Time to Open

Timidly, Tifa opened the door of the store room and poked her head out into the bar. It was empty, she knew that, and she had made sure to close the shutters so no one could peak in. But she still needed to reassure herself there was no one inside to see her.

Cautiously, she took a step out onto the bar floor. It felt so..wrong. She was no stranger to moving around naked. Often times, when she got home for the evening, she would take her top and bra off and let herself enjoy the fresh air and feeling of freedom. And there were times where she didn't bothered to get dressed after bathing if she knew she had know where to be for the day.

But this was different. She wasn't supposed to be naked here. Instead of feeling relaxed and liberated, her nerves were twisted into a bundle, ready to burst. The bounce and sway of her hefty breasts and the juggling of her butt as she walked felt obscene. The fact that she was still wearing her boots and gloves somehow made her display seem more lewd to her. Wearing the articles, there was no mistaking that she was naked on purpose.

Again, she slowly cracked to front door to the bar open and poked just her eyes out. She spotted a tuft of gray hair leaning against the railing of the front porch.

"Rady to get this show on the road?" Marle didn't turn around as she spoke. Tifa has asked to collect cover charges, a first for 7th Heaven, tonight. She knew things were going to get rowdy, but she also knew that if anyone could keep things under control it was Marle. She may be old, but she was deeply respected in the community. And everyone knew they considered each other family. If anything happened to one, there would be hell to pay from the other.

"Y...yeah," Tifa breathed out quietly. "Marle, I'm sorry-"

"You don't have to apologize for anything." Tifa watched her gray hair sway as she shock her head. "Times are hard. Well, times are always hard I suppose, but times are especially hard now. I might not always approve, but I would never begrudge a woman for doing what she hast to to get by. Besides, if you're going to do something like this, I rather you do it here, at you're own bar with me, than at some seedy back alley in Wall Market."

"Marle," Tifa's voice cracked, tears threatening. She somehow felt even worse about tonight that she already did. She had lied to Marle. She didn't tell her anything about her involvement with AVALANCE. Instead, she told her she was going to lose the bar if she didn't come up with a lot of cash, fast.

"Chin up." "Marle's voice was soft and reassuring. "No one wants to see a pretty girl cry. Especially one they are paying to ogle. And if they do, they aren't the kind of guys you want coming."

"Right." Tifa took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Thank you, again."

"Now lets get on with it." The old woman picked up a large tin can off the ground, her collections jar, and put it next to her on the railing. "If you put it off any longer I'm afraid the anticipation might kill you."

Tifa nodded and retreated into the bar. It took her a full minute to summon the courage to command her hand to flip the switch on the wall. The neon signs all over the building buzzed to bright life, declaring Tifa's 7th Heaven open for the night.

[contributions to this thread are more than welcome]