Beignets and Fangs (AMBW Supernatural Romance Complete)

Part 5

Kei

I get to the bar before Shauna, a lively place with a college-aged crowd and a mix of newer music. Mostly African American, but also some white people, and a few interracial couples. We'll blend just fine into the crowd. I order myself a beer and Shauna a green apple martini. Most women I've encountered tend to like those. I can feel her happy-but-naturally-suspicious aura before I turn to see her enter the watering hole and walk toward me.

"Hey, Kei." She looks beautiful in a fresh coat of makeup, body hugging jeans, and a form-fitting black tee shirt that was previously concealed by a white apron. The bartender hands me her drink. I push it toward her.

"Hello, Shauna. You look ravishing." She grins.

"I just love how you speak, Kei. I've never been called ravishing or darling before. It's usually 'Hey baby, what's up?' or the occasional 'Daaayum girrrrrrl', or even something disrespectful." She sips her martini. I take a few gulps of my beer.

"Thanks," I say. I try to use modern speech, but I haven't been able to kick the word darling from my vocabulary. If she likes it, I'll call her that. Most women find it odd.

"This is good. Thank you," she says after another sip.

I ask her about college. She's only a few months shy of completing her MBA. I'm surprised to hear that.

"How old are you? I was surprised when you mentioned the bar because I didn't know you were old enough to drink."

"Kei! Honestly! Asking a woman her age." She places her hand over her heart in mock outrage.

"I'm twenty-five."

"Cool. Why an MBA? What are you going to do with it when you graduate?" Her eyes and smile illuminate the dark bar as she responds.

"My passion is cooking and running Bellerose with my daddy. I'll take over the whole thing when he retires, but for now, he wanted me to get an education. Something to fall back on if the business fails, but I intend to work my butt off to ensure that doesn't happen." She rambles on contentedly as I finish my beer. "And what do you do for a living, Mr. Kei? If not a model or actor?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing? How do you do nothing? How do you feed yourself?" She lightly punches my arm.

"I mean, I have a degree in architecture," and some other degrees from other lifetimes, "but I have money. Plenty of money so I don't do much as far as work." My hobby of ridding the streets of criminals in order to satiate my blood lust takes up a fair amount of time and energy. I lick my lips at the thought of trickling blood. She looks at me like I'm the biggest slacker she's ever met.

"It's not all about the money, Kei. Cooking is my passion. My purpose. When I was growing up, my brother and I helped my mother cook dinner every night. She died in a car crash when we were both in junior high, but I think me cooking her recipes keeps her alive in a way." Her eyes threaten to water at the memory, but she takes another sip of her drink and composes herself. I notice a strength and determination in her that I didn't see before. I noticed her beauty and bliss and the way my body responded to her. I envied her because I imagined she's never had a bad day, but she's strong. Able to lose her mother so young, and still choose to be happy.

"I have passions. Just none of them make me any money. That's all." Her face becomes pensive as she tries to decide what to think about my lack of employment. "Have you ever dated outside of your race before, Shauna?" I change the subject.