Black Rose

Fourteen

"Goodness gracious! What do your parents do for a living? Sell drugs!" I exclaimed, gawking at the extraordinary humongous mansion. It was something you'd only expect to see the Queen of England living in. I didn't even think Seattle had homes this big and I've been in every nook and cranny of the city. Or so I thought.

"My parents own a share of Google, so they can afford to live here." Lance confessed, leading us up the unnecessary long driveway.

"A share of Google?" I mocked, confused as to why he isn't living lavish when he had the funds to do so. "Why are you living in our basic apartment complex?"

"Because my parent's money isn't my money. They worked for everything they have, leading them to be rich, while I work for what I have. Don't get it confused, they've offered multiple times to put me in a million dollar home with million dollar cars, but I'd rather depend on myself, you know? I'm not disabled, meaning I can do for myself. I don't want to lean on my parents for every little thing just because I know they got it like that. Every blue moon, I'll ask for a loan if I'm in desperate need of it, but I always make it my business to pay them back. I'm a grown ass man who should be taking care of himself and that's what I do " He explained with such confidence and it secretly turned me on. This man next to me have millionaires as parents, willing to take care of him and basically wiping out his worries and struggles of life, but he chose independency over it all. It's rare to find someone who'd give up the luxurious lifestyle for a normal lifestyle. I respect that.

We reached the massive double doors that were guarded by two male waiters in black suits, wearing white gloves. Neither of them spoke as they opened the doors for us and a mixture of noise filled my ears. The place had the most exquisite decoration I've ever seen and I haven't seen many expensive things. I did notice one particular thing that stuck out like a sore thumb. There were very few people of color in attendance tonight and I immediately felt out of place. Tugging on Lance's arm to get his attention, I motioned for him to bend down.

"Where are all the black people?" I asked, looking around the room.

"They don't really associate with our kind." He responded, earning a frown of disgust from me. "Don't look at me like that. I love my people of color."

"I'm going to keep my thoughts to myself about them." I shook my head, following him to one of the bars. The woman serving drinks was eyeing me down and I could only believe she has an attraction towards Lance.

"Look who decided to show up after months of dodging his parent's calls." The nameless woman said, staring at Lance in a lustful way. "And you came dressed to impress."

"I had to show up and show out this one time. You don't look so bad yourself." He nudged his head towards her basic bartender attire, that consisted of a black vest with a white collard shirt underneath and black slacks.

"Oh, please you're just saying that because I complimented you first." He dropped his head, obviously blushing. I cleared my throat in hopes of redirecting the conversation to something less awkward. "Can I order a drink now or are you two going to keep flirting in my face? I asked, clearly annoyed with the disrespect being displayed before my eyes.

"Right, my apologies." She gave a tight lip smile and I returned one. "What would you like to drink?"

"A Manhattan with Carpano Antica."

"Coming right up."

"What about me?" Lance asked.

She waved him off. "You order the same thing every time you come here. I know what you want already."

She walked off to fix our drinks and I took this time to observe my surroundings. It's never wrong to figure people out for future references. Someone could be a serial killer for all I know and I wouldn't be prepared. As my eyes wandered around the room, I spotted a familiar face in the crowd. It was the same guy I met at Venus' house a while back. Winter is his name. He was staring at me with so much intensity, I could almost feel his eyes boar through my body. I threw my hand up, slightly waving at him, thinking he'll catch the hint, but his eyes stayed glued to me.