“About?”
Her eyes found mine. “Were you okay after you left my apartment?”
I leaned back in the chair. “You called me here to ask if I was okay?”
“I’m serious.”
“The question is were you okay?”
She stopped moving her finger through the water. “I was fine, but it seems like you were a little upset.”
I looked toward the front windows across the street where people moved in and out of the hospital doors while traffic stopped and started again and then back at her. “Navy, I can’t be mad about another man’s wife. That’s something I can’t get involved with. I had no reason to be upset. I’m confident in whatever my position is. You feel my presence even when I’m not around, that says enough.”
“I don’t know why I felt the need to explain,” she admitted.
“I understand why you did it.” I told her.
The waitress returned with her tea, placing a tiny metal pitcher of honey beside the cup. Navy waited until she walked away before speaking again. Her shoulders lowered slightly, although the tension stayed in her face. She opened two packets of sugar, poured both into the tea, then stirred it.
“I’m just making sure Lev. I don’t know what this is between us and I just need some kind of clarity.”
Most people adjusted themselves around my silence. They guessed, waited, or decided it was safer not to ask. Navy looked me in the face and demanded clarity as though I had not spent most of my adult life making sure nobody felt entitled to it which let me know she was becoming more comfortable.
The waitress brought our food, sliding the plates onto the table. Navy pulled the top half of her panini away and stared at the melted cheese. For several minutes, we ate without speaking. I waited because I knew that wasn’t the only reason she had called.
She took two bites, wiped her mouth, then placed the sandwich down. “Why did you give me the money back?”
Yeah, it was just like I thought. This was really what it was all about.
“You wanted every dollar when you found out I took it. You held that debt over my head. You made me work to pay it. Then suddenly you gave me everything back like none of it mattered.” She watched me closely. “Why?”
I set the glass down because the real answer had too many layers. I had seen the way she lived and because I knew she was working at the hospital, baking cakes, and dancing in a club she hated just to hand money over to me, I knew every payment started feeling less like repayment and more like I was punishing her for surviving something she was trying to get away from.
“I care about you,” I repeated. “Enough that taking money from you started feeling wrong.”
Her eyes watered up although she blinked before anything could fall. “You could’ve told me.”
“I’m telling you now. Just like I told you last night.”
She gave a quiet laugh and looked down. “You know that doesn’t erase how crazy you acted in the beginning.”
“I ain’t trying to erase it.”
“You were terrible.” Navy smiled sipping her tea.
I leaned forward, resting my arms on the table and got straight to the point. “What do you want from me?”
The smile faded. “I don’t know.”
“Then why we here Navy?” I questioned with my head slightly tilt to the side waiting for an answer while making sure I didn’t break the glare.
“Because I wanted to see you.” she admitted. “And because I had questions.” The honesty in her voice matched mine. She glanced toward the window, then continued before I could respond. “And because everything about this feels like it’s moving too fast. I’m filing for divorce, Rome is spiraling. Marv is still pursuing, and he’s still been pressing but he’s not the one I’m finding interest in.”
“I told you, Marv is going through some shit right now, and the best thing for you is to stay away from him.”
Navy noticed. “What’s going on?”
“he’s just not himself.”
