by Tiana Laveen
When she smiled that time, her nose wrinkled in a real cutesy sort of way.
“My father was big on that. He only had a high school education and worked really hard to support me.”
“Oh… you’re an only child?”
“Yeah. It was just, uh…” She ran her fingers over the tablecloth. “Just me and him…” His brow arched in interest, and he hoped she’d continue and explain where the woman who gave birth to her was. “My mom and dad split up when I was real young…” She lowered her head for a spell. “She had, uh… a bit of a drug problem.”
His heart hurt for her. He cared. He hated that she had that experience, but perhaps, like so many things in his own life, it had only made her stronger.
“So, you know, it was just me and Dad… and he’s a really good father but boy, was he overprotective!” She grinned and traced the rim of her glass with the tip of her finger.
“I can imagine! Shit, if I had a daughter I would probably be, too… especially one as beautiful as you.” The color of her cheeks deepened in a blush. She looked adorable. “I’m serious… I bet that was tough on him. Single fathers don’t get enough credit, but look! He obviously did an excellent job.”
“I’d have to agree.” She smiled wider then, exposing all her pretty teeth. “He worked a couple of jobs to make sure we had a decent place to stay and he was always on me about schoolwork and he encouraged my dancing… rarely missed a recital. He did it all. Cooked, cleaned, everything. Um, you mentioned if you were a father you might be overly protective, too. I already told you that I don’t have any children, and obviously, based on your statement, you don’t either but you know, you stated you’d been married a couple of times, so why is that?”
He licked his lower lip real slow as he gazed into her eyes, not quite convinced he wanted to delve in that topic yet—not because he was opposed to such discussions, but damn it, he was trying to build a special rapport with her. If he went the honesty route, she might be offended. If he told a lie, she might be offended, too. He sat there and tossed around his options for a bit…
Never had dating been so complicated for him. This woman forced him to think outside of the box, to change up his typical patterns of courting behavior. She demanded more right out of the gate. He detested her for that, because now, this became a game… a game he was determined to win.
“I just don’t want any. I don’t think I’d make a good father.” There. He’d said it. The cold, honest truth.
Silence. It killed him that she said nothing. She just stared at him. She wasn’t frowning, she wasn’t smiling, she just sat there, looking through him…
“Okay. I respect that.” And that was it.
But, he knew better; it wasn’t over. It was just over for now…
Soon, their food began to arrive and it smelled and looked wonderful, but there was one problem…
“Hey, Mateo!” Lazarist raised his arm and snapped his fingers before the guy got too far away. The waiter paused, his brows lifted in surprise, and he returned.
“Yes, Mr. Zander, is there something you need?”
“Yeah, baby, the right food! This isn’t ours.”
Lazarist chuckled as he pointed to the plates.
“Oh no! I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
“It’s all right…”
But as the waiter went to pick the plates up, one of them slipped out of his hand and almost landed in Sky’s lap. She leapt back, averting the disaster as the plate slammed to the ground and broke in a million pieces. Food scattered everywhere and all eyes landed on poor Mateo. The guy was now turning red, sweating, his short, choppy black hair in full focus as he dropped to his knees, scrambling to get all the pieces up. All of a sudden, Lazarist heard screaming and yelling in Spanish. A big guy came barreling out of the back, pointing his finger at him and letting him have it.
“What are you doing?! This is the third time today, Mateo! We’re sorry, sir! This guy should be fired! You coulda hurt somebody!”
The man continued to scream and holler at the guy, and it simply became too much.
“Ahhh, come on, man. Relax. Geez.” Lazarist tossed up his hands real easy like.
I know how the restaurant business is. This isn’t how you handle this. This isn’t how you talk to employees. You take their ass in the back and speak to them in private.
He wasn’t fluent in Spanish, but he understood enough of it to realize that poor Mateo was being ripped to shreds, just like the pulled pork over a bed of rice. Sky jumped to the floor in her pretty, flowy pants and helped the man, scooping up food, vegetables, everything, and tossing it on the tray. Mateo scrambled about, crying silently.
“No, it’s okay, ma’am. I have it. Please… sit down and enjoy your meal.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “Could have happened to anyone. It’s no big deal.”
Look at her… wow… that’s beautiful.
Lazarist stood to his feet and pointed to the big guy.
“Hey, my friend, can I talk to ya ova here, please?”
The man looked a bit confused but obliged as they journeyed over to the kitchen. Lazarist rested his hand on his shoulder.
“Look, I know you’re probably the head chef, and you spend a lot of time and energy makin’ sure this food is perfect. And it is perfect; you’re the best. But lemme tell you something.” He pointed in his face. “Your ass needs to stay back here and let management take care of this, all right?”
“Sir, you do not understand! This guy has done this several times this week. We’ve had to pay dry cleaning bills. We’ve gotten bad reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor because he is messing up the—”
“People fuck up and it is a domino effect, I get it. I run a restaurant, too, all right? Now sure, I have people who take care of a lot of the stuff but sometimes things go awry, and I own it. I know it is stressful, and I know you’re fed up, but you did far more damage goin’ off on that kid like that in front of all of these customers than he did by leaving the wrong order and then droppin’ it on the floor. I’ve been comin’ here a while, all right? I’ve had this guy as my waiter more times than I can count. He has never done this before… so maybe…” Lazarist shrugged. “He’s havin’ a real shitty week. Maybe his fuckin’ grandma is sick, or he flunked a college exam. Who tha fuck knows? Just give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe offer him a couple of paid days off, especially if he’s been real good and loyal, comin’ in on time and all of that up until now.”
The chef looked at him sternly, like he wanted to rebuff his words, but then he nodded.
“Yes… okay… you may be right.”
“Good. Now go on in there and keep cookin’ these fabulous meals.”
The chef smiled, though still obviously angry, and retreated to the kitchen. When Lazarist turned around, he gasped. There stood Sky, her arms crossed, and bits of rice and smashed vegetables all over her knees.
“You’re a good man. Still an asshole, but a good man,” she told him.
He burst out laughing as she spun around and walked away, taking her seat back at the table.
The next hour was spent with his stomach hurting. He hadn’t laughed this hard in what seemed like forever. The woman was rattling off story after story of some of the trouble she used to get into with her friends. Boy, were they wild. He loved it. He convinced her to share a bottle of wine with him, and that loosened her up a bit. He was no longer focused on fucking her… Okay, who was he kidding? Yes, he was, but it wasn’t the only thought in his mind. He just didn’t want to leave. He wanted to sit there until that restaurant closed and they got kicked out. He wanted to hear her talk all damn night, let her share her life with him. She’d even leaned over and kissed his cheek a couple of times., and he liked that… No, he loved it. He’d held her hand and intertwined their fingers. He was feeling things… strange, hurtful things that he didn’t want to feel…
This was the type of woman he could get into, the kind that grabbed his attention and he
ld it for dear life.
“Well.” She sighed. The place had pretty much cleared out. “I better get going.”
“Awww, so soon?” He grinned.
“Yeah, I have to teach a class in the morning.”
“All right, let me take care of this bill.”
“I had a wonderful time tonight by the way, Lazarist.” She leaned over again and this time, gave him a sweet peck on his lips.
“So did I.” They stared at one another for a spell, then he waved Mateo over. The man still looked beaten down by the world.
“Are you now ready for the check, sir?”
“Pull up a chair.” The guy looked downright confused.
“Uh, I’m on the clock. I can’t really—”
“Mateo, sit down. Sixty seconds isn’t gonna get you fired.”
The boy swallowed, dragged a chair from a nearby empty table, and sat down, looking super uncomfortable.
“You made a mistake. You shouldn’t have been spoken to that way. Now, I know you don’t know me, but I’ve observed you for a long time. You are always on your A game. What’s goin’ on, man? The chef back there said this has been hard week for you.”
Mateo lowered his head and remained silent. “Man, I’m serious. Ya think ’cause you don’t really know me, that I don’t care? Look, there are people in my life I’ve known practically since birth that I don’t give two fucks about. You know why? Because they have no idea how to treat anybody. They’re maggots. Then there are people like you, people who bust their ass in this business, work like dogs and take home a little check, tryna make ends meet. I wasn’t always wealthy, Mateo. I know what it’s like to struggle. I went from wealth to havin’ nothin’, and then earned it for myself later on in life. Nothing is fair in this life; we get what we get. I haven’t seen you drop a fuckin’ spoon, let alone an entire plate and mess up orders. What’s happening?”
He leaned forward and cradled his hand around the man’s neck. When Mateo looked back up, he was crying.
“Ohhh,” Sky cooed. “Don’t cry!” She handed him her napkin. The boy quickly took it and dabbed his face.
“Thank you… uh, it’s been real hard, ya know? I don’t have no place to live… I leave here and I sleep on the streets. The shelters are full. Me and my brother, I’m raisin’ him, we got evicted. I was only $42 dollars short but couldn’t come up with the rest of the money in time. I’m tired, man! That’s why I keep messin’ up. I’m fuckin’ exhausted! I can’t tell anybody here any of this or they’ll start treatin’ me funny… start thinking I can’t cut it. I think I’ve got enough in tips tonight though to get us a hotel room. I’m just tryna get back on my feet. I’ve never been homeless before. It’s crazy, yo!”
Lazarist snatched out his wallet without a moment of hesitation and plucked out all the cash he had on him…
“Take that. It’s about $235.00. Get your and your brother’s asses in a hotel tonight, get some dinner, get clean, and for God’s sake, get some sleep. Tomorrow, come by my club, The Fallen Angel, ’round 4:00 P.M. Tell Heathen, that’s one of the bouncers there, that you’ve got an appointment with me. Here’s what we’re gonna do.”
He shoved the cash in the boy’s hand and curled his fingers around it. “You’re gonna interview as a waiter for my restaurant.” Mateo’s eyes grew wide. “You have to, because I already know this place is gonna fire you tomorrow. I could see it in the head chef’s eyes. They feel like you’ve cost them too much. It’s a business decision for them; it’s not personal, but that’s how these things work.”
Mateo dropped his head again, this time crying even harder, but nodded in understanding. “Shit…” he murmured, choked up.
“I am then going to give you a pay advance once you get through the screening and training process, because we both know you’re gonna do well. Take that pay advance, use it to get you and your brother a decent apartment. In the interim, because it’s gonna take you a couple of weeks to get trained and straightened out, I am going to take care of you stayin’ at a hotel for those two weeks. Then, I want you to tell me how much your rent is once you get the new place and I will pay the first few months’ rent and utilities so you can save up a little and get on your feet.”
“Nooo! I can’t take that from you! That’s too much, Mr. Zander.”
“It’s not too much, all right? I want you on my team. We’re helpin’ one another out. I need an extra waiter, and that’s the truth. Business has improved. I want you to have a good job and I want you to be able to come to a boss you can talk to. Doesn’t mean I’ll never curse your ass out.” Mateo laughed sadly. “But I can promise you this much, I’ll never humiliate you like that in front of people, all right?”
“I can’t thank you enough!”
“Thank me by showin’ up tomorrow. On time.” Lazarist shook his finger in the boy’s face, then got to his feet. Sky and Mateo followed suit.
“I’ll be there! I’ll be there early, Mr. Zander. I promise!”
Mateo practically leapt into his arms and hugged him. Lazarist stiffened up, not used to men doing such things. He smiled weakly, his gaze drifting to Sky who was hiding a smile behind her hand. At last, he placed his credit card inside the bill and Mateo took it away, then brought the receipt back.
On it, Lazarist wrote out a $100.00 tip and a note that read:
Mateo,
No matter what punches life throws, fight back.
It’s much harder for a problem to get the best of you, if you always stand with your dukes up. Don’t you EVER give up on yourself again.
Lazarist Zander – Mr. Boss
CHAPTER NINE
The Lion’s Lair…
“SOMETIMES I FEEL like I’m floating deep inside of my destiny…” she murmured the words, whispering a tapestry of mental musical notes into a silky web of fantasies.
Spreading her arms wide like a bird, she flitted about like streaks of light reflecting off mirrored walls. Like swaying ribbons tied around cherry blossom tree branches, she rose and fell to the beat of her heart. Sky closed her eyes and drifted there for just a magical spell or two. It was the strangest sensation, wishing to do the strangest of things while standing in that man’s beautiful home in Brooklyn. She danced here, there, and everywhere, and as she did, she looked around in awe. She’d dreamed of owning a home like this. A place with enough room to have a child grow from eight to eighty and still not have discovered all the corners to the moon.
In the backyard she could envision a yapping white dog with a rhinestone and burgundy leather collar named Sweet Disaster or perhaps Cupcake. And within those walls… those big, wide walls, perhaps even a small indoor swimming pool, an indoor oasis for two. Like Heaven on Earth, a place where one could delight in a sensuous whisper or the sigh of wood bending beneath the pressure of praying knees. Her eyes welled with happy tears as she treaded lightly on her delusions, but she was careful… She did it all before he returned with their wine. What a pity it would be for him to catch her in a strange trance, to find out she was blissfully out of her fucking mind…
In love.
She was falling for the fucker. Despite his over the top behavior at times, Lazarist was an absolute sweetheart. He would give a perfect stranger the shirt off his back. His generosity ran deep, and she wondered how someone who on one hand could be so harsh, a bit sexist and verbally combative could then be so loving and write a $10,000 check without blinking an eye. He took her all sorts of places, but more importantly, they discussed every topic under the sun. The bastard was smart… and dare she say it, wise beyond his years. In some ways, he was quite childlike, delighting in the silliest of things like whoopee cushions and childish spider pranks to which she’d been on the unfortunate receiving end.
But in other ways, he was one of the most sensuous, romantic and sexy men she’d ever encountered. He would text her ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ like clockwork. He showered her with elaborate flower spreads and unique gifts. She couldn’t even count how many
flowers she’d received at the studio alone, and he’d given her a cocktail ring, too. That gift was too much… so expensive. She’d tried to give it back, but he refused.
He was wining and dining her, delighting her with his conversation. He’d made time for her in a schedule that was jam packed from dusk to dawn. For someone so busy, and she knew that he was, it was amazing all the time and energy he was investing in her… and they hadn’t even made love yet.
Love… there is that word again.
She hated what was happening to her…
That’s what drives me crazy about this! If he doesn’t want more, then why is he doing all of this? He is acting like he is my man… I even think he was jealous when he came to take me for lunch last week and saw me dancing at the studio with Antonio…
Men like Lazarist had women at their disposal. Everywhere he turned, there were plentiful options. Women threw themselves at him – and she’d yet to be on a date with the guy without noticing a lady or two giving her the evil eye… probably someone he’d fucked and dumped. She didn’t dare bring up the topic—then he’d know she was interested in such notions with him and he could play her to the hilt. He’d already given her rule number one: Never let them see you sweat. She’d spoken to Scarlet the previous evening.
The woman warned her once more to keep her legs closed and trust her intuition. She’d had excessive pow wows with Scarlet about this very thing and they both agreed that she must continue playing the game. Thus far, it had been working. She realized she could find out way more about him through his interactions with others, so she listened to everything he stated regarding such relationships quite carefully. They talked about their families and friends – and he was rather open, discussing in great lengths his mother, his sister, his ten million friends, but he never mentioned his father… Strange. She didn’t bring it up either, but made a mental note of it. His communication style was crystal clear – if he wanted her to know something, he openly discussed it in great detail. This part of his life was inexplicably missing. Something was amiss…
