Page 34 of Shar: A Woman Alone

“What do you mean by clean up the decoration?”

“I would like to paint the walls and have the furniturecleaned. It’s a little smelly, if I’m honest.” Lira looks worried after sayingthis, but I stand and walk to the room, open the door and yeah, she’s right,the room stinks of sweat, beer and sex. Pres is not going to be happy aboutthis, not for a minute. Trip should have picked up on the smell.

Turning, I walk back to the kitchen and see Lira is sittingwhere I left her, looking worried. “Lira, you don’t go into that room until Itell you, okay?”

Nodding, Lira looks even more worried. “Is everything okay?I’ve not needed to stay in the room as yet. I’ve been saving to get things tomake it better.”

“We’ll do that, don’t worry. I’ll tell Pres, and if you seeanyone go into that room, you buzz me and I’ll sort it.” I know Lira has mydigits as I made sure when she came that she had mine, Trip’s, Brawl’s andAtlas’s.

“Okay.” Lira jumps to her feet and rushes to the oven, whereshe takes out a rack of barbecued ribs and there are more trays to come out.The brothers are going to be delighted tonight.

I give her a chin lift as I leave the kitchen, and head outto my hog as I need to get to Dance Mecca.

Walking into Dance Mecca, I head to the office where Shar isspeaking with Nate.

“Hi, Crack. I want to announce the new bar manager, Nate.The bar team had a meeting and decided that Nate here is the best one for thejob.”

“Well, that’s great. It’s another piece of the club puzzlein place. The club has a different feel about it as you walk in. Youupmarketedthe place is all I can say, and I like it, Shar. I like it a lot.”

“While we’re talking management, Crack, I want to run anidea by you and Nate. I think Stella could be a good fit for the club manager'sposition. She has management experience in the industry. Her attitude seems tobe first rate. She can train the pole dancers and probably knows a few otherthings that could enhance the club.” Looking from Nate to me and back again,she’s expecting some input.

“What do you think, Nate?” I throw that out fast to deflectShar’s attention from me.

“I’ve talked to her quite a bit, and she has given us sometips for the bar operation. The way she talks to people shows that she haspeople skills, too.” Nate is certainly showing support for Stella, that’s forsure.

“I think she has stuff going on in her private life thatshe’s either keeping quiet or trying to work through. It’s a suspicion I havemore than a known fact.” Shar sits back in her seat and looks thoughtful.“Getting her set up in the apartment quietly could be a good idea, too. If shehas previous relationship issues, moving and being close to the club would giveher added security by the MC, as well as being less vulnerable while having totravel.”

“Jesus, Shar. Are you thinking of writing a thriller or justgetting carried away in a world of make believe? That’s a lot of assumptionsyou’re throwing out, you know?” I raise my eyebrows at her and she tips herhead to one side.

“I’m not often wrong about people. I think she is a goodperson, but I get a vibe that all is not well in Stella-world, that’s all.”

“I agree that she could be right for the club manager’sposition, but I’m gonna sit back and let you sell it to Sharp. He might not beso keen on someone with all that imaginary baggage you’re giving her.”

“I think you’re doing right there, Crack. I’m lucky that notbeing a brother, I don’t have to attend your Sunday meetings,” Nate chimes in.

“Church,” both Shar and me say at the same time.

“Whatever. I’m going to get back to the bar.” Nate slidesout of his chair and walks from the office.

“C’mon, Crack. Let’s go see how the pole dancing is going.Stella has been pushing them fairly hard the last few sessions.”

“Lead the way, Shar, lead the way.” Following her from theoffice, I watch the way her butt moves as she walks and lose myself in a littlefantasy.

“Like what you see, huh?” Damn. Got caught out there, butI’m not embarrassed and brazen it out.

“You know you have a splendid figure, Shar, and I’ve alwaysappreciated a nice ass.” Surprisingly, she is the one that blushes, and Iwouldn’t have expected that.

Taking a seat at one of the tables near the pole area, wewatch the dancers go through their routines. Vixen and Cherry are the best ofthe bunch and I think Electra needs to stay on the stripper stage. She isdefinitely not cut out for the pole. She’s going to do herself some seriousinjury before she ever gets a customer excited.

The last thing to do before I leave is check out theapartment. Sharp eventually agreed to spend some serious cash getting it done,and I want to see that it was done right. If it isn’t, Sharp isn’t going totake it lying down.

At the bottom of the stairs to the apartment, there are twolockable exits. One goes directly to the club, the other to the rear parkinglot. The apartment door itself is a seriously secure door.

As you walk into the apartment, the new smell hits youfirst. It’s not so much fresh paint as much as just newness. It is certainlylight and airy with a spacious feel. There’s no worry about reporting back toSharp either. Each room is well-appointed, and all the appliances are high end.I wouldn’t mind moving in myself.

Shar looks like the cat that got the cream as she watches myreaction. “I thought the same, Crack. I wouldn’t mind it myself if I’d beenstaying.”

“I don’t mind admitting, Shar, it’s not going to be easyletting you go. I know we weren’t meant to be a couple, but even so, watchingmy little sister ride off into the sunset won’t be easy.”

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