Love Has No Time or Place with Lola and Friends. VL Walters
the bar instead.”
“Wow, I do feel sorry for those men dreaming of a Sasha in their Christmas stocking.” Sasha Marie Stewart was a true fox. She had the Betty Boop look to her, but she was chocolate and had legs to die for. Tonight, she had on a suede suit in light pink that landed on the middle of her thighs, with a colorful muted vest with pink, lavender, and flecks of deep tan that had a buttoned front and a strapless back. She had on crystal earrings that reflected the vest and became multi-colored. She had on pale pink suede boots that matched the suit perfectly. With pink lips and a short pixie haircut, she was ready to do some serious damage.
Lola looked at her girls and gave them each a hug as Toni came into the office. They all grabbed hands and bowed their heads, and did the prayer they usually did together. They thanked God for yet another night together, and always after the amens, they said, “Let the good times roll!”
Melinda and Sasha started heading out of the office when Toni said, “This will be a very special night for all of us, I can feel it.”
Lola looked at her and said, “I hope so.” While checking her makeup and touching up her lipstick, she headed for the door and locked it. As they walked toward the stage, they could hear the group tuning up as the sounds of Grover Washington Jr. played in the air as Sandy’s magic came alive again.
When one happened upon Sandy’s for the first time a wave of awe would consume them. The inside was a masterpiece as was the outside. Sandy’s recent facelift had paid off nicely. Under the careful guidance of Lola’s architect and the family’s dollars, they made Sandy’s a place to behold.
Sandy’s, named for the summer beach house in South Carolina, was completely surrounded by sand. It held a lot of wonderful memories, just as the supper club did. When one would walk into the supper club, the spacious area was done like a comfortable living room. The first eye-catching effects were the pictures of Bugs Bunny in a tuxedo and Daffy Duck in an Italian suit in black-and-white stills with overhead lights that added a special effect to them. The wall was painted an exotic red, and with the black frames, it made quite an effect.
There was a rectangular glass table that stretched along most of the wall that held club cards, matches, mints, toothpicks, and club information. It also held show times and future acts. There were black and red loveseats, a total of twenty, opposite the pictures. The floor was done in a black-and-white checkered pattern with a red, white, and black pattern in the middle. The lighting was all overhead like spotlights, but with a soft glow.
As you came into the club, on your right was the coat checkroom where Trent and Darla worked. To your left, past the chairs, were the restrooms. The next door was for personnel only, which had a security guard stationed there at all times. Near the entrance was the host and hostess station and, of course, security. As you stepped from the foyer, you could see a huge cherry wood bar with bar stools that sat twenty at the bar, and twenty more barstools across from the bar for the after-work crowd, with appetizers, of course.
The room was done in high-gloss silver paint with pictures of celebrities and guests adorning them in cherry wood frames. As you walked past the bar, there was an extraordinary mirror there that was made with a frame of cherry wood, and engraved chips of cut glass around the edges. Another eye-catcher was the huge picture of Betty Boop at the far end of the bar with sheet music behind her as she appeared to be singing.
As you walked around the bar, to your right was the stage area, which was polished in high wood beams of cherry wood and a beautiful wood stained floor. The dining area, which was the largest part, was done in a sandy tan with twenty round tables for five, six tables for six, and nine for two. There were also two private booths for staff and special guests which were discreetly off to the side. Each table was covered in either a cream, turquoise, pink, gold, green or peach table cloth with small vases of birds of paradise, and other assorted fresh flowers, with candlelight. Soft pink lighting hung above like miniature spotlights. There was a mural drawn on the round wall that encircled the dining area. The mural was a mystical jungle with beautiful cats and various animals looking on with pleasure in their eyes.
Off to your left were the restrooms. The ladies’ rooms was done in pink, and the men’s in blue. Both had murals which were done in a “chill” mode for each gender. The lady’s was done as an exotic boudoir of feminine persuasion as the men’s was painted as a sports arena with pictures of different athletes. They were both kept immaculate. Another exit sign hung near the offices and staff lounge off to the far right of the stage.
As Toni and Lola approached the patrons, they greeted them with smiles and hopes of a good night to be had by all. It was now 7:00 pm and counting 2 hours for Lola to get the lump out of her throat, and twenty minutes more to question her doubts. Sterling will definitely be a new pulse to the place, even for that one night, she thought to herself. She was totally lost in thought when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.
“Oh, hi, Mommy,” Lola said.
“Where were your thoughts just now? You look a little shaken,” she said.
“I think it would be safe to say I’m slightly nervous,” she said.
“Nervous. You? Maybe your sister, Misha, but not you. Okay, everyone may get a little apprehensive, but not nervous. Lola, handle him like you do business, okay? Your heart does not know him yet,” she said. “You look beautiful tonight, and so do my other daughters. You ladies all seem to be on a secret mission to hurt all the fellows badly.” She chuckled. “It is wonderful having all of you here. Oh, look, there is your sister.”
Lola waved to her, and she waved back. Misha was headed to the office.
“There seems to be a problem with one of the food vendors. We are going to get to the bottom of it right now.”
“Okay,” Lola said.
“Lola, at nine, I will be near,” her mom said as she also headed to the office
“Okay.”
Chapter 3
Nine o’clock loomed on the clock like a beacon coming to give notice. Toni was at the hostess station looking for a first glance of Sterling. As Lola approached her and Mason from the back, she saw him step inside after a group of couples came in.
Toni was greeting everyone with, “Good evening, everyone, welcome to Sandy’s.”
At that moment, Lola stepped in front of a chocolate dream. She said, “Good evening, Sterling, welcome to Sandy’s.”
He threw this wonderful smile after assessing her outfit, and said, “Good evening, Lola, thank you for having me.”
“Not a problem,” she said. “Trent will take your coat, and I will give you a tour of the place. But not before you meet Toni and Mason, our host and hostess for the evening.”
“Did I hear my name, Lola?” Toni asked.
Mason threw his eyes up and said, “Maybe.”
“Sterling, this is one of my dearest friends, Eurydice Toni Malone, known as Toni. Toni, this is Sterling Dane Stanton.”
“It is nice to meet you,” Toni said, “and this is Mason J. Parker.”
“Nice to meet you, man,” Mason said. The phone near Mason rang, and he handed it to Lola.
“Lola speaking.”
“Is he here?” her mother asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Okay, I will be peeking in a few.”
“Did you take care of that order?” Lola asked.
“Of course we did, you know your sister does not play. It seems they owe us a shipment that has been paid for in full. Go Misha!”
“My sister knows her stuff. Where is she? I want her to meet him.”
“She is heading your way right now.”
Misha appeared