“Your friend I met last night? She owns that place?” Niyi asks, bewildered.
“Small world, huh?”
“First, we live close to each other, now my cousin’s favorite restaurant is owned by your friend. Extremely small.”
I do a double take. “Mercury is your cousin?”
“That’s part of what I wanted to talk about,” Niyi says.
Remembering our first meeting with Mercury and the tidbits Niyi has mentioned about his relationship with his father, I say, “Is that why you were awkward in that first meeting? You don’t get along with family in general?”
“How about we get you something to eat first? This might be a long conversation.”
My interest in theCupid’s Bowfamilial organization negates my hunger.
“No, I’d love to hear this,” I say excitedly, but Niyi’s sullen expression tempers my buzz.
“Aside from Merc, my family owns the company,” Niyi begins.
I nod, listening intently.
“My dad used to work as one of the matchmakers till he retired about two years ago, and I took over his position.”
“You’re a nepo baby? Got it.” I say, wrapping my head around things.
Niyi lets out a soft chuckle. “Yes. The other thing is…I don’t know how to explain this without sounding downright ridiculous.”
I take his hand, my concern brewing. “Explain it however. I’m listening.”
“Okay,” Niyi huffs, “Mercury is not their actual name or simply a moniker. It’s their title.”
“Title?”
“Stay with me here. This is where things sound like something out of a book.”
“Niyi, please go on.” I’m trying to remain calm, but my anxiety is starting to spike.
“Every planet has an essence, and some people here on earth embody the planets,” Niyi says.
“Elaborate.”
“My family is one of these vessels for the planets. Merc is Mercury…and I’m Saturn.”
Am I drunk? Is this all a weird dream? When I thought Niyi looked godly when naked, I didn’t mean it literally.
“Let me get this straight…you’re saying you and Mercury are the planets that orbit the sun in the sky.”
“In many ways, yes. Not literally of course, we’re not billions of years old. We’re conduits with the ability to harness the planets’ qualities.”
“So, how are you the planets then?” I ask, trying to make sense of the unimaginable. I hope he’s joking.
“The mantles have been passed down our bloodlines for generations,” he explains, deadly serious.
He believes every ridiculous word…great! Instead of falling for a cheater, I fell for one of the “we wuz kangz” hoteps. But instead of believing his family descended from Egyptian pharaohs, he thinks he’s from the cosmos.
My eyes narrow. “Prove it.”
Niyi chugs the wine left in his glass and then reaches for the half-empty bottle of Pinot.
