Stones Diary: Built for Pressura' 2

Chapter 21.) Something Sweet

"I can't believe you've never flown a kite before, what in tha' world," Ava said as she and Lucky got situated at their table.

The first half of their date was something that Lucky wanted to do just to set the tone for the remainder of the evening. Since he's never flown a kite, he figured what better way to learn than to do it in the form of a date. After a few failed attempts, he got the hang of it. He honestly just wanted to see Ava enjoy herself and while she did, he would admit he felt like a kid. They were currently at some upscale seafood restaurant that neither ever heard about but it was packed from the inside and outside. It was a bit of a surfers theme look and the staff was indeed dressing the part.

While Lucky settled for one glass of red wine, Ava had a coconut mojito to start with as they waited on their food to arrive. It was also supposed to be a vegan and vegetarian restaurant, so Ava was excited to see how it would turn out.

"Told you I ain't have a regular childhood," he said as he helped himself to the small basket of fried calamari they ordered for the time being.

"I think we should do everything dat you never got a chance to do as a kid," she suggested.

"Sounds good to me," he said then stared at the stack of cards he bought.

"You wanna start now or wait until tha' food gets here?" she asked.

"We can start now if you want."

Nodding, Ava picked up a card and placed it in the middle of the table for the both to see. "Do you like when I call you Lucky more or Ramsee?" she whispered the last part.

"With you..." he tapped his chin, "when I hear you say Lucky, it hits a whole lot different than it used to when I was doing my stuff back then... same for Ramsee. Have you ever noticed dat certain people say your name differently?"

Ava nodded, "So you like Lucky better?"

"I like both," he smiled softly, "but I know when you use Ramsee, it's serious or because we're in tha' moment," he explained.

"If I'm being honest, I love both but I like using Ramsee when it's just us because helloooo, only I get to call you it," she giggled.

"Now tha' rest of your fam knows it... I'm lowkey waiting to see if any of 'em will slip up and say it," he admitted. He wouldn't mind, he just wanted to see.

"I told 'em dat you prefer Lucky, and with my family, preferred names are always respected. Take my mom, for example, my uncle calls her Zuri as if his life depends on it and so does my Grandpa."

"I noticed dat, I like dat name tho," he said as he picked up another card, "what's a flaw of yours?"

Ava twisted her mouth and stared off briefly before replying, "I can be combative when I shouldn't be. Um... I know dat at times I'm afraid to face my fears, I don't trust myself enough tha' way I should..." she paused, "dang... I think I have a lot."

"What do you think about me?" he questioned.

"That's hard because you've changed so much since we've met... tha' only thing dat I would consider a flaw in you would be tha' fact dat sometimes you may be quick to anger."

"Hmm," he said, "I feel like I can be cold... depending on tha' person and situation. I would call myself a hypocrite. Only because, I felt some type of way about tha' way your sisters' homeboy handled my sister yet I used to hit and forget random women whenever I needed to scratch an itch. I also know, I used to be sadistic because of my line of work, and dat sort of made me borderline self-destructive. Then I met you," he smiled at her.

"I'm extremely self-conscious about myself now," she mumbled, "maybe insecure."

Before he could reply, their food was brought out. Ava had the parmesan pan-seared tuna with sticky rice and seasoned veggies on the side. Lucky had bronzed salmon, coconut sticky rice, and mussels, with a side of garlic linguine.