Chocolate in the City

In high school they called themselves Chocolate Girls...LASHELL (LASHES) JOHNSON - Model tall, African American woman; butterscotch complexion;has a short haircut with blonde highlights. She has long legs that drive men crazy. Loves her make-up, especially false eyelashes, (hence her nickname Lashes). Lashes lives in jeans and t-shirts on the weekends and favors a monochrome clothing palate. She is a fashion merchandiser and lives in a 2-bedroom apartment in a brownstone in Bushwick. She has a 2-year old daughter, Baby Imani; her rainbow baby. She is tall for her age, wears 2 big curly afro puffs, has a medium complexion and is so stinking cute, people stop Lashell to tell her how cute she is. Lashell is casually dating Michael Gibson and James Blakely; after meeting both of them at the same event. After so many of her looks are copied and friends tell her she could be a stylist, for fun she starts her blog, "Killer Lashes" but stumbles into being a fashion and lifestyle influencer. Eventually, she's at 36,000 plus Instagram followers. Stylists love her ideas; making her sought after by the fashion, lifestyle and entertainment industries.ZARILYN (ZARI) HUDSON - Average height, African American woman, milk chocolate complexion with black shoulder length hair; interned in high school at the NYC Transit Authority. When she got out of high school, she already had a full-time job there. That head start helped her work her way up to manager faster. Zari lives in a contemporary, 1-bedroom apartment in Atlantic Plaza high-rise. She is average height; Lashes and BeBe lovingly call her, "Ms. Perfect Size," because unlike them, she never needs to get her clothes hemmed or lengthened. She wears very little make-up, loves bright colors, lives in sweats when she can, and has a preference for teddy bear men. Now she's in the thick of things and is harboring a major secret from her two best friends. This is a problem she created for herself and she is suffering, because it's her secret and she can't share it or the guilt with her friends.BEBE LOPEZ - Petite, Mexican American woman; olive complexion, burgundy curly afro, usually swept to one side. She prefers not wearing make-up. BeBe is an elementary school teacher. She lives in a downtown Brooklyn housing project. BeBe's decorating style can only be described as eclectic. She is Boho chic and loves wearing prints and maxi dresses, as often as possible. Lashes and Zari tease her, they tell her she was born too late. They say she should have been born in the 1950s; so she could be a hippy in the 1960s. She responds, "Bohemian is timeless, deal with it LOL "The funny thing about it is, as tiny as BeBe is, she can out eat both of her friends. She attends Hunter College and is working on getting her master's degree, so she can become a school administrator. Eventually she, meets and starts dating fellow student Thad Gardner. She loves a good-looking man, but he also has to be a foodie because she loves to eat, and her man has to enjoy that with her. So tofu, vegan, vegetarian, only salad eating, green juice drinking men need not apply.3 women, as opposite as 3 women can be. But they complement each other so well. Whatever a man's taste in women, one of them is sure to catch his eye; each one so attractive, in their own respective way. All in their mid-30's, the pride of Brooklyn; they rule every hot spot in town and are known everywhere. They've turned Brooklyn into the new Manhattan. Every promoter who is anybody, knows and courts these ladies because they know, them in the house equals a crowd following them and all it takes is an Instagram post from Lashes. Occasionally, they grace Manhattan with their presence. But they rule Brooklyn, always VIP; never waiting in line. If people know they're going to be at a club, the club is guaranteed to be packed to capacity, club owners and managers love them. Of course they do, business booms in their wake. Brooklyn in the house