He shook his head. “Nah, not at all. You like it, I love it. If he’s good to you and I don’t have to pop one in him, we’re straight.” He then offered a tight lipped smile before sliding into the booth in front of him.
I nodded then shut my laptop. Something told me I wasn’t getting any more work done.
“Order me one of those mint teas for the migraines; my shit is a solid seven this morning.” He massaged his temples, reaching for the cord attached to the blinds and closing the ones right next to our table. The sun wasn’t beaming, but it was out this morning.
I gave him a once over, then nodded. Reminisce had chronic migraines which often took him out of commission for days at a time because he couldn’t stand light or sounds around him. Seconds later I had my hand extended, waiting for Sia the barista to come over.
“What’s up, Jade? What can I get you?” She smiled politely, approaching our table with that chipper personality. She was a polite young girl who had been working here since I first started coming. She had been much younger then, but now she was well on her way into young adulthood.
“Can I get a warmed peppermint-lemon balm tea with white agave and squeezed lime instead of lemon?”
She nodded. “Coming right up.”
“So, how come you haven’t told me that motherfucker broke into your apartment and fucked up your shit? Not only that but your car too?”
“Because there is nothing you can do about it.”
He laughed. “It’s a lot I can do, sis. A lot out of the parameters of doing.” His laugh was almost as sinister as the smirk that followed. “It’s cool though. I just talked to your man, that shit will be handled ASAP.”
“You just talked to my man? What?” I was confused because what did he mean by he had just talked to my man. I hadn’t spoken to my man since this morning before he left. Besides a few check-in messages, he and I hadn’t spoken. So what thehell was he talking to my brother about?Did he know who was stalking me? Shit, was it Ant? Why the hell hadn’t he told me?
I shook off my momentary irritation. “What did you two talk about?”
“You. He doesn’t want you worrying about this shit. That’s a good dude. Most niggas would’ve let your brothers handle it.”
“Handle what, Reminisce? You’re speaking in circles.”
His handsome face balled up as his focus left me and landed on Sia moving toward our table with the to-go cup of tea. She set it in front of Reminisce and told me to let her know if I needed anything else.
“Nothing for you to worry about. I’ve already said too much.” He then leaned his head forward and looked in my mug. “You pregnant?”
I was about to talk shit, but his question had my mouth popping shut with a quickness.
“You are?” He tilted his head to the side, peering intently at me before he slowly sipped from the steeping tea.
“Um no, I’m not. Why would you ask that?”
“Because you’re drinking tea instead of your regular espresso shots. You about to make me an uncle too?” He set the cup down, eyes glossing the small, earth toned café before finding me again.
“I’ve been taking in too much caffeine lately. Had heart palpitations the other day. I figured I’d give my system a little break and only have minimal caffeine from my tea if you must know.”
He pointed. “I told you to slow down on that stuff. It has y’all out here like straight up crackheads.”
Of course I waved him off. “Whatever.”
Reminisce and I talked for a while longer before I decided to pop up on my man who hadn’t told me anything about my so-called stalker, but had spoken to my brother. My ride to himwasn’t long as I beat lunchtime traffic and snagged a park in his lot instead of the one a few blocks away. That was partly because today he didn’t open until four. So nine times out of ten, he was prepping for that opening.
I grabbed my purse and hopped out of the car, walking in. As soon as I entered, I was greeted at the door by Lois. She had a pleasant smile on her face and immediately looped her arm into mine, leading me through the main hall.
“I didn’t get the chance to say this before, but I’m glad he found you or you found him. Either way he’s happiest with you. I’ve never been one to speak ill of the absent, but she tried to change him and she had no problem weighing down his shoulders in ways that could break even the strongest. You accept him for who he is and inspire him to be better. Thank you for that because I haven’t seen this version of him in years.” She seemingly had tears in her eyes, which made me put my free hand on her arm in a firm, comforting way.
Before I could respond, we entered the double doors, taking us into the kitchen. There I was met with just him. He was prepping for the night with Al Green’s “Simply Beautiful” playing softly through the speakers.
He didn’t look up until he heard the door close behind Lois as she left just him and me in there. Someone said something in her headset and she rushed out to check it, tossing she’d be back over her shoulder.
“You’re extremely handsome when you’re in here being a chef, Chef.” I licked my lips at the sight. He was wearing a white chef button down, black pants, and had the nerve to have the damn hat on. Lord he was sexy and he knew it based on the grin he delivered my way.
He nodded. “You don’t look too bad yourself, even though I told you that skirt would get you in some trouble around me.”
