As I stared at myself in the mirror in the girls’ dressing room, it was obvious that I wasn’t as focused as I needed to be for my last show in a few months. I was doing my makeup by myself and I was fucking it up.“Damn it,” I yelled before tossing the eyeliner to the other side of the room.At that point, I didn’t even know what I was truly upset about. There were a handful of things that were making me cranky; the fact that I was leaving Sweet Cookies Swinging, the fact that Malcolm would soon be my boss, and the fact that my mother was back into my life and there was nothing I could do to get her to leave. It was all a little overwhelming and it was killing my mood.“Hey there, Red. Someone’s looking a little down,” Cookie said from behind me, “...and your makeup looks goddamn awful. Did you get a blind chicken to draw on those brows?”Red - Cookie only ever called me Red when she knew that something was bothering me. She pulled up a chair and sat in front of me. She took the makeup

Malcolm’s POV“I know you’re filthy rich and all, but don’t you think this place is a little too grand for someone who doesn’t even live in the country and is only here for a few months in the year?” She asked as I walked her through my Manhattan home.I could hear it in her tone that she was still trying to get under my skin so she could gain ground in this power tussle between us that she had created in her head. She was basically chastising me for having a big house, trying to insinuate that I was overly extravagant. I wasn’t going to take that, so I fired back as calmly but as savagely as I could muster.“You’re right, I don’t spend that much time here. But every now and then, I bring my entire extended family to the States and we all spend the holidays here. Also, having this estate gives two hundred of my employees jobs so they can provide for their families. Not everybody can just take off their clothes and have horny men pay them because of it.”I was walking ahead of her and

Yep! This man definitely knew what he was doing as he led me on the dance floor. 'Lady In Red' was playing and we were swaying to the music. He had his arms around my waist and the way he held my gaze just made me wonder even more about him. I didn’t even know that I could pull the moves he was easing me into, using my sexual appeal and stripper talents in a way that I had never applied before, and I was having a good time, and so were the crowd who were already fixated on us.I wanted to start interrogating him but I decided against it. For now, finishing this dance with him was my main objective, and judging from how seriously he was taking it, it was his as well. As his hands trailed the contours of my body, I felt like I was a mold of potter’s clay and he was the artist who was carefully caressing me with his touch, gently and subtly, twisting and turning me as I took shape into this red swan that could move as elegantly as the Queen of England herself. He was smooth with his move

Malcolm's POV..."Have you had dinner yet?" Omolola asked me on the phone."Yes, I have. I'm just about to do my evening exercises before I go to bed," I responded as I walked through the house shirtless."Make sure you take care of yourself, you hear? And come home soon, I've missed you terribly," she said."I've missed you too. I'll be home in three months, Lola. You already know this. Just be patient and the days will fly by before you know it.""I guess you're right. Alright, I have to go now. Talk to you later. I love you," she said."Love you too," I replied before hanging up.It was calls like this that made all the work I do tolerable. Calls like this made all the stress worth it because in the end, the ones I love get to benefit from it and I get to take care of all their needs while spending quality time with them.You're probably wondering who I was speaking to. Her name's "Omolola", a Yoruba name which means "Wealthy Child". I'm the only child of my father and thus, the on