Life behind Hazel Eyes - 10. Taking Charge

Last night’s rehearsals of our little musical surprise for Angelique and Pierre were a mess. I guess expecting everyone to be able to both sing and dance was crazy. But we ended the flop practise session by dividing people into groups. Naturally I was the leader of the pack, Monica was going to take over the dancers, and Paul would do the singers, seeing as he was taking lead. I was to choreograph the entire sequence of events. So when I woke up on that Thursday the first thing I did was draw up stage directions for the groups.

I wanted Angelique and Pierre to be stunned and overwhelmed by our mini show for them. Oh, while I was at it, I added an order of flowers, wine and whiskey. Thank you presents for the two of them; I’d probably need to find a way to thank the rest of the crew too. To be honest the entire crew had been keen to do five-minute homage to Queen, except for the negative Nancy crew that had shut me down.

It was inevitable that I’d run a bit late for rehearsals, but I tried my best to be on time. Once I got to the theater where we’d be performing I noticed that no one had started. I hurriedly passed the few people seated in the audience seats. What were people doing here? Who were these people? As I was pondering, I noticed Max and Claire; Pierre’s friends, the costume designer and stage guy. But they should’ve been behind stage. Something didn’t add up.

“Hey guys,” I said in a friendly tone that was accompanied by a wave and smile. They waved back and I made my way backstage.

Something really was amiss; the guys at the back were only starting to get ready now. Usually everyone is dressed five minutes before the rehearsals start. Even in my tardiness, I was dressed and ready to perform. I greeted Monica and Paul who shot me warm smiles, but there was a tinge of sadness to them.

“Mikhail, a moment please.” Angelique’s tone was hard to place. She motioned that I follow her.

“No problem.” I dropped my bag by Monica’s feet and mouthed ‘all the work is in there’.

I followed Angelique down to the stairs backstage and trailed behind her as she led me to a quiet passage. She opened a door to her right, turned the lights on and sat on one of the chairs. Once I was inside I was able to see that this indeed was a dressing room, it was big, lights surrounding the frame of each mirror, a little bathroom inside and a bar fridge.

“Grab a seat.” Again, she said it with the somber tone and an arm that stretched out and indicated where I could sit.

“I know I’m late Ange, but I can explain…” I started to speak in a calm yet apologetic tone as I made my way to my seat.

“It’s not about you being late,” she interrupted and I gave a confused, look and she caught it. “I…well…I heard that you are going behind my back and organising a new production with my team. I don’t know Mikhail. It’s a bit of a bitch move.” I could hear what she said but I couldn’t understand it.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” I asked shocked out of my mind. My eyes were gauging out. I didn’t understand who would accuse me of that.

“There’s no need to deny it. I just need you to tell me what you were thinking.” Oh my goodness she was serious. In her mind she honestly believed I would do that.

“Angelique, I’d never do that. The guys and I are only meeting up to discuss what we are having problems with.” I wasn’t about to blurt out the secret anytime soon, yet I can’t let whoever snitched get their way.

“Someone told me that you were trying to recruit them into a production. Apparently it’s something very elaborate. I’m just trying to figure out how I missed it,” her tone was more sad and weary. I started to worry about her, I knew I did nothing wrong, but the emotion in her voice was too real for me not to feel bad.

“Angelique,” I said moving close to comfort her. “It's not what you think it is. . . It’s the most innocent thing in the world.”

“Stealing my actors isn’t innocent. It’s devious and underhanded,” she said while looking from the floor to meet my eyes.“ The part that hurts the most is that you were my favourite. Always on time, always doing the most, and boom, you just plot against me.”

“I haven’t done such a thing. I promise you all we’re doing is…” I stopped, I was contemplating telling her everything but I couldn’t risk it. I didn’t want to ruin the surprise. She deserved it, she and Pierre both deserved the spectacular show that we were going to pull off.

“What?” I heard Angelique’s voice pull me out of my trance. I guess I had to figure out which was more important, the surprise or potentially getting fired. But Angelique would never fire me, even Andrew (my understudy) could never pull this off. He was a better singer yes, but his dancing and acting were mediocre at best. “Well? What is it?” this time there was a tinge of anger and annoyance in her voice.

“Trust me Angelique, there’s nothing. We aren’t even thinking about starting a new production. It honestly is nothing. We were just blowing off some steam.”

“Well, you can permanently blow off some steam,” she said in an icy tone as she got up and moved towards the door.

“What?” I asked horrified.

“You’re off the show. Andrew is going to replace you. I can’t have a traitor working in my midst.” She was standing at the door as she spoke but did not move.

“Angelique. You can’t do that. I can explain,” I said in a bit of a panic. Well I guess it’s too late for me to panic now, should’ve thought of this earlier.

“Bye Mikhail. For your sake I hope your production goes well because if it doesn’t, you won’t ever work in this city again.” And with that she walked off back to the rest of the team.

I sat in the dressing room and felt my tears build up. I could’ve sat there and cried, but I chose not to. I got up wiped the few tears from my eye and walked towards the stage. I was going to get my shit from Monica and show Angelique exactly what my production was. I was determined, now more than ever to make the entire Bohemian Rhapsody performance the best thing they’ve ever seen. Angelique was going to eat her heart out and shit it into Pierre’s mouth so he could eat it too. That’s how great the performance will be.

When I got to the stage rehearsals had commenced and Andrew looked so fucking stupid in my role. I walked to where my bag was and I saw his little short bitch of a fiend grinning widely, that’s when it clicked to me. They had this planned, they’d probably been hoping for an opportunity to get me kicked off of the production. Well hooray for them. I got to where she was, reached down to get my bag and looked her straight in the eyes.

“I hope he enjoys getting a role he doesn’t deserve. Oh, by the way I gave up the role; I hope Andrew knows he’ll never be able to be me. That's shit his doing now, that isn’t the right thing. Even Angelique knows it.” I swung my bag onto my back and walked off, calmly.

I walked behind the curtains and made my way down the stairs. On my way out I saw Pierre at the door. I flashed him a smile, he looked down and opened the portal for me. I can’t say I blame him, matter of fact I’m not mad at him or Angelique. I just never thought she’d fire me. Oh my word, what was I going to do with myself? For one I sat in in my car for a good fifteen minutes. I was contemplating going back in there and causing a scene but I wasn’t that type. So I opted for picking up my phone and dialling Miranda. My voice was shaky and my eyes teary; I had to get my act together before Miranda answered her phone.

Deep breathe in, and slowly exhale.

“Bitch, what’s up?” Miranda was in a good mood but considering the fact that it was almost 17:00 I couldn’t blame her. Most people count down the time they have left at work, and she was one of them.

“Nothing, just wanted to know what you going to be doing after work.” To me my nonchalance sounded natural, but clearly Miranda could pick something else up.

“What’s wrong?” Her voice sounded concerned.

A fake smile and a giggle: “Nothing at all, just wanted to see you,” I said in my happy-go-lucky voice. “So what are you doing, skank?” I could hear her doubt, but I knew her like she did me,) and that meant she wasn’t going to push if I wasn’t going to speak.

“I’m going to be with Mike, he told me he wants to cook for me. I think he’s trying his luck but he won’t get any until… I think you know until when.” Her laughter was so contagious that I too was engulfed by it, and this time it was genuine. Miranda and I had a back and forth about what Mike might have in store for her that night for a good fifteen minutes, tops. That was when I decided I should get going, so I started my car, put my phone on “hands free” and pulled out of the parking lot.

“So, you think he’s the kind to place condoms strategically around the place just in case he gets lucky at random spots?” I asked with a minor giggle. At that point I was driving around with no purpose at all. I just decided that wherever I ended up would be great for me.

“Oh my word,” Miranda chuckled and I could imagine she was blushing. “Where on Earth would such a guy come from? Micky, you such a loser for thinking that.”

“You never know with these men nowadays. But all I’m saying is, if he wants to put it in and you want to let him in,” I shrugged as if she could see me. “Go for it, it’s not like I’ll judge you.”

“Well, it did take you two nights to sleep with his friend, so of course you wouldn’t judge,” Miranda was back to her harmless banter, making fun of the David situation. I enjoyed moments like this with her; she always made everything bad go away.

“Excuse me for surviving eighteen months without sex. I haven’t seen you try that,” I said in feigned annoyance. “Matter of fact, I dare you to try it with Mike!”

She laughed some more at my ridiculous proposal.

“Tell you what, let me finish up here and I’ll call you after my date with Mike and tell you how it went.” A tinge of sadness hit me as I realised that she was going to be away from me as soon as I put the phone down.

“Can I tag a long? I’ll be quiet,” I said in a fake plea.

“No! Imagine how awks that would be.”

“I haven’t been on a date in ages, just this once for me.” Thinking about the amount of time I’ve gone without a date made me really miss being wined and dined.

“Get yourself a man; better yet leave me and my potential man alone.” The fake annoyance in her voice was comical. We both laughed one more time and bid adieu to one another.

After my conversation with Miranda I knew exactly where I was going. I drove for a few blocks before deciding to call and check in first.

“L'angolo Al Quinto, Matthew speaking how can I help you?” A familiar and happy voice came through.

“Matthew, its Mikhail has my dad come in yet?” I asked with an air of confidence.

“Oh, uhm, hey Mikhail. Your Dad? No. Not today.” Matthew’s voice sounded very jittery.

“When was the last time he was in?” My tone was still relaxed; I was heading to the restaurant, it was approximately twenty minutes away.

“Two days back I think, maybe more. May I ask what’s wrong?” More of the nervousness reappeared.

“Matthew, get Connor and my table ready I’ll be there in ten minutes.” I still had my cool calm and collected voice so I was puzzled as to why Matthew might think something was wrong.

“Yes boss, no problem.” I swear I heard him fiddle with something as he spoke then.

“Matthew, I’ve told you before I’m not your boss, so don’t call me that.” That time I might have been a bit irritated. For what good reason, I don’t know. I hung up and drove the rest of the way in silence. It was peaceful and relaxing having nothing to think about, no worries and totally nothing to bother me. So my date with myself was going to be fantastic. It was going to be candlelit and with roses in a vase and a window seat that allowed me to see passers-by like a typical scene from a romcom just that this time I was sans a date. Well, that might be a lie. I had a date; my date was going to be all the admin work of the restaurant. Everything my father hadn’t done, I was sure Connor had a pile of things that my old man had to finish. I started to wonder how the old man might take the news that I did all his paperwork; I was sure he’d be proud. I started smiling just thinking about how pleased with me he would be. Pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant I saw it was relatively full, which meant more work for me. Well not more administrative work, but more customer handling work. Nothing I couldn’t have managed on a normal day. But this wasn’t a normal day. Walking into the restaurant, the host, whom I presumed was new, told me the restaurant was full and that I needed a reservation. ‘Time to have some fun,’ I thought to myself.

“I have a reservation,” I replied casually.

Oh, in that case then may I have your name please, sir.” The poor boy was so cute, if this were an American Teenage movie he would’ve been the socially awkward nerd, but the more attractive one.

“Domingo or Orion, party of five,” I said with a straight face. The young man checked his book for a few seconds repeating the two false names I had given him.

“No, sorry sir. No reservations were made under those names. Are you sure those are the right names?” He asked, and I think he might’ve been nervous. I’m guessing he might have thought he forgot to write down the correct names. But I wasn’t going to let that take away from my prank.

“You think I don’t know my own name?” I asked, slightly raising my voice and throwing my arms in the air. “How dare you…” I was going to continue, but he interrupted.

“That’s not what I meant sir. I was simply asking if you were sure of the names. You did after all say either Domingo or Orion, which shows uncertainty as to whom it was booked under.” Goodness me, what a calm and well-spoken young man. His answer was enough to have calmed a rational being down, but at that point I wasn’t rational.

“How dare you speak down to me like I’m a child? Do you know who I am?” My voice slightly raised more, but enough not to be a shout. Shouting would’ve attracted the other staff, which would’ve spoiled my fun. “I don’t understand how you even got this job. Did they teach you how to interrupt customers while they speak when you went for training?” A part of me started to feel bad, but the more dominant side wanted the chance to be able to act.

“Sir, I apologise for sounding demeaning, but that wasn’t my intention. I didn’t mean to interrupt you either. I just thought you were done talking. I do ask for your forgiveness.” It was comforting how this one man could be so calm in the face of such a horrible customer. If it were me and many instances in my more youthful days where it was me, I would’ve walked away and called my manager. Maybe I could spare him the torture.

“I request to see your manager. RIGHT this instant.” Panic painted his face, I saw his eyes grow wide, and I knew the poor guy had been scared out of his mind about losing his job. The fact that someone feared losing their job meant that they’d do anything to keep it, and that was a great thing to have in an employee. I was starting to think about so many memories when the young man came back without a manager. His eyes darted to the floor and then slowly back up to me; part of him seemed defeated.

“Unfortunately, he’s busy with some very important paperwork; he said he’ll be out in a few seconds. You can wait by the bar where your drink will be on the house,” he said in a crushed tone of voice. I started to think that Connor might have done a number on him also. I always knew Connor was an ass; he was an even bigger ass to me when I used to do part-time work here when I was in school.

“How about you go and take a shot and I’ll get someone to cover your post for you?” I asked him with a reassuring smile on my face. Oh well, there goes my fun.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I don’t even think customers can ask us to do such things,” he said in a calculative voice.

“Let me introduce myself, I’m Mikhail Lucas.”

His eyes grew wider as he realised who I really was. “I’m so sorry sir; it’s just that I just star…”

I interrupted as he spoke; there was no need for him to explain. “It’s not a bother. I’m the one that was an ass to you, sorry about that. It was meant to be a joke.” I flashed him a smile and saw one creep up on his face. I reached for a handshake and apologised again to the young man. He was a polite person, and as I was about to walk into the restaurant, Connor came around the corner.

“Is this your difficult customer?” Connor teased as he came over to greet me. He of course was greeted by a nod from the young man. “You have got to stop terrorising my staff, Mikhail.”

“If I were to stop then you’d have to suffer for it. Oh, and speaking of which, show me my table and I hope my files are there.” I enjoyed the back and forth that Connor and I had, but he and I hardly saw eye to eye. So, to avoid conflict I was going to move straight to business. He ushered me to my window table which, as expected had all the ambiance of a romantic date. The table was tight next to the window, so I could watch people as they walked and interacted on the street. ‘People watching’, was a great distraction, especially if the days were as cloudy as today.

“Your table, my lord,” Connor said in a humorous way that managed to get both of us to laugh.

“Connor, take a seat. We need to talk,” I tried to make it sound less formal than it was.

“Oh? So soon? You usually wait until thirty or so minutes into the paper work before we talk.” I could spot the puzzled look on his face but it seemed tenser than it should’ve been.

“Oh it’s nothing to worry about, unless you get the answer wrong,” I said in a stoic voice and my face complemented my tone. He nodded in encouragement for me to go on. “So, my parents will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary next month. I’m throwing a surprise renewal of vows ceremony, nothing major. The main part in all of this is the surprise; not even my father can know. Now, what I need you to do is to organise catering; just make sure that the signature dishes from this restaurant are there. I’ll pop in once a week, to make sure things are going well.”

“I see. You can trust me to handle that. But why must I hide it from your dad?” He asked inquisitively. To be honest I didn’t want him telling my father because it would take away the sentimental aspect of the catering.

“It keeps with the theme of surprise,” I said in a playful tone and flashed him a smile. I saw him get up off of his seat. I registered that he was walking to his office; while he walked away Matthew walked over and asked me what I wanted to drink in the meantime. I ordered ginger ale, and only when Matt had already made his way to the bar did I realise that I had no reason to steer away from alcohol. I could’ve ordered booze, but I chose not to, it must mean I’m growing. A small smile came as I thought of what Miranda’s reaction could be to this predicament.

“The idea of work got you happy?” Connor asked, with the expected paperwork in his hands.

“Thank you for the tasks, Connor,” I said trying to avoid his question. “Sit again please, Connor.” I could hear his sigh as he sat down.

“Yes Mikhail?” His tone suggested that he and I had reached our daily limit of friendly.

“I hope you already packed to leave for Cape Town, I’m thinking of moving your little trip up by a week.” The look on his face told me he knew nothing about his trip.

“Excuse me?” Bingo, my father had failed to do the one thing I asked him.

“Dad was supposed to tell you two weeks ago. Well, I guess I’ll have to do so myself,” I took a sigh before telling him the news. “I organised a nice six–week training course for you in one of the culinary schools in Cape Town. The business needs a manager with more qualifications, not that you are under-qualified, it’s just that they offer better skills, and seeing as I might be taking over the restaurant next year; I’m starting to implement a few things that will be great for the business and the brand.” My voice was indifferent and my eyes kept darting from the paperwork in my hands to his stiffening face.

“Taking over?” he said in a grimacing voice.

“Well yes, you’ll have to talk to the father about that. But I want you to focus on Cape Town for now. It’s very important for you to pass this course, not just for the company, but for yourself. If you manage to get the certificate you can do so much more. This is more for you than the company.” His face seemed so uninterested, and annoyed. But I’m not here to please him, the bottom line is more important.

“Will that be all?” So his annoyance was not imagined, and I was bound to let him go so he could unwind at the back. I nodded in agreement, he got up, and as he got up off his chair I remembered one other item.

“Just one more thing, can you get someone to replace the guy at the door for a twenty minutes or so. I promised him a break after my stunt.” I smiled in an attempt to show him there was no love lost, but he just walked away.

I sat in my spot opening the admin file and going through the papers. Connor had been gone for a little under a minute when Matthew arrived with my drink. He asked when I’d order dinner, but I told him that I’d call him when I needed anything. It was a general rule in the restaurant that whenever my father or I were there and talking to Connor or the assistant manager, there would be no interruptions. I loved the respect that the staff showed, and of course we respected them back; the relationship was great and made sense. I had always been the one to advocate employee satisfaction as opposed ruling with an iron first. I believed people worked harder knowing that their efforts were going noticed, and that the environment they were in was friendly for them too.

An hour or so into the admin work I started to feel hungry. My motto was usually ‘don’t eat before you are done, use food as a motivator.’ That day was not one of my don’t eat days, I was going to take the work home with me and come back in the morning, so Connor and I could go over them. As I was looking over the minor details that would seal my work escapades, I saw a figure hover above me.

“Evening Princess,” Marvin said in a goofy voice that caused me to laugh.

“Hey you,” I said with a wide grin. I got up and stretched my arms out so I could hug him. At first he remained still in my arms until he finally hugged me back. I forgot that I had never hugged him before. Oh well, c’est la vie. After we broke the embrace off I sat back down.

“What are you doing here all by yourself?” He asked looking at my table. I motioned him to sit. “Oh no, I can’t stay. Your boyfriend might get mad that you're sitting with another man for dinner.” He flashed me a grin, pulled a chair and sat down across from me. His smile was so boyish.

“I’m just relaxing with paperwork.” As I spoke I saw him smile again; goodness, I had never noticed how good-looking he was. He was probably a few centimetres shorter than I was, with short brown hair, beautiful milk–bar skin, and the most golden brown eyes I’ve ever seen. Not to mention his body was slim yet well defined, he had an athlete’s body. “What are you doing here?” I asked cheerfully.

“Well, I was going to grab takeaway at the Chinese shop down the road, but I only found parking this side, so yeah. Also, I saw you alone and thought I’d come say hello. ” His comforting and warm tone was touching. He truly was such a sweet guy.

“Join me for dinner? I was about to order,” I asked as I waved to get Matthew’s attention.

“If you insist, but …” he began with a mischievous look on his face. “I don’t to be beaten up by your date, for taking his seat.” He let out a small snicker at his comment.

“Well, I hope you don’t beat yourself up.” I smiled a playful smile of my own before I turned to Matthew.

“Matt, get us a bottle of Diemersdal Pinotage 2013, that’s if Marvin is into wine.” I quirked my eyebrow at him, as if daring him to go against my wishes.

“Wine, huh? I thought you weren’t allowed to drink,” he said with a smile at me. Just then something hit me, all this time Marv had not broken eye contact with me except for when I had been addressing Matt. It was strange, but I shrugged it off. Instead I looked over at Matthew and nodded that was it, and then remembered to ask him for the menu.

“That was for when I was going to be the lead of a musical production,” I said it with less melancholy than I felt.

“What happened?” He asked with real concern. I relived the experience for him; it stung as I told it to him. It made me realise how stupid I was not to be honest with Angelique.

“You okay?” Marvin asked reaching over to stroke my hand, which been placed absent-mindedly on the paperwork on the table.

“I’m fine now; I’ll be great once I focus on something else.” My eyes darted to the paperwork, I wasn’t sure whether he had caught that or not.

“So, can I go audition for your part?”

I laughed so hard just thinking about Marv in a wig and the skimpy dresses that were going to be worn by Andrew. I won’t lie, it was great having someone trying to cheer me up, and he was succeeding.

“Go ahead buddy; I hope you can dance in heels.” I saw the shock in his eyes at the fact that there were heels involved.

“Okay, let’s rather not. Oh here comes your wine, Mr Pinotage.” He had said ‘Pinotage’ in a feigned foreign accent; it was so bad it didn’t sound like any accent I had ever heard.

“Thank you Matthew,” I said as he placed the bottle of wine on the table. While the server was opening it and pouring some of it in our glasses, I looked at Marvin who was flipping through the menu.

“Nothing interesting?” I asked.

“It’s not that, it’s just that I already know what I’m going to have so I didn’t want to seem like an ass by refusing the menu.” Oh goodness, I face palmed myself; the motion reminded me of the first night I met Marvin and his friends. I let out a snicker at the memory.

“What are you having then?” I asked intrigued.

“I’ll have the Stuffed Shells in Red wine sauce,” he sounded proud of his choice and I just smiled at him. “What about you?”

“Depends which chef is in,” I said as I looked at our jittery waiter.

“It’s Chef Viejo, sir.” Shit. I hated the way this boy was acting. He was so different from before, he used to be so confident and on top of things. Now, he had become a feeble and jittery mess. I’d have to make a note and talk to him after tonight.

“Oh, then in that case may I get the Skillet Parmesan Chicken, please Matthew?” My tone and mood had become unified in happiness and joy, thanks to the company I was keeping. Matthew had agreed and walked to the kitchen with our order. Once he walked off I took the paperwork and put it under my chair, I didn’t want any more distractions.

“This Pinotage thing is good,” Marvin said sounding surprised.

“Well I’d hope so. Pinotage is a uniquely South African grape varietal. This one has a complex nose of red fruits, vanilla, exotic spices, and rich dark chocolate aromas. The palate is full flavoured and smoothly textured with oriental spice, chocolate and roasted banana aromas. And the fun part is that it was made in Stellenbosch.” I took a sip of the wine as if to cement the speech.

“You a wine connoisseur, I’m impressed,” he said with a wink before sipping from his glass again. “So, how come you know so much about wine?”

“Well, on visits to the Western Cape the rents used to want to go to wineries. They loved it, I wasn’t allowed to drink because I was underage, so I’d listen to talks and lectures but never taste.” I rolled my eyes at the memory of only being permitted grapes at sixteen. “I’d only taste the actual grapes used for the wine, from there on I kind of enjoyed going to wine festivals, even on family trips to Cape Town I’d drive to Stellenbosch and visit two or three wine farms. They aren’t that far from each other either, you should try it one day.”

“Sounds fun, but I’d rather pass. I’m more into whiskey. I’m only trying this out because I was given a suggestive stare.” I titled my head and gave him a confused look. “That was a joke, shit, I’m bad at those.” He laughed at himself, and I joined him.

“So how was work, Marv?” I asked.

“It was good, started working on this other restaurant, and well, it’s going good so far. I haven’t been in the best of moods this week, but I’m great now. Getting my work done makes everything better.” I saw a glimmer in his eyes as he spoke about his job. I guess some people fall in love with their work more than anything else. “Seeing as you aren’t in a production anymore, what paperwork were you doing.”

“Well, you’ll find out about that at the end of our date,” I said in a flirtatious voice.

“You not going to try sell and yourself to me, are you?” He asked in feigned fear. I laughed at how ridiculous he was.

“No, nothing like that. Voile, is that Italian or something?” It had been something on the back of my mind for ages, at least since we had met.

“Well, my father is from Italian descent. He’s like fourth generation or so, but he and his siblings were born here. So I’m probably one eighth Italian.”

“Hmm, now that’s all cleared up. Now I know that I’m hanging with a stallion.” My tone was back to being flirtatious. I don’t know how or why, but flirting with him was so easy.

“Don’t go there,” he said with a goofy grin on his face. “I have a question for you too.”

“Oh, look at you turning things around. Well, shoot,” I said feigning shock.

“What kind of black man has hazel eyes? I get that you're a bit lighter than most, but really?” Marvin was using this playful and stupid tone that made him seem younger and less mature than he was.

“Well, you should ask my father, and his father, and his father and the father before that…” As I was going to continue, he cut me short.

“Okay I get it; you got it from your dad. But damn man, I don’t know, it’s different. Even your hair; are you the milkman’s son?” He moved forward to lean on the table and turned his head to look toward the window and cupped his ear. “Come on, you can tell me.” I laughed at the stupidity that he was showing.

“Well, my father and his parents are Jamaican. I was told my grandfather looked like me when he was my age. The only difference is that I have strong facial features, like my mother.” I sipped on my wine and took in the look of awe on his face. Right then Matthew arrived and placed the necessary cutlery on the table and asked if we were fine.

“Mr Lucas? May I have a word please?” He looked at me with sheepish eyes and his voice was quivery.

About Matthew: he was around 1.72 meters tall with a set of curly dirty blonde hair, green eyes and some of the best set of abs I’ve seen. He was a typical skater boy on the outside but after two years of knowing him I learnt that he was more than just another skater boy.

“Can’t it wait, Matthew?” I asked with concern. It was bothering me that he was so shaky. What if someone was harassing him at work? Lord, if it was Connor I’d have him fired.

“It can wait, Sir. Enjoy your meal.” He nodded at Marvin and then at me, before wandering off.

“Someone is a regular here,” Marvin said interrupting my thoughts.

“What? I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.” I said to Marv, and then pretended to clear out my ear.

“I was just saying, first you ask which cook is on duty, then you on first name basis with the waiter and chef, now he wants to share words aside. It sounds like you are a regular here.” Marv sounded different that day; usually he wasn’t that idiotic and giddy. That character was Sipho’s job, now he was acting like Sipho. I didn’t hate it; I just started wishing it happened more often.

“You can say that,” I said with a mischievous smirk. “Or you could attribute it to me being the son of the owner.”

“Wait, what?” He said in actual shock. “Your Jamaican father owns an Italian restaurant? Explain that to me.”

“Well, he got the idea when he and my mom went on their honeymoon in Italy. He claims they enjoyed it so much that they decided to back track to all the restaurants they had been, and order what they ordered before. All their favourite dishes are in this menu. He says the romance that was in Italy is what they brought back when he started the restaurant. It’s his homage to their marriage.” I felt a bit sad telling that story, it made me sad knowing how great their love was and I might never experience the same thing.

“Damn that’s deep, so you gonna run this one day?” He said with his arms extended to the air, I nodded in response. “You going to open a jazz night, so we can hear you sing?”

“Hmm that’s a new idea we could try and fit in. Only if you sing with me. ” We both laughed at the idea of him singing. Right then our food arrived; I noticed that our waiter was no longer Matthew.

“Robyn, where’s Matthew?” I asked, perplexed by the situation.

“He went home. Said something about not feeling well.” Her reply was rather matter of fact. I accepted the response and carried on with dinner. As soon as I turned to pay attention to my food she started walking away.

“This food is good,” Marv said after swallowing his first shell. I think it was more of a conversation starter than an actual comment on the food.

“Yeah, I think they add semen in the pasta recipe. It adds a tangy flavour to it.” I laughed at the disgusted look that Marvin shot me. Once he noticed that I was joking he joined me in brash laughter.

“You had me there for a second,” he said while wiping his mouth with his napkin.

“What can I say?” I shrugged and then pulled a comical face. “I’m good at pranks and such.”

Our random chatter kept coming in between bites. I enjoyed having Marvin’s company, it beat the company of my imaginary friends and the mountain of paperwork I had sitting under my chair. Marvin seemed to be a genuinely nice young man; I would go for him if I wasn’t kind of busy with his friend. Oh, and if he were gay. If he were gay, I would’ve made moves on him by now, but he isn’t so I won’t.

“Let’s make a toast,” Marvin announced.

“Toast to what? Marvin, is that liquor getting to you?” I asked as I started to refill my glass.

“Well, get your glass full and you’ll know,” he said as he raised his glass and started swirling it in the air gently. “Now, glass up. Here’s to friendship, good food, and being mixed race. Being a purebred must be so boring.” I just laughed at the last bit of his speech and toasted to friendship and good food.

“I never knew you were such a big dork. Are you sure you get laid?” I joked with him.

“Well currently Willy wants to be freed. But on normal occasion I do well,” he said as he took a swig of his wine. “But I’m working on it. “

“Work on that, speaking of work, I’ll be back in a minute.” I got up from my seat, and took the work that was sitting under me and put walked to Connor’s office. I got to him while he was seated in front of his computer; I gave him a breakdown of what I had done so far and told him I’d be in the next day as well. I’m sure he wasn’t happy about that. I said goodbye and walked off to the bathroom, I had been drinking quite a bit of wine and it had accumulated in my bladder. After doing my business and washing my hands, I walked back to my table to join my date. Hmm, my first non-date date in a while and it was great.

“Did you notice that the restaurant opposite the road has and uneven look to it; I mean the one side seems slightly higher than the other?” Marvin asked in amusement while I sat myself down.

“No, actually I haven’t. Maybe I’ll ask them to fix it.” The sarcasm was unintended, but it came through anyway.

“Actually I’d rather you grab your heels and nail polish and fix it,” he responded in his own sarcastic tone. We laughed it off and finished the rest of our meal off.

“Do you have room for dessert?” I asked him.

“No, I hardly have space for this wine.” He rubbed his belly for added effects.

“Okay, I guess that would be pushing it,” I said as I looked at my phone to check for the time. Wow, it had been close to three hours since I’d arrived at the restaurant and probably two with Marvin.

“Have somewhere to be?” Marvin asked breaking my thought process.

“No. I’m just checking, for calls from the rents.” A lie I didn’t have to tell, but you can’t always be honest can you; especially if you can’t explain your habits?

“Hmm, cool. So should I take you home?” He asked while grabbing his wallet from his work blazer.

“Why would you do that?” I asked.

“Well, it’s common curtsey that the guy takes the girl back home after their date,” he said flashing me his charming smile. Dammit, if I wasn’t doing evil things to David, I would’ve done something to Marv. I would’ve made my daydream a reality.

“Well, assuming that I’m the girl,” I said with an air of confidence. “But, seeing as I’m the one paying for dinner, I’d say I’m the man here. So, you should let me take you home.” I saw the amused yet surprised look on his face.

“Well, this is a tricky situation,” he said as he scratched his head. “Okay, you the man. Now how you going to take me home without a car?” he asked with a smug look on his face; he thought he had won.

“Don’t you watch movies? The girl always has to sell herself for a lift home.” My tone was calm and my facial expression didn’t show signs of laughter.

“Wait. What?” he asked with his eyes almost popping out of his skull. I let out the contained laughter and I saw him ease up. “Don’t play like that,” he said as he got over the initial shock. We got up and I walked over to Robyn, while he waited for me by the door. I gave Robyn enough money to cover the bill and her tip. I was made to pay, especially if my dad wasn’t around. Dad always said nothing in life was free; it was either I pay or I didn’t go into his restaurant. While he and Mom did as they pleased.

I walked over to Marvin and he gave me a weird look. I made a funny face that disrupted him and gave me an escape, because I wasn’t about to ask him why he gave me faces. Outside he pulled me to one side.

“I’m parked this side,” he said confidently.

“And I’m parked this side,” I said pointing in the opposite direction he was headed.

“Wow, I haven’t been out of your life for a long time have I? I mean I just saw you yesterday, didn’t I?” I was starting to think Marvin enjoyed being shocked.

“I have my car back, long story but I’ll tell you one day.”

“Oh well, have a great evening,” he said in a cheerful tone then leaned in for a hug. “Thanks for dinner,” he whispered in my ear, and I started to get goose bumps. Shit, Marvin didn’t know what he was doing was sin.

“Cheers buddy. It was a pleasure, thanks for keeping me company. See you soon,” I said in a casual tone. Then I walked back to where I was parked. My mind was all over, thinking about the restaurant, Marvin’s voice in my ear and the failing production company I got fired from. I got into the car without even knowing how I got to it, I drove off in silence until my thoughts and the quiet annoyed me. I switched on some Marilyn Manson and enjoyed my drive home.

I won’t regret, letting you live, even if you forgot what you never saved me from. So I say whatever…

I sang along when I noticed a piece of paper stuck in my windscreen wipers. I thought it was one of the leaflets that were constantly being handed out in the streets. I was going to shake it off, but the curious half of me left it. I wanted to see what they were selling before I said no. I looked over at the radio clock and I saw the time was around 21:00. I drove faster, before the rents started to worry. You’d swear those people had no life outside of me, the way they panicked. I got home with all the lights still on. I parked my car in the garage and took my little ad off of the windscreen wiper and I rushed inside the house.

“Hey Princess,” Dad said in a jubilant mood.

“Daddy, what are you doing up?” I asked with nonchalance.

“To be honest, I’m about to go to sleep. How’s Connor doing?” He asked knowingly.

“He told you, huh?” He nodded in agreement. “Let me guess, he wasn’t very happy, was he?” Another nod came from my dad.

“I like the initiative you are showing, but try not to kill Connor. Ease him into things; he called me in a panic asking me if he was getting fired. That you are planning to fire him.” I saw my father smile as he relived the nonsense that Connor had told him, I was glad that he hadn’t told him about the menu I wanted. “I managed to calm him down, I allowed him to rant and rave for a long time before your mother ordered me off the phone.”

I walked over to the refrigerator to get water, I was laughing at everything Dad was telling me.

“I didn’t mean to make him panic, but argh, he’ll be fine. He and I can talk about it tomorrow.” I said causally.

“You going back tomorrow?” I nodded in agreement, seeing as my mouth was busy drinking water. “What about rehearsals? The production is next week,” he said sounding puzzled

“Well I’m not in the production anymore,” I said and went into detail about my day. My dad shook his head and made a few comments about how stubborn I was. He and I spent an extra thirty minutes in the kitchen talking to each other about the entire play situation.

“Yuh no dun yet?" he asked after I told him about still staging my thank you performance, which reminded me I had to call Melissa to tell her about the plan.

“A peer rumors ah gwan. cuyah, im gwan like im nice eee,” (They are all rumours, you see he’s[Andrew] going to act like he’s nice) I said with a bit of frustration. He leaned over and gave me a hug.

“Go sleep. It will do you some good.” I got up and as I reached the door he called me back. “Princess, you left your page on the counter.” Shit, that damn ad. I better get it. I went back to grab it then walked off to my room. It was time to dream peacefully.

I got to my room and placed the folded piece of paper on my bedside table, I was going to read through it before I slept. First a quick change into nothing and I quickly jumped into my bed. Now it was time to sleep, and as I was going to turn off my light I thought about that page. Damn thing was so forgettable, I decided to read it.

"Green the colour of your leaves as they blow in the wind. Green is also the colour of the monster that rises in me. When another touches your seductive ebony skin."

I read it and reread it at least ten times. What did this mean? Who was it from? Flip! What fuckery? I started to think about potential people who would write like this. Not one person had come to mind. I placed the note on my bedside table and went to sleep. Sleep didn’t come easily; it took me some time to get to sleep but, it finally came and all I saw was darkness, darkness with a tinge of green on the borders. The sight soothed me, the green started to become grass and soon my dream was a colourful field of flowers.

I wasn’t high, Lord knew I wasn’t high. How could I dream of flowers, when some strange person was calling me a flower with green leaves? Shit! This is some whack ass shit!

Thank you very much for reading this new chapter. I hope you hanging in there, the story gets better. Thank you again and always to AC Benus . The next Chapter should be out before the end of the week
 
I look forward to your views on the chapter and maybe the story as a whole.