Southern Gentleman's Club

Rejection

Lyra Garrett
Falcon Lake, Georgia

"Are you nervous?" Dawn looked over at me. We sat outside in a waiting area that had a view of the beach. Miami's beaches always captivated me.

I couldn't flex even if I wanted to. "I am a little nervous. Well, I'm always nervous..." I laugh a little. She nods her head. "It's always a possibility that it doesn't go I want it."

"I mean, you can only get a no and be done. It's not like we don't have a backup plan." She reminds me. I roll my eyes playfully.

"The Minnelli Brothers are ready for you now." Laci Minnelli walked out of her office not long after we arrived. I tried not to overanalyze her, but she looked like she'd had an argument with someone. Her voice is a little clipped...

I squeeze Dawn's hand for a moment and then we follow the Minnelli heir down the hall. The air in the room is thick, tense even. I have felt this before. Orion and Aquarius sat at the conference table. Their glasses pulled down on their noses. Green eyes focused on the reports in front of him.

Laci clears her throat harshly, her nostrils flaring. For a split second all three of them carried the same face. But just for a split second.

"Please, take a seat, ladies." Laci offers before she leaves. The way she said it was so...I'd never expected her to have this energy. The curiosity to know what was said before we arrived burned in me but I focused on the task ahead.

"I'm not sure if you remember why we're here. But I sent an email and CC'd you both and Laci about this proposal." Dawn starts ahead of me.

"I have it printed out in front of me. You say your client wants to have his draft night celebration at our club?"

"Yes. He specifically mentioned your establishment to celebrate his accomplishment here. He's a native of Falcon Lake and had come here several times since making his decision to go to the NFL..." I take over the negotiations.

"It says here that exotic dancers, alcohol, unlimited food, etc...already expected in the final total. No cost to us specifically...aside from our regulars not having the opportunity to come on that night." Orion flickers his eyes up at me. "How do I know that no one underage would be let in?"

"NDAs. All private parties that we coordinate automatically come in the package, I CC'd a copy of what comes with it in a separate email as well." I lift my eyebrow up at him. I don't play with me, nigga, I thought.

"As airtight as this is, the answer is no." Aquarius speaks now. I want to roll my eyes.

"No? Is there something missing that we didn't clarify?" Dawn is surprised, ever so slightly irritated. I grab her hand under the table. She drops the subject even before I let go of her hand. "You right. Not worth it." she mumbles under her breath.

"No is the final answer, D. Thank you for your time." we stand simultaneously.

"You're not going to hear the reasons why not?" Orion has a slight taunting tone in his voice. Dawn is closer to the door than I am.

I turn and put my hand on my hip. Because now he is wasting my time. "I never give a man more than one opportunity to tell me no. Doesn't matter the situation."

Dawn winks her eye and leads me out the door with our briefcases in hand. "Muthafuckas wasted our time. Could've said no in a fuckin email." She mumbles. Laci is coming up the hall with papers in hand.

"I got your proposals in my hands, ladies. I like the-" she starts.

"Orion already decided no. But thank you for giving us the time." I stop her before she even got into it.

"What?" her face scrunches up in anger. She blows hot air out of her nose. "I'm sorry, I definitely wouldn't have told you to fly all the way here from Miami if I knew they'd shoot it down in five minutes."

"Girl, fuck them. We always have a backup plan. Thanks again Laci." We hug her and head toward the elevator. "We gotta go to work now."

"Bad bitch recognize bad bitch." She bids us farewell. We got to the private plane. My mind drifted to our early days under the tutelage of Skye and Elyse Minnelli.

"You see this flyer? You think we should apply?" Dawn held the paper up to my face. Help wanted, college aged preferred! German-Anderson Event Coordinating Services. We were college freshmen looking for work that balanced with our hectic schedules.

"Do you think we have a chance to get picked?"

"Hell, they can only say no..." she shrugged her shoulders. Before I really had a chance to tell her to think about it, she was applying for herself. I got the website from the flyer and applied too. About two weeks later we both did a virtual interview and then an in-person interview with Elyse and Skye Minnelli themselves.

We worked our way from decoration workers and bussing tables, to waitresses for banquets, to bartenders when we turned twenty-one. Something in Skye made her pull us to the side.

"Come to my office tomorrow. We need to talk." We swallowed our tongues. If you're ever called to the office, then your ass is gone. We cried the whole night. Working for them was wonderful money. Our savings accounts were looking glorious and we could buy what we wanted at the same time. Now we're about to get fired...LAWD!

Elyse sat in her desk with a smile on her face. We stood shaking. "Have a seat." We almost fall in the fluffy chairs in front of her desk. Her smile is so warm. "Skye has brought it to my attention that you two are our hardest and most hungry workers...and I like hard work."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"We have both decided to offer you both to be protégés of ours. Learn this business so you can have your own in a few years. Make real money."

"Huh? Lemme move my bang real quick." I couldn't resist.

Elyse fell out with her musical laugh. "Meet us here on Monday at 10 am."

"Who would've thought we would be both worth 500 mil by thirty?" Dawn teased me. I shook my head.

"A smooth bil between us...I ain't mad at it."

A week later

Dawn Adams

Miami, Florida

I sat behind my desk going over specifics. I was still a little annoyed by Orion's performance in Georgia, but I shook it off. It was just business. But at the same time, it was like he wanted to see how far we would go to get that venue. Eh, I almost don't blame him. They always got what they wanted anyway.

I grabbed my purse and car keys. I have a showing on Ocean Drive in about an hour and I wanna get something to eat first. A small group of wealthy people were waiting to be shown this property by the beach. In addition to event coordinating, I am a highly sought after real estate agent, investor and columnist. A girl should always have more than one stream of income. Lyra is a motivational speaker, accountant for our business and investor.

"I hope my rare tardiness has given you a reason to look around the outside for yourselves." I walked up to the small crowd right on time with a smile. I press the button to let them in and up the elevator they go. I go up a separate elevator and meet them to allow entrance to the penthouse for sale.

A shadow casted over me and turn around. "Dawn Adams...real estate guru." I knew that voice.

"Aquarius Minnelli. What could you possibly want?" I smile at him.

"I'm looking to move back to Miami soon and I heard you were the best, so I came to the open house..." he takes a step closer to me. "There's nothing wrong with it, right?"

"Absolutely not. Go ahead."