The One himself.

He was walking out of the men’s room flanked by two men. When his eyes caught mine, I took my nipple between my teeth and bounced up and down, allowing the tassels on my crotch to touch the floor. He stopped cold in his tracks.

Bills started raining down on me. When I twirled around on my ass and brought my thighs up and did a split in midair, I heard them yelling.

“Goddamn, girl!” someone cried.

“Work that shit!” another one said.

I danced like there might not be a tomorrow and at every turn, his eyes were on me. Before it was over, he was at the edge of the stage, his bodyguard’s right at his side.

When I crawled to him, he plucked five crisp one hundred dollar bills from his wad and held them out for me. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “You come to VIP with me and my boy Bullet here.”

I allowed him to put the bills into my thong then shook my head. “Nah, baby, I’ve got work to do,” I said and shook my hips and wiggled away from him. When I finished my set he was still standing there, staring at my every move. The One went back in the VIP room while I was picking up my money. I cursed myself for not jumpin’ at his offer. I was doin’ all right controlling the floor, but I knew that The One was in there with a select group, and that’s where I belonged. With the real money!

Later that night, I walked out of the dressing room and bumped right into The One’s bodyguard. He was massive; a six feet four-inch tower who looked down at me and said, “The One wants you in the VIP.”

“And what are you, his mouthpiece?” I asked.

“He told me to bring you,” he confirmed.

Since that’s where I wanted to be anyway, I followed Bullet to the VIP room without another word passing between us. When I walked through the door, Creme and the other dancers that were in there, rolled their eyes at me and continued what they were doin’. They knew what my presence in the room meant. And when Bullet walked me over to The One and he pulled me onto his lap, you woulda thought I’d slapped their mothers.