Chapter 11
Cassie slurped on some Lo mein from an asian fusion restaurant nearby while Monica crunched on a spring roll on Mimi’s couch while we discussed the logistics of our little get together.
But in reality, it was an excuse for social activity, a way to meet new friends, and for Cassie to flex her matchmaking skills. Having money was great, but it was no fun in a vacuum.
What was the point of money and power without pussy?
Mimi opted to sit with her legs criss-crossed in the center of her fluffy rug in front of me, while I sat near the corner of the couch, with Monica beside me on my right, and Cassie just beside her near the armrest closest to the kitchen.
“So do you just grab whatever you think looks cute, or is this the look you were going for?” I asked, casually making conversation while chewing on a piece of sweet and sour chicken.
“It’s a little bit of both,” Mimi replied while stabbing a piece of sushi with a single chopstick before sticking it in her mouth and closing her teeth on the stick before sliding it out, minus the sushi. “I kinda like a dark but cozy vibe.”
“Don’t like the sun?”
Mimi pointed to her vibrantly violet eye. “I have very sensitive seeing. I like the sun, with sunglasses and a hat—and there’s a lot of glare on this side of the building. Besides, you like the lighting, don’t you?”
“It’s brighter than I expected…” I conceded.
She giggled. “Yeah, I feel like life’s tough enough without drowning in the drab and dreary. That’s why I like to take scary things and make them cute. Frightening into fabulous!”
“A light in the dark,” I mused as I looked at the neon Gameboy light on her wall with a faint smirk. “And you can see your victims before their eyes adjust.”
“Exactly! I’m glad someone gets it,” Mimi laughed as she took the wasabi and put the whole thing in her mouth.
She squinted her eyes shut with balled fists and flared nostrils, her porcelain skin turning pink as she trembled like an excited puppy.
“You alright, booboo?” Monica asked with curious concern.
“I think she’s actually enjoying it…” Cassie uttered.
“Whoo!” Mimi exhaled up toward the ceiling with glistening eyes and an aggravated sniffle. “I like spice. It wakes me up and clears my head. Wanna try?”
“Mm-mm,” Monica shook her head. “I could never do that. Don’t get me wrong, I like a little zing, but you white people get crazy on some Johnny Knoxville type shit.”
“Are you suuure?” Mimi teased while pantomiming a talking mouth with her chopsticks, then giggled. “It’ll make you forget all your problems!”
“I think I’m already starting to,” Monica remarked, glancing at me with a slight simper.
A brief silence followed.
“Thanks for letting us use your place, Mimi,” Cassie detailed the plan. “It’s gonna be an even shorter list; singles with their own ride, not girls who are gonna bring dudes who get jealous the second Jax makes them look bad.”
“Or hustlers lookin’ for a come up…” Monica added with her legs crossed toward me. “They put your location on blast then have their boys show up an hour later trying to run your pockets.”
“Good point,” I said, as I hadn’t even considered the ramifications of inviting riff-raff into my sanctuary, which I didn’t need or want.
“You don’t have to worry about that here, the night doorman doesn’t let just anyone up,” Mimi said with casual brightness as she handled Barry the bear-bat like she was picking bugs out of his fur. “We’ll just keep it girls only.”
“Now you’re talking my language,” I said, munching on a fortune cookie.
Mimi giggled. “Let’s be real. You’re not asking to show other people a good time, you want a good time.”
“This girl’s more blunt than you!” Monica chided, nudging Cassie in ribs with her elbow.
“Sorry if that sounds rude,” said Mimi. “I’m just honest.”
“Don’t apologize for keeping it real!” Monica encouraged as she gave Mimi an air high five from five feet away.
Mimi returned the gesture, then held her palm down low, prompting Monica to match her with a shared laugh.
Monica turned to me and said, “Okay, I fuck with her.”
Big load off my mind. I’d been concerned they wouldn’t get along given their surface differences, but it had been a drama free interaction.
Mimi looked at me and continued. “Sooo, just to make sure, since you’re paying for everything, no guys.”
“I bet you love that part…” Monica teased Cassie, who rolled her eyes.
“You know that’s not my whole personality, right?” Cassie bemoaned with a returned nudge of her elbow into Monica’s side.
“I’m just playin’!” Monica retorted, then went to dip her spring roll into the juices of Cassie’s noodles. “You know you kinda opened the door yourself after what happened with your ex.”
“Your ex? You broke up?” Mimi tilted her head curiously. “What happened?”
Cassie shrugged and went for more noodles with her chopsticks. “She was cheating on me, so I lied and said I was cheating on her with Jax.”
Mimi’s face lit up as her eyes shifted toward me, followed by a leg kicking, back leaning giggle fit, rocking so far back she could’ve fallen on her back, but her big booty and thick thighs counterbalanced her like a Weeble Wobble.
“Did it work?” she asked.
“Oh, she was pissed,” Cassie grinned.
I chimed in, “Now that we’re dodging the sausage fest, how are you gonna convince anyone to show up?”
“I’m not too famous, but I do have a good following. We can turn parts of it into content. Girl’s game night,” said Mimi. “You were gonna spend money, right? Free drinks with a mysterious stranger—I’ll blur your face out—and we record sexy games with fun prizes.”
Cassie snapped her fingers and pointed at Mimi while looking at me. “Bingo.”
“I’m not showing my tits, though,” Mimi warned. “We can’t put nudity on my channel anyway.”
“What’d you have in mind?” I asked smoothly.
“We just plug their platforms. If they wanna get naked, they can put it on their own stuff,” Mimi returned her attention to Cassie. “So what’s on that ‘private story’ you told me about? Is it still up?”
“You wanna see it?” Cassie asked with raised eyebrows, then held her palm out expectantly toward Monica. “Let me see your phone.”
“I can’t!” Monica protested.
“Why not” Cassie questioned with a frown.
“Because that video is on it…” Monica said while tilting her head toward me.
“I already assumed you fooled around with him,” Mimi said simply with a knowing stare. “It’s all over your body language.”
“Did a little more than that… but okay,” Monica shrugged before handing her phone over.
“There’s nothing wrong with being horny. Everyone gets horny,” Mimi said with a matter-of-fact face.
“I haven’t been touched in a year, I’m horny all the time,” Cassie admitted with a pout.
“I barely go outside, I’m horny right now!” Mimi retorted to the laughs of everyone present, with her and I stealing a knowing glance at each other.
Message received.
We weren’t setting up a party, we were setting up a group date inside her comfort zone. Mimi was an extroverted introvert, and she’d been sizing me up the entire time.
Cassie got off the couch sat on the floor beside my new goth acquaintance, then swiped on the screen. “We took that one to make his ex jealous.”
“Ooh, nice boobies, Momo!” Mimi voiced before looking at Cassie with an expression of pleasant surprise. “You showed a boob too!”
“Yeah,” Cassie met my eye with a smile. “Just the one.”
“It’s a nice boob though.”
“Yours are nicer.”
“No, they’re bigger, but I’d still flick your nip.”
“I flicked my bean after we went down on Momo.”
Mimi’s jaw dropped, then observed me with solid eye contact. “You’re a man of few words. But I don’t feel like you’re shy. Are you always this quiet?”
“He’s the type that’d rather fuck than talk,” Cassie teased with a sidelong sneer.
“She ain’t lyin’…” Monica uttered with a distant look of remembrance.
It occurred to me that Cassie and Monica were discreetly vouching for me, conveying to Mimi that I was a good time, not a creep. Especially after some of our, for lack of a better term, public misbehavior.
That was I took the opportunity to stand up. “I’m out of napkins. Got any paper towels?”
“Oh! I can show you,” Mimi volunteered as she got up to walk with me.
“You don’t wanna see the dirtier ones?” Monica said with a sultry grin as we headed toward the kitchen.
Mimi turned her head with devious delight. “Why watch your naughty games when we can make up our own later?”
She caught up with me in the kitchen right after her mischievous comment, a kitchen that was every bit as eccentric as its owner.
Cabinets painted black, with metal knobs that resembled spider webs, and a halloween themed oven complete with monster mitts and a second set of mitts resembling lobster claws.
A serving window right in front of the sink gave a view of the living room, with the fridge nestled to the far left, just out of sight.
“Right here,” Mimi said as she went under the sink to take out a fresh paper towel roll—while I was washing my hands, breaching my personal space as she did so.
“Thanks,” I said as I tore off a square to dry my now grease free fingers.
Mimi went to the counter opposite of the sink and hopped up to sit on it, eyeing me curiously while I checked her out from head to toe, my gaze returning to her unique eyes at the end.
“Something you wanna ask me?” I questioned as I crinkled up the paper towel and tossed it into a nearby bin.
Mimi glanced in the direction of the living room. “Momo confuses me. How’d you meet her?”
“Monica?” I turned to see both her and Cassie staring right at us, then quickly playing it off to whisper into each other’s ears like they weren’t eavesdropping. “I met her through Cassie. She knows a lot of people. How’d you meet Cassie?”
“She was a barista before she was a bartender. I met her at a cafe down the street from here,” Mimi replied pleasantly, pressing her line of conversation. “So was it a setup?”
“Not exactly. There was some trouble, I solved it, and then we helped each other out.”
Mimi snorted with a simper. “Helped each other out how?”