I started walking toward the entrance. As planned, Diane walked next to me while Bella and Simone followed single file behind her. “Where they think they goin’?” I heard one woman say as we passed.
“I don’t know, but they need to get their wanna-be-cute asses in the back of this line like everybody else,” the woman in line with her said. That was exactly the response I was hoping for. I wanted to set the tone from the start. I wanted everybody to know that these ladies were special.
We walked right up to the door, where security removed the velvet rope and allowed us in without any questions. I could hear the mumbles as the door closed behind us.
“Can I help you, ladies?”
“Yes, I’m sure you can. My name is Jada West. I believe we have an area reserved for us?”
“Yes, Ms. West. We’ve been expecting you, and welcome to Sensations. A bottle of Moet is waiting at your table, complements of the management,” the hostess informed us.
“You ladies look so good tonight. It would be my honor to escort you through the crowd to your table,” one of the clubs security staff said with his eye on Simone.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Why don’t you ladies follow me,” he said, and along with another member of security, escorted us to our table. The security escort wasn’t planned, but I was gonna work it to our advantage.
Sensations was a very big club with a huge dance floor, a big stage, and five bars. The VIP room was in the back of the club, directly across from the stage, with a small staircase that led to the entrance. It was elevated so guests in the VIP room could watch the show without having their view obstructed by the crowd.
As I expected, the club was packed. I was glad for the security escort, because had it not been for them clearing a path with flashlights, we would’ve never made it to our area. Not to mention, our entrance wouldn’t have had the same impact. As we made our way through the crowd, I could see that we were getting a lot of attention from the men, and quite a few women.
When we arrived at our couch, we found it had been roped off for us. I reached in my clutch and pulled out two hundred-dollar bills. “Thank you for getting us here,” I said and handed a bill to each of our escorts.
“You didn’t have to do that,” one said, but Bella had his attention.
“But thank you,” the other said and practically snatched the bill out of my hand. He quickly rushed off and grabbed a waitress. “You take good care of my friends here.”
Once they were gone, she popped the cork and poured each of us a glass. I raised my glass. “Well, ladies,” I said over the music, “here’s to us. The world is truly ours and tonight is just the beginning.”
“Damn, this is the bomb,” Diane commented.
“I told you guys to have faith in me. I know what I’m doing,” I said, relieved that it worked out that way.
A man walked up to the table and asked Simone if she wanted to dance. He was nicely dressed and kind of cute, but I could tell that he had enough money in his wallet to buy somebody a few drinks. Maybe he could spring for breakfast after the club closed, but that would be a stretch. He wasn’t even on my radar. In the short time we had been there, I had already scoped out a few targets.
Before she could answer, I spoke up. “No. She doesn’t want to dance with you,” I said with a smile.
He looked at me like I was crazy. “I wasn’t talkin’ to you.”
“Yes, you were.”
“What about you?” he asked, thinking he’d get a different result from Bella.
“She doesn’t want to dance with you either.”
He looked at Diane, she held up her hand. “Don’t even waste your time,” Diane told him and he went away.
“Why does it seem like all the cuties are broke,” Bella asked.
“I know what you mean. It wasn’t too long ago that I would’ve jumped up and been on the floor right now,” Simone said with a smile as she watched him walk away. “I might have even given him some.”
Diane laughed. “Jada’s right. He’s the type of guy that will try to keep you on the dance floor so he ain’t gotta buy you no drink.”
Finally, members of our prospective clientele started approaching us, and one at a time I allowed the ladies to dance. But we had a strict one-song limit. I put that rule in place for two reasons. First off, dancing was not what we were there for. Dancing makes you sweat. Sweat ruins your hair and suddenly your outfit doesn’t look perfect anymore. I wanted them to look perfect. Perfect objects for the pleasure of man. Two: you give a wolf a taste and then say, “Thank you,” and walk away leaving them with that you-know-you-want-me look in their eyes.
We weren’t in the club for a good hour before I had spoken with several men, who I knew from their conversation, would become my clients. There was Alex the accountant. He couldn’t get enough of Bella. Then there was a guy who introduced himself to me as T-Love. His ballin’ ass was drippin’ money. I knew that with her experience in dealing with guys like him, that Diane would be the one he wanted.
While the ladies were on the floor, I was giving bedroom eyes to some eye candy sitting across the room. I didn’t know what he did, but I knew he was rich. He was iced-out, from the large diamond nuggets that hung from his ears, to the large diamond studded bracelets on his wrist and the Rolex President watch. He was drippin’ money too, literally wearing his riches for us all to see.
Simone and Diane had just returned to the table when the waitress came over and leaned down toward me. “Compliments of the gentlemen over there.” She placed the standing ice bucket with a bottle of Cristal on ice near our table. Once the waitress had filled my glass, I glanced in his direction and raised it in acknowledgment of his gesture, but he was on his way over to me.
“So, whassup?” he asked.
“You,” I said.
He looked at Simone then back at me. “You ladies mind if I join you?”
They both shook their heads.
“I was just about to use the ladies room,” Diane said as she stood, Simone followed.
“I like your style,” he said. “You know, the way you carry it.”
“Is that right?”
“So what’s up with you? I ain’t seen you here before,” he said.
“Are you a regular or something? Keeping tabs on who comes and goes?” I inquired.
“Nah, I just recognize a dime piece when I see one,” he countered.
“I understand,” I said, but I wasn’t getting a good vibe from this one. The way he was talking just didn’t fit what he was wearing.
“Would you like to dance?”
“No. I don’t dance,” I replied coldly, as Bella came back and slid in next to me. He started to say something, but I cut him off. “I don’t mean to be rude, but, I need to speak with my friend. I really appreciate the Cristal, but if you’d excuse us.”
“I really did wanna talk to you.”
“Do you have a card?”
He stood up and reached in his pocket, pulled out a solid gold cardholder and handed me one. “I’ll look forward to hearing from you,” he said and walked away.
Once he was gone, Bella looked at me. “He was cute. What does he do?”
I looked at his card. “Investment banker,” I told Bella. “But there’s something about him that doesn’t quite feel right. But I’ll check him out.”
By the time we left the club, I had a collection of business cards and phone numbers that I was confident would turn into money.
8
Since we began going to the club business had picked up, and not a moment too soon as far as I was concerned. The club had become a mandatory event, unless you had an appointment, and had been every Friday night for the last three months, but it was starting to get old. Fact of the matter was, I was getting enough referral business from our clientele that we really didn’t need to go there, but the ladies loved it. It was the one night of the week they looked forward to. At first, I thought it was because it gave them a chance to be stars. “That’s not it, Jada,” Bella corrected. “It’s because it’s the only time that we all get together and hang out.”