The clothes she had lent Marshall were delivered a few hours later by a messenger. Regina made him stick around a minute and gathered the things Marshall had left, along with the clothes he had bought for her the other day. She gave the guy a tip and sent him on his way.

When Ernelle arrived at five for dinner, she knew that something was wrong with Regina. She was on the couch in her pajamas, the stereo turned up with her favorite rap albums playing.

The first thing Ernelle did was to turn down the music, not off because things would be a lot harder to get anything out of Regina with the music turned off. She then sat down on the couch beside her and said,

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s gone, everything,” Regina replied.

“What’s gone sweetie?”

“The deal, everything.”

“What happened?”

“He said that I slept with him just to get the deal, because I told him I couldn’t and wouldn’t commit to anything at all with him.”

“So Dre tore up the contract? Because of him?” Ernelle asked confused.

“No, he didn’t, the contract doesn’t go into effect until tomorrow afternoon, the second I start recording something, then I become a client of Aftermath Records. But I’m not going to record anything.” Regina explained tiredly.

“Regina Angela Contini! I do not believe this!” Ernelle exclaimed.

“This is a chance of a lifetime, don’t know if it’ll ever happen again, yeah yeah yeah, I know.” Regina said rolling her eyes.

“You’re going to let that asshole dictate what is going to happen with your life! Regina, this is your dream! And I’m not saying this for me, because you know that I always think of me first, before anyone else in the world,” Ernelle added leaning into her and giving her a sideways glance. This made Regina laugh.

“Yeah, I know. Ernelle, I can’t do it. I’d always be fighting against him. Everyone would always think I only got the deal because I slept with him. I don’t want it that way,” Regina replied.

“You can’t go through life letting him decide what you’re gonna do and not do sweetie. So what if he thinks you slept with him to get the deal, you know you didn’t and that’s all that matters,” Ernelle said putting an arm around her friend and squeezing her slightly.

“Yeah, until that one day when they ask how this thing got started. Then they’ll think that’s how I got the deal and I can’t go along with that. I want respect Ernelle. I’m not gonna let them twist something that I love into a deal I got for sex. I won’t do it.” The tone in Regina’s voice was message enough.

“Respect means a lot to you, and you shouldn’t go back on your principles. If you really don’t want to do this, then I’ll help you get back on your feet.” Ernelle replied genuinely concerned for her. “Yeah, cause now I have to find another crappy job.” Regina sighed running a hand through her hair. “The bar is hiring, I’ll take you with me tonight, Frank’ll hire you, don’t worry.” Ernelle replied.

“Thanks, and, um, I’m gonna need you to kick in a little extra on the rent this month, since I haven’t worked in the last few days in all.” Regina replied as she bit her lip.

“Reggie, sweetie, don’t worry about it. How many times have you saved my ass in the last five years? Don’t worry about a damn thing honey, come on, lets get some dinner and then we’ll get cleaned up and go to work.”

At around eight o’clock Ernelle and Regina arrived at the back entrance of the Dragon, a high end dance club in the heart of LA. Although Ernelle did get paid well, it cost her to commute to the job and she couldn’t work every night of the week nor until the early hours of the morning. She was only going to school part time, but it still didn’t leave too much time for her to work.

Ernelle’s job consisted of keeping the crowd watered, she tended bar with three other girls that also went to the community college. It wasn’t a bad job, the music was always good and once in a while she’d bring home an autograph or two from a celebrity.

The club was hopping for a Tuesday night and since she had arrived early, Ernelle sought out Frank, the manager of the club. He was just coming out of his office as Ernelle spotted him. He greeted her in a friendly manner and invited the girls into his office.

“Okay ladies, what can I do for you?” Frank asked as he sat down at his desk. Ernelle and Regina took seats in front of the desk and Ernelle said, “Frank, I found you your new bar girl, right here, the one and only Regina.”

“Oh, man, we already got another girl for the bar,” Frank said, sincerely apologetic.

“That’s okay, thanks anyway Ernelle, you too Frank,” Regina said, starting to get up.

“Oh wait a minute, really, you’re the girl Ernelle was telling me about, the one who can rap, and dance right?” Frank asked suddenly.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Regina replied confused.

“Well just lost one of our dancers, and you would be perfect,” Frank replied smiling.

“No, no, sorry, I don’t do that kind of thing,” Regina said hastily.

“No, he doesn’t mean strippers, we have girls and guys, they dance on the end of the bar, you’d have your own little stage,” Ernelle added.

“What kind of dancing exactly are you looking for?” Regina asked, sitting down in the chair again.

“Basically, our dancers just keep the party going, that’s all. You’ll have a microphone and once in a while, if you want, we’d like you to rap. We prefer our dancers to be able to at least sing or something, once in a while. You know, get the crowd involved and things. Don’t let anything get slow.”

“So a ‘Coyote Ugly’ type of deal?” Regina asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, not at all. Just dance like you would if you were out partying. Keep the crowd happy. I don’t suggest in wearing short mini skirts, gives some of the guys the wrong idea. And always dress nice, I mean, wear what you would wear when you went out to a club.” Frank replied.

“I don’t know, sounds a little skanky,” Regina said, her nose wrinkling at the thought.

“Look, we’re desperate, and since you know Ernelle I know I can trust you. Look, try it tonight, I’ll put you on till one with Ernelle, on her end of the bar. I’ll start you at fifteen an hour and you keep all the tips you get, sound fair?” Frank asked.

“Well, I don’t know, but Ernelle said it is a great place to work, and that rate sounds great. Okay, I’ll try it, for tonight.” Regina said nodding.

“Great! This is fantastic, now that I got my ass out of a sling, the owner was gonna kill me if I didn’t get another dancer in here. He wants everything just so. But Regina, welcome aboard!”