Say when

4

"Hey boss." He heard the next afternoon and looked up from his desk full of paper work to see a tall bald black man standing there in black track pants and a black tight t-shirt...

"Hey Terry." He replied warmly to one of his only friends left... the one person he felt he could talk to when he had the small amount of time to do even that...

"How are the books looking?" he asked...

"You probably know better than me." Derek grumbled.... "So how bad is it?"

"Not the best." He replied... "We've lost business in the last few months and its not looking any better."

"So what do we do?"

Derek asked folding his arms across his chest leaning back in his chair... his white dress shirt tightening around his chest and sleeves rolled halfway up his arms showing off his large muscles he acquired from his many workout routines he'd performed in his office just wasting time...

"I don't know, I would say find another girl, but honestly we cant hardly afford the ones we've got." He replied..

"So do I need to fire someone?" he asked "Who?"

"I'm not going to be responsible for that, you know I'll get my ass kicked." He replied holding his hands up... Derek chuckled and shook his head...

"Keep me posted."

He replied going back to his paperwork as Terry left the doorway... he was trying to look at their numbers when he heard voices in the hallway, and normally wouldn't be so distracted by it but it's the tone and fighting that seemed to draw his attention to it...

"Is he here?" he heard a woman ask...

"No, I told you he's gone and will be until the end of the week." He heard Terry reply

"You're a lying bastard, I bet he's in his office right now."

"Look, I think you should go... he's busy."

"So AM I!" the girl shouted..

He furrowed his brow trying to figure out where her accent was coming from, it almost sounded like a thick New York one but he couldn't deny the Boston undertones... he heard Terry yelp...

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! You crazy girl! Fine.. you deal with his attitude then." Terry shouted...

Derek raised his brow wondering how fast he could get his door closed and locked but it was too late... he looked up having his breath taken from him to see a slender woman with small curves walk into his office door...

Her long honey blonde hair flowing around her shoulders... wearing a short black skirt that stopped just at her mid upper thigh with a white button down blouse that was unbuttoned down to her breast line...

He cleared his throat trying to regain composure and keep his tough guy appearance...

"Can I help you?" he asked bitterly...

"More like how can I help you." She replied...

"You can help me?" he asked confused..

"Yes, you need to hire me." She replied...

"I need to hire you?" he frowned...

"Do I need to speak louder since you appear to be hard at hearing and repeating everything I say."

"I can hear perfectly fine." He muttered feeling rather annoyed "What I don't get is why you seem so sure that I'm so desperate."

"Trust me, you are." She replied...

"And why is that?"

"Because you don't have me yet." She replied...

"And what exactly do I need you for?" he asked...

"Does it look like I could be a bouncer?" she asked...

"No." he replied noting again her frail figure... it was small, almost like a twelve year old girl, yet sexy, near perfect....

"Then I supposed the only thing left to assume would be the entertainment part of the business."

"You don't look like a stripper." He frowned...

"And you don't look like a pimp." She retorted... he pressed his lips together annoyed... "Look, you have your hands full I'm sure, you may even be thinking you don't need to hire anyone for that matter you may even need to let a few people go, so that's why you need me... I can guarantee you that one month with me on your stage your business will be at the top again."

"You're a little conceited." He replied...

"No conceited, just confident." She replied... he pressed his lips together looking at her from across his desk... he knew that he should send her packing, that he had no place for her, that the girls he did have were already too much... but he also felt there was something about her that he felt captivated by...

"You have one week." He replied... "One week to prove to me that you are what you say you are."

"Thanks." She replied "But I wont need that long." He rolls his eyes in disbelief...

"What's your name?" he asks picking up a pen...

"Meredith." She replies... he furrows his brow and looks back up at her...

"That's not a very stripper type name." He replied "Most are named after something edible, or a party city."

"Well I'm not most strippers." She retorted...

"Your stage name will be Cream." He instructed...

"What?" she asked surprised...

"Cream, its your stage name, it reminds me of the color of your skin... I'm not having you on my stage using your real name unless it was something so absurd no one would believe it was your actual name... so Cream, or no stage." He replied...

"Fine." She muttered "I'll use your nasty little name but I do my own thing, I dance my own way, and I pick my own music... not that I'll ever see you complain."

"You're very pushy." He replied annoyed...

"I don't push." She replied "I gently nudge until I convince people into agreeing with me."