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All Eyes On Me	By : ibgarry Category: +G through L > Ib Views: 1242 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Previously uploaded on AO3 and FFN. I do not own Ib or its characters, nor do I make money from this story.

Chapter List
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When Garry returned from changing, Mary was getting ready in the dressing room. She didn't pay any attention to him as he entered. Carrie and Ib were lazing around on their phones, already in costume. Carrie had a lit cigarette in her mouth. Garry stood in the doorway, uncomfortable with the lack of attention the room gave him.
"Carrie, we're on in five." Ib hadn't looked up. Carrie put out her cigarette. She stood up without a word, powering her phone down and throwing it on the chair's seat. Ib did the same.
"Want to come along?" Garry offered. Ib nodded and stood up, stretching.
They were all oddly quiet, and Garry wondered if he'd come in at a bad time. He and Carrie stood and waited for Ib to finish stretching. Ib adjusted her costume in the mirror and followed them out.
"Did something happen?" He asked them both once we were out of earshot of Mary. Carrie looked at him, her sculpted eyebrows furrowed. Ib turned away.
"Not that I know of," Carrie replied, deeply perplexed. She turned to Ib for a moment, and then turned away.
Garry motioned for Carrie to stop and she understood, and Garry stepped in front of her. Ib stopped before him, and Carrie watched from the side, mildly confused but entertained.
"Is something wrong?" Garry asked her as she looked up at him, seemingly shocked.
She shook her head. "No, I'm fine... why?"
"You seem out of it."
She laughed sheepishly.
Garry sighed. "Don't stress yourself out."
"No one told me it was all supposed to be choreographed."
"I just expected your routines to be choreographed." He reassured her. She and Carrie nodded in agreement.
They all were still quiet as they stepped backstage and heard the loud music playing over the PA system.
Garry felt Ib tug on his jacket. "Hey, does... does Mary not like me?"
"What?" Garry turned to her voice, hardly able to see in the dark behind the curtain. "I... I don't know. You should probably talk to her about that."
"Mm." He could tell Ib was leaning up against the wall behind her. Carrie fidgeted beside them. She had never liked being an opening act, but she was good nonetheless. Garry leaned over and murmured, "You'll do great," and he heard Carrie giggle from the darkness.
Garry stepped out from behind the curtain and Carrie followed suit, just across the stage. He could tolerate the lights tonight; they were never directly on him, but it was hot standing under the general area of the stage lighting even when he wasn't exactly under it. He knew he was going to regret what he was wearing.
The floor wasn't as loud as usual, but he was still pleased with the reaction Carrie immediately received. He introduced Carrie and the night itself briefly, and his announcement was met with a loud applause. Carrie blushed and waved warmly to the room. On the floor, a portion of the staff were making their rounds around the tables. Carrie shouted out to the floor something Garry couldn't understand, but it seemed to rile up everyone. It only took another phrase from Garry before he was off-stage until the next performers, five minutes after.
His job consisted mostly of running back and forth from his podium to lighting to the PA system. For such a popular cabaret, it was very inefficient, but he didn't complain; technology did a majority of his job for him. The setup, although impractical, had never failed before. He returned backstage and checked the playlist for the night. It was set to stop and go at certain intervals. Everything was functioning correctly, so he didn't bother with it. The lights were fine, as well.
Garry couldn't maneuver around the dark or find a place to sit down; the performers were the only ones with chairs. Behind the curtain, there couldn't have been more than five feet of space from the rear curtain to the back wall. Light came in from the stage, and Garry could see Ib sitting between two other performers, each one of them managing their nails. The performer to Ib's right exited onto the stage as the song was changing. Carrie was still on by the time the girl had left.
"Nervous?" Garry asked her, taking the open seat. Ib shook her head, and her hair moved with her. Ib makeup was sealed well; she looked painted, which was what she wanted. While they waited, she fiddled with the ends of her hair.
Garry entered the stage with Ib and introduced her. He hadn't expected much of a reaction, but she received a chorus of applause as he said her name. Ib took charge quickly, and Garry stood in the dark just long enough to see her begin before he had to head off.
Garry met Mary backstage, who ignored him while he stood around and waited. Garry watched the playlist go on to a second song and play out and was back on stage by the time Ib had left. At that point, he had a break window, and three more girls came out. He introduced them only for a moment before his job was done.
Ib and Mary were having a conversation amongst themselves when he saw them, both equally distressed, and Garry stood silently to the side. After a minute or so, he caught Mary's eye, and she beckoned him over.
"I'm going to take Ib to meet some of my regulars." She pronounced haughtily. "Want to tag along?"
He gave it a second of thought. He didn't really care to meet anyone, especially Mary's fans, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt. He agreed to come along, and she flashed him a toothy grin.

She led him and Ib onto the floor, and Garry recognized Mary's regulars immediately; they hollered at the sight of Mary entering the room. Ib was certainly nothing short of terrified. Garry wondered if anyone else could tell how uncomfortable she was.
"Boys!" Mary shouted over the music as she approached the group behind the tables. A burly, bald man replied with "Mary!" and Garry realized the man could have killed him with one punch if he wanted to.
"I brought out a friend for you all!" Mary beamed, gesturing to Ib and completely overlooking Garry, who was not the least bit surprised. He had never truly felt like a third wheel in a platonic relationship until that moment.
The men in their booths and chairs said typical, cringe-worthy things to her, like "hello gorgeous" and "hey cutie", and Garry didn't flinch.
From behind the group, he heard someone ask, "Where ya from, sweetheart?", and without a beat, Ib replied bashfully, "Nowhere you've ever heard of." They were all thoroughly overjoyed at her response.
Garry was ignored for the duration of his visit until a young businessman who was visibly uncomfortable in his seat said to him, "Your announcing tonight was great."
Garry was skeptical, as it wasn't his job to be complimented, but he took the compliment. He nodded toward the businessman. As the man redirected his attention, Garry watched him twist his wedding ring around his ring finger.
Mary could tell Garry wasn't having a good time, so she dismissed him. He left without another word. As he stepped away, he watched Ib attempt to hustle some loud frat boys out of their money. He was mildly amused, but he didn't want to ruin her act, so he ducked away into the back hallway, smiling.
Garry announced for another thirty minutes after before he was out of the lights and off for the night. He was dying to get out of his clothes for the first time in weeks, so he ran off to his dressing room and stripped down into boxers and a t-shirt. He sat in a beanbag, fanning himself in front of an electric fan for fifteen minutes before Carrie came looking for him.
"Aren't you just a hot piece of ass," She noted, suggesting the sweat that was practically pouring off of him was anything but absolutely disgusting. He responded to her sarcasm with a groan. She continued, "I haven't seen you this exhausted in months. I'll get you some water." He heard her stilettos clink all the way down the linoleum hall until they were gone. She was gone for a minute and came back with three cups of water and Ib, who was just trailing behind. Ib handed him a cup, forcing a smile.
"Are you alright?" Ib asked, brushing Garry's stringy bangs out of his eyes. He wiped his face with his arm. Carrie downed her water.

"I'll be fine," He brushed her off. Ib sat down on the floor next to him. "I just wore too much."
"Be more careful next time," she scolded. She took a drink of water. "It's really hot up there."
"How did your hustling go?"
"I gave two lap dances." She flashed him a smile. Carrie nodded with proud affirmation. Under her breath, Garry heard Carrie mumble, "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." Garry ignored the comment. She waved goodbye, and he waved back.
"Did they go well?"
"Yeah. They were both college boys." She laughed shyly. Garry could hear Carrie's stilettos all the way down the hall. "I thought they would grab me."
Garry downed the water and wiped his mouth, warily surprised. "They didn't?"
"Nope."
"Good. That's good. I'm glad." She nodded with him. "They don't like getting kicked out, so it doesn't happen often."
She was silent. He added, "Mary's regulars were terrifying."
Ib laughed. "I thought they were going to eat me." She stopped herself. "There was a nice, big guy there, though. His name was Billy."
"The bald guy?"
"Yeah, him." She sipped her water. "He told me he thought my outfit was cute."
"That's nice, I suppose."
"He was a nice guy. I thought he was scary at first. I was kinda flattered, though."
"Do you have to leave soon?" He asked. She blinked. He bit his tongue and resumed, "Sorry, I... I didn't want you to lose track of time."
She checked the clock on the wall behind him. "Is that clock right?"
"It should be."
"Not for a while." She stood up and stretched. "I don't have class tomorrow. Will you be okay?"
"I think so."
"Alright. Do I look okay?"
"You look gorgeous."
She kicked at the rug bashfully. "Are you leaving soon?"
"Not for a while. I can walk you out after the show if you'd like."
She backed into the hallway. "That'd be great. I'll see you in a bit!" Garry waved. Ib ran off, shoes clacking down the hallway.

Garry fell asleep after a few minutes without changing out of his grimy clothes and woke up to Ib nudging him awake, kneeling on the floor. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes.
"Hey, gorgeous." She was beaming. Garry had a feeling Carrie was beginning to rub off on her.
"Right, right. Sorry." He stood up and leaned against the wall, blood rushing to his head. "I forgot to change."
"I can wait." She flopped down into the beanbag and pulled her phone from her purse. She had already changed out of her costume and was ready to leave. Garry was struck with guilt for falling asleep.
Garry changed into a clean shirt and pants, and struggled to buckle his belt; he couldn't shake how tired he was, probably due to how warm the room was, rendering him lethargic. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ib wearing a long coat, red skirt, and black leggings, and he wondered how she was wearing so many layers of clothing until he realized it was December and, in fact, not ninety degrees outside like it was in his dressing room.
He slipped into his black coat, significantly shorter than Ib's; the cuffs were frayed from wear. He pulled it up over his shoulders and grabbed his backpack from the corner. Ib was already standing before he could help her up. She didn't struggle to stand, even in heels, and he probably should've known better. After all, she was a dancer.
"Shall we?" He said, holding out his hand. She took it with a grin, and he found her hand was much smaller than his in comparison, even when hers was gloved.
He shut the door behind them and stepped into the hall. Some of the lights were already off in the hallway, and he could tell Carrie had probably already left; she had work in the morning. Mary was still there, surely, since she was the final act. Part of the staff was gone, given it was Monday and the show was mostly over anyway. He didn't care to bother Mary.
They passed some girls on the way out who were done for the night. They waved as Ib and Garry walked past, and one said to Ib, "You did great tonight! Have a good one." She turned pink as she said goodbye.
Garry opened the back door for Ib, and she stepped out. He followed her out, and the door closed. Out of the corner of his eye, Garry noticed a man standing a few feet away from them, leaning against the brick wall of the building. Strip clubs had a stereotype of being pretty shady, and the fact that it was night only made the notion worse, but he was still taken aback by the presence of someone else. He assumed he was either a pervert or a drug dealer. He didn't look at him, but, by instinct, he pulled Ib close to his side. The white cloud of her breath grew thicker.
"Ecstacy?" He said to them, a thick accent in his voice.
"We're fine," Garry said. Ib grabbed the sleeve of his coat. He pulled her against him, reminding her he was still there.
He heard Ib fumble with her keys in her purse, her hands numb from the cold even under her gloves. Her black Volkswagen honked obnoxiously as she unlocked it from a few feet away with two clicks of her keys.
Garry opened her door for her, and she slid into the front seat.
"I'll see you tomorrow," He said, stooped over so she could hear him. He pressed his hand against the roof of her car. "Can I give you my phone number?"
"Oh, sure." It was strange for him to not have her phone number already (Garry had the phone number of everyone at the club, just in case), but Ib was unaware. She shuffled through her purse until she had an old receipt and a pen in front of him. He smoothed the receipt out on his jeans and scribbled his number down. Out of the corner of his eye, Garry could tell the dealer hadn't moved.
"I'll text you," He amended. She took the receipt.
"Please." Ib hesitated. "I'll see you tomorrow. Be safe." He pressed a kiss to her cheek and shut her door. Her car started slowly. He walked back into the parking lot and unlocked his own car. He listened to Ib drive off.
Once he had slid into the driver's seat, he shut the door and stared into space for a while, numb to the cold.
He started his car, forgetting he had left his stereo's volume up, and he darted for the volume dial at the first booming note. Sighing, he reclined in the driver's seat. Having backed into his parking space, he drove out of his space and out onto the gravel driveway.
Just as he merged onto the freeway, his phone buzzed in his bag.
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All Eyes On Me