Page 5 of Beacon Grove Chronicles 1: Hassan & Sylvia

“I gotta make sure you good, Syl. It’s okay to have someone look out for you every once in a while. So catch me up on the last twenty years while we wait on this food.”

The greatest thing about the bar was that it had access to the kitchen. We weren’t sitting on the restaurant side of the space but we could order as if we were. It was packed inside the restaurant since so much of the hotel had been shut down for the wedding this past weekend. With the amount they’d paid for exclusivity no one gave a damn about the locals complaining.

“Are you being nosy about today?” The suspicion was back on her face and I hated that she didn’t understand I couldn’t give a fuck less about her situation with Dave.

“There’s no need. Dave is just being Dave and the last thing I want to do is waste a second of my life talking about that nigga. I want to hear about you.”

Her eyes went to her drink as though it would decide whether or not she could trust me. My remembering her order must’ve worked in my favor because she started to speak. “There’s not a lot. Two kids that drive me nuts. I work as a paralegal for the family law firm—”

“You always talked about that shit. I’m proud you made it happen.”

Sylvie dipped her head bashfully. “Thank you. So many people tell me I wasted my talent by not going to law school but that’s not the end goal for everyone. I never wanted to argue cases and be in the courtroom. My brothers are more than adept at handling that. I like the process of learning and researching the law. I always have. So I don’t see it as a waste.”

“Do me a favor. Not just for tonight but for every night moving forward.”

“And what is that?”

“I want you to ignore every stupid thing that man ever said to you to try to make you feel small okay? He only said that shit to make himself bigger and to cover up for his own failures.” That shit flowed naturally because I was sure that Dave’s cheating ass was just mad she wasn’t too distracted with law school to know when he was cheating. Or he wanted to mooch off of her or brag on her.

The surprised look on her face confirmed everything I’d thought was true. “How’d you know—”

“He’s been a piece of shit, remember? If he was dumb enough to fumble you it was safe to assume he hadn’t changed.” I smiled to soften the harshness of my words since that wasn’t my intention. Something in her eyes shifted then and she went back to studying my face. Despite the ways I’d changed, some for the better or the worse, I wasn’t self conscious about her studying me.

“Are you flirting with me, Hassan?” She seemed surprised at the conclusion she’d come to.

“I’m being truthful, love. We’re too old friends who are about to catch up over Black Shirley Temples and steak dinners.”

“So you’re open to sharing all your dark secrets?”

“What you want to know?”

“What happened to your eye?” She asked gently enough so that I knew she wasn’t trying to set me on edge.

“War happened.”

I was sure that Sylvia had asked about my eye partially as a way to take pressure off of her and out of genuine curiosity.

“You were in the military? Why? Your family is—” She waved her hand around the art déco style restaurant that was in the middle of the hotel.

I grinned and took a sip from the drink I’d developed a taste for only after making it for her so often. Bottle cherry coke didn’t have anything on having this freshly made. “It’s not okay for a man to want to find his own path?”

“Is that the reason why you went?” Her face was open curiosity and I had no issue with appeasing it. Sylvia didn’t understand that she could get whatever she wanted from me without asking.

“Yeah. I was a good kid could’ve gone to college but the military made more sense at the time. I wasn’t one of the people that felt as though I could make a difference in the world. It seemed like a decent career path and I was recruited into it. I was able to earn a few degrees and see a lot of the world.”

I left out the more secretive shit I’d done like the special assignments and coordinated attacks since I was a part of a sniper unit.

“Why leave?” I pointed to my eye and she looked confused.

I pointed to the eye she’d originally asked about and she looked crestfallen. “I lost my sight in this eye. I would’ve become a liability to those around me is what the military said. Gave me a medical discharge and enough disability so that I didn’t have to worry about finding out what I needed to do for a while.”

“So you’re just drifting?”

“Hell no. Do you think my grandma would have me out here being unemployed and shit? I work private security now. I was a part of the group that just left here over the weekend.”

“Everyone was trying to get an invite to Jasmine Cunningham’s wedding. It’s crazy that people were really willing to pay to be a guest’s plus one all so they could be nosy.” She was laughing at the ridiculous nature but she should’ve known how the town would be.

“You don’t like her?”