Penny swept the mascara over her long lashes twice before stopping and looking at herself in the mirror. She gave herself a critical once-over, but she was never very hard on herself. She knew she had natural beauty and was the envy of many women; she just liked to play up on her looks as much as possible. Every morning when she looked at herself in the mirror, the first thing she did was tell herself words of affirmation. She firmly believed in self-love and body confidence.

Music played through her phone, but she was only partially listening to it. Getting ready for work always put her on edge, and the background noise helped, even if she wasn’t fully paying attention to it. She looked herself over once more in the mirror and smiled, satisfied with the look. Then, she went to the closet and retrieved her purse.

She had been so tired when she got off work the night before that she had just shoved her things into the closet and had forgotten about them. But she didn’t want to carry around the tips she had made. She pulled out a roll of twenty-dollar bills and pulled out her shoebox from the back of the closet, setting the money carefully inside. She paused for a moment, looking down at the rolls of cash that lined the bottom of the shoebox.

She glanced over at the wall, calculating how long she had been saving her tips and how much longer it would take before she could quit her job at the nightclub and pursue her dream of having her own business. Ever since she was a child, Penelope Connor had dreamt of being a high-end fashion designer. She had posters on every wall of her bedroom of the icons in the industry: Karl Lagerfeld, Diane von Furstenberg, Coco Chanel.

Penny promised herself that her clothing would only be sold in the high-end malls and stores, and her name would be known around the world. Though she grew up poor, she knew without a doubt that poverty would not keep her down. As a little girl, she dreamt of living her best life, a life where money was never an issue, where she would be able to travel the world and meet important people, but most important of all, make women look and feel beautiful with her designs.

She had her goals and was passionate about seeing them come alive. Her twenty-year plan for her professional life was crystal clear and she used it as a guide to keep her motivated and on track.

Penny was blessed with a curvy, voluptuous body, which she used as an asset. It helped her get the job she currently held at the nightclub when she was only twenty-one years old, but that was four years ago. Now, she was growing tired of the men and their jeers, and the assumption that if they gave her money she would do whatever they asked of her. Though she was only a waitress and a part-time bartender at the nightclub, Penny was often treated as though she were a stripper or a hooker.

Many of the men who came through would openly hit on her, and many seemed to assume that if they gave her some money she would go home with them. Or, at the very least, pleasure them while they were in the nightclub. But Penny had high standards. She did not sleep around casually to begin with, and that meant she definitely never with slept with any of guys she met at the club.

She was sick and tired of being sick and tired of her lifestyle. She was tired of the late nights and sleeping long into the day, she was tired of not having much of a social life to speak of, and she was tired of the way she was treated at work. She wanted to break out of the drudgery that had become her life and embrace a new kind of normal right now, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before she would be able to raise the initial money to start her business.

Penny had gone to a seminar that taught women how to save their money and invest if they want to finish rich. Faced with mounting bills from all her schooling, rent, and just day-to-day expenses, the only sensible solution she could think of was to save her tips. It was no secret she made good money that way, and thanks to the way the nightclub managed their employees, she didn’t even have to claim the money on her taxes. She could take the cash and leave it in the box in her closet for as long as she wanted, only touching it when she was in dire need. Of course, that had happened a time or two, but it had been a while since she had needed to break into it, and it was starting to pile up.

Penny closed the lid and set the box back in the closet with a sigh. Though she knew she was coming up on having enough money to quit the nightclub for good, that didn’t change the fact that she was going to have to go in to work tonight, and she really didn’t feel like it. She was so tempted to call out sick. There had been a group of men who had come into work the night before, and they had tipped her more for the bottle of wine she provided them with than the bottle was worth.

Her phone rang, interrupting the music, and she lifted it to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Penny? It’s Doug.” She sighed on the inside, though she managed to keep it to herself. Doug was her boss and one of the owners of the nightclub. There was only ever one reason why he would be calling her, and before he even said the words she guessed what it was. And she was right.

“Hey, Doug, what’s up?” she asked warily.

“I was wondering if it might be possible for you to stay late tonight. Coming in early would be great, too, but definitely stay late if you can,” he said. She shook her head as she rolled her eyes. She knew that was what he wanted, and she wasn’t happy that she was right.

“Sure, Doug, I can do that. It’s more money for me. But what’s up?” she asked. She knew there had to be some reason that she was asked to stay, and though she wasn’t so sure she wanted to know the answer, she asked anyway. “Did someone call out?”

“No, but those men who were in last night were pretty impressed with your service. They called ahead to make sure you were going to be in tonight and I told them you were. Girl, I told you about that charisma of yours. You are able to stir up feelings in men that drive them crazy. See if you can get these deep pockets to commit to a bigger and more expensive bottle of wine tonight if you can. I know it’ll be a piece of cake for you.” He spoke as if he was complimenting her, but she could see right through it. He just wanted the money. Penny rolled her eyes once more even though she wanted to burst out in laughter from the mere audacity of the request.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” she said in a controlled voice. A picture of the leering half-drunk rich men rose up into her mind, but she quickly replaced it with a picture from her vision board. Knowing that the tips would help to get her much closer to her dream helped a lot. Penny had learned a while ago that she would have to change her mindset about her job if she wanted to finish rich. She looked at the job as her investor.

From their behavior during the night before, she knew that they were after more than just the wine, so she wasn’t looking forward to seeing them again tonight. There had been one man in particular who had taken a liking to her, and though she had to be friendly for her job, it was clear he wasn’t getting the hint she was not interested. She had worried that she would need to get one of the bouncers involved, and was relieved when she saw that was not the case. It wasn’t ever pleasant to see people escorted out of the building, and she always worried what was going to happen when she got off work. Would they be waiting for her out in the dark parking lot? Would they try to kidnap her or jump her? Sometimes her mind would go off in tangents of fear and she would have to deliberately bring herself back to reason.

There were a number of fears associated with the job she was working, but with the undisputable fact she was making more money in a single night than her parents had brought home in an entire week growing up, she didn’t feel she could justify leaving. At least, not until she reached the goal of one hundred thousand dollars.

When Penny set that goal for herself, she knew she did not have the skillset to achieve it. She meticulously set about learning all she could about people. She studied the art of seduction, how to influence people, and how the rich became successful. Eventually, through working at the nightclub, she mastered at least the first two, and was well on her way to the third.

At least, she hoped she was.