LITMIR.BIZ

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knew it would be quite a workout.

      I rolled out my yoga mat and did a few sun salutations and recited my mantra: ‘Geraldine, you have all the resources you need to succeed.’

      I grabbed my gym bag, took a deep breath and shut the door behind me. Arriving in my BMW Z4 Roadster would only have aroused suspicion so I got the bus to the address Jackie had given me.

      It turned out to be a nondescript-looking place in a grubby part of town. I rang the bell and someone buzzed me in. At the top of a short flight of claustrophobic stairs five other girls were sitting on plastic chairs outside a dance studio.

      They all looked as apprehensive as I felt, so I clearly wasn’t the only beginner. A couple smiled and nodded but didn’t say anything. I wondered what had brought them to this point, whether they’d had an agonising choice to make.

      I turned to the girl next to me. ‘Hi,’ I said. ‘I’m Geri.’

      ‘Hello. My name is Irena,’ she said in halting English. ‘I am from Poland.’

      ‘Oh right, have you done this sort of thing before?’

      ‘Yes, I have danced, yes, but not in club like this. This scary, no?’

      ‘To be honest, I don’t know yet. I’m waiting to find out …’

      Ten minutes went by. And then fifteen. I didn’t know what to do with myself. After all, fiddling with my BlackBerry or reading The Economist was out of the question.

      I decided to repair some chips in my nail polish while I waited. The others watched me in silence. It didn’t seem the done thing to strike up a conversation, so I kept quiet.

      Before long, the familiar riff of Beyoncé’s ‘Crazy in Love’ came wafting into the corridor and the studio door opened.

      A ball-breaking brunette in her mid-thirties, with the ramrod posture of a classical dancer and a hard, good-looking face, strutted in. She was dressed in skinny jeans, knee-high boots and a hip-hugging, roll-neck grey sweater, which she whipped off to reveal a leotard beneath.

      Ignoring us, she stood at the side of the room, stretching.

      She had a natural presence and there was no doubting that she was top cat.

      So this was Jackie.

      Finally she turned to face us, hands on each slender hip. No matter how much horse-riding I did I could never dream of having a figure as svelte, yet still curvy, as hers.

      ‘Ladies, welcome to the Pearl boot camp. I’m Jackie and I’m here to put you through your paces. Please strip down to your shorts and vests – no shoes at the moment, please – and take off any jewellery.’

      I took the lead and wandered into the studio – a small space with polished wood floors and four metal poles placed at regular intervals.

      ‘OK, when you’re ready, please come and join me, standing in a circle,’ said Jackie.

      There were six of us, plus Jackie.

      ‘Right, then,’ she continued. ‘Before we begin, I want to tell you a story. In the bad old days, you would all have been called strippers and you would have been paid by the owner of a strip joint to wiggle your ass and take your clothes off for a few dirty old men nursing cheap beer.

      ‘You will be pleased to hear that we have progressed since those dark days. Now we have much more upmarket clubs that are professionally run, you will be called a pole dancer or a lap dancer and you will pay the club rent for the privilege of wiggling your ass. But the customers will be businessmen, guys on stag nights and, if you’re lucky, celebrities, who will hopefully give you generous tips.

      ‘If any of you survive this first session, I’ll go into more detail about the various club rules. You’d better leave now if you have a problem about taking off all your clothes in public. If you’re squeamish about men seeing your clit, then this is not the job for you.’

      The sound of nervous laughter echoed around the room, and I felt my heart beat a bit faster as I realised what I was getting into, but I – like everyone else – stayed put.

      ‘Good, that’s the spirit, ladies,’ said Jackie, smiling for the first time. ‘Now, before we start moving, I’d like you all to introduce yourself to the group – your name, where you’re from, and why you want to work at the Pearl.’

      ‘You with the long dark hair, please start,’ she said, pointing at the olive-skinned girl opposite me.

      ‘Um, hello everybody, my name is Gabi and I’m from Brazil,’ she said in a lilting accent. ‘Back home I loved to dance the samba so I have good rhythm. I want to work at Pearl to earn money to pay for my study. I learn English and study law.’

      ‘OK, thanks, Gabi – I’ll be tapping you up for free legal advice,’ laughed Jackie. ‘Next, please.’

      ‘Good afternoon. My name is Irena and I am from Poland.’

      ‘Speak up,’ said Jackie. ‘There’s no room for shyness in this business. Be loud and proud.’

      ‘Oh, I am sorry,’ said Irena, notching the volume up. ‘Sorry, Poland. I want work at Pearl to pay my bills and also send money home to my parents. I also love to dance.’

      ‘Thank you, Irena, no need to apologise,’ said Jackie. ‘But you need to toughen up. OK, next please.’

      A long-limbed black girl with a great-looking Afro stepped up to the plate. ‘Hi everybody, my name is Makani. My family is originally from Ghana but I was born in London. I want to dance at the Pearl in the evenings so that I can spend my days painting.’

      ‘Thanks, Makani, good luck. Let’s move on … OK, you with the spiky black hair,’ said Jackie, pointing at me. ‘What’s your story?’

      I had to think on my feet; there was no way I could tell the truth.

      ‘Hi guys, I’m Geri,’ I said. ‘I’m from Surrey. I work as a temp secretary in the City but the pay’s not great. I want to work at the Pearl so I can buy some Jimmy Choos!’

      That broke the ice a little and everyone laughed, except Jackie.

      ‘Well, Geri, I hope you’re not the kind of girl who’s a slave to her credit card. What makes you want to be a lap dancer?’

      ‘I’m reasonably fit and I’ve been told I’m a sexy mover,’ I answered. ‘So I thought I’d try my hand at lap dancing because it beats working behind a bar.’

      ‘Fair enough,’ said Jackie, but I could see my joke hadn’t gone down well with her.

      The other girls said their piece and Jackie moved to the CD player and put on some relaxing music.

      ‘OK ladies, listen up. Welcome to Jackie’s Boot Camp. You don’t do the talking here, you do the listening. If you screw around I won’t ask you to drop and give me twenty, I’ll just get some friends of mine to very politely escort you from the building. When I’m here, you take your orders from me. If I say “any questions” then you can ask questions, otherwise shut up and listen. If you need to pee do it in your own time.

      ‘Now before we begin, everyone is always curious to know how we get into a business like this. Well, you’ve told me a little of your stories so I’ll tell you a little of mine.’

      Chapter Six

      JACKIE’S STORY

      I’ve always wanted to dance. When I was a girl I dreamed of being a ballerina. And yeah, yeah I’m sure you all dreamed that. But I was good. I auditioned at 15 and won a scholarship to the Royal Ballet. Surprised? Well don’t be. There’s more. My mother didn’t want me to be a ballet dancer, she didn’t think there was money in it. She wanted me to be a hairdresser. So I ran away from home when I was 16.

      I studied at Barons Court for a year or so. The course was tough, but

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