As we sat, I put Gina's bag on the chair next to me.
She looked around before her dark eyes met mine. "Weird, but as close as this place is to the gym, I managed to miss it."
"It's easy when you're driving."
"Right," she said, smiling.
From where we sat, the menu board was visible, so I gave her a run-down of what I normally ate. The waitress came with a menu card, but Gina looked at me. "What do you recommend?"
"You can try a salad."
She frowned and lowered her chin as if asking if I was crazy.
Hiding a smile, I added, "Or one of their sandwiches or platters."
The waitress reeled off a list of items, and Gina settled on the grilled chicken platter. When I ordered the grilled chicken salad, Gina studied me as if I couldn't be real. She waited until the waitress walked away before asking, "That's what you're having for dinner?"
Nodding, I said, "I try not to eat too much heavy stuff in the evening."
"I need to take you home with me to save me from myself."
Her comment made me laugh. "Are you serious?"
She nodded and let her smile come through. "Why do you think I spend so much time in the gym? I have to work off what I eat."
"You're exaggerating. It doesn't look that way to me."
"Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."
Our drinks arrived and we chatted while waiting for our food. Gina was amusing, and I could have listened to her talk all evening. Several times, she took out her phone and sent messages to Chase, apologizing when she did. I told her it was okay and continued listening to her chatter.
When our meals came and we were about to dig in, she looked at me with her eyes opened wide. "You weren't joking. This serving is huge."
"Eat what you can." I shrugged and picked up my fork. "Who knows? Chase might come in time to help you with that. He's meeting you here, right?"
She nodded and cut off a bite of chicken. "That's if I decide to give him any."
We both looked at the chicken, sweet potato hash and vegetables and chuckled at the same time.
"Looks to me like you'll definitely need help," I said, "but if you eat all of that, I may have to get a forklift to move you out of here when you're finished."
Her lips twitched and when she couldn't stand it anymore, she giggled. "You know, under all that silence you wear like a cloak, you're funny."
I swallowed a piece of chicken, then said, "And you're much lighter than you should be if this is how you eat all the time."
"This is why you shouldn't tell Black people your business."
"Huh?"
The words barely passed her lips before she slapped a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry, you might not get that. It's a Jamaican thing. We jokingly say that when people know too much about us because of the stuff we tell them and—"
I stopped her by raising my hand. "It's okay. You're forgetting I've been around you for a while now, so you've been rubbing off on me."
"Oh." She tipped her chin up and stared me in the eyes as if making sure I wasn't offended.
"Really, it's all right.” Waving her concern aside, I continued, “I know you didn't mean it in a bad way."
My gaze shifted to the window and I watched Chase approaching the door. A touch of disappointment stirred in my stomach and I looked back at Gina, who was still talking. I missed what she said, but didn’t ask her to repeat.
