Page 95 of E'Levyn Days
He slowly licked his lips and smiled, “You still owe me that date.”
“I know.” I kept my voice gentle, studying his eyes. “I’ve been working a lot, but I got you.”
He didn’t look like he believed me one bit. “That’s what you keep saying.”
“Marv, you sure you okay?” I questioned wondering why his mouth kept moving like that.
He glanced toward the windows. “I’m straight.”
“You don’t look like you slept.”
“Man, I sleep nurse. Don’t start evaluating me.” he teased.
“When do you sleep?” I asked anyway.
“When I get around to it.”
The answer sounded too close to one I would have given Lulu, but before I could press him, Marv leaned down and placed a kiss on my cheek. “I’ma hold you to that date,” he muttered. Then he grabbed his water from the counter, paid for it, along with my corn starch and walked outside.
I stood there for a second, trying to figure out what I had just felt. I was definitely concern, or maybe even guilt but at this point, confusion had become too familiar to bother naming anymore. I stepped outside and saw Marv crossing the lot toward his Mercedes parked near the laundromat. A woman sat in the passenger seat with one arm resting along the open window, with her long nails tapping against the door while she watched him approach.
I slowed down and saw Marv open the driver’s door, said something to her that made her laugh, then slid behind thewheel without looking back toward the store. I stared at the car until it pulled away.
“So you rushing me about a date while riding around with company.” I laughed underneath my breath as I walked toward my own car.
Marv was a funny character, but he wasn’t funny enough for me to be angry, especially since we were both free to do whatever we wanted, but funny enough for me to remember the next time he acted like my work schedule was keeping him home alone staring at the walls. I dropped the cornstarch off at Lulu’s, let her make me a to go bowl of souse, and headed home before she could find a second errand. Hell, Monica would have to do it next.
The complex was quiet outside when I entered. Once I got inside, I locked up, changed into some cotton shorts and an old tank top, then headed into the kitchen to finish a set of orders due the following morning. By the time the first cake layers went into the oven, I was tired but at least the kitchen was clean because I was always taught to clean as you go.
I had a binder with more money in it from the night before and I needed to give it to Lev. What happened between Lev and me didn’t erase what I owed him. I didn’t want the debt becoming something blurred or unspoken because we had crossed a line. The money still needed to be paid, every dollar of it, and I needed him to know I understood that.
I picked up my phone and called, and he answered on the third ring. “What’s wrong?”
The question caught me off guard. It wasn’t a hello or nothing.What’s wrong?I thought before clearing my throat. “Nothing.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.” I tucked the phone between my shoulder and ear while checking the timer. “I have another payment ready.”
There was a short pause before he replied. “How much?”
“Three thousand.” I informed.
“I’ll come get it.”
I didn’t want him to keep inconveniencing himself, so I didn’t mind dropping it wherever it needed to be dropped. “I can bring it.”
“I said I’ll come get it.”
There was no point arguing. “Okay.”
He simply ended the call, and I went back to work. Nearly forty minutes later, a knock was at the back door. I wiped my hands on a dish towel, leaving pale streaks of flour across the fabric, and opened it to find Lev standing in the hallway looking good as hell per usual. He had a fresh haircut and was wearing a wife beater showing his physique and tattoos. He had that smell too like he was fresh out of the barber chair.
He had looked at me plenty of times, but something had changed in the way he looked at me. Before, his stare had always felt like an assessment, as if he were trying to decide whether I was lying, running, or worth the trouble. Now there was something different behind it and now it was me constantly trying to assess him.
My pulse picked up, and I stepped aside before he could notice. “Come in, I’m in the middle of baking.”
He entered, taking in the apartment as I closed the door behind him. My music played softly from the speaker near the kitchen, with Summer Walker’s beautiful voice and the air smelled like browned butter, and the strawberry filling cooling in a saucepan on the stove.
