Who You Say I Am (A Jai Courtney Fanfic)

Chapter 40-Jai

Jai

I see our exit and I get off the freeway. I pull up to a car park and pay the all day fee. I park us in a decent spot and step out to open her door. She takes my hand and thanks me.  I lock up and we're off walking down the footpath of an already chockers road. 
"You hungry?" I ask. 
"I could eat.  You?" she asks. 
"Starved," I reply. 
I pull her closer to me. 
"What's the matter?" she questions. 
"I don't want to lose you," I grin.  We step aside and I show her the options I have for places nearby. 
"Both of those sound good," she says. 
I smile.  "You want me to pick?" I ask.  She nods.  "Alright.  Let's go to this one round the corner," I suggest.  I take her hand so we don't get separated in the crowded CBD.  We get in queue and wait to be seated.  It's a bit chockers and noisy outside but it looks nice inside.  We actually don't wait long and are seated in the small family-style restaurant.  There's some reggae music playing but it's not overpowering.  We're given a menu and there's tons of tucker I'd be willing to try.  The odd thing is I think I've had more than half of this menu before. 
"Do you know what you want?" I ask Megan. 
"I was looking at the okra and cod but I think it's a breakfast only item," she says. 
"We could ask," I encourage her. 
"I'll pick a backup," she tells me grinning. 
We both order and she was right about the first one.  She seems happy about her choice, though. 
"Do you like fish?" I question. 
"I'm from inland.  Fish are like a special treat," she smiles. 
"I thought you were by a lake," I comment. 
"Yeah, a dirty one," she laughs.  "The river is naturally muddy, too.  We have walleye, catfish, perch, and trout nearby.  That's all I can think of that are somewhat common."
"I've never heard of the first one," I tell her. 
"They're native to my hometown area.  I'm not sure if they're anywhere else.  It's always a big deal when the walleye run.  You can see fishermen lined up along the river in waiters," she says. 
"Your hometown sounds kind of nice," I tell her.  She raises an eyebrow skeptically at me.  "Okay, except for the takeaway."
"You've got that right," she laughs. 
"So what's your favorite fish?" I ask. 
"Are we talking fish only or all seafood?" she asks. 
"All seafood," I clarify. 
"Hmm.  That's tough.  Fish would've probably been easier... probably a tie between Alaskan king crab, squid, octopus, and lobster.  I like shrimp and scallops, too," she tells me. 
"You are defo from the wrong place on earth," I chuckle.  "So... fish then?"
"Um... I don't know.  I've had so many kinds I don't know the name to.  There was one that someone ordered for the whole table in Japan. 
It was braised or something, whole, cross sections cut, and it had a sweet sauce on it.  I do like walleye.  I like cod and I don't mind salmon anymore.  I used to hate it but since Japan, I've found many fish tolerable that I used to dislike," she says. 
"What kinds do you dislike?" I question. 
"I don't know but I've had some pretty weird ones.  I've had an entire tiny fish grilled and stuffed with fish eggs.  You're supposed to eat the whole thing.  It was nasty and I was picking bones out of my teeth afterward.  There's one they call sanma that translates to mackerel.  They broil it and sometimes put a couple different sauces on it.  I thought it was repulsive the first time I had it.  But lately I've been craving it," I tell him. 
"I don't like mackerel either.  I'm actually kind of worn out on most seafood being so near to the ocean growing up.  I prefer land animals," I tell her. 
"Like what?" she asks smiling. 
And I realize... she's not making everything about her.  She actually wants to know about me.  So I tell her, "I like steak.  That's probably my favorite.  Roasts, pork anything, chooks..."
"What?" she questions blinking.  I notice that's what she does when I say something from home that's unfamiliar to her. 
"Thought you spoke 'Strayan," I tease.  "Chicken."
"Oh," she says surprised. 
"What else?" she asks.  "That's like everyday meals for my family."
"You're making me want to come for a visit," I tell her. 
She looks to be mulling the idea over and nods.  "Sure.  You could visit sometime," she agrees smiling.  "I'll make you something nice, perhaps a family recipe."
I grin at her invitation as our tucker arrives.  She reaches for my hands and prays over the meal.  I realize I don't want to let her go.  She smiles at me, though and releases my hands.  The first thing she tries is some hot chips. 
"I didn't even hear you order those," I say. 
"I saw them on the menu and had to get them.  I'm part Irish after all.  You'd think I'd be all Irish since I feel like I could survive on potatoes alone," she says grinning. 
"Oh?  Which parent is that?" I ask. 
"My dad's side.  My grandma was half Irish, half Native American," she explains. 
"Really?" I ask surprised.  She offers me some chips and I take one before starting on my meal.  I ordered ribs but they're seasoned kind of like the jerk meals I've had.  Different from what I was expecting but really good.  I see her eating her fish meal.  There's lots of cooked vegetables with hers. 
"How's yours?" I ask. 
"Good," she says.  "Interesting.  Yours?"
"The same," I grin. 
I see her snatch a fried plantain off of my plate and I laugh.  They do taste like potatoes.  I realize she's always getting those kinds of dishes.  She does get more of the carb type dishes but she eats the vegetables, too. 
"What kind of physical training did you do?" I ask curiously. 
"Um... the last year I'd been mostly helping like the elderly or the postpartum mothers.  I'd help the really overweight.  My boss was afraid I'd overdo it.  I had difficulty breathing for a while.  Then that swelling didn't help.  It felt like every time I exercised, I'd lose weight when I was trying to gain it," she explains. 
"How about before that?" I inquire. 
"I helped everybody," she says. 
"What would you charge?" I ask. 
"Don't know," she shrugs.  "I just worked through the company.  They handled all of that."
"What if I wanted to hire you?" I question. 
She laughs.  "I don't think you need my help.  I can't even gain weight."
I smile sadly at her.  "Perhaps you've been overdoing it and not eating enough," I say. 
"Yeah, well, I feel like being here is the first time I've really had an appetite in the last year," she admits. 
"Maybe that was your problem and you'll get better now that you're eating," I tell her.
"Maybe," she smiles. 
We finish our meal and I wipe my hands on the wet towel provided.  I grab the check as she reaches for it. 
"Jai... you're not going to let me pay for my meal?" she questions. 
"No, I'm not," I tell her. 
"Can I at least leave a tip?" she says.  "Wait... do they even tip here?  It's rude to tip in Japan."
"Yeah, they tip but I've got it covered," I insist reaching for her hand. 
"You don't have to pay for everything," she frowns.  I'm just waiting for her to say this is not a date but she never says that. 
"I don't mind.  How about you not worry about things like that?" I say gently. 
"Alright," she agrees softly. 
I lead the way through town occasionally checking the map on my phone.  I keep her close to my side, though.  We follow the map and sightsee throughout the CBD.  Meanwhile, we talk more about our families, our hopes for the future, our lives.  She speaks a bit on her religion—not too overpowering, though, just what pertains to the conversation.  I realize that she's quite down to earth.  I've never met anyone so solid in their beliefs.  I actually find what she and her church do to be admirable. 
"So, what do you do with your church back home?" I ask. 
"Bible studies, prayer meetings, things like that.  There's several meals provided at the inner city church—three times a week plus holidays.  There's food giveaways, monthly clothing drives, we give out hot cocoa on Black Friday, bottles of water in the summer... I don't know, typical church stuff," she explains shrugging.
"That sounds really nice," I tell her putting my arm around her shoulder. 
"Yeah," she says softly leaning her head against my chest.