Roy Glenn - All About The Money

It didn’t take long for the ballers to pour into Sensations that night. I noticed this chick walking around like she owned the place; I wasn’t mad at her though, she was working the hell out of this bad-ass white Gucci pants suit. She gave me a knowing look as she passed, hot on the tail of this up and coming actor.

Later in the ladies room, I noticed the chick in the white suit as I stood next to her at the sink. “This place is always such a mess,” she commented.

“I know. You would think that they would keep somebody in here to keep the place clean,” I told her.

“If these men only knew how nasty some of these women are, I don’t think they’d be in such a hurry to jump in bed with them.” Then she paused and thought about it. “What am I sayin’? They wouldn’t give a shit as long as they get what they want.”

“You ain’t told no lie there,” I said and looked around for something to dry my hands with.

She reached in her purse and handed me a few bar napkins. “I’m Chante,” she said extending her hand.

I dried my hands and then shook hers. “I’m Jada.”

Her eyebrows wrinkled. “Like the actress?” she asked.

I nodded my head.

“I’ve seen you here before,” she said as we walked out together.

“Yeah, I’ve been here a few times.”

“You and your friends always look so nice every time you’re here.”

“Thank you, Chante. I was telling my friend earlier that you’re wearin’ the hell out of that Gucci.”

“Thank you.”

As we made our way through the crowded club, a guy grabbed my arm with so much force, that I bumped onto Chante. “What the hell?” I screamed. I could tell he was drunk, but that didn’t stop him from trying to manhandle me. I struggled to pull free from him. Before I knew what was happening, Chante did a quick move and sent a blow to his neck.

“Goddamn! You see that shit?” I heard someone say as the drunk cowered over grabbing at his neck.

Chante turned to me. “Are you okay?”

I stood stunned to silence. I slowly nodded my head, but I was still in shock over the way she’d put him down.

She pulled me by the arm. “Come on; let’s get out of here before he gets up.”

“Why don’t you come back to my table and I’ll buy you a drink,” I offered.

She smiled. “I’d like that.”

Chante was cute, brown skinned, and had shoulder length hair that she wore bone straight with a part down the middle. I couldn’t pinpoint her age, but I immediately started wondering if she’d be interested in our line of work. Of course that’s not the kind of question you go asking complete strangers. When we got back to the table I introduced Chante to the ladies. After a round of drinks I asked, “So, tell me, Chante, what do you do?”

“Oh, nothing really,” she said. “What I mean is I used to be an executive assistant until my uncle died and left me a nice little stash. So I chucked the nine-to-five three years ago and just been havin’ a good time. But you know what they say about all good things-sooner or later, they come to an end. Lately my money is starting to look real funny,” she shrugged. “Guess I could’ve done some better planning; should’ve kept the job. But I’m hoping to find a generous donor.” She giggled.

“Well, when you find him, please let me know if he has a brother, uncle, or even a father. I’ve been looking for a member of that family for quite a while,” Simone said, sending us all into a laughing fit.

Over the next few weeks, Chante had hung out at the club with us a few times. I took her along a couple of times when I was going to private parties or CD release parties. She was cool to be around and the ladies liked her. I liked Chante because she was easy to talk to and she always kept it real. No pretense at all from Chante. She was straight up, no chaser, that’s what I liked about her. Whether she would make a good addition to our family was another matter. After my experience with the police over that shooting and seeing Mr. Investment Banker at the precinct, it had left me a little leery about new faces. But I still gotta eat, so I decided to invite Chante to meet me at my favorite restaurant. Besides, it would give me a chance to observe her in another atmosphere.

As I strolled into Jill’s for dinner, the place was packed and buzzing. I loved walking into a place and realizing heads were turning in my direction. I glanced around the bustling restaurant and still hadn’t seen Chante, so I figured I’d arrived early. I squeezed by two men who had been eyeing me up since I stepped onto the scene. “You looking for me?” one of them asked. I smirked at his tired- ass line and kept moving.

By the time I looked toward the back of the restaurant, I noticed none other than Chante, curled up with some sexy roughneck. “Ah-hem,” I cleared my throat.

Chante stuck her pretty little head around her friend’s and smiled up at me.

“Jada! I was just looking for you,” she said, looking like I had caught her with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Emp hmm, looking for me all up in his face, huh?” I teased.

“Girl!” she winked. The guy finally turned at the sound of my voice.

“This is, ah, what’s your name again, sweetie?” she cooed.

“Jordan,” he offered in a deep voice.

“Yeah, this is my new friend Jordan,” Chante said. “See, I told you I was waiting on someone,” she said to him.

Jordan’s beady little eyes ran up every inch of my body then back down, before he pulled away and glanced back to Chante.

“Well, my girl’s here, so I’d better spend some time with her,” she told Jordan who hadn’t really taken his eyes off me. “You know how it is, gotta spread the love around.”

He looked at her then back at me. “What’s up? She don’t like to party?” he asked.

Chante and I looked at each other then started cracking up. “Come on, Jordan, my girl and I need to catch up. We’ll get together later, I promise. But right now, we’ve got some private business to discuss,” she said like she was talking to a three-year-old.

Jordan took her hand to his lips and planted a kiss there. I rolled my eyes, but waited while he worked his jelly. “I’ll be at the bar waiting on you,” he promised. You’d think the two knew each other for years.

We admired the view as he walked away, then started looking over the menu.

“It is so packed in here,” I said.

“That’s why I grabbed this table. I figured if I had waited any longer, we might be eating outside on the sidewalk,” she said.

Dinner went pretty well. We talked about clothes, music and the latest black celebrity gossip. I marveled at how easygoing Chante was, and how we interacted like old friends. By the time we had wrapped up dinner, Jordan had passed by our table at least three times. Each time he did, he and Chante exchanged “fuck me” looks. I thought it was funny. I thought about telling girlfriend she shouldn’t be giving up the goods for free, but that would have led us down a conversational path I wasn’t ready to go down, so I kept it to myself. “Well, so what’s up for tonight?” I asked as I rose from the table with my doggie bag in hand.

“I’m gonna see what Jordan is talking about, then I’m gonna hook up with you guys. Where are y’all partying tonight?” she asked.

“We'll be at Sensations tonight. Or at least I will. Simone has an appoint-I mean a date tonight, and I’m not sure about Diane.”

“Even if it’s just you, me and Bella, I’m sure we’ll have a good time,” Chante said.

“Why don’t you meet us at my place and ride with us?”

“Sounds good.”

“You sure lover boy is gonna cut you loose?” I asked.