21. Date Night ♔︎

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| King of Hearts |

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By: Janae Destiny

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"Monique Heart? She asked you on a date?" Chantal, Kiara's close friend and also the manager of her club, asked when they walked into Kiara's office a few days later.

"Yes, she did," Kiara nodded her head. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"It's not at all hard to believe, I mean look at you. Who wouldn't want to date you."

Kiara pulled out her office chair and sat down at her desk. "Then why do you sound so shocked?"

"I'm not shocked that she asked you out," Chantal said, taking the seat opposite of Kiara's desk. "I'm shocked that you said yes. I thought you'd sworn off women forever."

"I haven't swarm off women," Kiara scoffed. "I just haven't found a woman worth my time."

"And Monique Heart? She's worth your time, huh?"

"Why do you keep saying her whole name like that?"

"Why are you avoiding the question? Not that I really need an answer anyway," Chantal said very matter of factly. "You've been spending every waking moment with that woman since she got to this God forsaken city."

"I have not—" Kiara started, but quickly changed what she was going to say because she knew Chantal was right. "Okay, maybe I have. But is that so wrong?"

"Not at all. It's good to see you finally letting your guard down and getting close to someone again. But as for the dynamic of the club...." Chantal dragged out the last word.

Kiara just rolled her eyes. "Those jealous ass bitches."

"Some of the dancers are jealous that you're getting close with Monique."

"So I've heard."

"And you don't care?" Chantal questioned.

"Should I?"

"Kiara, you know I love you, but dating one of your dancers does come across as a little unprofessional. Especially since you preach up and down how you like to keep is strictly profession with the people who work for you."

"Monie is different," Kiara argued.

"I'm not saying she isn't, but if the girls find out the two of y'all are dating—"

"We're not dating. We're going on one date."

"It always starts as one date. So like I was saying, when the girls find out that you and Monique are dating, it's going to start hell. They already don't like her because she's been getting a lot of attention since she's been here. Are you really wanting to risk all of that tension over her? Because at the end of the day, you're a business owner first."

"This is why I just stay single," Kiara huffed.

"I personally think y'all would make a cute couple. I'm just worried about how it will change the dynamic of the club."

"Anyone who has shit to say about Monique can find somewhere else to work."

"See," Chantal got up from her chair, laughing. "That's exactly what I'm talking about."

"What?" Kiara furrowed her eyebrows.

"You're already showing favoritism towards her, just like the girls are saying. But that's none of my business, chile. I have a club to manage and actual work to do, so I'll catch to you later."

"Bitch, don't be shady!" Kiara called after her, but Chantal had already left her office. "Tryna make it seem like I don't do work," she mumbled under her breath. "I own multiple businesses, tryna act like I don't do any fucking work around here."

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"Where are you taking her again?" Marco asked as he laid across Monie's bed later that evening.

He was only in there because Monie was running a few outfit choices by him as she got ready for the date night she'd planned with Kiara.

She'd already showered, did her hair, and did a simple light beat. The only thing left to do was pick out an outfit, but she didn't like any of the five outfits she'd tried on so far.

"I'm just taking her out to dinner," Monie called from inside of her closet. "I planned for us to have a very chill night."

She was nervous about her date with Kiara, and she wasn't sure why. They'd spent damn near every waking moment with each other since the day they met, but something about sitting across from each other at dinner, alone, was a bit intimidating for her. Of course, she knew they would have things to talk about and the conversation would naturally flow, but something about this being an official date could mark the beginning of a possible romantic relationship with Kiara.

Monie stepped out of her closet in her third dress of the night. This one was a black fitted V-neck cami dress that stopped at her mid-thighs.

"Okay," she smoothed her hands across the front of the dress. "What about this one?"

"It's not much different than the other dresses you showed me," Marco sighed. "It's a dress, Monie. Come on, bruh, just pick one."

Monie turned around to see how she looked in the full-body mirror. "I just want to look nice for her," she sighed.

"She already likes you," Marco assured his sister. "Like a lot."

"And how do you know that?"

"Oh, Monie," he laughed. "It's very fucking obvious that she likes you. It's very obvious that y'all like each other. Pretty sure you could show up wearing jeans and a T-shirt and she would still think you're beautiful."

"Awww," Monie teased. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"I said that Kiara would think you're beautiful," Marco stressed. "I never said shit about me."

"You realize you look just like me, right?"

"Yeah," Marco smirked, "But I make it look good unlike you."

Monie just rolled her eyes. "Anyway," she huffed. "A little black dress, do you think that's too basic for a first date?"

"Aren't you always the one saying you can't go wrong with a little black dress? Wear it with some black heels, some gold jewelry, and I think that's a look."

"Gold? I was gonna do silver with my metallic Tabby 20 bag and my rhinestone heels."

"Okay Mr. Tin Man," Marco laughed

"You think you're so fucking funny."

"I think it's funny because you're hella overthinking this. Keep it simple with all black and gold jewelry."

Monie turned to look at the dress one more time in the mirror. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I always am," Marco shrugged. He got off of Monie's bed and headed for the door. "If you need anything else, I'll be in the kitchen making dinner for me and Ava."

"What are you making?"

"Garlic butter shrimp scampi with some pasta. I'm keeping it simple tonight."

"Simple," Monie scoffed. "You make your own garlic parmesan butter. How is that simple?"

Marco just shrugged before walking out of the room, leaving Monie to finish getting ready for her night out.

"Ooooh, Mommy," Ava cooed when Monie walked into the kitchen where her daughter was standing on a chair at the counter helping Marco cook. "You look so pretty."

Marco turned around to see Monie's full, put-together look. And of course, he had to be a hater. It was his responsibility as an annoying younger sibling. "She looks aight."

Monie just ignored him and went over to Ava. "Thank you, baby girl." She picked her daughter up and held her close before placing a kiss on her cheek. "And you always look beautiful. Your hair though, I need to take these braids out and wash your hair."

"I got you," Marco offered. I'll take her hair out and make sure it's washed and blow-dried so you can braid it tomorrow."

"Oh, aren't you sweet? Thank you, Marco."

"Mmhm, no problem. And my hair will be washed, blow-dried, and ready to braid tomorrow too."

"There it is," Monie laughed. "I should've known."

"You really should have. And I'll even let you freestyle this time, I'm not too picky. Plaits or cornrows, it's up to you."

"How about I take some clippers to your damn head," Monie mumbled under her breath.

"I heard that."

"Good. Anyway, I'm about to head out to go pick up King, so I'll see y'all later when I get home, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy."

"What time will you be back?" Marco asked.

"I'm not sure. Why?"

"Just asking. Because you like to lose track of time when you go out some nights."

Monie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You know you like to have frequent 'sleepovers', if you get what I'm trying to say."

"I will slap the fuck out of you," Monie said very seriously, which made Ava's eyes widen as she looked back and forth between them because she didn't understand what was going on.

"Monie, I'm just playing with you," Marco tried to laugh it off, but Monie was not in a joking mood.

"I don't find that humorous. Try to be funny like that again, especially in front of my child, and I will fuck you up. And I would heed that warning if I were you."

Marco didn't say anything in response to that. There was nothing he could say in that moment because he knew Monie was serious.

"I'm sorry," he sincerely apologized and left it at that.

"I will see y'all later tonight," Monie said once again, this time without any further smart remarks from her brother.

She gave her daughter another hug and a kiss then gave Marco a kiss on the cheek before she left out of the door. As she walked to the elevator, she pulled her phone out of her purse to text Kiara that she was on her way to pick her up.

Monie drove in silence the whole way to Kiara's house. Not for any particular reason, but she used that time to sort through all of the things going on in her mind. She thought about how she had to register the kids for school before August. She thought about how she was thankful that Kiara was letting her rent out her condo, but that she wanted to find her own place soon. She thought about quitting dancing, a thought she'd been going back and forth about the past few months.

Monie also thought about going back to school to finally finish her BSN in nursing so that she could start her journey toward being a neonatal nurse practitioner. After making sure her kids are well cared for, pursuing a career in medicine was at the top of her list of things she wants to achieve. She could go back to school. She's been making and saving enough money to do it, but there's always something that gets in the way each time she tries. Working full time and going back to school full time was nearly impossible when she's also a full-time mother of two.

Before Monie knew it, she was pulling up to Kiara's house. She parked on the driveway behind her car and took a deep breath to ease her nerves before stepping out of the car to make her way to the front door.

To her surprise, Cameron was the one who opened the front door.

"Hey, Cameron," she greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, Monique," he returned a warm smile. The boy then stepped to the side and invited her in. "Kiara is almost done getting ready. She should be down any second if you want to wait. Can I get you anything? A glass of water?"

"No thank you," Monie shook her head. "I'm good, thanks."

"Cameron!" They both heard from somewhere upstairs and it was none other than Kiara King. "Was that the front door I heard? Because Monie did say she's on her way."

But before Cameron could answer her question, Kiara appeared at the top of the steps looking just as ethereal as she always does.

"Oh, you're here," Kiara smiled when she locked eyes with Monie.

Cameron took that as his cue to head back to the living room where he was watching a movie and eating snacks on Kiara's very comfortable couch.

"I'm here," Monie couldn't help but smile at how beautiful Kiara is. "Wow," she said out loud as Kiara made her way down the steps.

Just the sound of her heels clicking against the hardwood, and the way her body shimmer made her skin glow all added to her natural charm and beauty.

"Hey," Kiara smiled when she was standing directly in front of Monie.

She had her open-faced grillz on, and something about Kiara's gold and diamond smile made Monie blush.

"Hey, King. You look beautiful. You look good... like really good," Monie said as she took in Kiara's outfit. She had paired some black leather pants with a black corset top and a pair of Christian Louboutins. It was a simple look, but she made it look as extravagant as she is.

It made Monie wonder if Kiara was stressed trying to find an outfit to wear just like she had. And to make herself feel better, she assumed it was the same, which is why they both decided to keep it simple by wearing all black.

"Thank you," Kiara blushed. "So do you. You look amazing, Heart," she teased the way Monie only ever seems to call her by her last name.

"That's cute," Monie blushed yet again. "You calling me Heart since I'm always calling you King."

"I like it," Kiara shrugged. "That you call me King."

"Please," Monie scoffed. "I'm not the only one who calls you that. Everyone calls you King."

"Maybe," Kiara said, reaching her hand out to hold onto Monie's. "But I like the way it sounds coming out of your mouth."

"Oh," Monie let out a deep breath, trying hard to keep her composure. "You're really good at this, aren't you?"

"Good at what?"

"The whole flirting and sweet-talking thing."

"I'm terrible at it, actually," Kiara admitted. "I think you just bring it out of me naturally."

"Oh," Monie blushed yet again. They hadn't even left Kiara's house yet and she could already tell she'd be doing that a lot over the course of the night.

"Our reservation," Monie cleared her throat before continuing. "We should probably leave now we you want to make it on time."

"Right. Okay," Kiara nodded her head in agreement. "Let's go."

Kiara yelled something loud enough for Cameron to hear her and awaited his response before closing and locking her front door behind them.

When they made it to her car, Monie rushed to the passenger side so that she could open the door for Kiara. Since she was the one who asked her out, she was going to make sure she did everything to ensure Kiara felt special and well taken care of that night.

"Aww, are these for me?" Kiara asked when Monie opened the car door for her.

Monie was confused for a split second until she realized what Kiara was talking about.

"Shit," Monie muttered under her breath quietly so Kiara wouldn't hear it. She'd been so nervous that she forgot the bouquet of flowers she bought was sitting right next to her on the passenger seat.

Monie reached into the car and picked up the rose and baby breath bouquet so Kiara could sit down.

"Yes, they are for you. I'm sorry, I wanted to make this cute gesture by meeting you at the door with the flowers, but I was so nervous that I forgot them in the car."

"Thank you, Monie," Kiara accepted the flowers with the biggest smile across her face. "I love them, and they're absolutely beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you."

"Oh," Kira raised her eyebrows, shocked at her quick response. "It seems you're good at sweet talking and flirting too."

Monie just shrugged. She closed Kiara's door for her and made her way around the car to the driver's side to get in.

"Why were you so nervous?" Kiara asked once they were pulling out of her driveway. "Do I make you nervous?"

"Yes and no. You make me calm and you make me feel at peace, but something about tonight, this being a date," Monie started. "I just really want to impress you."

"You've already impressed me. I already like you, Monie. There's no need to be nervous."

"That actually helps a lot," Monie said sincerely. "I don't know, I just want tonight to be special for you. I want to make you feel special."

"I feel special just being here with you," Kiara assured her.

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