Crossroads

Chapter 2

After meeting Angel, Daniela spent the next few days doing everything she could not to think about the biker or her undeniable attraction to him. This was made difficult thanks to the fact that Angel had called her with minute updates on her car daily. Unnecessary due to the fact the part needed was backordered; Angel's calls became a highlight of the day for Daniela, and she found them having longer and longer conversations each time. Knowing that her attraction was one sided, she worked her two jobs, studied her patient notes nonstop, and even downloaded Bumble onto her phone again in a feeble attempt to date.

Despite all of these things, Angel was still the focus of her daydreams, and very much on her mind when Jasmine called to ask her older daughter to come help out on Saturday night. Though she would never want her own daughter to dance, from time to time Jasmine asked Daniela to help with some of the administrative tasks at The Pleasure Chest, and on nights where there was an event or extra help was necessary, Daniela would bartend and supervise the servers. This particular Saturday must have had several high profile parties scheduled to visit, as Jasmine requested the help of not only Daniela, but Lauren as well.

Lauren was more than happy to oblige; a New Orleans transplant, Lauren and Daniela met in New Orleans when Daniela was a freshman at Tulane. Both girls were Chemistry majors, and despite their very different backgrounds, they became fast friends. Upon graduating from Tulane, Lauren found herself cut off from her family and down on her luck. With no other ties to the Bayou worth sticking around for, Lauren followed Daniela to California while the latter started medical school, and the girls found a tiny apartment together. With the stability of a better job and a healthier environment, Lauren made the decision to go back to school for nursing. Jasmine immediately took Lauren under her wing, so Lauren was always happy to help the woman who had extended such kindness to her.

"Do you know what's going on at PC tonight?" Lauren asked as they approached the parking lot of The Pleasure Chest. "Not exactly, only that there were a couple of big spenders who had purchased table service and Mom was feeling antsy about having enough people scheduled." Pulling into a spot under one of the awnings, the girls worked on putting on their makeup and finished their coffees. Greeting Mike, one of the weekend bouncers, they entered through the side and immediately headed towards the dressing room to put their things away.

"Hey Dani! 'Sup Lauren?" Chrystal bounded over to the two, engulfing them in a sideways group hug. "Hey Chrystal. Is she here yet?" Daniela inquired as to the whereabouts of her mother as she shoved her purse and workbag into one of the tiny lockers. "She said she's 10 minutes away....so she should be here within a few hours." The three women snickered at the joke. Jasmine was notoriously late, so it was no surprise that on their busiest night of the week, the owner of Santo Padre's premier strip club was running behind. "Very funny ladies!" Jasmine's sunny drawl rang out through the dressing room. Forty -two with a face that suggested much younger, Jasmine Santos strutted into the room on a mission.

The middle child of two Mexican immigrants, Jasmine grew up just outside of Houston, and was a freshman in high school when she found herself pregnant with Daniela. Though the early years were filled with the mistakes that happen when children give birth to children, Jasmine loved Daniela with a ferocity that amazed even the most dedicated parent. At little over sixteen with a toddler and pride too great to admit to her parents that the boy they'd warned her about had ceased child support, Jasmine got a fake ID and began stripping at one of Houston's seediest clubs. She was able to hide it for only so long when Daniela's father snitched on her while on his way to a ten- year prison stint. Though disappointed in their daughter's choices, Jasmine's parents did not condemn her, and encouraged Jasmine to go back to school and work her way up within the business. When she followed her now-released ex to California in an attempt to play family again, they supported her decision to purchase the dilapidated Bubbles and turn it into The Pleasure Chest.