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“Nope. You?” I grab my napkin and unfold my silverware before placing the napkin on my lap.
“Yeah, this is a family favorite.” He smiles.
“Oh really?” I say, “Is your family settled around here?”
“Pretty close, more so in the Jamestown area. This restaurant has a few different locations, so I guess I lied. I haven’t been to this particular location before.” He laughs nervously.
Jamestown, that’s where St. James is. I swallow before asking, “Did you go to St. James?”
“No, I went to Rutgers,” he answers.
“Oh wow, that’s awesome.” The waiter brings our drinks out and sets them down on our table. I take a sip of my wine before asking, “I just realized I don’t know this. How old are you?”
He laughs, “I’m twenty-five.”
“Oh okay, I’m twenty-three,” I say.
“Did you think I was older?”
“Honestly I didn’t know,” I admit with a small laugh. “You look like you could be older, but you have one of those faces where you just don’t know for sure.” This makes him laugh again. “So why Rutgers and not St. James?”
“My scholarship was to St. James. And when I lost that I just didn’t want to be around everything I couldn’t have anymore, would never have,” he says with a sad smile. I nod in understanding.
“I completely understand that. I’m so sorry,” I tell him.
“Thank you. It hurt a lot back then but I’m okay now. Truly. I’m thankful that I can walk and even play for fun now. Thankful for my job and all that. It was also nice to be far enough from my problems but close enough to still visit my family all the time,” he says, taking a sip of his soda. “Whether I wanted to or not.”
I chuckle, “Yeah, I completely understand that.”
“Any more details on the fire boyfriend?” he asks and I laugh loudly.
“Oh Flame,” I sigh. “No she was over him a few days later and I’m sure she’s found a new conquest.”
“So that’s pretty normal for her? To…have a lot of…”
“Boyfriends? Yes.” I laugh. “She’s always chasing the feeling of new relationships. The excitement and all that. Once it fades, she gets bored and moves on.”
“Oh, that’s…” He struggles to find words.
“That’s Isa,” I finish for him and he laughs.
“And your brother is a lawyer?” he asks.
“Almost. He’s almost done with law school, and then he’ll be starting with my dad’s company.”
“Does he feel pressure in doing that, following in your dads footsteps?”
I think for a moment before I say confidently, “No. My parents were never ones to push us in one way or another. My siblings and I always looked at my dad’s career with pride, amazed at what he was able to accomplish for his family—especially coming from nothing. He was born in basically a hut in Puerto Rico and took a chance to make his future better. And he did. He changed the course of our family for generations to come,” I say, getting emotional thinking of my father. “José says there were no other options for him; he wants to be just like our dad.”
David smiles at me for a moment. “That’s amazing. Your family sounds incredible.”
“They are. We’re wild at times, but at our core, I would be nothing without them.” I smile.
“What does your mom do?” David asks curiously.
“She worked in real estate for a long time, probably until we were all in high school,” I say, trying to remember the dates. “Yeah, I think at least until Sé and I were in high school.”
“Say?” he asks, confused for a moment.
