Page 146 of Rather: The Therapist

Light.

Right.

Three miles.

Light.

Left.

A mile.

Right.

“You have arrived at your destination.”

It was a twelve-minute drive to Lust. I remembered every turn, stop light, and lengthy stretch. In the event our escape depended on our recognizance, it was important I knew how to get us back to where the fuck we’d come from.

Hastily, everyone filed out of the SUVs at the very back of the establishment. The private entrance lowered the chances of unwanted encounters. With Kofi leading the pack, it was best we stayed far away from the crowd and moved along in silence.

The bass of the speakers grew louder as the entry to the main floor opened. The hostess led us through the dimly lit space and to a section near the main stage.

“This won’t work,” I said to no one in particular as I pushed forward to get the attention of the hostess who’d shown us to the section.

“Hey,” I called out, “Excuse me.”

With her chest inflated and her braces on full display, she turned around to face me. “How can I help you, Cutie?”

Cutie? I couldn’t help the distortion of my facial features.

“You’re talking to a grown ass man, love. Ain’t shit cute about me.”

“I–”

“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, this section won’t work.”

“That’s the section you paid for.” With a roll of her neck she reminded me of what I already knew and tried storming off. Before she could get far, Killian stepped in front of her and nodded in my direction.

“Ma’am, my brother was still speaking to you.”

“Like I told your brother, this is the section you paid for.”

“Then, I can pay for another one. We need something against the wall. Something like that.”

“It’s not close to the stage. Whoever reserved the section was adamant about it being close to the stage.”

“And, I’m adamant about it being against the wall. We brought in enough cash to bring the motherfucking stage to us. We’re not worried about that.”

I took a look around, trying to find a better spot and a solution to our problem before chaos unfolded.

“That one. Give us that one.”

“This one is twice that size.”

“Then give us two of them motherfuckers. Baby, do you care about your job? Because it doesn’t seem like you do. You’re not very helpful right now. I’ve expressed this section doesn’t work for us. Fix it or find me somebody who will. In fact, bring me the boss. I prefer conversing with peers on the same level as me. They are fluent in problem-solving. That doesn’t seem to be your strength.”

“One second. Let me go see what I can do.”

“That’s your best option.”

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