don't live on the moon

♪ Pull up in the monster automobile gangster with a bad b– that came from Sri Lanka yeah I’m in that Tonka, colour of Willy Wonka you could be the King but watch the Queen conquer… ♪

She rapped, thinking she was alone on her spot under the tree by the park. But she was so wrong.

“Not to be a jerk around here, but do you mind?” April asked, gripping the edge of her book that she was reading. “I know that Nicky got a really nice song there but lower your voice a little. I’m trying to read.”

♪ Pull up in the monster automobile gangster with a bad b– that came from Sri Lanka yeah I’m in that Tonka, colour of Willy Wonka you could be the King but watch the Queen conquer… ♪

She rapped, thinking she was alone on her spot under the tree by the park. But she was so wrong.

“Nice flow right there!” Miguel commented. “Is it that song that Adele covered on The Carpool video?”

At April’s reply, Wendy realized her flub and quickly corrected herself. “Shit, I meant Skrillex has more iconic beats than Garrix. Case in point, Skrillex practically resurrected the pariah that was Justin Bieber and his career. And it’s a tall order to expect everyone to know who they are, April. Some people just don’t like club music as much as you do.”

“See, you were wrong and honestly, when are people gonna stay woke on electronic music? In my defense, they’re both a part of pop culture now so people must have at least know them by name or by song. I don’t like club music, I love it. And for the record, we call it electronic dance music.”

“Ah, you know…parents. My mother gives me a lecture everytime about how I’m of age and how all her friends children are getting married…it’s getting kind of annoying, actually so I’m taking a quick and easy way out,” Astrid chuckled. “And for the record, I’d so date you….which brings me to the question of why’re you still single, Ap?”

“Sounds like a pain in the ass,” she commented, rolling her eyes. She was slightly thankful that her parents weren’t like that. “You’re still what twenty-three-ish? It’s too early to get married. Yeah, thank you for that. At least now I know if I’m too old and can’t find a date, I could date you.” April chuckled. “I like being single.. it’s liberating! I can do whatever I want with whoever I want, it’s freedom. Besides, nobody wants to date me either. I guess they just can’t handle me as the way I am.”

He was cute, she had to admit. The way he almost looked shy when she came to talk to him was somewhat endearing and as soon as she heard his words, Callie turned around to give him a good view of her lingerie-clad ass. “What I want is to give you, a very valuable customer of this place, the pleasure we promised to offer,” she said as she turned her head to look at him.

He said he wanted to see her face and that was why she slowly walked towards him and positioned herself so that she was standing in front of him, with her legs on either side of his lap before slowly setting herself down and grinding her hips against his. “Tips are always welcome, and you can put them… anywhere,” Callie whispered as she rested her hands on his shoulders and showed him a smirk.

He didn’t not expect it to escalate quickly, didn’t even expected her to show her ass. He smirked at her words “valuable customer”. He even forgot on how to act in a strip club. But he doesn’t want to be a fool so he mimicked those around him.

Could he touch her skin?  The question lingered down his brain as she grinded against him. He hand fell to his sides, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. “Anywhere?” he repeated her with a much calmer and settle tone. His brow was raised, challenging the woman a little bit more. There are a lot of fish in the sea; a ton of beautiful women out there but in this moment she was the only one who could captivate him. 

“No, no, trust me, I do not want to get into another one of those rants. My sisters give me enough of those already. I was just saying I was surprised, that’s all,” Matt said, holding his hands up in surrender. 

“You do know that your defense isn’t really working,” she snorted. “I’m so offended that you were surprised. Like why should liking a certain type of music affect my appearance?” She rolled her eyes at the other.

“Glad to see my general musings about them amuse you,” Callie said, the smirk still evident on her lips. “Ah, well, music wise then I wouldn’t really know. They’re not really the kind of music we have at the club.”

“I might give them a listen to for you? I usually listen to a lot of indie pop, people like Gabrielle Aplin, Daughter, AJR, BORNS and some others? I have heard of their names, though, so that must mean they’re pretty big.”

“You definitely should! They’re great to pump up your spirit. I know Daughter an Gabrielle Aplin!” She said proudly. “Though I don’t know the other two. Your music taste won’t match my spunky personality. They’re too soft and calmer than I am.”

It was an unusually busy night at the strip club but Callie definitely wasn’t complaining, especially since that meant she’d be getting a whole lot of tips if a lot of these customers asked for strip teases. Technically, she was on a break but when she spotted a group of guys make their way inside, she knew this was her chance to get some more cash for the night. 

She took her time, checking her make up and making sure her hair was pristine before moving closer to them. She wanted to catch one of the guys’ eyes first before sauntering over there, that way she knew who it was that’d be her prey for tonight. 

Prey, she thought as a smirk formed on her lips. What a funny word. After a moment, Callie changed her smirk to an inviting smile when she caught the eye of one of them and when she felt his eyes on her, she knew this was the guy. It helped that he was cute and definitely looked interested and she sauntered over, the lingerie and heels she was wearing giving her an even bigger boost of confidence. 

“Hi,” she said with a large smile as she leaned forward and held onto the arms of the chair the man was sitting on, giving him a good view of her cleavage. “My name is Nikita,” Callie said, using her stage name. “How may I be of service?” 

He might have eyed her for too long before he decided to look away. Once he looked at her again, she was going his way. Under the lights, he saw her face and god, she was stunning. He’d let her do anything to him.

“Yeah, but were Garrix’s beats more iconic than Skrillex’s though?” Wendy pointed out, “And of course I know who they are – you don’t hesitate to name drop them whenever you hear their beats drop.”

“To the ears of those who hasn’t been long in the music industry, it is. But Skrillex has some iconic beats of his own. That’s true but some people just don’t know them at all. I’m so frustrated at them.”

One of them suggested to go to the strip club. That didn’t seem like a bad idea so he followed. They were just dudes hanging out together. At this point, Miguel was sure he won’t do anything dumb (or if he did, it’s not like it’s a huge problem since the weekends are made for him to have fun).

They took a seat and watched the dances. His friend were blowing money at the woman danced before them (probably because he liked the dancer a little too much). Miguel was just chilling, trying to relax.

His eyes traveled to the left. He saw a blonde bombshell and he would lie if he thought she wasn’t hot. He’d be damned to have these kinds of thougts.

I’d be damned.

The problem was that he couldn't take his eyes away from the woman. He felt so guilty for staring (though he hoped she came into his direction).

“Sounds like paradise.” Rosie grinned. “It’s now on my list of where to go when broke.” she joked. 

“It’s no paradise but if you like the beach, you won’t like it there.”

“In bed? I’d say neither. Both of them don’t look like they’d be any good but hey, maybe together, they might be worth my time.”

“Martin, definitely. Skrillex is a pretty close second, though. I didn’t see that one coming, pretty girl like you being a fan of that kind of music.”

April smirked cockily at the other guy. “You’ve got a taste, I’ll admit. But why didn’t you expect me to like them? Does a fan of “that kind of music” needs to be specified to a certain stereotype?”

“They aren’t really my type of musicians so I can’t really help you. I’m sure they’re both really good, though!”

“But the question is.. who is better? Anyways, what kind of music do you listen to except them? They’re a must fave for millennials, in my opinion.”

“Hm, is it bad that I’m not familiar with any of Skrillex’s tracks except for Bangarang? On that note, I’d have to go with Martin Garrix.”

“C’mon, ma’am— okay, okay, I’ll give it to you, three packs for one hundred pesos.” He struggled to carry his small basket of masareal as he followed the woman, who was visibly trying to ignore him despite his efforts. He had just gotten off work, the sun setting low on the horizon and tourists already heading back to their hotels. He took the opportunity and ran with it. “It’ll be good to support your local businesses, and you won’t find these in your Island Souvenirs or whatever new shop just opened up. They’re really good! I- ma’am? Ma’am!” He sighed in exasperation as the woman quickened her pace, walking further and further away from him. “Kaluya man san ako business.” He chuckled to himself, a short, fleeting thought if anything, before he saw another potential customer. “What about you? You wanna buy some masareal?”