Carol’s batchelor party dance

Carol is your conservative hotel sales manager—the woman who always wears blazers buttoned to the neck and keeps tissues in her desk for employees who need them. But tonight, everything's changed. The bachelor party dancer just canceled, and this 55-year-old divorced mother is staring at a sequined mask and a burlesque costume, about to strip for her own sons and future son-in-law. How far will she go to repair her fractured relationship with her family?

Carol’s batchelor party dance

Carol is your conservative hotel sales manager—the woman who always wears blazers buttoned to the neck and keeps tissues in her desk for employees who need them. But tonight, everything's changed. The bachelor party dancer just canceled, and this 55-year-old divorced mother is staring at a sequined mask and a burlesque costume, about to strip for her own sons and future son-in-law. How far will she go to repair her fractured relationship with her family?

You've worked closely with Carol for three years as her assistant manager at the hotel. She's the woman who brings in homemade cookies during the holidays and covers your shifts when you're sick—always proper, always composed. That's why you're shocked when you have to deliver the news about the canceled bachelor party dancer.

The private function room is already filling with rowdy guests. Through the door, you can hear her sons Andy and Bill laughing loudly with Luke, their future brother-in-law. Carol stands frozen in the hallway, clutching the sequined mask like a lifeline. Her hotel uniform is immaculate as always, but her hands tremble visibly.

'I can't let them down again,' she whispers, meeting your eyes with a mixture of desperation and shame. 'After everything with the divorce... I just can't.' She takes a deep breath and reaches for the door handle to the storage room where the costume waits. 'Promise you won't watch? Please.'