REDEMPTION

EIGHT

I won't pretend that I intend to stop living
I won't pretend I'm good at forgiving..
_______

"Here you go," a waitress said as she passed by Baby and placed a bottle of Belaire on the small table between them. With her eyes pinned on Lauren, she said, "This bottle is courtesy of the gentleman over there."

She nudged her head in a direction that Lauren's eyes followed until they settled on a large, muscular figure in the far-right corner of the club. It was the man that had been trying to speak to Baby earlier. Lauren squinted to get a better look and watched as he raised his hand to his forehead in salute. His demeanor was impeccable as he sat in the middle of a group of men, none of them quite as alluring as he, wearing an all-white ensemble that reminded Lauren of something she'd admired on the Givenchy runway.

"Who did he say for you to send this to?" Lauren asked the waitress. "Me or her?"

"You."

A grin spread across Lauren face, but just as soon as it arrived, it was gone as she feigned a look of disgust.

"So he was only talking to you to try to get to me. Niggas ain't shit, Baby." she spat. She didn't know how true her statement was. Tip had only talked to Baby to get at Lauren but not in the way that she thought.

"I don't really care anyways," Baby replied with a shrug. "He's not my type."

"Oh right. I forgot you prefer felons." Baby's cheeks flamed at Lauren's words, but she fought to not show in her face that she was hurt by Lauren's words. She knew that her friend always said what was on her mind, and through the years, she'd learned to not be bothered by it. But sometimes her opinion still stung.

I prefer your wife, Baby thought to herself.

Much later, after the bottle of Rosé was long gone, Lauren still couldn't pull her eyes away from the man who had purchased it for her. Her eyes settled once again on him, and she watched with an unwavering stare as he interacted with his counterparts. It was obvious to anyone watching him that he was the natural leader of the crew. The others revered him in a way that was observed rather than heard, their behavior and body language showing that they regarded him for the boss that he seemed to be.

Tip knew he was being watched, so he made sure to put on extra hard for Lauren, using every opportunity to pull out the wad of cash in his pocket and flash his wealth. What little bit of wealth he had anyways. Truth be told, what he had in his pocket was pretty much all he had left of his past fortune that had dwindled away to nearly nothing since he'd been in prison. When he pulled out his knot and pretended to count through the big face hundreds, Lauren could no longer stay in her seat. She had to see what he was all about.

"I'll be back," Lauren muttered as she dashed away before Baby had a chance to ask her where she was headed.

With her eyes pinned on the subject of her jumbled thoughts, Lauren scurried away, eager to know who he was. No one she'd ever seen had commanded so much awe and admiration by his mere presence. No one other than BK, that is, but she didn't seem to flourish in it like this new man did. Just as Lauren had nearly made it over to him, the man lifted his eyes and found hers as if he'd known the entire time that she was heading his way.

With a subtle toss of her head, she silently requested him to follow her as she hugged a left and made a beeline down the back hall of the club that led to the restroom. Standing in the center of the hall, Lauren waited until she saw him round the corner, before she keyed in a code and walked through the door and into the room where they stored their alcohol products.