Page 10 of Taste The Smoke
“You just ain’t right, Raven. Girl, you know I missed you.” He laughed and hugged her.
“Mmm hmm, tell me anything.” She dropped down in the chair across from his desk. “What did I miss? I see it’s gotten even busier. I’ve seen patients back-to-back since I walked in the door this morning.”
Alonzo reclaimed his seat. “Yeah, we’ve gotten so many referrals recently, that we’ve started a waiting list.” As one ofthree supervisors, he’d spent several hours making sure clients were seen as soon as possible. “And you haven’t missed much, except Eileen has graduated from begging for people’s food to actually digging in without asking.” Not a day went by when the woman didn’t try to beg one of the staff out of their food, but recently a few people had been complaining about items missing from their lunches stored in the breakroom refrigerator. “Of course, no one has been able to prove it was her. Yet.”
Raven shook her head. “That woman needs help. I wish there was a way to prove it because Iknowit’s her. I busted her snooping around my desk looking for my butter cookies the last time I brought some back.”
He took a sip of his water. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon.”
She eyed him curiously. “What are you not telling me?”
Before he could reply, the sound of a woman yelling, “Oh, my goodness! I need water,” sounded.
Alonzo and Raven poked their heads out the door and saw Eileen running from the break room fanning herself. He said, “I do believe we’ve just gotten the proof we need.”
Her mouth fell open and she burst out laughing. “What did you put in the food?”
“I didn’t do it, but I have it on good authority that there may have been deviled eggs topped with a nice dosing of cayenne pepper instead of paprika in the refrigerator.” They shared a smile.
“I bet she won’t be so quick to jump into somebody else’s food again,” Raven said, still chuckling. “Speaking of lunch, I’m going to go eat mine before my next client gets here. I left your cookies in the car so I didn’t have to deal with everybody asking why I didn’t bring them any. Let me know when you have a minute to get them.”
“I’m leaving at five today, so I can get them then.”
“Whaaat? You’re leaving at five? You must have a hot date or something.”
A grin played around the corners of his mouth. “Or something.”
“Since I know you don’t have a client for the next hour, I’m eating my lunch in here and you can tell me all about this mystery woman, Mr. Bennett.” Raven was out the door and back in a flash with a small cooler.
“Did you run down the hall or something?”
“Maybe. So spill it.” She took a seat in the chair she’d vacated moments earlier and took a sandwich out of her bag.
Alonzo gave her the short version of the weekend, but had to keep stopping every other sentence because Raven kept interrupting, particularly about Pamela. “So, we’re having our first official date tonight.”
“Well, if it goes well, we should double date.”
“That would be cool.” He’d met her husband Bryson when he volunteered at the teen center Bryson ran. It dawned on him that Kenya had mentioned working at a teen center. Tonight, he’d ask the name. “How are big B and the twins?” The couple, who had started out as best friends, had four-year-old fraternal twins—Bryson, Jr. and Gia.
“They’re good. It’s going to take me a month to undo all the spoiling my mother did. Bryson is worse than the twins. My mother gets all giggly, makes every food Bryse happens to mention and treats him like a king.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s ridiculous.”
“Jealous?” He picked up his water bottle and sipped.
“Damn straight. She’s supposed to bemymother, yet, I’m almost an afterthought now,” Raven said, frowning and shoving a chip into her mouth. “Wait until you have kids. You’ll see.”
Alonzo wasn’t sure it would ever happen, despite the fact that he’d always wanted children. A vision of Kenya with her bellyswollen with their child floated through his mind. He choked on the water.Where in the hell did that come from?He’d just met the woman a week and a half ago and they hadn’t even had their real first date, so it shouldn’t have even crossed his mind.Don’t get ahead of yourself, Bennett. Okay, so I like her and feel like I’ve known her for forever, but that doesn’t mean I need to be fantasizing about her having my babies.Since Alonzo had no intention of being a baby daddy, marriage would have to be in the equation. Yeah, he needed so slow his roll.Dinner date. That’s it. Well, and maybe a kiss. No,definitelya kiss.
After lunch, he had back-to-back clients and finished his charting right at five. He followed Raven out, thanked her for the cookies, then drove home to shower and get ready for his date. By the time he left to pick up Kenya, he’d eaten three of the dozen of butter cookies. He could see why Raven never shared. Those things were more than addictive.
Following the directions, Alonzo parked in the semi-circular driveway of the one-story home in the hills, sauntered up to the double doors and rang the bell. It briefly crossed his mind that this might be a repeat of his last date, but struck the notion as quickly as it entered. He didn’t get the same vibe from Kenya. He scanned the large houses with their manicured lawns in the fading light, but turned back when the door opened.
“Hi. Come on in,” Kenya said with a smile. She moved aside for him to enter.
Tonight she wore a pair of black slacks with a purple printed off-the-shoulder top. His gaze made a slow tour down her body and back up again. “You look beautiful.” Alonzo handed her the single pink rose.
“Thank you. I forgot to ask where we were going and hoped business casual would be okay.”
“It’s perfect.” He’d forgone the tie, opting for slacks and silk pullover. “This is a nice house. How long have you lived here?”The entryway opened to a kitchen on the left with the family and formal living rooms directly across, the open areas separated only by one wall with a double fireplace. To the right was a long hallway which he assumed led to the bedrooms.
