A.J.

I vowed never again to tango with a man not from the States, but here I go again. He was not all that fine but his swag turned me on immensely. This man had mastered the hustler’s walk. I don’t know if he had watched too many hip hop videos or if it was truly natural- either way it was bad. Bad as in good, I mean. He made me want to give him the goods just from walking. Now that’s power- and he knew it, too.

His name was A.J. and it was really strange how we met each other.

     My best guy friend, Cori, was the owner of the newest nightclub in L.A. He had been calling me for weeks telling me to come through. So when the J.O.B. scheduled me an interview with Rihanna, I opted to do it in-person rather than over the phone. Might as well work hard and play harder, right? As soon as I get off the plane, my boy had my itinerary laid out.

     “Sugarplum!!!!”

     Only Cori can scream at the top of his lungs in an airport and not feel the least bit embarrassed. That’s just his personality. He is always dressed to the T’s. Today he is rocking a purple Trukfit shirt with some pink straight leg jeans topped off with pink and purple Dunk Nikes. Loud and proud. That’s my boy, though.

“Sugarplum!” he repeated, “I missed you so much!” I drop my Louis Vuitton bag to give my Cori a big hug and kiss.

“I missed you too, sugar dumpling! You look fly and super sexy”, I said as I gave him a once over.

“You’re not too shabby yourself, boo.” I looked down at my cream and gold Michael Kors sundress and had to agree with him. I did look fly, because I knew that I could not be outdone by Mr. C, friend or not.

“Thanks. What are we doing today?”

This fool pulled out his iPhone. “Well,” he said as he scrolled, “your flight was a little late so I had to move our facials back an hour. After that, we will go to Melrose to check out this new clothing store. Then, around nine I am throwing a little cocktail party at my house to celebrate the opening. Then after that, party time!” Cori raised his hands and did an old school dance called “Raise the Roof”.

I laughed and pointed at his moves. “Who still does that dance?”

“Only people who can pull it off”, he said as he snapped his fingers and swung his head with a smile. True Cori style.

So off we went on our long day’s journey. We got our facials at the Ritz-Carlton spa. At the clothing store on Melrose, I ended up buying about $2000.00 worth of threads. Hey, why work so hard if you can’t enjoy it?

Anytime you are with Cori, expect not to get any relaxation. This boy knows everyone and always stops to talk about the minutest detail. One girl he asked about her dog. He asked another young lady where she recycled. Leave it to Cori to make any conversation lengthy. But I guess that’s why his club will be hot. Because when he says he knows everybody, he really means it.

We get back to Cori’s around 8 pm. I take a little nap before his cocktail party because this child has worn me out. I wake up around nine thirty to a rapping at my door.

“What”, I yell out in annoyance from under the pillow I just put over my head.

I heard the door crack. “I am sorry, queen. I am terribly sorry for the disturbance”, he said. He spoke with an accent. I couldn’t quite catch it at first. Jamaican, maybe?

I am so glad that this pillow is over my head because when I first wake up, I look like the creature from the Black Lagoon. Just plain ugly. So whoever that man is, he will have a healthy tongue lashing once I get up.

“What is it,” I yell, still annoyed slightly but that accent has me curious.

“My good friend Cori told me that you may still be sleeping so he told me to awaken you. The party started about 30 minutes ago.”

I curse quietly under my breath. I never wake up on time. What good is an alarm if you never hear it?

“Thank you, I will be down as soon as I get ready. Close the door.”

I hear him chuckle as he closes the door back shut. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so mean, but this fool just woke me up AND opened my door. What if I was naked?

It didn’t take me long to get ready. I put on a red Prada number and headed downstairs to meet all 1,000 of Cori’s closest friends.

Before I reached the bottom stair, all I heard was “SUGARPLUM!!” And with that, everyone who was just laughing, talking, dancing, singing all turned their heads toward me. I swear I felt like Cinderella when she first enters the ball. But not in a good way. I felt like I had a huge booger in my nose and everyone was staring at it. I picked up my composure and flashed a smile and yelled back, “SUGAR DUMPLING!” And the party continued.

I smiled and spoke to everyone as I made my way to the center of the room toward Cori. He introduced me to everybody there and would always whisper their occupation in my ear.

Cori points to one guest. “Drug Dealer. Has the best weed on this side of the Hollywood Hills.” He points to a tall, beautiful woman. “She will tell you that she is a professional model. But I heard she is a high class escort from a couple of people here.” That boy just tells all the business.

Just when I thought I met everyone and knew their occupation, a man with the sickest walk in the room comes up to us. He was walking towards us as if some theme music was on inside his head that only he could hear. And strangely, I found myself bobbing my head to his beat. Damn, he’s good.

Who is this man?

TUNE IN NEXT WEDNESDAY TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS!