Page 56 of A Little Kissing Between Friends

Mal came from out the back and walked around, greeting everyone. She spoke to each and every person, making eye contact and saying their name. The way she knew and acknowledged everyone reinforced the differences between Mal and the owners of other clubs. She wasn’t putting on to give us a false sense of family; this was who she was. It was one of the things I loved about her that also made me not even consider wanting to work at another club. We weren’t just dollar signs here. Mal didn’t prioritize the highest earners and ignore everyone else. It was equal love on all fronts, and that’s what made Mal, and subsequently, Sanity, one of a kind.

After speaking to everyone, Mal went to the bar and poured herself a cup of coffee from the travelers on the other side of the plates. She added a criminally small splash of cream and at least a half a cup of sugar before walking back to the section. Standing at the handrail, she slid one hand into the pocket of her wrinkle-free lime-green slacks and addressed us.

“Okay, y’all. I’m sure everyone is wondering why I called this team meeting. I always want to be transparent with y’all. I never want anyone who works for me to say they don’t have any idea of what’s going on.” She looked at each of us. “With that being said—”

“You sellin’ the club?” yelled someone from the far right of the section. I didn’t see who said it, but it sounded like one of the servers.

“What?!”

“I know you fuckin’ lyin’!”

“Oh Lord, I don’t want to find a new club. I’m too old to start over!”

“Girl, what are you talking about?! You’re only twenty-seven.”

“I said what I said!”

Mal removed her hand from her pocket and held it up.

“Hold on now,” she urged, raising her a voice to get above the panicked shouts. “Let me finish. Sanity has been doing better than a lot of people expected. This is good news, but unfortunately it means that the people who invested in the club from the start are paying more attention now.”

“What does that mean?” one of the bartenders asked.

Mal sighed. “It means they want to buy me out. They want to take over ownership of the club so they can have maximum profits.”

It was quiet for a second while everyone processed, and then the noise level skyrocketed.

“Oh hell no!”

“Ain’t that ’bout a bitch!”

“I hope you told them no!”

She let everyone yell their opinions out, waiting patiently as she sipped her coffee. Once the noise died down, she continued.

“Let me assure you all. They’ll have to pry Sanity from my cold, dead fingers. This is my baby and I’m not letting it go for any amount of money.”

We all cheered and I felt a bone-deep relief wash over me. Sanity housed and nurtured my chosen family. To lose it would be a devastating blow.

“I’m telling y’all this for transparency, and also so that you won’t be alarmed when some changes start being made. There was a recent theft issue in the dressing room. I learned that it was connected to our former security system, which was a referral by one of the investors.”

“Oh, hell naw!” yelled Mercedes. “That’s a setup!”

Mal nodded. “I thought so too. Which is why that security company is no longer contracted with us and we are now on the hunt for a replacement. No need to worry—I expect to receive a few bids for service in the next twenty-four hours.”

After answering any additional questions about the thefts, the meeting dispersed and we were free to go about the rest of our day.

Instead of immediately leaving, a few of us hung around the club, chatting about what had been discussed. The club didn’t open for more than an hour, so a couple of the dancers decided to get some practice in on the pole. I refilled my coffee and my plate before Mercedes and I found ourselves sitting at a table near the stage talking as they danced.

“So how did last night go?” Mercedes asked me. She knew that I’d come in to work, but I hadn’t told her about what happened with Poppa. I took that moment to catch her up. Her eyes popped wide open when I told her what I’d overheard Poppa say about me.

It was bullshit in the highest order, because I’d dated at least three women since I’d met Poppa, and it all counted, even if she pretended like she didn’t see it. Everyone else of importance in my life knew that. She was the only one with blinders on.

And I got that, kinda. We didn’t talk about this kind of stuff. I’d actually assumed that it made her uncomfortable to discuss sex with me for whatever reason. In the beginning, I thought she just came from a conservative family that wasn’t open with those type of things, but after meeting her brothers and then her parents, I realized that it was just something about me that brought out the prude in her. However, after being her friend for the past three years, and having to hear about her conquests from the girls at work, I learned that not talking about sex didn’t equal not having it. Cyn wasn’t running through Sanity like a tomb raider, but she wasn’t a monk either.

It didn’t bother me then, and it didn’t bother me now, because the way I saw it, whatever she did with the women before me could only benefit me if we ever took it there.

And Lord knows I was tryna take it there with her.