“Yep.” He nodded his head. “I had plenty, but you just the only one I wanted to see after I got discharged.”
I looked down at my menu, smiling to myself. “You really don’t waste no time.”
“For what?” he asked. “Tomorrow ain’t promised.”
Although Marv was rough around the edges and trying to be a gentleman it didn’t take away from the fact that he lived life on the wild side and was reckless; I could tell. The waitress walked over with a bright smile and introduced herself before asking if we’d like something to drink. Marv ordered his drink while I ordered a strawberry lemon drop. Once she disappeared, he rested both forearms on the edge of the table and looked at me.
“So…”
“So?”
“You gone tell me something about yourself?”
“What you wanna know?”
“Shit, I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Something.”
I smiled. “That’s real specific.”
“It is.”
“You first.”
He laughed. “See… that’s that nurse shit. Every question I ask, you answering with another question.” He shook his head before taking a sip of the ice water the waitress had left behind. “Aight then, what you wanna know?”
I leaned back in my chair and actually thought about it. Truthfully, there were a hundred things I wanted to ask him. I wanted to know how a man almost died and could still joke every five minutes. I wanted to know what kind of business he wasreally in because something about him screamed that there was more to his story than he’d ever tell me over dinner. Most of all… I wanted to know whether he was always this easy to be around or if I was just enjoying what normal felt like.
“What do you do Marv?” I finally asked.
He grinned immediately. “I knew that was coming. I invest in businesses.”
“What kind?” I questioned.
“The kind that make money.”
I laughed. “Marvelous…”
“What?”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
He leaned back just enough for me to see that playful grin again. “I’m in logistics.”
I squinted at him. “You lying again.”
He shook his head. “You still don’t trust me?”
“I met you in ICU after you’d been shot two times sir, so no, and now you telling me you work in logistics?”
He smiled so hard the light reflected off his golds. “I technically wasn’t lying.”
I pointed across the table. “See? That’s exactly why I don’t believe you.”
Before he could respond, the front entrance got noticeably louder, not that it was actually loud or anything. Instead, it was because certain people naturally gained attention when they walked into a room. My eyes drifted toward the entrance without thinking. The first man through the door was impossible to miss wearing black tailored slacks with a fitted white button-down rolled to his forearms that exposed his tattoos with a diamond watch around his wrist while his iced-out chain with the pendant that read ‘Empire’ sat perfectly on his chest. His deep waves looked freshly brushed, and when he smiled at the hostess, thegold teeth glistened loud. I remembered that name Empire too because Marv had it tattooed on him.
I would never forget that face, it was surely Lev, and walking beside him was a beautiful caramel-skinned woman in a fitted emerald-green dress that hugged every curve she had. Her long black hair flowed halfway down her back, and the red bottoms on her feet were bad too as she had her hand lightly lopped into his arm.
I immediately looked back down at my menu because for some reason I didn’t want him catching me looking. Across from me, Marv followed my line of sight before a grin slowly spread across his face.
