earned, fair and square, with this dumbass stunt and those idiotic comments. Between the two stupid men she spent most of her time with, Brooklyn really didn't know how she managed to maintain her sanity. Between Roman orchestrating such an unthought out plan, to Nick sitting there like he didn't have a single brain cell left, instead of reacting... they were both irritating beyond comprehension.
Once she finally got out of the apartment, she headed straight for the stairs, brushing past Elijah on her way down. She had half a mind to curse him out for walking so slowly and taking up the entire stairwell, despite neither of them being true, but by the time she realized that she couldn't hear Holly's annoying little voice, she had already upped her speed enough that Elijah was no longer a thought on her mind. Nick better have caught up with her, and Holly was lucky that it was him who was going to get to her first, because she was right up there with Roman on needing to have some sense slapped into her. Cara was going to be added to that list too, since she was the one who apparently signed up to take care of Holly. It made no sense that Brooklyn was now the one chasing her down, while Cara kicked back and relaxed doing god knows what. It irritated Brooklyn even more, because she felt like she didn't like Holly, or at least that she had no reason to like Holly, and yet she still did somehow. No matter how annoying she was, Brooklyn felt an inclination to look after her that she couldn't ignore. She supposed that maybe it didn't stem from love, but actually because she knew that Holly would literally get herself killed without supervision. It was as if she was walking down the street, minding her own business, and a dog ran past her towards a busy road. She didn't like the dog and had no reason to personally feel responsible for it, but since she was smarter than it was, she felt like there was some unspoken rule of humanity to at least attempt to steer it away from the busy road.
She reached the building entry, surprised to see that Nick and Holly weren't there, and actually slightly worried by that realization. She figured that they had just gone next door to get the cookies after another thought, and that was the only reason why she didn't continue to rush, and instead, answered her phone when it rang. It was a girl that she worked with, Ellie. She was a younger girl, and new to the club, having only worked there for a month or so. Brooklyn didn't know a lot of the newer girls well since they tended to start off on the day shifts when things were quieter, which were shifts Brooklyn didn't like taking because they netted less money. She was only really familiar with this girl because she had been assigned to be her "mentor". Typically, whenever a new girl was onboarded, they were paired up with one of the more experienced girls to help ensure that they learned how things worked and brought in money without bothering management too much. It didn't sound like something that would attract a Brooklyn-like personality at face value, but she made a couple extra dollars an hour doing it, so there was that. She also didn't mind it as much as some would expect, because now that she was considered one of the most senior and valuable members of their team, going to work was usually a nice ego boost. There were bad days, usually just because of bad clients, but among the rest of the team, she had enough respect that she liked being there even outside of the money.
While she was somewhat familiar with Ellie because of that assigned relationship, she still barely knew her, and her initial thought in response to seeing her name on her screen was that the girl had called her accidentally. "Hi, what's up?" she asked, her voice neither chipper nor harsh, though notably lighter than one would expect given the rage Roman had just induced in her moments before.
"They're firing me." Ellie was barely able to get the already largely intelligible words through her poorly stifled sobs. Trying to talk only caused her to spiral even more out of control, and she was sure she was having a literal heart attack. When she did get a deep enough inhale, the stability of her words were no less hurried and garbled. "I'm gonna be homeless and then I'll have to drop out of school and go back home and then my parents are going to disown me, but I don't want to go back there, but they said I had to or else Vince is gonna get rid of me."
"No one is firing you," Brooklyn stated sharply, though the sharpness of it wasn't intended for Ellie. She seemed like a nice kid and Brooklyn didn't like hearing her upset for that reason, but on a more selfish level, Brooklyn felt like Ellie being fired would be a poor reflection on her. It probably wouldn't be, but she felt that way anyway. She liked the idea that she was good enough that she could shape newer girls into being good too, and if she couldn't do that, it would automatically feel like a failure on her end. Plus, she didn't know who the hell thought they were firing one of her mentees without consulting her first. Yeah, yeah, Brooklyn wasn't a part of management or anything, but she had been there long enough that she had enough of a say in things to a point where she knew she would at least be warned of this prior to Ellie finding out. "What happened, and who told you that?" she demanded, though a touch softer now.
"Chloe and Andrea told me that Vince was gonna get rid of me because none of the customers like me because I don't want to go back to the private rooms with them like they do and that's why I haven't gotten any of the night shifts and I'm going to be fired, but I've been trying to do all the stuff you told me but I don't want to go back there, but I can't lose this job."
It barely surprised Brooklyn when Ellie revealed that it was other young, newer dancers who were feeding Ellie these lies. She didn't know if it was an age thing, where all girls in that age range were just naturally catty, or if it was the industry, but it wasn't something that Brooklyn had the patience for. It was a high school-esque culture with cliqueyness that surpassed understandable competitive nature. Ellie clearly needed to grow thicker skin, but Brooklyn wasn't going to teach her that lesson today. Despite how blunt she could be, the girl on the other end of the phone was crying and clearly freaking out, and Brooklyn did have some capacity at feeling empathy. She had been new to this world too once, after all. "Don't listen to a word that they say. They probably just want you to quit so they can take your shifts. I've already told Vince that if he has a problem with you, he can let me know, and he doesn't have a problem with you, so it's fine. You're fine." Maybe that was a tiny lie, because Vince did want her to be performing better than she was, but Vince could also fuck right off, and Brooklyn had no problem telling him that to his face. She would deal with these mean girls directly the next time she crossed paths with them, and indirectly by doing what she could to fiddle with their schedules in an unfavorable way, but for now, she had another child to deal with. "Does he have you scheduled for Friday? Come in at ten either way, that's my shift."
Ellie scrubbed her eyes, partially blinded by her tears and the mascara that was getting in them. "Ouch..." She looked over her shoulder from the corner of the room she was huddled in. "I'm not good enough for Friday nights yet. They said I have to ask for them, and I can only do that when I make enough or if Vince just really likes you, and Vince doesn't like me that much I don't think and everyone gets more tips than I do."
"Stop freaking out," Brooklyn snapped, rolling her eyes as she approached Insomnia Cookies. She spotted Holly and Nick through the window, relieved that at least that was one less thing she had to worry about. "If I thought that you weren't good enough for Friday nights, I wouldn't tell you to come. That would be more embarrassing for me than it would be for you, trust me." While Brooklyn had different personalities that she could put on at work vs at home, she wasn't capable of being that different to a point where her patience was infinite. "I'm hanging up now, but I will take care of Vince, and those dumb bitches, and I'll see you on Friday at ten."
After hanging up, Brooklyn stepped into the small storefront and approached Holly and Nick, who were ordering at the counter. "Did you yell at her already, or do I need to?" she asked, looking to Nick.
Once she finally got out of the apartment, she headed straight for the stairs, brushing past Elijah on her way down. She had half a mind to curse him out for walking so slowly and taking up the entire stairwell, despite neither of them being true, but by the time she realized that she couldn't hear Holly's annoying little voice, she had already upped her speed enough that Elijah was no longer a thought on her mind. Nick better have caught up with her, and Holly was lucky that it was him who was going to get to her first, because she was right up there with Roman on needing to have some sense slapped into her. Cara was going to be added to that list too, since she was the one who apparently signed up to take care of Holly. It made no sense that Brooklyn was now the one chasing her down, while Cara kicked back and relaxed doing god knows what. It irritated Brooklyn even more, because she felt like she didn't like Holly, or at least that she had no reason to like Holly, and yet she still did somehow. No matter how annoying she was, Brooklyn felt an inclination to look after her that she couldn't ignore. She supposed that maybe it didn't stem from love, but actually because she knew that Holly would literally get herself killed without supervision. It was as if she was walking down the street, minding her own business, and a dog ran past her towards a busy road. She didn't like the dog and had no reason to personally feel responsible for it, but since she was smarter than it was, she felt like there was some unspoken rule of humanity to at least attempt to steer it away from the busy road.
She reached the building entry, surprised to see that Nick and Holly weren't there, and actually slightly worried by that realization. She figured that they had just gone next door to get the cookies after another thought, and that was the only reason why she didn't continue to rush, and instead, answered her phone when it rang. It was a girl that she worked with, Ellie. She was a younger girl, and new to the club, having only worked there for a month or so. Brooklyn didn't know a lot of the newer girls well since they tended to start off on the day shifts when things were quieter, which were shifts Brooklyn didn't like taking because they netted less money. She was only really familiar with this girl because she had been assigned to be her "mentor". Typically, whenever a new girl was onboarded, they were paired up with one of the more experienced girls to help ensure that they learned how things worked and brought in money without bothering management too much. It didn't sound like something that would attract a Brooklyn-like personality at face value, but she made a couple extra dollars an hour doing it, so there was that. She also didn't mind it as much as some would expect, because now that she was considered one of the most senior and valuable members of their team, going to work was usually a nice ego boost. There were bad days, usually just because of bad clients, but among the rest of the team, she had enough respect that she liked being there even outside of the money.
While she was somewhat familiar with Ellie because of that assigned relationship, she still barely knew her, and her initial thought in response to seeing her name on her screen was that the girl had called her accidentally. "Hi, what's up?" she asked, her voice neither chipper nor harsh, though notably lighter than one would expect given the rage Roman had just induced in her moments before.
"They're firing me." Ellie was barely able to get the already largely intelligible words through her poorly stifled sobs. Trying to talk only caused her to spiral even more out of control, and she was sure she was having a literal heart attack. When she did get a deep enough inhale, the stability of her words were no less hurried and garbled. "I'm gonna be homeless and then I'll have to drop out of school and go back home and then my parents are going to disown me, but I don't want to go back there, but they said I had to or else Vince is gonna get rid of me."
"No one is firing you," Brooklyn stated sharply, though the sharpness of it wasn't intended for Ellie. She seemed like a nice kid and Brooklyn didn't like hearing her upset for that reason, but on a more selfish level, Brooklyn felt like Ellie being fired would be a poor reflection on her. It probably wouldn't be, but she felt that way anyway. She liked the idea that she was good enough that she could shape newer girls into being good too, and if she couldn't do that, it would automatically feel like a failure on her end. Plus, she didn't know who the hell thought they were firing one of her mentees without consulting her first. Yeah, yeah, Brooklyn wasn't a part of management or anything, but she had been there long enough that she had enough of a say in things to a point where she knew she would at least be warned of this prior to Ellie finding out. "What happened, and who told you that?" she demanded, though a touch softer now.
"Chloe and Andrea told me that Vince was gonna get rid of me because none of the customers like me because I don't want to go back to the private rooms with them like they do and that's why I haven't gotten any of the night shifts and I'm going to be fired, but I've been trying to do all the stuff you told me but I don't want to go back there, but I can't lose this job."
It barely surprised Brooklyn when Ellie revealed that it was other young, newer dancers who were feeding Ellie these lies. She didn't know if it was an age thing, where all girls in that age range were just naturally catty, or if it was the industry, but it wasn't something that Brooklyn had the patience for. It was a high school-esque culture with cliqueyness that surpassed understandable competitive nature. Ellie clearly needed to grow thicker skin, but Brooklyn wasn't going to teach her that lesson today. Despite how blunt she could be, the girl on the other end of the phone was crying and clearly freaking out, and Brooklyn did have some capacity at feeling empathy. She had been new to this world too once, after all. "Don't listen to a word that they say. They probably just want you to quit so they can take your shifts. I've already told Vince that if he has a problem with you, he can let me know, and he doesn't have a problem with you, so it's fine. You're fine." Maybe that was a tiny lie, because Vince did want her to be performing better than she was, but Vince could also fuck right off, and Brooklyn had no problem telling him that to his face. She would deal with these mean girls directly the next time she crossed paths with them, and indirectly by doing what she could to fiddle with their schedules in an unfavorable way, but for now, she had another child to deal with. "Does he have you scheduled for Friday? Come in at ten either way, that's my shift."
Ellie scrubbed her eyes, partially blinded by her tears and the mascara that was getting in them. "Ouch..." She looked over her shoulder from the corner of the room she was huddled in. "I'm not good enough for Friday nights yet. They said I have to ask for them, and I can only do that when I make enough or if Vince just really likes you, and Vince doesn't like me that much I don't think and everyone gets more tips than I do."
"Stop freaking out," Brooklyn snapped, rolling her eyes as she approached Insomnia Cookies. She spotted Holly and Nick through the window, relieved that at least that was one less thing she had to worry about. "If I thought that you weren't good enough for Friday nights, I wouldn't tell you to come. That would be more embarrassing for me than it would be for you, trust me." While Brooklyn had different personalities that she could put on at work vs at home, she wasn't capable of being that different to a point where her patience was infinite. "I'm hanging up now, but I will take care of Vince, and those dumb bitches, and I'll see you on Friday at ten."
After hanging up, Brooklyn stepped into the small storefront and approached Holly and Nick, who were ordering at the counter. "Did you yell at her already, or do I need to?" she asked, looking to Nick.