“Hello.”

“Hey, Terrance, it’s Nicole. Remember me? From D.C.?”

“D.C.? Why do you have a Baltimore area code then?”

“Oh, I’m originally from Baltimore, but we met each other in D.C.”

I began to smile. “Yeah, I remember you.” I did. I remembered that she sucked a mean sausage; sucked it until it was well done and ready to pop. And boy did it pop.

“Well, guess where I am right now?” she asked me.

“In Atlanta.”

“Oh, you got it on the first guess. You get extra points for that.”

“Extra points toward what? I get to pick a big prize or something? How many do I have to have?”

I was already flirting with her. I was thinking about getting my sausage popped again.

She laughed and said, “They’re just extra points.” She was obviously teasing me.

“Well, I don’t want them if they don’t mean anything. You give them to the next guy.”

Beautiful women loved rejection. I had gotten used to playing the game the right way with them.

She said, “Now what if I went ahead and did that?”

“Well, I’m sure he would deserve it,” I told her. “And as long as you’re satisfied, that’s all that really matters. So make sure you get what you want.”

She laughed again. “Okay, I’ma try that.”

“So where are you staying down here?” I asked her. I didn’t want to bring every girl back to my turf.

She hesitated. “I’m embarrassed to say. It’s not like the places you stay at, being a big-time model and all.”

“I’ve stayed at hotels and motels before. It’s no big deal. Just make sure you bring your own sheets and towels and an air conditioner that actually works,” I joked.

She laughed hard at that. “It’s not that bad. I have stayed at places like that, though. And you’re right, you barely wanna sleep or wash up in there.”

I said, “So what’s your plans? I’m not embarrassed by your room. You work with what you work with.”

“But my girlfriend is staying here with me.”

I hesitated after that. Where did I want to go with that information? I immediately became curious.

“You guys ah…”

I couldn’t even finish my sentence before the girl started laughing.

“Guys. It’s not even like that. We’re just down here in Atlanta having a good time. So what’s up? You wanna meet us downtown at the Hard Rock Cafe?”

“The Hard Rock Cafe? That’s not exactly my favorite place to hang out,” I told her.

“Yeah, but it’s a big meeting place. And I didn’t say we had to stay there. We can go wherever you wanna take us.”

I noticed she kept using the word we. Was it a family affair? And how come the plans were all of a sudden being mapped out around me?

“How long are we all planning on hanging out? And who all are we, anyway?” I asked her.

I wasn’t really up for a group date. I loved solo parties.