Dance, Lust And Them

 “Why are you looking at me?” she scoffed. “Do you want to work all day on an empty stomach?”

 Vance laughed at her and motioned for Janelle to take a seat. She did, and began devouring her breakfast. The toast was dusted in cinnamon and sugar, giving it the same taste as a piece of French toast. The other girls were lounging about, either stretching or playing on their phones.

 “When are the lights coming back on?” she heard someone whine.

 “As soon as the guy gets here,” Vance said, waving about vaguely. “Or something like that. How should I know?”

 “You are the owner of this place,” Evelyn said.

 “Yeah but I’m not the ruler of the universe. Have you stepped outside lately? It’s thundering and lightning outside.”

 “You sure act like the ruler of the universe,” one of the other girls commented.

 “Mmm,” Vance said, casting a glance in Janelle’s direction. She smiled meekly at him, not wanting to alert the others that there was something going on between them.

 After they were done eating, the electrician stopped by. While everyone continued to either stretch or dance in front of the mirror, Vance waved Janelle over.

 “Yes bossman?” She teased.

 “Now that’s a title I like. What are you doing later tonight?”

 “I might be seeing my friend Curtis. We were thinking about going out to a bar. Do you want to come with us?”

 “Sure,” Vance said, smiling down at her. “I have no plans. And we’re closed tomorrow, right?”

 “Right,” she said.

 They didn’t notice the footsteps approaching from behind until it was too late. Suddenly, Janelle felt someone pulling her back by her hair. She turned around to see who it was and noticed a girl she didn’t recognize.

 “What the hell is your problem?” Janelle asked.

 “My problem? What’s your problem?” the girl spat.

 Vance was staring at the girl, clearly struck dumb by her appearance. Janelle looked at the two of them, starting to connect the dots.

 “Oh my God,” she said quietly. “Are you Monique?”

 Suddenly, the lights flickered back on, blinding everyone. The girls groaned in unison but Vance took it as an opportunity to lead Monique and Janelle into the back room so as not to cause a scene. If the other girls caught wind of his drama, they would never let him live it down. They were constantly harassing him about who he was going to date next, and why wasn’t he screwing any of them?

 “What are you doing here?” Vance asked Monique once they were safely behind closed doors.

 “What do you mean what am I doing here? Aren’t you happy to see me?”

 “Monique, it’s been three years. Please explain yourself, I don’t understand what you want me to do about this situation.”

 Janelle wasn’t sure what to say so she said nothing.

 “Who is she?” Monique asked, pointing to Janelle. “I leave for a little while and come back only to find you’ve fallen in love with someone else?”

 Janelle and Vance both blushed, looking away from each other. “It’s, um, not really like that,” Vance said awkwardly.

Janelle instantly felt like an arrow had pierced her heart. She thought she’d shared a real connection with Vance earlier but clearly she’d been wrong.

 “We need to talk,” Monique said again. “I don’t like the way we ended things.”

 She reached out to his arm but he pulled away. Vance was caught between a rock and a hard place and he had no idea how to claw his way out. Monique was fierce when she wanted to be, and she wasn’t going to let Janelle go without a fight.

 Janelle, on the other hand, couldn’t handle the situation at hand. She wanted desperately to leave, hoping there was some excuse she could come up with to tell Vance. Perhaps she could lie, and pretend she got a phone call from her father. She didn’t want to lie about her father being sick, but at that point she would have done just about anything to get out of that situation.

 “I uh, I have to take this,” she said, pretending her phone was buzzing in her pocket.

 “We’re not through here,” Monique said, pointing at Janelle’s chest.

 “Get your finger out of my face,” Janelle said sternly before turning on her heel and walking away.

 “You don’t have to leave,” Vance called out.

 “I think I do,” Janelle responded, storming out of the room. She ran towards the elevator, pressing the button with such ferocity that it almost fell off.

 When she got downstairs, she wrapped her jacket tightly around her body and ran towards the car. It was still pouring rain, and Janelle felt a bit unsafe driving home. Instead of leaving, she ducked into a cafe for a cup of coffee. She chose a seat near the window so she could look at the sidewalk, just in case Vance decided to stop by. She ordered a cappuccino and settled into her seat, thinking about what had just happened. It was insane that Monique had shown up just out of the blue.

 Oh God, Janelle thought to herself. What if she’s pregnant? Please lord, don’t let that be true. Then I really wouldn’t be able to be with Vance.

 Suddenly her phone sprang to life with a number she didn’t recognize.

 “Hello?” she said shakily, worried it was her father.

 “Hi,” Vance said. “I’m calling from the studio phone. Can we meet?”

 She sighed, rolling her eyes. “I guess so. I’m at the cafe downstairs, near the window.” She hung up before he could ask her any more questions.