When he walks inside, he follows the signs to the restrooms and showers. There’s an actual line for the women’s and she’s waiting. The men’s has no line and he walks right in. She’s still waiting when he walks out.
“I’m going over there,” she says while shaking her head. “Is it clean?”
“Yeah but—” he begins, but his words are cut off when she charges toward him.
She can’t shift her feet any more to prevent the inevitable. Sunjiya has to gonow. As she whizzes by him, she utters, “I gotta go.”
Sunjiya is serious about using the men’s restroom. Because there were two men inside when he walked out and more to possibly come, quickly, he turns and follows her. The two men frown when she barges in and one starts to speak but the minute he sees Akeem, he closes his mouth and focuses on the sink in front of him. She rushes into one of the three stalls and he stands guard outside the door. Real shit, he wants to go in with her but refrains.
Minutes later, when the door opens, he steps forward for her to walk out. She smirks at the seriousness on his handsome face as she steps toward the sink. Because a few more men have entered, he stands right behind her as she washes her hands in the clean sink. True to the reviews, the bathrooms are very clean and have a nice sanitized but refreshing scent. As they exit, she makes sure to tap the green smiling face on the digital survey framed on the wall.
“Whew! Thank God, I made it. And thank you for being my protection,” she says with a tinge of sarcasm. “You want anything? I’m going to grab a drink and candy or something.”
“Get what you want. I got you. I’m going to grab a drink from the machine,” he says.
“Let me check the machine too. They may have good ice.”
“Good ice?” he questions because to him frozen water is frozen water.
“Yes. The little cloudy, soft balls of ice. It’s so good,” she gushes as they head toward the large drink area with several fountains.
After marveling at the selection, they both get drinks. Because the lines are long, Akeem takes both large cups to the front and hops in the shorter line while she peruses the store for snacks. About ten minutes later, she joins him with both hands full of snacks.
“You don’t have to wait. I got it; you can go to the car,” he says.
“I’m good. I actually like to people watch.” She tilts her head toward a large family of eight in the line to the right. It’s obvious they are related by their similar eyes, noses, and thin lips. “Look at them. Six kids and they all look alike,” she comments and he takes a look.
“The last two are twins,” he says. “Look at them, the little ones. Same height, same build, and both are left-handed,” he notices.
After studying them for a minute, she adds, “But not identical.”
“You don’t think; they look just alike,” he questions.
“No. They’re definitely not identical. Look at their chins and foreheads,” she says before stepping out of line. Her curiosity and need to be right takes her toward the family. “Excuse me,”she says to the mother and she turns with a slight frown. “I have a twin sister and I was wondering if your little boys are twins.”
The short lady’s frown softens then morphs into a smile. “Oh yes. They’re twins. It runs in his family,” she says while nodding toward her husband. “His father was a twin. Identical though; they are fraternal.”
“I thought so. Thanks,” Sunjiya says before walking back over to Akeem. “I told you, fraternal.”
“You got that,” he says.
They move to the register and check out. With her bag full of snacks and drinks in hand, he leads her to where he parked. As soon as they are inside, she rummages through the bag and pulls out chocolate covered cashews. She tears the side of the bag and holds it toward him but he shakes his head.
“I thought weed caused the munchies,” she says.
“Not for me. Never has,” he admits. “But I do want some of those M&Ms. I haven’t had them in a minute,” he says and she pulls them out of the bag and hands them to him.
He starts the car before opening the bag. After pouring some in his hand and popping them into his mouth, he backs out of the space and heads to the highway. As he merges, she stares, taking in all of his protective, masculine energy. He’s the complete opposite of the previous men in her life. Unfortunately, they wanted to harm more than protect but not him. Although she smirked at him guarding her door in the restroom, deep down, she appreciated it. It feels good to have someone other than herself looking out for her.
Her internal thoughts make it to her lips. “Where did you come from?” she asks and his eyebrows pinch.
“Originally, Houston,” he responds and she laughs to herself.
I said that out loud!
“Oh,” she utters after pulling herself together. “But you’re in Austin now. You like Austin better than H-Town?” she asks,almost incredulously. While she’s never been to Houston, she’s heard it’s the place to be for food, fun, and foolery.
“Much better. Austin is slower, quieter, but my parents and brother are still in Houston. They’re in Katy, actually, right outside of Houston,” he says.
