30 Days In Rehab

Day 1063: Friday

I walk in the club, seeing the girls stretching and laughing with each other. They all turn and wave at me as I greet them. One of them, Kirsten who I am personally close to, rushes over the me, a grin on her face. "Hey Steph, a man— well a detective came in to speak with you like 10 minutes ago. I told him you should be here soon so he's sitting in your office. I had security check him and everything before he was allowed in." I furrow my brows, " a detective? Did he give his name?"

"Yeah it was Deacon or Dylan or—"

"Dawson." I say in realization and her face brightens as I say it. "Yes! That's him! He said you knew him but I wasn't so sure, but I'm glad you do!" I smile at her and tell her I'm going to talk to her later as I slowly walk to my office. Two halls and two rights later, I'm looking through my glass door and at the back of Dawson head. I exhale and open the door, "mister Shemar Moore himself." I say in a light tone. He stands and faces me when he hears me, grinning at the sight of me. "Stephanie... you've lost weight and- and you cut your hair?!" He's shocked.

Today is definitely full of shocking things.

I nod with a smile, "yeah, rehab does things to you." I say as I touch my hair. It's grown since rehab but I've grown used to it being short, so just above shoulder length is where it stays. "Anyway, what brings you here Dawson?" I ask as I walk past him and stand behind my desk. I sit my purse down and take a seat, opening my laptop to read emails. "Um, well, on what I thought would've been your 30 days, I went to go see how you were doing and they said that you were released early? How did that happen?"

I smile at the memory, "yeah, I had got a new counselor towards the end and made so much progress so quickly that he recommended my release and it happened." I glance up from my laptop and see him grinning at me, "I shouldn't even be shocked because it's you were talking about." I simply nod. "Anyway I had no idea how to get in contact with you and I'm pretty sure Tee blocked my number. And the club wasn't exactly popping up on google yet."

"Yeah, Tee wanted to make sure you couldn't get in contact with me at all. Which is probably why she hadn't put the business on google once it was opened."

"Stephanie... I didn't want to tell you—"

"No. We are not talking about this." I say as I look into his eyes so he knows I'm serious. "It doesn't matter anymore because I know and I've moved past it. I'm not living in the past anymore." He looks away, nodding, "I can understand that." He falls quiet and looks up to me, starring. I clear my throat, "that can't be the only reason you're here today detective." He smiles and nods, "actually I came here to see if I can get a job. After the whole fight at the rehab center I ended up losing my job—"

"No."

"Pardon?"

"Did you fart?"

"No, no, no, I mean what are you saying no to?" He asks. "I'm saying no to you getting a job here." He looks at me puzzled, "Stephanie you know I'm more than qualified—" I raise my hand, cutting him off, "I know that. But I also know that you had the tendency to with hold information when you believe someone doesn't need to know that information. Which is the real reason why you lost your job in the first place." He gapes at me. I just shrug. "Now if you don't mind me sir, I have business to tend to so do see yourself out."

—-

It's around midnight and the club is in full swing. A pair of twins are currently performing on the stage right now, and they're doing great. Bartenders are doing tricks and things while making drinks, keeping the drunks entertained. A floor girl touches my shoulder, giving me a quick grin as she squeezes past me. I look around the club in contentment.

It's mine. All of it.

I never would have thought that I would own such a successful business but yet, here I am. I turn away from the stage and head back to my office, quickly grabbing my purse.

Since the club is so successful, it won't miss me for 5 minutes.

I slip out the back foot and quickly walk to the Main Street, having no desire to linger in the alley I walked into. I close my coat around me tightly as I speed up my pace, the fall air nipping at every piece of skin it can get to.  I arrive at my destination, 7-11, and make a beeline straight to the source of my happiness: the slushee machine. "Captain crunch berry flavor? I think the fuck not." I mutter to myself as I grab an extra large cup and fill it up with cherry, blueberry, and a little pina colada. The drink reaches the brim of the cup and I slide the top on before filling it some more. I momentarily debate getting a chilli dog but ultimately decide against it.

My phone dings in my coat pocket and I pull it out, seeing a text from one of the managers that the club is at full capacity and is quickly running out of alcohol. Mere milliseconds later, another text comes through, saying a stripper has fallen from the pole and her foot is now facing the wrong way. I curse quietly to myself before rushing towards the cash register, my eyes glued to my phone as I reply. My rushing comes to an abrupt stop when I walk into something that feels like a wall, the slushee going on me, my phone, and the wall. "Shit!" I snap, dropping the cup and flinging the frozen goodness off my hand and phone.

"Well that got in my eye." A baritone voice mutters, making me stand up. "There is a god." I say without thinking, causing the man to raise an eyebrow and look at me with amusement. "I mean," I clear my throat, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you." He smirks, his brown lips parting and showing pearly white teeth. His skin is a deep chocolate brown that makes me wanna lick— "it's fine, I noticed you were distracted and thought you would notice me in time. I was wrong." He concludes with a laugh. I giggle a little before noticing the amount of messages I'm getting on my phone. I purse my lip as the adrenaline that's needed to fix the situation at courses through me.

"I'm sorry about spilling slushee on your... suit? Why are you wearing a suit so late at night?" I question as I recognize the nice Armani suit he's wearing. He grins, "business meeting ran over a few hours back at the office." I nod in immense understanding, "okay we'll send me the bill for the dry cleaner or just send me the price of it and I'll replace it. I own the club that's just around the corner. Now I'm sorry but I have to jet." I say quickly before walking around him and running out the door.

—-

The sun is bright but the lights in the club are brighter as I run around getting things in order for tonight. "Head-phanie!" A familiar voice yells. I roll my eyes, "yes baby momma?!" I shout back, turning a corner and walking into the main club. I spit Tee with chocolate drop junior on her hip, smirking and pointing a thumb at... the man with the Armani suit. The look on Tee face tells me she wants all the details later. I roll my eyes at her and walk up to the man who has impeccable posture, watching as he watches me with amusement.

For some reason, the way he is looking at me makes me want to blush and hide.

I finally I arrive in front of him and I smile, "hi."

"Hi."

BOOM BITCHES THE END! It literally took me weeks to decide if I should write another book about Stephanie before I finally decided that she has had enough. Another book would mean something else happening to her and honestly I put Stephanie through hell as a character so I believe her time is up. This also frees me up to write another book that has been plaguing my mind, so keep an eye out for that.
Thanks for reading this series you guys, I appreciate all of you.

Shamya