2. Auditions ♔

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| King of Hearts |

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By: Janae Destiny

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"Where you going anyway?" Marco stood in the doorway of the bathroom and watched Monie as she did her makeup in the mirror after they'd come back to the room and gotten showered and ready for the day.

"A job interview."

"Doing what?"

"The same thing I was doing back in Chicago," she replied.

"You know I'm not stupid, right?" Marco crossed his arms over his chest. "I know you never worked at no got damn 24-hour diner."

"Cuss again and I'ma pop you in the mouth," Monie warned him.

"You're still avoiding the question. Cause ain't no waitress coming home with that much in tips."

"Marco, just mind your business, okay? You don't needa worry about how I get my money."

"Fine," he shrugged. "But I wanna know one thing though."

"What?" She looked up from the concealer she was blending under her eyes.

"When is it take your brother to work day-"

"Get out!" Monie forcefully pushed the boy out of the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him.

She finished getting ready in the bathroom and went back into the main room to pack a bag with anything she thought she might need.

"You look pretty mommy," Ava looked over at her.

Monique was wearing a simple pair of denim jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of Nike Off-White Dunks, but as long as she has her hair and makeup done, her daughter thinks she's the prettiest woman to ever walk the earth.

"Thank you, baby," she said as she put a pair of gold hoop earrings in. "And you always look pretty."

"So we just supposed to sit in the room all day until you get back?" Marco asked just moments before Monie was about to leave.

"Y'all can go explore the hotel or something, I don't know. Go to the pool, go look at the garden, I don't care, just don't leave the hotel. Okay?"

"Fine."

"I love you," she gave Marco a quick kiss on the top of his head because he's only shorter than her when he's sitting down, and he was currently sitting on the bed next to Ava watching TV.

"Love you too Monie," he pushed her off of him. Marco has never been very affectionate, but that doesn't stop his older sister from showing him just how much she loves him every single day.

"And I love you, cutie," she kissed her daughter on the cheek.

"I love you too mommy."

"You gonna be good for Marco today?"

Ava just gave her a very mischievous smile.

"I can't with y'all. Marco," she pointed at him on her way to the door.

"Yeah, sis?"

"Keep my daughter safe until I get back."

"And when will you be back exactly?"

"I should be back soon. But I don't know if they'll want me to come in later if I get the position. I'll pick y'all up some food on my way back, so what you want?"

"I wanna go out," Marco answered.

"Yeah, me too. I wanna go out mommy," Ava agreed with him.

"Fine. Look up some places and find somewhere we can eat later. But my Uber is outside, so I'm leaving now. I'll see y'all later."

Monie took an Uber to the closest car rental place. She tried to get one directly from the airport, but they were closed since they came in too late. She rented a Jeep Cherokee since it would take a few days for her BMW X3 to get there.

Once she made it downtown to the address on her phone, she parked in a parking garage closest to the club, and sat there for about fifteen minutes, mentally hyping herself up before getting out.

"It's hot as shit out here," Monie complained the second she stepped out of the air-conditioned car, wishing she hadn't worn long jeans and sneakers. Chicago has hot summers too, but the humidity in the air was not something she was used to as of yet. She'd definitely remember to set her curls with hair spray the next time she spends an hour in the mirror with a 1.5-inch curling iron styling her wig and laying her edges.

"Hello, I'm Chantal," the leading manager extended her hand out towards Monique when she made her way to the club.

It was a nice club too, much nicer than the one she worked in back in Chicago. And not only was it nice, but it was also massive, being one of, if not the, largest club in all of Miami. There was a large elevated stage in the middle of the venue that had three poles with smaller platforms and poles in different areas around the club. A DJ booth was on one end of the club, and there were not one, but two bars.

And that's just what she could see. That didn't even include the private rooms and sections of the club.

"I'm Monique, but everyone just calls me Monie," she accepted the handshake.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Monie. Are you here for the open auditions?"

"I am, yes," she nodded her head. She looked around and there were quite a few other girls already there, which made her just a little bit nervous.

Monique is not self-conscious about herself or her body, not even a little bit. But it being her first official day in a brand new city, in a brand new state over a thousand miles away from the only home she's known for the last 22 years was a little bit intimidating for her.

"How old are you, Monie?" Chantal asked her before proceeding with anything else.

"Twenty-two," Monique reached in her bag for her ID because she already knew that was going to be the very next question.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you hear about us?" Chantal asked.

"Some old friends I used to work with."

"Are you coming from another club?"

"Yes, I am," she nodded her head.

"Oh, which one? Maybe I've heard of it?"

"It's a small one back in Chicago," she showed her the Illinois ID she had. "This is uh... this is my first day here actually. I'm new to Miami."

Chantal then had Monique fill out and sign an application after confirming her age.

"Well, welcome," Chantal gave her a very warm and inviting smile. "It's a crazy ass city, but I think you'll like it. There are some pretty amazing people here, you just gotta find the right group to hang with."

"That's good to know, thanks. I've never been anywhere but Chicago, so being here is a little scary for me, I won't even lie."

"Well we're really nice here, you don't have to worry about that," she said as she walked Monique over to some of the other girls sitting on the couch by the main stage. She joined them, taking a seat next to a tall, slender, light-skin woman.

"Hello," Monique whispered as she slid into the seat next to the woman.

The girl didn't respond though. She just brushed her long, bone straight hair back behind her shoulder and turned her attention towards Chantal.

"Well damn," Monique mumbled under her breath. She was sort of offended by her response, but she just let it slide. She wasn't there to make friends anyway, so she didn't so much care about who did or did not like her.

Monique listened to the basic rules and directions Chantal and Luna were giving them and she took it all in, even though the rules were very similar to the ones at her old club.

"Okay, we're gonna do individual interviews first and then if you make it past that, Luna will show you to the locker rooms where you can get dressed. We'll be calling y'all one by one," Chantal was near the end of her little introduction speech now. "You will each do two songs. And remember, this is not a fully nude club. Seriously, I don't care if a man tries to tip you a thousand dollars to take your bottoms off, we don't do that here, understood?"

There were a few head nods.

"Okay good. Y'all can follow Luna on back to the locker rooms then. And the first person to be interviewed is..." she looked down at her clipboard. "Monie Heart."

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"Monie," Chantal called her name specifically out of all the other girls who were getting dressed in the locker room after the auditions had ended.

"Yes?" She asked, sitting down to undo the straps on her pleaser heels.

"Meet me by the bar when you're done in here," Chantal informed her so the other girls wouldn't hear what she wanted to talk to her about.

"Uh..." Monie looked around, wondering why she was singling her out of everyone else in there. "Okay."

"The fuck is so special about that bitch?" The same tall light-skin woman Monie tried talking to when she first got there mumbled under her breath.

She didn't respond though, because she had absolutely nothing to say to her. She just finished putting on her street clothes, zipped her small duffel back up, and gathered her stuff to go meet Chantal by the bar like she said to.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Monie awkwardly stood by the bar.

"Yes," Chantal got up out of her barstool and motioned for Monie to follow her back to her office. She unlocked the door and held it open for her to walk in first. "Sit."

"Can I ask what exactly you wanted to talk to me about?"

Monie was confused because Chantal and Luna had already chosen the girls they wanted who would be starting the next weekend. And of those names, Monique Heart was not one of them. So naturally, all she wanted to do was go home-- well, back to the hotel-- and spend the rest of her day with her daughter and brother while she figured out what her next move would be.

"I wanted to talk to you separately because I was wondering if you wanted to start tonight instead of Thursday or Friday?"

"Wait, so you actually liked my audition?" Monie felt relieved for some reason because she definitely thought she should have been chosen over a couple of the girls they did end up choosing.

"You're one of the best dancers I've had walk through these doors in a very long time," Chantal leaned on the edge of her desk. "And I've been working here since before we opened."

"Thank you. So... I can really start tonight?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to, but we have an event going on tonight and it's a good opportunity to make a lot of money."

"What event, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Babi Bandz is hosting his 25th birthday party here."

"Babi Bandz? Like... the rapper?"

Well known people, usually locally known, would come to her club back in Chicago every once in a while, but that was a very rare occurrence for her.

"Mmmhm," Chantal nodded her head. "So... you interested or not?"

"Of course I am," Monie nodded her head. It would be stupid for her to turn something like that down. "What time do you need me to be back here?"

"Write down your phone number on here," Chantal handed her a sticky note and a pen. "I'll text you all the details after talking to the owner cause there's some legal NDA stuff we gonna need you to sign. Just make sure you have a valid license and your social security card so I can properly input you into the hiring system later on, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you so much, Chantal," Monie smiled. Words couldn't even explain how excited and equally nervous she was for that upcoming night.

It was the only thing on her mind while Chantal gave her a tour of the whole club, her entire drive back to the hotel, and throughout her lunch date with Marco and Ava.

"So you got the job?" Marco took a napkin and wiped Ava's hands and mouth. She was only eating chicken tenders and fries, but she might as well have been eating a rack of ribs from how messy she was.

"I did," Monie nodded her head. "And I start tonight."

"Can I come with you?" He teased her.

"Marco," she tilted her head to the side and looked at him through very narrow eyes and he quickly stopped, knowing Monie is not one to be messed with. "No, keep it up, for real. Keep going."

"Nah, I'm good," he slouched down in the booth and brought his cup of sprite towards him.

"So where's your new job, mommy?" Ava asked.

"Uhhh," Monie hesitated. She doesn't love lying to her daughter, but she also doesn't want to tell her the truth because she'll just go and tell everyone what it is she does.

"Monie works in a restaurant," Marco answered for her.

"You make the food?"

"Not exactly," Monie shook her head.

"Then what do you do?"

"We went to the pool while you were gone," Marco quickly changed the subject, knowing that's the quickest way to distract Ava's brain.

"Oooh, yeah we did. Mommy, I was swimming on my own. I was doing the doggy paddle in the pool with no floaty or nothing."

"Oh really? Well, look at you, lil Michael Phelps."

"Michael who?" Ava raised her eyebrows when her mother's reference went straight over her head.

"Nothing," Monie couldn't help the laugh that had escaped from her lips. "Y'all done eating? Cause I wanna get out of here now."

"I'm done with this," Marco pushed his empty plate away from him. "But I for one could go for some ice cream."

"Oooh, yes!" Ava agreed with him, just like she always does. "I want cookie dough ice cream mommy. Please," she stuck her bottom lip out in a sort of pout.

"Now you know that face don't work on me Ava, but yes. I'm feeling extra nice today, so why not?" She looked down at her watch and they had more than enough time to squeeze a couple more things in for the day before heading back to the hotel so she could take a nap before getting ready for her first-ever Ethereal Miami appearance that night.

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