Chapter 14 #2
“Okay, we’ll have two butter pretzels, two cinnamon and one salt for later.”
I nod, looking at the menu, and a quick math shows her entire request is ten bucks.
“Any drinks?”
"They have a fruity cocktail drink two stalls over," she replies, her eyes conveying "trust me on this." I nod. I’m happy to follow her lead. It gets to our turn, she’s quick to put in the order.
I hand the twenty-dollar bill to the guy, and we move to the next spot to pick up our order.
She picks up the box and holds it close. I chuckle as I watch her.
We get to the drinks stall, and the line is long again. It seems everyone leaves the pretzels stand and makes the next stop to the drinks. We get in line.
“Do you do this every weekend?” I had to ask. She laughs like I’ve cracked a joke.
“No, but I do come here a lot.”
“Okay, seems you know your way around.”
“As a matter of fact, I do, and I’m going to snag us a seat in the best corner, and you can bring our drinks. I want a lemonade twist with raspberries. Everything is good, I have tried them all. I’m just feeling the lemonade today, so you try something.”
“Okay.”
I watch her briskly walking towards a bench under an umbrella, my eyes are glued to the movement of her ass in that dress. I am so focused on her, that I don’t realize the line has moved until the guy behind me says, “Line is moving,” in a stern tone.
After getting the drinks, I head towards her and notice she managed to place a small tablecloth on the table, adjust the umbrella wider and turn the chair in a different direction. I notice paper plates and napkins all set.
Setting the drinks down, I take a seat. She takes out the butter pretzels first and I do the same. Taking a bite, the soft pretzel was worth the wait. MAK is eating and watching the crowd. I do the same and soon realize how easily we are sitting in companionable silence.
I sip the drink and, just like the pretzel, it’s amazing. I now understand the long lines.
“Where to next?” I ask.
“Did you like your pretzel and drink?”
“I most definitely did. I’ll be back,” I say, winking at her. She smiles.
“We are going right to the Knick knack section. There’s a path that leads to the parking lot. We can leave to drop the boxes at the center, then have lunch at Mrs Wu’s.”
“Mrs Wu’s?” I question.
“It’s a restaurant, and I know the owner.”
“Of course you do,” I tease.
“Don’t be jealous, Uncle Dan. if you don’t have friends and family discount,” she mocks.
“Uncle Dan again?”
“I like it,” she teases.
“I’m sure you do, Ms K.” She rolls her eyes at me.
We pack up and head towards the Knick knack section. Walking by stalls, she buys a few items, haggling the sellers. I watch in amazement as she stands her ground on her price, laughing with the sellers. She’s good.
A few guys try to pick her up, my backoff glare is immediate.
Before I know it, we are hauling bags of everything MAK bought at the market.
We make it to the car and I realize it’s late in the day.
I’m glad she told me to wear comfortable shoes.
Filling the trunk with all her purchases, she tells me to drive to the center.
Pulling up at the center, a few boys come out.
“Boys, can you give us a hand here?” she calls out to them.
“Sure, Ms K.” They all race over to pick up the boxes and take them to the storage inside the center. She thanked them and we return to the car.
The moment we sit, her phone rings. I start the car and wait as she answers the call.
“Hello, Daddy.” She’s all smiles, like a little girl.
“Anuoluwa, I’m so proud of you.” Her phone is loud, I can hear her dad.
“Thank you, daddy.”
“Marie will send your package out today, unless you want to add anything else to your usual list.”
“No, daddy.”
“I hope you are okay and still planning to be here in two weeks.”
“I’m fine, and I’ll be there; I just need to set a few things up.”
“Okay. Call Marie when you are ready and she’ll book your ticket. I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you.”
“Missed you too, daddy. Is Derin joining us?”
“He said he will, but you know him, that can change.”
“I know. I have to go, daddy.”
“Okay, dear. And I hope everything is okay with you. Remember your promise.”
“Everything is fine, daddy.”
“Okay, Anu mi, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye, Daddy.” She hangs up and turns to me.
“Let’s head to my place. The restaurant is close to my building.”
“Before we leave, can I ask about the name your dad called you?”
“Were you eavesdropping?”
“Your volume was loud; you were practically on speaker.”
“And you won’t be a gentleman and act like you didn’t hear the conversation?” she challenges.
“Maybe another day, but not today.”
She stares at me for a moment.
“He called me by my middle name, Anuoluwa.”
“What does it mean?”
“Mercy of God.”
“Nice, so can I call you….”
“Anuoluwa,” she finishes for me.
"You want to call me Anu?" she asks, her tone questioning, but her gaze filled with unspoken yearning.
“I would prefer to, if that’s okay with you.” My voice is almost pleading for her to say yes.
“Fine, you have to say it right. Only people close to me call me Anu, and they always say it right.”
“Okay, teach me the correct pronunciation.”
“It’s spelt A n u but pronounced Aah-nu; two syllables.”
We spend a few minutes practicing till I get it right. She nods when she’s certain that I got it right.
“Let’s visit Mrs Wu. You can park in my space, and we walk to the restaurant.” We drive in silence. The center is close to her building. She points to her parking spot, and I park my car.
“Where’s your car if I’m taking your spot?”
“I spent the night at my friend's place and left my car there. I’ll pick it up later today.”
“I can drop you off to pick it up.”
“Maybe. Let’s go to lunch.”
I nod and follow her lead towards the restaurant.
Soon as we enter the restaurant, a small Asian lady comes over to hug her and starts to speak Mandarin. She and Anu talk for a minute before she turns to me with bland look. Anu moves closer and links her arms to mine.
“Daniel, this is Mrs Wu. She owns this restaurant,” Anu says.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs Wu.”
She returns a stoic look to me and turns away.
We follow as she seats us and rambles in Mandarin.
“Am I safe to eat here?”
“Please ignore her. She’s convinced herself that I would marry her son.” She crackles.
“Oh, now I’m scared.” Mrs Wu turns a daring eye to me. “Is she still trying to match make you to her son?” I whisper.
“Yes, she believes he likes black girls, and he does, because he’s dating a black woman.
Only Mrs Wu thinks her ass is too big and not well rounded like mine.
So, she’s on a mission to match make us, never mind that we don’t click or her excuse of her son’s girlfriend is flimsy.
I’m not sure I understand what’s wrong with older people and their mission to match make their children to someone they don’t click with. ” She sighs.
“I do agree with her on the well-rounded ass,” I say, winking.
“Can’t tell if that’s a compliment or a mockery.” Her eyes bore into mine.
“I assure you, it’s not a mockery.” You have no idea how badly I want to touch and feel that well rounded ass.
“Well, thank you then.” She smiles.
A server soon comes over to take our order. Again, I order the same as her with a few variations.
“I thought MAK was just short of your first name. I didn’t realize it was your initials.”
“You could say it’s both, but when Jordan came up with MAK, it was based on my initials.”
“I thought you did the name.”
“It is my name and my initials, but using it for business and branding came from Jordan.”
“You guys work together a lot.” I’ve seen Jordan with Andrea, and it’s clear he only has eyes for Andrea, but I’m still a little jealous of their closeness.
“You could say so. He convinced me to move to Chicago and work with him. Chicago wasn’t on my radar. I was thinking of moving to New York. Nkem, my childhood friend, got a job here and Kay, my cousin, is here. It was easier for my dad to agree that I move here.”
“Your dad didn’t want you living here?”
“He wanted me back in London with him.”
The server returns with our appetizers and drinks. I look up and notice Mrs Wu staring at me. This woman is not messing around about wanting Anu to marry her son. Tough luck lady. She’s mine. I raise my glass to her; she scoffs and turns away, making me chuckle.
“I guess Cara and I have Jordan to thank,” I say, taking some of the appetizers.
“Cara, I understand, but why do you need to thank Jordan?”
“I get to date a beautiful woman with a sexy ass; you bet your ass that I will be thanking him.”
She laughs out loud.
“Alright, awesome Lawyer, slow your roll.” She winks.