It's Above Me Now.

26: The Jig Is Up

"Look who's back in motherfucking action!" Dylan exclaimed. "If there's one person that's gonna rise above some bullshit, it's you my friend."

I chuckled lightly, flipping through my notes. I returned to the Troupe after a couple of days, and it was as though I never left. I was back in my rightful position, being the true boss I was meant to be. I was welcomed back with huge smiles, kind gestures and words of encouragement. I didn't want to shut the organization down simply because of my situation, so I excused myself. My brothers pooled together to run Troupe in my absence, and it not only was heartwarming but impressive. My brothers held it down, and they were showing the fuck out.

"Man you know what they say." I replied. "When life gives you lemons, make chocolate cake and leave people wondering how you did it."

Dylan snickered and propped on my office door. "Speaking of chocolate cake, your girl Hanschell dropped by the other day. She wanted to make sure you were straight since everything happened."

Hearing Hanschell's name made me perk up, and Dylan laughed at my reaction. She was the last person I expected to hear checking on me, and the thought of her fine ass sashaying through Troupe to make sure I was good had me feeling all nice inside. I was convinced more than ever now that she still wanted your boy. I could feel it in my soul.

"Her sex must be off the motherfucking chain. You going to call her?" Dylan questioned. "She seemed pretty concerned."

"Nah." I answered, shuffling through papers. "I'll wait it out a bit, can't look like I'm sweating her."

Dylan nodded. "Well while you're here waiting, the fellas and I are gonna head out. Since your whole Shawn mishap, the Troupe has been blowing up with positive reviews and more clientele. Everyone wants to be associated with the men who turned their lives around. Business is booming, so we're all going out to celebrate at Citalique. It's a new strip club everyone's talking about. You should come with."

I glanced over at a nearby clock and saw that it was 9PM. As much as I wanted to turn up with the guys, I knew it was of my best interest to discipline myself and get some work done. Although Troupe was doing fantastically well, I still had to do my part by handling the more executive tasks. There was paperwork to file and documents to review. Citalique would always be there. Preserving and securing my future in business was key.

"Nah I think I'll sit this one out and pull an all nighter." I said. "There's so much shit to do around here still. Y'all go out and have fun."

"Whatever you say man." Dylan replied. "But hey, you talked to Drew? He's been missing in action for some days now and we need him to help put together this event Troupe is co-hosting. Y'all good?"

"I haven't spoken to him but I will." I answered. "He's probably embarrassed, or thinks I'm mad at him but we'll sort it out. We've been cool for the longest. That bullshit with his father isn't going to affect our friendship."

"That's what I like to hear." Dylan said. "Anyways, I'm out. You're the only one here so I'll turn on the alarms and cameras on the way out. The guys already got a section at Citalique and from the snaps I've seen thus far...the shit looks lit. We 'bout to make a movie up in that spot. Bud or Lou coming by to scoop you later?"

"Nah, Veronica gave them a week off. They truly need it. Their last order of business was dropping Veronica and Tomas to the airport. Those two are meeting with my father in Dubai to tend to whatever business they got going on, so your boy got the house for himself. I've got a trusted car service coming for me around one. Maybe I might swing by this Citalique place. You know I hate to miss out."

Dylan nodded, and dapped me up. Within seconds he was out the door, and I was left alone with a huge cup of coffee and a pile of work surrounding me. The grind never stopped, so I got straight to work. I kicked in another gear, and honestly, this was the best part. The behind the scenes, all the preparations. This was the part I loved the most. The festivities and accolades were just the icing on the cake.