Page 27 of Be My Summer

“It’s becoming clearer.”

“Have I not been part of the scenarios you’ve made in your head since we met the other day?”

“You have been,” she confessed.

“Tell me what you’ve saw.”

“You and I.”

Chef Louis placed appetizers in front of us. I went for the smoked brussel sprouts immediately.

“I’m listening.”

“And brown babies,” she whispered.

Chuckling, I brought my hands together, chewing the food I’d placed in my mouth.

“Come on– let’s hear it.”

“I knew I wasn’t the only delusional one here.”

“It doesn’t have to be delusion if we both want the same thing, Summer. Just effort and energy and time and the will to keep going even when we want to quit because we know what we’re striving for. I wouldn’t call it delusion, love. I’d call it destiny. Yours. Mine. Ours.”

“Ours.”

Conversation flowed effortlessly. I imagined her cheeks were sore by the time we finished our appetizers and began our main course.

“Tell me about you,” she requested as I cut into the medium-well steak.

“Mother died very early in my life. Broke my father’s heart, but it led him to his truest love. My stepmother. She’s been in my life since my memories started. All I remember is her, honestly. My father is a working man. A provider. Always have been. Barely there but always there and never too far away. Weekends were our time. I’ve always loved weekends for that bit alone. I have two brothers. Older and younger. I graduated top of my class. Shit, we all did. It was a requirement in our household from both of our parents. Went on to college to finish the same way. Came home and worked in corporate and quickly realized it wasn’t for me. But, I built my contacts and client list while there. When I left, I took my people with me.”

“What is it that you do, exactly?”

“Creative consulting for seven-figure companies.”

“Creative consulting– that’s different.”

“Simple, too. Most companies worry about one thing… making the money. Sharing their ideas with the world just isn't their strength. That’s where I come in. From packaging to brand message– the whole nine. You?”

“Boring life. Boring job.” She chuckled.

“Nothing is boring about you, love. Unless I’m just boring too. But, I find everything about you interesting. Intriguing, even.”

“I’m an editor. I edit novels for independently published African American authors. My focus is romance, but I’m not opposed to other genres as long as the characters are Black.”

“Emphasis on Black, huh?”

“Always. In all ways,” she sniggered.

“I could do this every day.”

My thoughts were loud. They’d exited without my permission. Still, I didn’t care to take them back.

“This?”

“Yeah. This.”

“I could do this every day, too.”