The Fix

Trente et un / Flash Flood

please read if you can ^

Audrey

"Come and eat, there's food in the kitchen." My step mother said to Nathan and I, mostly speaking to Nathan.

I could already tell that this night would take a toll on me, however the savory aroma of stew chicken slightly changed my attitude.

The kitchen was packed, but we were able to jostle by to fix our plates. It took seemingly forever for us to make our way to the front of the line, with kids getting to take the lead. After an eternity it was our turn, but as Nathan reached for a plate, Beatrice stopped him.

"Oh no honey, have a seat. Audrey will fix it." She said grinning.

"Thank you ma'am, but I can-"

"With all due respect child, it wasn't a question." Beatrice said, shooing Nathan away.

Nathan put his hands up, and took a seat at the long wooden dinner table. There was an immediate crowd around him, with my cousins and nephews pestering him with questions. I felt myself growing annoyed, but the smile on his face reassured me that he wasn't as uncomfortable as he could be.

He answered their questions, he listened to their lame music video ideas, he was having a nice time.

"Audrey that was embarrassing. You should've already been fixing his plate before he walked in here. A man never fixes his plate if there's a woman by his side-"

"Bea we aren't having this conversation right now." I said putting oxtail on Nathan's plate. I couldn't bare hearing her complain right now, especially with the warm feeling I got from Nathan's exchange with my family. She wasn't about to ruin it.

"Audrey....honey. All I'm saying is-"

"Bea. I'm not talking about it." I said finishing his plate and starting on mine.

-

I brought our plates to the table, placing Nathan's in front of him.

"Thank you b-...Audrey." Nathan smiled.

I chuckled and shook my head. I have a feeling this nigga is gonna blow our cover before the end of the night.

Once everyone had a seat at the table, my dad led us in prayer, and we began eating.

"Sooo. Big time rapper, how did you meet Audrey?" My aunt Cary asked Nathan, causing the entire table to direct their eyes toward them.

"We met through a mutual friend. That friend referred her to me, and I hired her." Nathan said, glancing at me for assurance. I nodded, happy that he kept a simple story. He has a habit of being dramatic.

"Ahhh. I always knew my Audrey would make something for herself. And I have to say, you sure are a handsome young man-"

"Aunt Mary.." Adirra mumbled covering her reddening face in embarrassment.

"Mary, don't be thirsting over that young man. I'm sure he has a woman." My other aunt, Clarica said staring directly at Nathan.

I would have never guessed my family was so full of cougars.

"I'm actually still looking."

"I'm sure you are, not too many of these LA girls are any good. Take your time." My cousin, Marcus said. It's clear Marcus had a thing against 'LA girls', because he never misses an opportunity to talk shit about them. Maybe it was because he was right, or maybe it was because he hadn't been on a date since 2013.

"Wait..so Audrey, he's just your boss? I thought you'd finally found a man." Beatrice's mother, Ms. Heinz spoke up for the first time tonight.

They're testing my patience.