Ex Again

CHAPTER TWO: "I'M GROWN"

CHAPTER TWO: "I'M GROWN"

He sat in the VIP section, surrounded by his friends, their friends, scantily clad women and some people that he was not even sure that he wanted to know. Outwardly it seemed that he was blending in with the crowd, occasionally saying the right things at the right time but deep down inside he knew that he no longer belonged here.

Somebody was watching him. He felt it. Lazily his eyes scanned the room and his eyes fell on her. Despite the thick layer of makeup that she had applied to her face, despite having a body that could rival both Beyonce and Nicki Minaj, she could not have been older than twenty two. He could see that she still had a young mind even though she was trying to act grown. It was all in her eyes. They gave her away.

Turning his back on her and taking a sip of his Hennessy, Deandre Morgan couldn't help but wonder for the millionth time tonight 'what am I doing here?' He had outgrown the club scene, the girls and the fast life. His best friend was the owner of the trendy club called Swayy and if it had not been for that, he would not have come. His friends have been complaining about his absence from the party scene. Besides being busy with his architectural business, he had started painting and drawing again. It helped him to relax after a stressful day at work. Some people resorted to alcohol, others to gambling but nothing calmed him down like paint, brushes, coal and a canvas.

"Bruh, are you ok?"
"Yeah man" Deandre responded with a slight a smile. He had been nursing the same glass of Hennessy for the past hour. "Club Swayy is always packed Ant, soon I'll be borrowing money from you."

Deandre Morgan and Anthwan Miller had been friends since diaper days. Their mothers were best friends which resulted in them becoming friends. It was commonly mistaken that they were brothers because they had the same caramel skin tone and athletic built. Both had brown eyes and even rocked the same faded hairstyle. While Dre stood at 6.8 feet, Ant was merely two inches shorter. They had dreamed together, worked hard together, inspired each other and now they were both successful business men in their own right. Anthwan had always been a people's person with his outgoing personality and infectious smile. He loved to host parties and events when they were at college. As a club owner, he now gets to combine his love for people and his degree in business administration and make a lot of money from it.

Deandre on the other hand had always been into drawing. Well maybe not always because when he was in elementary school, he sucked at drawing which only motivated him to try harder. He would practice every day and eventually he fell in love with art. Tall buildings, bridges and intricate designs were what fascinated him and that is how he made his pretty penny.

"I need to talk to you" Anthwan said and led Deandre away from the noise to the place in the club where he conducted business, his office. After pouring himself and Dre a drink, he sat down on the couch across his best friend.

"So what's on your mind?" Deandre asked after a moment of silence
"I should be asking you that Dre. You haven't been your usual self lately."
"I...I guess I have out grown this" he said gesturing to the people on the dance floor dancing and having a good time. Although Anthwan's office was at the back of the club, the glass walls still allowed one to have a clear view of the club without the noise.

"You're not becoming a pastor or something, are you?"
"Not me Ant" he replied with a laugh. "It ain't even like that. The fast girls, fast life gets old after a while. I'm a grown man now and I want to start acting like one. I can't be in the club hitting on 21 year olds."
"You just turned 32 and yet you're talking like you're 40. Who is she?"
"There is no she, you know that I don't believe in love."

That was the conversation that transpired between Deandre and Anthwan over a year ago. At first Anthwan thought that it was indeed a woman but as the months progressed, he was proven wrong.

Since Deandre no longer went clubbing, they had to find alternative ways to hang out. For Anthwan it was a big adjustment at first because Dre had always been his right hand man but a man gotta do what a man gotta do and he ain't no hater. Live and let live was his motto.

As he pulled up infront of Deandre's house, he couldn't help but smile. It was a beautiful brown stone house in one of the most affluent neighbourhoods and Dre had worked hard to get here. As for himself, he was still very comfortable in his three bedroom condo near his club, he was not going to buy a big house just to live in it all by himself.

"Hey man!" Dre said as soon as he got into Ant's Ford truck. His friend had a thing for big cars.
"Sup Dre" Ant nodded in his direction before pulling out of the drive way. "Why do you have a camera with you?"
"Remember you said that you want to open your first restaurant? I think I might have found the spot and that is where we are going."

They had always spoken about opening a restaurant. Dre would design and create the place physically into what they always wanted it to be and the rest would be up to Anthwan to do.

"Ok but that still does not explain why you have a camera with you."
"I want to capture the current state of the building before I start working on it."
"For your portfolio I assume?"
"Yes sir!"
"So..." Ant said after a few minutes of driving in comfortable silence, "is there anyone that you're seeing?"
"Like I told you the last time, that ain't even on my radar."
"Come on Dre, like you said last time, you're grown. It's time you start doing grown folk things and put a woman in that big house of yours. Please tell me why a single man needs a six bedroom house for?"
"I'll get me a woman as soon as you get you one as well."
"I have women" Ant replied with a smirk.
"You know that's not what I mean and you know it. I'm talking about getting yourself a wifey."
"And youu know that ain't happening anytime soon cos all I meet are women at the club and you know that women we meet at the club ain't no good. Well maybe some may be good but I'm not willing to take that chance."
"You should go to church then and get yourself a praying woman."
"Hell to the naw partner! The same girls that be dropping it low in the club Saturday night are the same ones praising the Lord on Sunday morning. I don't want no double agent."
"So since the women at the club or the church are no good, where do you suggest I find a woman to fill up those six bedrooms with some babies?" Dre laughed.
"Playa, playa! For a house that big, you need a wife, a mistress and a concubine" Ant joked. "I'm going to hook you up with the CEO type of women, you know, those that got their degree from Yale, did their Masters at Havard and now run a fortune 500 company."
"Charity starts at home brother," Dre said in his best preacher's voice "before you want to fix my situation, you should sort out your own situation and get yourself a woman. Now let the church say yeahhhh!"
"Now after everyone in the church had calmed down, you better let them know that I'm still going to hook you up. You will thank me later." Ant said switching of the truck and getting out with Dre.

They had reached the place where Dre wanted to build their restaurant. He could see the potential that Dre saw in this place and they could actually make it work. There was not a lot going on besides what seemed to appear to be an old warehouse on the lot.
"Ant I'm not looking for love and you know how women can be. I'm not trying to break somebody's heart."

Anthwan just gave him a smile and started walking towards the gate of the premises. Dreandre knew that he would really need to have a pretty good excuse to get his friend of his back because he was somewhat incapable of love and isn't that what all women want? To fall in love?

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And that's Chapter Two. Enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights on this picture.

Anthwan aka Ant (blue) and Deandre aka Dre (grey) in the media...