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“What do you do?” I was dying to know.
He held his breath with a mischievous smile and then glanced at me again, seeming hesitant to tell me. He rolled his eyes and said, “I am a talent agent. I represent mostly TV journalists…news anchors and reporters and we handle things like contract negotiations for them and we also do some consulting for the news stations.”
“That sounds exciting, actually. So, you represent people like Katie Couric?” I asked.
Cedric laughed. “Kind of like her…but not her, yeah. It can be exciting at times. But it’s really quite a cutthroat business.”
“How so?” I was curious.
“Well, sometimes you have clients who are both competing for the same job and you have to make both believe that you’re in their corner, otherwise, you could stand to lose them, but you also want one of them to get
the gig, because the agent gets a commission on their salary. And then there’s the consulting end of things, where you basically walk into these TV stations and tell management everything they’re doing wrong…which reporter needs to lose weight…which anchorman is getting too old to relate to the target audience…that sort of stuff,” Cedric said as he looked over at me for a response.
“You’re right. It does sound kind of nasty,” I smiled.
He nodded his head in agreement and we both laughed. “Yeah.”
I continued to ask him questions about his job over the next several minutes. That turned into my telling stories about some of the characters that come into the diner. We laughed a lot and it was so easy to talk to him.
Then, at one point, neither of us said anything for about a minute. He licked his lips again and I turned away embarrassed suddenly when he seemed to catch me staring at his mouth.
Breaking the silence, I spoke up. “You’re going to want to take exit 32, by the way, to get to my house.”
I glanced down at my watch willing the time to stop going so fast. I wished I lived farther away. I wanted to stay in this car forever with him.
“Great. So, do you live alone?” Cedric asked.
“No, actually, I live with Sonia…the waitress who took your order today? She and I met through Craigslist. She was looking for a roommate and thankfully it worked out. She and I get along really well.”
“You’re lucky she wasn’t a murderer if you were looking for roommates on Craigslist.”
We both laughed. “No kidding.”
After a bit more silence, Cedric turned the heat down and looked at me. “I hope I am not prying, but you mentioned you were adopted? Did you grow up here in Boston?”
“Yes. I have always lived here. My mother adopted me when she was in her mid-forties. She had always wanted a child, but never married and so, she took things into her own hands. She was really lucky, since in those days, single parent adoptions were rare. But Mom was a professional and made a good living for the city with good benefits and they had no reason to deny her.”
“What does your mother do?” he asked.
“Well, she worked for the mayor’s office before she retired. She passed away about a year ago.”
The look on Cedric’s face turned suddenly sullen and he was briefly silent before letting out a deep breath that made me shudder.
“Oh, I am so sorry, Allison. I lost my father…I know how hard it is,” he said frowning.
My heart hurt that he had endured losing a parent too. “Thanks. I was an only child. So, it’s been tough,” I said fighting back watery eyes.
Cedric looked at me and then turned away staring ahead in silence at the road. The expression on his face showed that he seemed genuinely affected by my revelation that I was essentially alone.
He turned to me again. “Allison…you don’t have any other extended family?”
Well, my aunt Irene…I call her Reeni…lives in upstate New York. She has a son, but he is a bit of an ass clown…Cousin Arthur,” I said rolling my eyes.
Cedric’s head rolled back as he shook with laughter at my use of that term. “Good old cousin Arthur the ass clown…I love it.”
He was cracking up and had such a deep smooth laugh. It was the first time I heard it.
I was laughing as well now. “Yes…cousin Arthur. He’s thirty-five, has incurable acne and spends most of his days playing video games and chatting online with other Trekkies. This is my next of kin. He works in a comic book shop part-time and mooches off my aunt the other times. So, essentially, I am indeed alone, although I have some wonderful friends, so I never feel it, really.”
