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“Okay, thanks again,” I responded before hurrying and replacing the other dresses back onto the hangers and placing them back into the closet. I was dressed and had even put on light makeup before Regina hollered for me to get my butt to the door so that we could leave.
The Diamond Class lounge implemented a dress code. Even the bouncers were dressed in suits and buttoned-down shirts. There was also a cover charge imposed on the Lounge’s customers.
“Hello, Miss Butler, good to see you again.”
“Please call me Khadejah,” I said to the bouncer that I first met when the assistant showed me around the club after I was hired. I didn’t get to meet the owner two weeks ago because he was out of town on business. Everything, including the hiring, had been handled through emails and his assistant, Jane Hudson.
“Sure Miss--, I mean Khadejah,” he chuckled. You must call me Randy,” he stated eyeing Regina as she stood by my side.
“Oh, Randy this is my friend Regina.”
“Hello, Regina. Nice to meet you. You two can go on through.”
“Hi Randy and thanks,” Regina responded as we walked into the dimly lit interior of the lounge.
A long mahogany bar took up around one-fourth of the floor space. The bar had an antique look with beautiful wood and detailed carpentry. Mirrors were allocated all around the interior. There was an extensive lineup of different beers. The drink list consisted of any alcoholic beverage imaginable to humanity. They had both aged beers, imported, and also host theme nights centered around a local brewery style of beer.
Big heavy wooden tables and comfortable leather booths were in the center seating area. Plush carpeted floors and high arched ceilings surrounded by wood grained interior walls gave the place a classic look.
“I love coming here. More so now since I didn’t have to pay to get in. I see being your friend has its perks,” Regina giggled. “I need a drink,” she added climbing up on one of the high back barstools.
“Okay, I’ll—”
“Will you have one drink with me? It looks like you need it to calm your nerves,” Regina cut me off.
I glanced at the thin band wrist watch I had on. “I suppose one drink to calm my nerves won’t hurt. It beats sitting back there in the waiting area for thirty minutes before I need to get on stage. I hopped up on the barstool next to Regina.
“What will you two beautiful ladies have tonight?” The cute bartender asked.
“I’ll have a Mojito,” Regina answered and looked at me with a question in her eyes. “Your drink is on me tonight.”
“I’ll have a martini with three olives. Thanks, Regina. “
“Anytime my friend,” she replied looking around. “Damn! Who is that hunk of a man staring at you as if he wants to eat you alive?”
I looked down the bar to my immediate right in the direction my friend was looking, and my breath lodged itself in my chest. “Here are your drinks. Enjoy,” the bartender said before moving on to the next customer. My drink had barely hit the counter before I picked it up and swallowed most of it in two gulps.
“Dejah, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I didn’t tell you earlier, but the real bastard I was fuming about earlier is that man standing right over there. I had a bad moment, so I went to walk on the beach for a few minutes to clear my head. That man walked up to me and kissed me.”
“Huh, come again?”
“You heard me right. That man over there kissed me,” I said with anger in my voice. “Who does something like that?” I frowned.
“Damn girl! You have been here a little over two weeks, and you’ve kissed a Greek god and landed your dream job too. You got it going on.” Yeah, that was Regina all the way always looking on the bright side. Especially when it came to a handsome man.
“I didn’t ask to be kissed. I don’t know where that man’s lips have been.”
“Well, from what you told me—you didn’t know where Darren’s lips had been either until you walked into his apartment and found him going face down on your sister.”
“Oh my God, don’t remind me,” I felt myself getting nauseous at the thought.
“Don’t look now but Mr. Fineness is on his way over here. I wouldn’t have mind getting kissed by a gorgeous man like that on the beach,” she whispered and jabbed me in the side with her elbow.
“Shit!” I gasped and downed my drink in one gulp.
Questions bombarded through my head. What did he want? What is he doing here? How come these men just can’t understand it when someone doesn’t want them around? So what if he’s Mr. Fineness? Darren was handsome as hell and he did what he did to me, he hurt me like no one had ever before. And this man, he is handsomeness personified, but so what? He had the audacity to kiss me out of the blue when he clearly didn’t know me. Who can guarantee he would ever treat me, or any woman, any better than Darren did? No, I concluded in my mind, I do not need to get worked up about this right now.
My nerves, however, didn’t agree. I reached over and picked up Gina’s mojito and drained the contents of her glass too. Better drunk than angry and embarrassed, right?
