In The Cut Read Free Page A

girl.”
    “And what’s your point?”
    “My point is, it didn’t take you more than five minutes before you lied to her. An accountant, Saint?”
    “I told her that I work with numbers.”
    “You teach Math at the Adult Learning Center!”
    “So, you’re saying that she wouldn’t be interested in a math teacher?”
    “Not one who told her he was an accountant.”
    “I never told her I was an accountant.”
    “I didn’t see you breaking your neck trying to correct her wrong assumption.”
    “I didn’t see the need. Outside of these shows, we’re never going to see each other.”
    “And what makes you so sure of that?”
    “Like you said, she’s not my type. She’s honest and rich. The total opposite of me. I’m eating at McDonald’s and Pizza Hut while she’s having dinner at Justin’s. If it wasn’t for your fashion show, our paths would’ve never crossed.”
    “There was a time when you were eating at Justin’s,” Glenn said with a smile.
    “And that time will come again. You’re about to be the next hottest thing, and like the good friend that I am, I’m going to be leeching off you.”
    “I owe all of this to you. If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve never gotten this far.”
    “Remember that when that loot starts rolling in. And for the record, I can be honest.”
    “Yeah, and I got a goose that lays golden eggs.”

Chapter 2
     
    Olivia hadn’t opened up for business a hot twenty minutes before clients started filing in. Anyone who walked into Butta Cutz for the first time couldn’t help but take notice of the cherry wood floors, the exquisite oil paintings, and the decorative beige and brown color schemes. Men from all walks of life, from drug dealers down the street to businessmen from Wall Street, would come to this little piece of heaven to get their minds right, and their heads tight. There were two large lounge areas. The one up front had a fifty inch flat screen HD TV mounted to the wall where the newest movie releases on DVD were shown. The lounge in the back was dubbed “The Boardroom” by the male clients. It was where the “serious-minded” would get together and network. Shelves ran across the Boardroom’s right side wall, replete with books ranging from self-help, to urban fiction. There were also two computers in the far corner with internet access.
    The first person you saw when you walked in was Miki, the receptionist. Miki was Japanese. She was born in Japan and raised in America. She was the type that could eat a cow and not gain an ounce of fat on her tight, tantalizing, hundred and twenty pound frame. This morning, she wore a pair of daisy dukes and a halter top. She wore her waist-length hair up in a tight bun.
    “How’s that coffee coming?” Olivia asked, as she walked behind the reception desk and checked the appointment book.
    “It should be done in a few minutes,” Miki answered.
    “Baby!” Olivia called out to her head manicurist.
    “What up, Ma?” Baby was a sexy ass tomboy. This morning, she managed to squeeze her 34-25-36 structure into a pair of her favorite overalls. The left suspender seemed to always hang off her shoulder, exposing part of her extra tight tank top.
    “When the coffee’s done, bring me a cup, I’ll be in my office. You know how I get when I don’t get my caffeine.”
    “I got you, Ma, anything to keep you from cracking that whip.”
    Olivia walked into her office and played the messages on her answering machine. A few minutes later, Baby walked in with a cup of double espresso.
    “Thank you, Baby. What would I do without you?”
    “You’ll be getting your own damn coffee.”
    “Hey, Olivia…” the last message on her machine started, “It’s me, Byron Turner from the fashion show. The good looking brother with the Green eyes…”
    “He clearly doesn’t have low self esteem,” Baby said.
    “Ill, how did he get my number?”
    Byron’s next sentence answered her question. “I didn’t get a chance to get