Midnight Cafe

Mumm, I love the sweet taste of Louisiana. Nothing is better than having a full belly before a long trip. It’s been 2 years since I stopped here in this town, unintentionally.

When I arrived, it was filled with young, vibrant people enjoying each other’s company, and the hospitality was top-notch.

Now the town is as dry as the next day’s hangover mouth. It’s my fault, really. I know when to take responsibility, and it’s all due to me.

I promised the old woman, Bayou, that I would move on. If I am anything, I am true to my word. So I told her I’d spend one more night here. Just one more night, and I set my sights somewhere else—somewhere where there are a lot of bodies and a lot of good times to be had.

My bags are packed, and my belly is full. I’ve looked around one more time just to say my farewells. Goodness, I couldn’t help but smile. Oh, they’re gonna remember me from that old woman. She’s gonna make sure that they remember the name, Alani Dupree.

18 years later

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Wow, does she come every day without a smile on her face what is it with this cheery demeanor? When I first hired her, I thought I could deal with it, but now I’m not so sure.

“What do you mean, what am I doing? Do you not see me opening up the cafe?  why are you so cheery?”

I stared at her as she danced her way in the back of the counter. She was literally humming, and it was not from coffee.

“Well, if you had come with me earlier, I’m pretty sure you would have had a smile on your face, too, ” she said with a little smile and a wink, and that told me everything I needed to know.

“I hope it was well worth it. Because you know tonight is going to be one of our most popular nights. We have that famous author Dupree coming.”

This is when Jewels started jumping up and down and clapping as if she were getting a big scoop of ice cream.

“You better not do that tonight.”

She stop jumping up and down and stared at me as if I had two heads.

“Alani Dupree is coming to the Midnight Cafe, and you act like you’re unfazed. Wherever the woman goes, there is a crowd following. You are going to make a ton of money, and I can’t jump up and down because she is one of my favorite authors in the entire world.”

I just turned around and continued wiping down the tables, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be.

“ I think the woman is a bit too overly sexual. Not every story has to be that detailed.”

“She’s that detail for women like you. For women who don’t even want to try to go out there and find somebody. It’s been 10 years and you have not so much as glanced at another body other than yours in a mirror. You know you can go either way nowadays, and no one would bat an eye.”

That was it.

“Jewel’s I do not go both ways as you do. If I so desire to be with another body, which I do not, you would never know because I keep my personal business personal.”

“Mmmmhmmmm” Jewles said as she went about the business of counting the money in the till to make sure everything in the back was well stocked for tonight. We worked as if the other person wasn’t even in the store but the tension broken when the phone rang.

“Midnight cafe, Suzanne speaking. How can I help you?” On the other line, Alani Duprees’ assistant wanted to make sure everything was ready for tonight. He also informed me that there was going to be someone in the room, so we needed to sit in the back. Somewhere where there was not a lot of light.

Midnight Cafe was large enough to hold over 250 bodies. There are sections in the back that are so dark that if you didn’t hear them whispering, you wouldn’t know anyone there. I had to sign it that way myself because I do have a high clientele who like to stay hidden from time to time. After giving the assistant the rundown and he was satisfied, I hung up the phone and turned to jewels.

“I need you to care for this important person who’s supposed to be sitting in the shadows. Make sure this person gets what they require and nothing more.”

I tend to forget that Jewels thinks the midnight café is a hook-up establishment, so I had to emphasize nothing more. You gave me that smile and a wink, and I thought to myself, I should have hired more staff.

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