3. Eye Contact ♔

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|  King of Hearts  |

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By: Janae Destiny

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Later That Night

When Kiara arrived at Ethereal that night, all eyes were on her as she walked in, even though one of the hottest rappers to come out of Miami was there. She steals the spotlight of every room she walks into, and it's not hard to see why. Her beautiful blemish-free dark brown skin, thick, curvaceous body, and pretty face are enough to have any man or woman in a trance as she walks by.

And that night, she had her hairstylist come and install a brand new 30" water wave unit with transparent lace. She was dressed in a bright yellow two-piece fitted skirt and top outfit that perfectly contrasted her dark skin complexion, a pair of black Tom Ford Padlock heels, and gold accessories. She looked good. Really good.

Kiara walked through the thick sea of people in her very packed club until she made her way to the V.I.P section where Babi Bandz and his closest friends were. The party had sold so many tickets, more than any other event Ethreal Miami has hosted before. It was so packed that one of the bouncers/security guards had to personally escort her to the section so she didn't have to physically push past people to get through.

"King! Wassup girl," Babi Bandz held his arms out and she walked into his embrace, allowing him to hug her.

"Hey baby," she squeezed him tight and gave him a little kiss on the cheek before pulling away from the hug. "Happy birthday Bandz."

"Thanks, boo," he smiled down at her. Even if he wasn't holding an open bottle of D'usse in his left hand, it would still be very obvious that he was already drunk-- very drunk. "You look, good King. Real good."

"I always do," she smiled, showing off the open-faced gold and diamond grillz she has on her both her top and bottom teeth.

"You can't just say thank you? You always did have a big head," he shook his head, his shoulder-length dreads moving along with him.

"Not as big as yours though," she playfully pushed him backward. "You enjoying your party so far?"

"Fa sho. You know it's always lit. And then having me here on top of it? We bouta go up all fucking night, King."

"Mmmhm," she laughed in response to that. Maybe he would be going up all night, but Kiara was not about to get home with the sun rising again like she did the previous night. "I'ma go say hi to some more people. I'll see you later Bandz."

"You made it!" Chantal looked up to meet Kiara, yelling over the bass that was thumping through the club. She was sitting on a couch holding a hookah pipe between her lips.

"I woulda been here earlier, but it took me a lil minute to get ready," Kiara squeezed herself in between Chantal and the guy sitting next to her.

"You look good though," she handed Kiara the hookah pipe and she kindly accepted it.

"At least y'all think so. I FaceTimed my mom before I left the house and my dad in the background talking shit saying I look like that long ass nigga from Curious George who dresses in all yellow."

"Babe I'm so sorry, but that's funny as fuck," Chantal covered her mouth, trying to hide the very obnoxious laugh that left her lips. "He so wrong for that. Keenan King ain't nothing but a hater for real."

"Nigga got too much time on his hands is the problem. Ain't got nothing to do but bother us ever since he stopped playing. I swear he ain't do nothing with his life but annoy me since I was like 17 years old."

"Yeah, but you low-key love it," Chantal teased her. Kiara is definitely a daddy's girl, and anyone who knows her knows that. Keenan and Kiara King are like best friends who also happen to be father and daughter.

"Whatever Chantal," Kiara held her hand up in the girl's face.

Kiara mingled with a few more people and met a few of Babi Bandz's friends than she's never met before. She smoked, she drank, she danced-- she just had fun, always being the life of any event she attends.

"I need water," Chantal sat back down on the couch after Kiara had forced her to get up and dance with her. "Bitch you know I got asthma and you got me out here doing too much knowing I don't have my inhaler."

"Here," Kiara opened up a brand new bottle of water and handed it to her before sitting down beside her. "I keep telling yo ass to keep that shit in your purse, but you don't be listening."

"I'd rather die than bring out an inhaler in the middle of a strip club."

"One of these days you just might you keep fucking around like that," Kiara picked up the hookah pipe again, putting a fresh tip on it before bringing it to her lips. "You know where Luna is at?" Kiara finally inquired about her younger sister after noticing she hasn't seen her at all that night.

"She was with one of Bandz's homeboys. And the last I seen, they was headed to the back," Chantal pursed her lips together, and it was very obvious what she was hinting at.

"Of course," Kiara rolled her eyes. "That bitch always up to something."

Of the two of them, Luna is definitely the more 'active' sister. She's shameless in her act too and doesn't care what anyone has to say about her. And as long as she's being safe and responsible, Kiara doesn't care too much either, not until it creates unnecessary drama that her name is then brought up in by familial association.

People expect Kiara to be the same way as Luna because she's a girl who likes girls- who also owns a strip club with nothing but half-naked women always walking around. But she's not like that, not even a little bit. She doesn't get involved with any of the dancers-- or anyone for that matter, because she's been celibate for the last five years straight. She hasn't had sex since her wild days back in college and doesn't really miss it either.

Kiara had a lot of meaningless sex with even more meaningless women throughout high school and college. That was until she realized one day that just wasn't the life she wanted to be living anymore and has been celibate ever since.

"Yo. Who is that?" Kiara pointed at one dancer in particular that had caught her attention. She wasn't paying attention to any of the girls this entire time until that one girl, in particular, took the stage.

"That's the new girl you was telling me about earlier?" Kiara leaned in and asked.

"Yeah. Monique Heart," Chantal replied. "She's cute, ain't she?"

"Yeah... sumn like that," Kiara couldn't take her eyes off of her for some reason.

Monie was up on the stage, dressed in a small black thong with pasties over her nipples and a short mesh dress over it as her 'outfit'. But even being practically naked up there on that stage, that's not what caught Kiara's attention the most. It was her innocent, doe-looking eyes, the soft curve of her lips into a slight sultry smile, and the way her body moved so softly to the upbeat beat of the music. Monie made dancing on that pole look like a beautiful art form. She used her body in ways that Kiara has never seen any other dancer use her body before.

The worst part about it is that Monie knows she's attractive. She knows the effect she has on people, which just makes her that much more dangerous. And of the hundreds of people in the club that night, Monie's eyes somehow met Kiara's, and she held the gaze for a little while, ending it with a slight smirk as she climbed the pole again, breaking their very intense eye contact.

"You said her name is Monique Heart?" Kiara asked Chantal.

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason," Kiara shook her head, her eyes still stuck on Monie for the entire three and a half minutes the song played. "Just asking."

"She just moved here from Chicago."

"Hmm," she hummed.

Even after Monie had left the main stage, she was still getting a lot of attention from the people in the club. And she was very friendly, which just added to the attention she was getting.

"She's gonna be a problem," Kiara said to Chantal. "I can just tell."

"Monique? Why do you say that? She seems like a nice girl."

"That's the problem. It's only her first night here and look at her. The other girls not gonna like the amount of attention she's getting."

"Those jealous ass bitches," Chantal rolled her eyes. "They too damn busy worrying about the other girls' pockets."

"Yeah... and I just know this new girl gonna be sumn for real," Kiara said more to herself than anything else.

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It was almost 7am when Monie finally made it back to the hotel. She didn't count her money from that night/early morning for two reasons. One reason being that she was too tired and only wanted to take a quick shower and then get in bed. The other one being that she knew it was a lot-- a lot more than she'd ever made in one night at her old club. So she just left it in her bag and took a shower before laying down in the bed next to Ava, almost falling asleep instantly.

She knew she couldn't sleep as long as she wanted to though because she had a 10am appointment with a realtor to look at some apartments. But luckily, Monie wouldn't be going back to work until Friday night, with gave her about four days to get everything straightened out until she was back at work.

"You look exhausted," Marco said as he buckled his seatbelt after making sure Ava was properly secured in her booster seat in the back.

"Because I am," Monie rubbed her burning eyes.

The hour-long nap she took was not nearly enough after such a long night, but she'd have to make it work until she's able to get some proper rest. She always tries her best not to complain about anything, but being the sole caretaker of her daughter and the legal guardian of her brother since the age of 18 has definitely taken a toll on her both emotionally and mentally. She never has time to focus on that though. She doesn't have time to not have her shit together, especially when Marco and Ava are depending on her.

"Ava, baby," she turned around to look at her daughter.

"Yes, mommy?"

"Y'all want Dunkin or Chick-Fil-A for breakfast?"

"Chick-Fil-A," they both answered at the same time.

"I don't know why I even asked," Monie let out a little laugh, knowing that was gonna be their answer anyway. She still stopped by Dunkin afterwards and ordered a medium vanilla latte with a double shot of espresso hoping that would give her even a little bit more energy than she currently had.

"Is that all for your order ma'am?" The barista asked. She decided to get out of the car and go inside because the drive-thru line was too long.

"Yes, that's it. Thank you," she pulled out her card to pay for her coffee.

Monie was looking down to put her card back in her wallet when she turned around and accidentally bumped into whoever was walking directly behind her.

"Fuck," the girl exclaimed, holding her coffee cup up and out of the way so it wouldn't spill.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Monie immediately apologized. "I shoulda been paying attention to where I was going."

"You damn near made me spill my--" the girl stopped when she realized exactly who it was she'd bumped into. "Monique? Monique Heart?"

"Uhhh..." She hesitated. "How do you know my name exactly?"

She remembers locking eyes with this girl at the club last night, but why does she know her name? That's what she wanted to find out. And while she's at it, why is the girl up and out after the event had ended so late in the morning?

"I own the club you was working in last night."

"Oh?" Monie was a bit shocked by that. She wasn't sure who the club owner was exactly, but she was not expecting their description to fit one of Kiara King. "I know this sounds weird, but you wouldn't happen to be related to uhhh... what's his name? That one retired NBA player."

"Keenan King?" Kiara asked her.

"Yeahhh," Monie snapped. "Keenan King. You very oddly resemble him."

"I should. He's my father," Kiara laughs every time someone new finds out who her father is. "Kiara King," she held her hand out, the one that wasn't holding onto her iced latte.

"Monique Heart," she accepted the handshake. "But you already knew that. And uh-- you can just call me Monie."

"It's nice to meet you, Monie," Kiara flashed her that infectious gold and diamond smile, making Monie very instinctively smile back.

"Venti vanilla latte with a double shot of espresso for Monie!" One of the baristas called out, causing her to finally pull away from the embrace she didn't even notice she still had with Kiara.

"Sorry," she pulled her hand away. "I was actually... I actually gotta go."

"Yeah," Kiara nodded her head. "Don't let me hold you."

"Oh and uh, it was nice meeting you too, Kiara," Monie very reluctantly walked away from her and towards the counter where the Barista was holding her coffee order.

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