I sat across from Lanae in Grubs as she stared off into space. She been in her own little world for the past few minutes. Making it obvious that something was on her mind.

I pulled my phone out and took a picture of her with the flash causing her to close her eyes and smirk a little.

"What's good wit' you, ma? You aight," I questioned.

"Yeah," she sighed, "I'm just thinkin' about ah lot, that's all."

"What's good? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

She shrugged her shoulders while avoiding eye contact with me.

"Lanae," I said in a serious tone causing her eyes to land on mine, "don't ever feel like you can't talk to me about something, aight? I'm here for you, so talk to me, ma. What's good?"

She sighed before answering my question, "Its my dad."

"What you wanna talk to him?"

"No, I mean.. I'm already talkin' to him. He calls me whenever he gets to call me."

I was shocked when she told me this because before she left Harlem she use to always complain to me about missing her dad or not speaking to him. This was all new to me.

"When y'all get in contact with each other," I asked, curiously.

"We started talkin' ah few weeks after my mom died. Once he found out about her death and realized life was too short, he wanted to be in mine. We've been talkin' on the phone ever since. I never got to visit him because we lived all the way down in Texas, but now we live in Harlem again."

I nodded my head, "I'm happy for you, Nae. No doubt. Why don't you go visit him?"

"I don't know. It's like I want to, but then again I don't."

"Why is that?"

"Because I don't wanna see him in jail, I wanna see them outta jail. I hate the thought of him being caged up, so I know I'm not gon' like seein' him like that."

"Yeah, I feel you," I truthfully said.

"And then he talkin' 'bout he fightin' in there this morning. Even though he said he was playin', I feel like he wasn't. I'm just stressed out," she whined while putting her hands over her face.

I sat back in my booth and thought about ways he could get out sooner.

"Anybody puttin' any money on his books," I asked causing her to put her hands on the table.

"Yeah. Me, Queen, Aunt Mo, my grandparents and Oscar. But you know everybody gotta pay bills and provide for their families, so it's not extremely large amounts of money."

I nodded my head, understanding what she was saying.

"Aye," I said as she looked at me, "I don't want you stressin', aight? He gon' be out sooner than you know."

"Yeah, I guess you right. Thanks Mar," she smiled.

"Don't be thanking me," I waved her off, "I'm just doin' my job."

She raised an eyebrow at me, "Which is?"

"Makin' sure you good and stress free," I grinned, showing off my gold grillz.

She smiled, showing me her pearly whites, as one of the new waitresses I hired came over to the table.

"How are y'all doing today?" She asked in a mannered tone.

"Good," me and Lanae said in unison.

"That's good, what would you guys like to start off with today," she asked while taking her notepad out.

"Just get me ah Sprite," I said.

"Yeah and I'll like a lemonade, please," Lanae ordered.

The waitress quickly wrote down our drinks before saying she'll be back with them and walking away.

"You know what you want Nae?"

"Mm," she hummed before twisting her big lips to the side as she scanned over the menu, "it's so much good food on here, I don't know if I want fried chicken or barbecue chicken."

"Get both," I suggested.

She glanced up at me before looking at the menu again, "You tryna get me fat?"

"Girl shut yo' ass up," I chuckled, "you need ah little bit of meat on 'em bones."

She gasped before hitting my arms with the menu, "Fuck you, Mar."

"Mm," I hummed and tucked in my lips, stopping myself from saying what time.

"What," she asked with a curious look on her face.

I licked my lips, "Nun'."

I quickly looked her over, admiring her sexy ass.

Damn, that's a first.

I never called her sexy in my life, but damn I had to admit to myself that she really had a high sex appeal.

As I watched Omari look me over, I squeezed my thighs together because he was giving me this certain type of look and I don't even think he knows he's giving me that look.

What look? Well, it's that look you give somebody before you give them that good pipe. He was looking at me very intensely and it was making my shit dripping wet.

We both snapped out of our trances when the waitress cleared her throat.

"Sorry for interrupting, but were you guys ready to order," she questioned as she set our drinks down, causing Omari to nod his head.

"Yeah, uh," he paused, "I want the cookout plate."

"Okay," she said holding up her notepad, "what would be your main entrée?"

"Two grilled cheeseburgers. And my three sides is gon' be greens, baked beans, and potato salad and that's all I want," he ordered and passed his menu to her.

"Okay," she mumbled before turning to me, "and what would you like?"

"Um, the cookout plate also, but I want barbecue chicken, cabbage, candied yams, and macaroni and cheese."

"Okay," she mumbled before quickly putting her notepad in her pocket and grabbing my menu, "I'll be back with your meals."

"Thank you," I uttered before glancing at Omari to only find him staring at me already.

"What," I asked while blushing.

He shook his head while smiling a little.

"Well.. I have two questions for you."

He leaned back in the booth, "Wassup?"

"Soo.. does your girlfriend have ah little sister," I asked, trying to sound confused when I already knew the answer.

"Yeah. Matter fact, she go to yo' school."

"Yeah, we met."

"Y'all coo'?"

"Nah, we just had ah little talk."

"Oh yeah," he paused, "she ain't tryna start no shit wit' you, is she?"

I shrugged my shoulders a little, "What makes you say that?"

"Cause that lil' girl off the hook and think she fuckin' grown, I'm just tryna make sure she ain't fuckin' wit' you."

"Oh. Well, I'm fine," I truthfully said. I wasn't tripping over that bitch.

"That's what I like to hear," he said while nodding his head.

"Now," I sighed because I was nervous about asking this next question, "my next question is.."

He stared at me as I looked back at him trying to find the right words to ask if he had feelings for me, but I couldn't find any.

I open and closed my mouth before shaking my head and looked down at my hands, "Never-mind it's not even important."

As if he knew I was lying, he grabbed my chin and lifted my head as he looked me in my eyes.

"It seems like it's important, ma. Just ask me," he said.

When I opened my mouth to say something the waitress came over with our plates.

"Hey, here go you guys' plates," she said while setting our plates in front of us. "Would you guys like anything else?"

I sipped on my lemonade and shook my head no as Omari said no.

"Okay, well enjoy your meals," she smiled before walking away.

I unwrapped my silverware and pulled out my fork before bowing my head to pray. Once I was finished, I began to eat, but paused when I heard Omari's voice.

"Lanae, you gon' ask me the question or what?"

I sighed and set my fork down, "I, well... uh," I stumbled upon my words, "I have this friend that's in love with her close friend, but she doesn't know how to express her feelings to him and he already has ah girlfriend. She needs advice on what to do.. what do you suggest?"

"Damn," he mumbled and thought about the situation for a while, "well how does her close friend act towards her and how long have they known each other?"

"They known each other for ah long time," I said, trying not to make anything too obvious, "and she says her close friend is very protective of her and sometimes she'll catch him being jealous whenever she mentions a boy or she'll catch him lookin' at her sexually."

"Well, I think yo' friend should just let him know how she feels because it seems as if he has feelings for her as well, so.." he shrugged, "he'll have to figure out what he wants to do and if he still wants to be wit' his girlfriend."

I nodded my head, taking everything in. Omari just basically said he had feelings for me without even knowing. He also told me to tell him how I feel, but I'm scared of rejection. I don't think I'll be able to handle that at all.

"Thanks Mar," I said before picking up my fork.

"No problem," he smiled while taking his silverware out.

I scooped up some macaroni and cheese and placed it in my mouth causing myself to softly moan. This is the best macaroni and cheese I ever tasted. I took another bite and closed my eyes in satisfaction as I slowly chewed my food.

I opened my eyes and noticed Omari staring at me with amusement on his face.

"I ain't know this food was gon' have you moanin' and shit, it must be hella good," he smirked causing me to blush hard.

"Shut uppp, Mar," I whined while covering my face.

"What, I think it's sexy ma," he flirted before he bit into one of his cheeseburgers.

I removed my hands from my face and stared at him as he ate his food.

Have you ever wanted to build the courage to kiss your crush? Or just jump on him and let him have his way with you? That's how I felt at this moment.

When I get home imma need to change these lace panties and hop in a cold shower, I thought to myself before I began eating my food again.