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My cheeks warmed. “Yes, I am very unapologetic. You need something that works with the architecture, not against it like an attention whore. A sculptural fixture would be perfect.”

“Damn, you called my chandeliers attention whores. That’s cold.” His eyes tightened for a moment before he burst into laughter. “I like you,” he admitted.

I smiled, then said, “I’d like to take your lighting to the next level. How do we make that happen, Ledger?”

There was silence between us for a moment. “I have your information. I’ll have my executive assistant send you an email so you can get what you need to make a formal proposal. How does that sound?”

This would be like taking candy from a baby. With a bright smile, I responded. “It sounds like a plan.”

I Be on that Kryptonite Reserve . . .

Kryptonite Reserve was my baby. For a two-year-old business, you would have thought it was in existence for several years with the profit I made in the first year. The funny part was that I knew it would when I came up with the concept.

My other main business caused me to close deals in many different spaces outside of my office. Through the years, I noticed that one of the main locations that I was requested to visit after a golf club was a cigar lounge. Most of the cigar lounges that you visited were members-only—well, the prominent ones anyway.

For these deals, I had to become a member just to step foot in their establishment. The first or second time, they would allow me in on a visitor’s pass. The issue arose when I gained multiple clients at one cigar lounge. After that second visit to the lounge, they weren’t as friendly as the first. Membership would be required if I wanted to continue to source clients.

The lounges were cool, but they weren’t my vibe. I’d call them what they were. They were good ol’ boys’ clubs. In 2022, I decided I wanted to visit a cigar lounge that represented Black excellence and allowed others to spectate at our convenience. The concept of Kryptonite Reserve was born. In 2024, the concept became a reality.

I wanted a place that represented me as the Black king I was. I was masculine, private, calculated, and unapologetic. I was a man who had nothing to prove and everything to protect. My place was an oasis where grown people could come for intellectual conversations, great food, top-shelf liquor, premium cigars, and privacy. The loud club atmosphere was not what you’d find at Kryptonite Reserve.

To be a member of my cigar lounge, money was not enough to get into the room. We needed to see your value. I’d been told in the past that my requirements for membership were too stringent. I had also told those individuals to suck my dick. This was my shit. Access to my shit had to be earned, not just purchased.

There were three levels of membership here. Everyone who was granted access started at the reserve membership level. To be considered for membership, you had to be at least twenty-five years old. That age selection was intentional because twenty-one was the legal age for cigars. I placed the age where I did to make it understood that we expected a level of maturity.

An application was required. No one could walk in and expect immediate membership. I wanted to know your basic professional information. I also wanted to know what you liked and why you wanted to be here. On top of that, all applicants had to be sponsored by an existing member or invited by management. If you were invited by management, that automatically placed you in a special tier because it meant either myself or my bro Cole invited you.

A part of the application process was to let us know your standing on a professional or entrepreneurial level. The members of my lounge were established in their lives, whether they worked in a corporation or owned their own business. I needed to know that you had some business about yourself. I didn’t need you to prove anything to me, but I did need to know that you had something worth protecting. People with things to lose tended to think a little more before they acted.

A background screening was required for the safety and privacy of my members. There, of course, were certain offenses that would be an automatic rejection for membership—charges for crimes such as fraud, theft, certain violent crimes, and any kind of sexual crimes.

Our club did not only consist of men. The influx of women who were in this world was interesting. These were not women who came here on a find a man mission either. They truly enjoyed this lifestyle for themselves. I wanted everyone to feel safe when they were in Kryptonite Reserve.

A non-disclosure agreement was required as well. We weren’t Vegas, but whatever happened here stayed here. There was no photography or taping without permission. There was a high level of privacy here. I didn’t care if your cousin saw your husband in here with his mistress. . . He’d better mind his own business. If your husband came here with his mistress, that meant that ho had a membership as well because we had a two-time visitation policy.

There were certain nights where we allowed influencers in for content purposes. That was how I met Milan Renee. The nights when we allowed them in were for private events that one of our members hosted.

Like any respected club, lounge, or organization, we operated under a code of conduct. Respect was at the top of that list, and disrespect would not be tolerated even once. One instance of disrespect was an automatic revocation of membership.

Naturally, to be a member of Kryptonite Reserve, there was a financial requirement of an initiation fee and annual membership fee. The initial initiation fee for the first tier was $500, and the yearly dues were $1,200. For the first year of membership, the total was $1,700.

New members received a probationary membership for up to ninety days. That was so management had time to observe their behavior and how they treated those around them before offering permanent membership. The initiation fee was non-refundable.

No one’s membership was on automatic renewal. I ran this shit like an apartment complex. You got a notice ahead of time if you were asked back and the same if you were not.

My club was exclusive, and not everyone could get in. We had an aggressive cap of 400 members. The reserve tier membership was capped at 275 members.

Our next tier of membership was our black card membership, which we reserved for strong-standing, loyal members who understood discretion, class, and the commitment to being a part of the culture that was Kryptonite Reserve. Our management team invited members to this level. Upon invitation, an upgrade fee of $1,500 was due. The annual dues for this tier was $2,400. For the first year, at this tier, the members would pay a total of $3,900. The black card tier was capped at 100 members. Expanded privileges and benefits started at that tier.

The final and most prestige tier was the kryptonite membership. This was a level that didn’t have an application process and couldn’t be purchased. You had to be personally invited by me and only me. My bro Cole made recommendations here and there as my best friend, but I made the final decision. The men and women in the tier were my elite, small circle, as only twenty-five members at a time were in it. For the annual fee of $5,000 for these members, the perks were breathtaking.

I put so much thought into everything when it came to my baby, Kryptonite Reserve. When I said everything, that meant the lights as well. Miss Memoree Layne had just informed me that I should have taken a little more time to think.

“I have your information. I’ll have my executive assistant send you an email so you can get what you need to make a formal proposal. How does that sound?” I asked after she’d just broken my heart about my $20,000 chandeliers.

Her smile was beautiful and telling. It told me that she thought she had this in the bag. I respected that because it told me that she was a closer, just like me. “It sounds like a plan.”

I nodded with a smile and shifted my body so I could address everyone in the section. “I want you ladies to have a great evening here. Everything is on the house. Memoree Layne, I look forward to our upcoming meeting.”