Yes Chuck was in Orange County to head up the West Coast offices of Bass Industries and oversee all their hotels. However at the moment Victrola was getting the majority of his attention. He already had a few dancers lined up but he was still interviewing and auditioning. That was the most important part. Of course the rest of his staff was going to be top of the line, but the burlesque dancers were the main attraction of the whole club.
He had just seen Midna dance and he had to admit, she was good. His eyes had been glued to her the entire time, she knew how to show just enough skin to tease the audience leaving them wanting more. Yes, she was perfect.
Now they were sitting at the bar. Chuck had a scotch on the rocks and allowed Midna to order a drink of her choosing. “How long have you been dancing?”
This was still part of the job interview, in Midna’s opinion, so ordering a drink also had to be done carefully - with confidence, of course, but she probably shouldn’t choose something like a Screaming Orgasm (not that she would anyway). Martini drinkers were often perceived as cool and classy (and that’s the vibe she got overall from Victrola anyway), so that’s what she ordered - Grey Goose, stirred, with a twist of lemon. When it came to her, she took the glass with a polite ‘thank you.’
“Let’s see...since I turned eighteen, so about four years,” she said, crossing her legs, one knee over the other as she settled on the stool. Her audition had gone well - she’d rehearsed her routine a lot beforehand, since Burlesque dancing in particular was sort of new, but she liked that many of the girls were inked in this business. Because her tattoos weren’t going anywhere, and there was a lot more leniency with that than in a strip club - at least, for the strip club she managed. “Mostly self-taught, but I’ve taken lessons too. I’ve had a lot of practice, and I’ve given pole dancing lessons also. I teach yoga sometimes, too. Helps to be limber.”
Cool and classy was what Chuck was going for. The whole club had an upscale vintage feel. By the time it opened he wanted it feel like a Victorian Burlesque club from the late 1800s with a little bit of edge to it. Which was why he was quite fond of Midna’s tattoos.
Chuck nodded as she spoke he took a long sip of his drink. “Mostly stripping?” he had her resume but had only glanced at it. Yes, it mattered but not quite as much as the audition. That’s where he would be able to tell if she was the type of dancer he was looking for and so far it seemed like she was.
And then came the limber comment. “Helps in more aspects than just the dancing,” he couldn’t help but comment a devilish smirk crossing his face.
Exotic dancing, technically. Midna wasn’t going for the ballet anytime soon - stripping was what she did. “Yes,” she nodded, because it wasn’t as if she meant to hide that little fact - not from a future employer, especially not when it was on her resume. “I started off as a junior dancer, and worked my way up to senior level - then eventually I sort of took the reins of running the place. Hiring new dancers and bartenders, upkeep of the club, things like that.” And bailing bouncers out of jail, but that didn’t need to be stated - her whole point was that she was a hard worker who knew how to climb the ladder.
“But I do so much management of the club, I miss the entertainment aspect. The actual dancing, which is what I want to get back into it on a part-time basis. And also learn new things, so I think your club will be a good fit for me.” She laughed a little at the dirty reference though, impish grin on her face - if it helped to play into the boss’s flirtatiousness, she could do that. Not like it meant anything. “Right you are.”
He seemed...mostly harmless. Besides, she was here to work anyway. Not troll for dicks to hop on.
Chuck had to admit he was impressed. She not only danced at this other club but managed it as well. He wouldn’t need any of those skills here. Just the dancing. But still it showed she was a hard worker and obviously dedicated. He wasn’t worried about the other club being competition either. Strip clubs and Burlesque clubs were very different. Anyone who wasn’t smart enough to know that, he didn’t want them at Victrola anyway.
“Sounds like you are busy over there,” Chuck commented with a sip of his drink. “Are you going to have time to dance here as well?” He could tell she was passionate about it. But the last thing he needed was an employee with more important obligations. When she was scheduled to work for him he expected her to be there.
He just smirked at her last comment. He’d let that subject drop for the rest of interview. There would be time for more flirtatious comments later, if she got the job.
“Pretty busy, but we make time for important things - and dancing is important to me,” Midna stated as very matter-of-fact. “I wouldn’t let you down. Plus, I need something that’s more creative in expression, you know? Dancing is like that for me, it’s a way to be...free. You don’t really get that with crunching numbers at a club,” she chuckled, picking up the sleek martini glass and sipping from it - oh, it was good. Strong. They didn’t skimp on the booze here, so she was glad for it.
But she also wouldn’t go chugging her drink like some sorority sister. ‘Cool and classy’ was what she still was going for. She had even gotten a new outfit to perform her audition in, a corset top with a ruffled skirt, but she’d switched the burlesque one for a more casual, polka-dotted skirt after the dancing was done - it’d be awkward to sit at the bar with all that tulle and crinkly stuff.
“I really like the atmosphere of the place too,” she added, with a glance around. “It’s probably important to you, like, your own freedom, isn’t it? Since I know you also run a company.”
Chuck knew exactly how she felt. Well maybe not with the dancing being his creative outlet. But this club was. Like Midna he did the whole crunching numbers things every day. As well as a million other mundane tasks. He did like when a new hotel opened, but then they lost the excitement. Checking on on how they were doing every day? All the status reports? It got tedious. But he had to keep the hotels successful, make them more successful than the ones back on the East Coast. Prove he was better than Jack. Still it was nice to something that actually meant something to him. That’s what Victrola was.
“Well you look amazing up there.” Chuck commented. “Stunning,” maybe it wasn’t the most professional of comments but he didn’t care. If she was going to work for him she would have to get used to the compliments.
“Thank you,” he added as she complimented the club. “This is my creative outlet. I always wanted to open up a club, but my father was too stubborn to see what it could be. He preferred to just stick with what he knew.” Now with his father gone he had more free reign. Plus he wasn’t a high school student anymore like he had been when he proposed the idea of a club to his father. “It seems we have some things in common,” in regards to the needing a creative outlet. “I think you will fit in well here if you can manage the two jobs.”
Midna wouldn’t ever scoff at a compliment. She grinned big, the smile reaching her eyes - now that she was able to tap into all of her shadow magic, she could call upon illusion tricks, a little, for a bit of a glamour which was what she did to disguise the crimson color to her irises. They were were usual rich hazel, flecked with a bit of green, before she’d undergone that change. It was better than showing up all devil-eyed to dance.
“Thanks,” she accepted the praise stunning pretty easily. “And I’ve got more where that came from too, I promise. I’d absolutely love to take the job - whichever nights a week you want me here, part-time, I’ll be dancing.”
She didn’t know if it’d be alright to ask questions on her end or not, but she was genuinely curious. “What made you decide to open a burlesque club, of all things, anyway?”
“We’ll work out a schedule,” Chuck assured her. “There is still a month before we open. Right now I will mostly need you for rehearsals.” The routines had to be right with all the girls. She would be dancing alone sometimes and other times with a group. When she was on her own she’d have a little more leeway, but the group routines had to be on point.
He didn’t mind the question at all. He knew he could come off as cold, but he did like to get along with his employees. At least the pretty ones. He also wanted them to respect him though. It was a fine line. But being scared of him or feeling like they couldn’t ask him questions? That was not on his agenda. “There is just something about burlesque. It’s an art really. The way you are teased but don’t get the full show. I find that more of a turn on,” but he didn’t finish his thought to insult Midna’s current job. “I wanted to do something that not everyone does. More classic, upscale. Not just open another trashy club.” That wasn’t exactly an insult to Midna. He had never been to the Rear End so he had no clue if it was trashy or not. But in his experience the majority of strip clubs were.
It was funny - stripping actually originated in a burlesque-type of venue; it was bans on nudity that led to the evolution of strip clubs. Midna liked to think it was pretty interesting even if she’d gone into exotic dancing when she needed a job that paid in cash, under the table, she could make great tips, and no questions were asked. Such as who her parents were - it was a good way for her to fade from the celebrity limelight and into obscurity. The shadows.
“Trashy clubs can be tragic. Depends on if the club is officially part of the sex industry or not - invoking those First Amendment rights,” Midna said, stirring her drink with the thin cocktail straw. “Personally, I invoke a no groping, no slobbering rule at the club I manage. Kind of a ‘look with your eyes, not with your hands’ rule. That’s why we have bouncers, to eject those that choose to break that rule.” It happened more often than she liked, but Midna didn’t want the girls unnecessarily bathed in saliva or touched inappropriately - just because they were strippers didn’t mean they deserved any less respect.
That settled it. Chuck was going to have to check out the club Midna worked at. Not because it was his competition, because they were different types of clubs. But he did want to see where she worked and how she handled things even if it wouldn’t affect her job with him much.
“Keeping it classy,” well as classy as a strip club could get he supposed. But he knew when to keep his mouth shut. “I’m impressed. I might just have to stop by and see it for myself one of these days.” He finished off his drink and gave her a somewhat genuine smile. About as genuine as it got for him. He liked Midna, this was probably the most successful interview he had yet.
“That sounds great,” Midna smiled, and she was always happy to have people come by - as far as how classy, The Rear End was, well. It sort of fell in between dark places and not - it was a cozy, well known strip joint, but there were no shortage of hungry shadowy characters who came by, and she’d danced in enough laps to have a feel for the general clientele. But the biker gang were good tippers, regular customers, and the bar food was sublime! Overall, she’d keep working on managing the place until something better came along - since she was taking an Arabic class once a week, she hoped to find something within the international field eventually. It’d be good, for a nocturnal creature like her.
But she’d probably always want to dance. That was in her blood.
“If anything, you’ll love the chicken fingers,” she quipped. “Well, anything else you need from me or want to know? I’ll be here for all the rehearsals, once I have the schedule.”
Chicken fingers. That was not exactly a food that Chuck Bass ate. But Midna sure seemed proud of them so he tried not to look too disgusted. “That’s it,” Chuck said concluding the interview. “I have your information so I’ll be in touch. Feel free to finish your drink and order another if you like. On the house.”
She had to laugh a little, mostly inwardly - because Midna was an imp who couldn’t resist teasing people, and rich snobs especially. And since she got the job here, well, once she became more comfortable she’d probably tease good ol’ Chuckie more - but it was just to lighten him up, really!
“Sounds great, thanks, I could go for another one of these,” she said, indicating her martini glass with a wave of her hand. Yeah, it was a good decision to come work here. It’d be fun. And if there was one thing Midna enjoyed? It was some good, old-fashion fun, after all.