Page 14 of Always Been You

Terror

I felt like my head was swimming due to all the numbers that were swirling around in my head. I just left a meeting about the financials for our new restaurant. We finally had a name. Onyx.

“Okay, let’s go again.” I raised my head and looked at Chris on the computer screen. After leaving the meeting, there were a few numbers they were throwing around that I wasn’t too happy with.

“This is what they are offering. It is expensive, but for just starting out, this is the best you can get. You aren’t buying in bulk.”

“I get that, but their margin is over 80 percent. That’s crazy. In turn, we will net only 20 to 30. That's not enough. It has to be a better way.”

“The first years just aren’t profitable. Once the relationship is established, you usually have more wiggle room to negotiate.”

“There has to be a better way.” I looked over the documents in front of me again like the numbers would change.

“Well, unless you are prepared to do it yourself, this is the best you are going to get without compromising quality.”

I shot him a look. He knew he pissed me off with that remark.

I just shook my head and ended the call.

After the three-hour meeting with our distributors, I returned to the restaurant and told myself I would come back to the office and double-check that everything was in order.

Even though we had passed the hard part of hiring staff and securing permits, there was still much to do, including ensuring we had the proper equipment and maintaining the building.

Moreover, I needed to find a way to cut costs so that we could be profitable, not just break even.

It took considerable thought and discipline to follow through with this. It pushed me in a way I wasn’t used to. All of this that I was accomplishing was shit I put in the time to learn about myself with the help of Chubby.

I rose from my chair in the office and left the papers scattered all over the desk.

Shit, I would come back to them when I caught some air for a while.

I walked into the kitchen area and caught Chubby in there, testing out recipes for our new menu.

He decided to make it upscale yet affordable for families to visit during the day.

I gave him complete control over all aspects of the food.

He was more than qualified. Without him, this wouldn’t even be possible.

Since he had a legitimate job, I had to funnel a lot of the money through his accounts to secure the business loan for our restaurant.

I couldn’t just pop up as a new business owner without any income to show for it.

Once the loan was secured, we went in as joint owners, and we would split the earnings 50/50.

He was a solid nigga, and he was serious about wanting to give his all with this, too.

He didn’t have a seed like me. He purely did it because he loved cooking.

For that, I would keep all my street shit away from this.

“What you in here cooking up, bruh?” I asked.

Chubby turned away from the pots in front of him. He wiped his hands on the towel that was hanging from his waist before he responded to me.

“Just a new soup of the day idea. Taste this shit.” He scooped the contents into a bowl, set it in front of me, and handed me a spoon.

It was hot as hell, but when I tasted it, I didn’t give a fuck about taking a third-degree burn.

That shit was so good. I almost completely ate the whole bowl before I even said two words to him.

“Damn, this shit is good as fuck!”

“I see that. It’s Shrimp and bacon soup. The trick is to let it sit overnight and let the seasoning set in just right. This gone be a house favorite.”

My phone chimed as he spoke, and as I checked it, an idea popped into my mind.

“Aye, let me get two of those to go,” I said.

“Where the fuck you going? You over there, blushing like a lil' bitch. You light-skinned niggas can’t hide shit.”

“Fuck you. I’ll get the shit myself.” I said, moving around him, a little pissed because he called me out.

I packed the two soups in containers, packed some rolls, and headed to my car.

I had an extra bounce in my step. When I got outside, I saw that Crystal was there with one of her bird ass friends, and I said a quick silent prayer.

I had somewhere I was trying to be, and I didn’t want to deal with her shit.

MJ was at school, so I knew she was up to something that I had no desire to talk to her about.

She was gone have to make it quick. When she saw me, she jumped out of her car.

“Hey, I was trying to catch up with you. I called you a few times.” She lied, knowing damn well there were no missed calls on my phone.

“What’s up?” I was trying to hide my annoyance.

“Nothing, I was just seeing if you wanted to have lunch and chill? Maybe smoke a few.” She gripped my right hand and put it in hers.

“I’m actually on my way somewhere. Then I’m coming back here to finish up some things.”

“You're always blowing me off for this restaurant. I mean, you have enough money to make sure somebody else takes care of the things you need done. If you don’t want to be around me, just tell me.”

“You brought an audience with you to do this? I got somewhere to be.” That was all I offered her.

“Wow. I mean, you been acting really distant. You haven’t touched me in months. What’s going on?” She sassed, putting her arms across her chest.

“Like I told you, we need to just focus on being MJ’s parents. You cool but- “

“Girl, he cheating! That nigga knows it.” I heard her friend say from the passenger side, being nosy as hell. That’s when I lost all patience.

“Bitch if you don’t get the fuck on somewhere. Talking about I’m cheating, but you conveniently left out how you sucked my dick a few weeks back.”

“You ain’t never fucked me!” She shot out of the car.

“You right. I wouldn’t touch that pussy with a ten-foot pole, but that mouth was decent enough to catch this nut. Shut the fuck up and stay over there.” Her ass got back in the car quick then. I kept moving. I was over the whole scene.

“WHAT??? Bitch really?” Crystal snapped her head toward her car.

At a moment’s notice, she was pulling her bird ass friend out and rocking her ass.

I just got in my car and drove off. That wasn’t on me.

I was a single man, and I moved that way.

At least I was for now. The only woman who had the power to make me consider changing my plans was the one I was headed to right now.

Dyami hit me with a message and told me she would call me on her lunch break in 30 minutes.

I had one better for her. The conversations with her let me know that she was still the same Dyami.

She was just a woman now. She was more refined, but that sass and fire were still down in there.

She would let me see it if I pushed her enough.

I was rushing because I wanted to stop by the store and pick her up something I knew would make her smile.

Dyami wasn’t the type to ask, but I would make sure she was comfortable.

I wasn’t leaving no space to let any other nigga fill in the gaps.

A few days had passed since the day Chubby and I met her and her friend at the bar.

Now I desperately wanted some alone time with her.

It was perfect timing. When I stepped off the elevator to her floor, her eyes got wide as saucers. She was already on her way out. I walked to her and her coworker, who was sitting across from her.

“You about to go on lunch, right?” I asked.

“Yeah…but I thought… yeah.” She said, fumbling over her words. Back in the day, it was the other way around. Funny how the tables turned in a few years of absence.

“I brought you something. I figured that since you are so busy, I would do what it takes to fit into your schedule. I'd rather see you face-to-face than over the phone.”

Her beautiful brown eyes danced with hints of untraceable emotion.

I took her by the hand and led her to the elevator.

When we stepped on, it was dead silence, but it did allow me to drink her in as she stood across from me.

She picked the farthest point from me in the small box and settled herself against the wall.

She was wearing a pencil-thin black skirt and a blue blouse that fit her perfectly.

Showing off her sexy legs and her heels gave her a few inches.

Her hair was pulled up on top of her head, showing her most striking feature, her beautiful face.

Those doe-shaped brown eyes always got to me.

We stepped off, and I took her to a small bench area in front of her building, where we could have a little privacy. We sat down and I unpacked the food for us, and she, like me, was pleased with the taste.

“Damn, Marcos, this is good! You gone have me at your restaurant every day.”

“It’s another one here if you want it.” I offered her mine, but she declined and continued to sit quietly on the other side of the bench.

“Don’t get quiet on me now that I’m in your face. I got you something.” I said, getting closer to her. I reached into my pocket and brought out her favorite.

“Ooh, no, you didn’t! A Whatchamacallit! I can’t believe you remembered that!” She wasted no time opening it.

“That old ass candy!”

“Where did you get this? It is hardly in the stores. I look for it every time I am in Kroger.”

“Damn slow yo greedy ass down before you choke. You gotta go to the hood and get those. Back over where we grew up.”

“Well, that explains it.”

“Don’t worry. I got you. I’ll keep them on me.” I laughed, but she didn't.