Chapter 21
C H A P T E R
HONEY GRACEFULLY SLID FROM THE TOP OF THE POLE BACK TO THE BOTTOM, LANDING ON HER FEET. She faced the new girls who stood on the stage with her this afternoon, a couple of hours before opening.
“Always rub baby powder on before to avoid any chaffing or discomfort,” Honey advised the new girls.
Most of the time, the new girls came in with limited knowledge about exotic dancing if they hadn’t come from another club like herself.
Everyone thought it was easy to do until they attempted to climb up the pole and realized they couldn’t get far, or they tried to do a basic spin but stopped midway.
If they were ever going to get a mainstage performance, they would have to practice and learn how to become one with the pole, and that was where the OG girls like herself and Amber came in.
She hadn’t really wanted to do this. Usually, she spent her time in the morning to herself, and when it was time to pick up her son from school, she did that before waiting for her sister to come to her apartment and babysit.
She usually tried to get here an hour before open to get a quick practice session in, but Nikos had asked her to come earlier to help out.
Now, Olivia was going to pick up Kai from his school on her behalf.
“And be careful too. Don’t do any tricks that you can’t do. I’ve seen plenty of girls have terrible falls,” Amber added.
“How do we get to the top like you do?” one of the new girls, Wendy, asked as she struggled to push herself higher than a few inches.
“You need strength,” Honey said, and someone snorted.
Honey looked at the culprit, who was the new Black girl.
She was young, fresh-faced, and pretty. Honey was actually surprised she had been hired, thinking at first that Georgios had finally changed some of his discriminatory hiring practices.
But Honey had heard whispers that the new girl had gotten the job because of Nikos as she would go around bragging about the relationship she had with Nikos prior to working at this club.
That had gotten the girl into a couple of fights already, and it had only been a week since she got here.
“Is there a problem?” Honey asked because she wasn’t one for catty attitudes. She didn’t have the patience for it.
“Honey,” Amber whined, nudging her slightly, knowing that she didn’t take disrespect lightly here.
“It’s easy. I can do that,” Rheagan bragged.
“Then be my guest,” Honey said, gesturing to the pole in front of her. “Let’s see you make it to the top.”
Poorly covered whispers shot out around the girls as they watched Rheagan gingerly step forward, grabbing the pole before looking up to see how far it went to the top.
It seemed she hadn’t been expecting Honey to give her her full attention.
But if it were attention that Rheagan wanted, then Honey would oblige.
There was always an arrogant girl or two who came into the club that needed to be humbled, and Honey didn’t mind helping her with that.
“Fun fact. Most of the girls here can’t make it all the way to the top because they’re scared of heights. Also, it’s harder to make it back to the bottom,” Amber said in a warning tone.
Rheagan glanced around at everyone who was waiting for her before she hooked her arms and thighs around the pole.
Honey took a step back along with Amber, and they both watched as Rheagan climbed the pole, and the other girls cheered for her, but it didn’t take long for Rheagan to pause nearly halfway up when she made the mistake of looking down.
It seemed that her distance from the ground scared her as panic spread across her face.
And when she tried to pull herself up higher, she froze.
The girls continued to cheer for her, but Honey knew that Rheagan wasn’t going anywhere. Amber knew that too as she gave her a look.
“What’s going on?”
Honey glanced over her shoulder to see Nikos step onto the stage and walk over to her.
He stared up at Rheagan with curiosity, and the other girls had gone quiet with the new club owner in their faces.
It seemed that Nikos intimidated them. Honey guessed they probably hadn’t made their acquaintance with his flirtatious ways yet, which was honestly surprising.
Nikos never missed the opportunity to flirt.
“Just a new girl needing to know her place,” Amber said, shrugging. “Should I go get James?”
Honey thought about it before she glanced at Nikos, taking in his build.
“Want to help her get down?” Honey asked Nikos since he was right here, and then she wouldn’t have to bother James, who usually waited at the bottom of the pole for the girls to get over their fear and drop down.
“Why do you ask?” Nikos asked in a seductive tone, and Honey sighed.
“Do you need help?” Amber called up, and Rheagan pouted as she glared down at them before her eyes landed on Nikos, and then her face flushed with embarrassment. She was just like a child, Honey thought. Honey shook her head as she glanced at her watch.
Maybe she shouldn’t have let Rheagan boast for fun because she didn’t have the patience for this.
Nikos sighed himself too as he slipped off his jacket, and instead of waiting at the bottom, he swiftly got up the pole himself.
Honey had to admit that she was impressed.
It took real strength to do something like that, and even a lot of men who thought they could do it realized that they didn’t have the upper arm strength that they thought they had.
But Nikos clearly did as he maneuvered his way around Rheagan and helped her slide down.
Honey watched until she heard her phone ring, and she walked down the stage to grab her phone off the table and saw that her sister was calling her.
“Did you pick up Kai?” Honey asked, glancing at her watch. Olivia should have been at the school by now since her son’s school let students out at this time.
“Hope, he’s not here.”
“What?” Honey exclaimed as her heart dropped. “What do you mean he’s not there?”
“When I got to the school, the teacher said that a man who Kai said was his father came to pick him up. I think it’s Andre.”
Rage took over Honey as she nearly broke her phone in her hand from her tight grip alone.
“Do you want me to—”
“Nevermind,” Honey said, shaking her head. “I’ll get him myself. I’ll call you later.”
Honey hung up and stuffed her phone in her bag before slipping the bag on her shoulders.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go,” Honey told Amber. “Can you wrap this up for me?”
“Of course, hun,” Amber said. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, but I really can’t explain because I have to go right now,” Honey said before she took off, rage hot on her heels. She couldn’t believe that fucker would pull some shit like this.
She was out of the door in an instant when she heard her name called. She whipped around, annoyed to see Nikos behind her. Honey sighed. She didn’t have time for this.
“Look, I have to go.”
“What’s the problem?” Nikos asked her. And Honey realized he wasn’t asking her out of pure curiosity or harassing her about skipping work hours, but he was asking her because he was genuinely worried. She could see the seriousness on his face. No flirtation, no playfulness. Just genuine concern.
“I need to go find Kai. His father picked him up without my permission. I’ll try to make it back on time.”
“Let’s go. I’ll go with you,” Nikos said as he ushered her over to his car.
“But my—”
He grabbed her car key and tossed them over to James, whom she hadn’t even realized was in the parking lot, taking a smoke break.
“Give them to Christos and tell him to drive her car back to her apartment,” Nikos instructed, and James nodded as he pocketed the keys.
“Get in,” Nikos said as he unlocked the door. Slightly dazed by the information overload at the speed of events, Honey got in the car, and Nikos quickly sped off.
“Do you know where he’s at?” Nikos asked as he turned on his GPS system.
Honey tried calling his number, but it kept going to voicemail. She then tried calling her son’s number, but it went to voicemail too. With each second that passed by, Honey felt more panicked.
“Calm down, Honey. Think where they might be,” Nikos told her calmly.
Honey took in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves down when it came to her.
She scrolled through her phone apps until she found Andre’s username and looked at his IG.
She bit down on her cheek when she looked at his Instagram live, where it looked like he was at a cookout. She immediately recognized the area.
“Here,” Honey said as she typed in the park address. Nikos nodded.
After the directions came up, Nikos quickly sped there, but even with them taking some back roads and other shortcuts, it had taken longer than she would have wanted to get to the park in Queensbridge.
When they arrived, Honey quickly got out of the car, ready to raise hell, when she noticed that she hadn’t changed and was still in her practice clothes.
Even for this hot weather, the clothes were quite skimpy.
“Here,” Nikos said as he gave her his jacket, and Honey slipped it on. The woody scent of Nikos’s cologne filled her nostrils.
They walked through the busy park until Honey spotted the cookout. Her eyes roved over the crowd until they landed on one of the people she hated the most in this world— Kai’s father. She stormed across the grass, ignoring how odd her heels felt on the warm surface.
“Andre,” she called.
The guy sitting next to him noticed her first and tapped Andre’s shoulder, pointing at her. When Andre spotted her, his eyes widened as if he had not expected to see her there.
“Where is my son?” she demanded as she neared the table where he sat with his friends and family. People glanced in their direction, some of them recognizing her as Andre’s baby’s mother, but she didn’t care. She was only focused on him.