writing in sickness and in health

Good job I had some words "in the bank" as I was ill yesterday and could only manage 1100. So here is an extract from one of the big set-pieces from Saturday, designed to waste words. It is set in an upmarket "club", where the women are for hire. I have ****ed out some of the words that Etisalat might not appreciate.

They entered the club and Amber didn’t know where to look first. The club was decked out in red velvet with gold trim; rather than the smell of men’s sweat, she smelled money, and lots of it. There were numerous private banquettes around the room, and each was taken up by a man or two, accompanied by some of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. There was no PVC here: the girls were in little black dresses and looked classy. Amber felt underdressed, something she had never expected to feel when surrounded by pro**tutes.

High up on each side of the room up were little platforms with dancing girls, while there were two women pole-dancing in front of her behind the bar. This was like something out of Las Vegas: the women were wearing bikinis studded with diamante, and there wasn’t a spare ounce of fat on any of them. The music changed and two men came on to stage to dance. With a barely-concealed shriek, Robbie poked both Doug and Freddy in the sides. “Do you see who I see, boys? Bloody hell.”

Up there on stage, stripped to the waist and glistening with body oil was Heath, who was quite obviously supplementing his photographer income with a bit of erotic dancing. The three men turned their back to the stage, visibly cringeing. “What do we do about it, what if he’s seen us?” asked Doug.

That question was answered soon enough, as Heath came over to them as soon as the dance was ended. “Never thought I would see you boys here,” he said, with a laugh. “I didn’t think they paid you enough to get in the door, let alone buy a drink!”

Not sure how he was going to ask, Robbie opened his mouth, but the words wouldn’t come out. “It’s all right mate, I have no secrets, apart from keeping my earnings under the radar. I work here a couple of nights a week, doing a bit of dancing and sometimes I get booked by the ladies that come in to visit. I do it just for a laugh to be honest, and the money is great. I hardly ever have to put out because I refuse to do men, so most of the time it’s just getting free drinks. Sometimes, I get lucky and see someone in here that shouldn’t be, so I have been known to take the odd cash sweetener to prevent me ever mentioning it.”