PIMP (Completed)

three: a good one

EGYPT CUNNINGHAM

Lauryn Hill's voice filled the apartment meanwhile I added the finishing touches to my famous crepes. Priya had let me know that she was on her way and the last thing I wanted was for her to get a bad first impression of my work. I wanted the crepes to practically melt in her mouth, for my dish to do the talking for me.

As much as I loved bartending, cooking was my first love. I had been doing it for as long as I could remember. Being as I was the only child, my parents, who were both chefs had made sure they passed down the mantle and skill they had in their fingertips. They both had such different cooking styles, yet when they both came together it created the perfect combination, everything you wanted in a plate and more. As time went by, I took what they had given to me and ran with it; adding my own little sense of identity to those dishes and making them mine.

When I was younger, I had dreamed of one day owning a family restaurant. I believed that we weren't given this talent for no reason. The Cunningham's made feel good food, and it laid there trapped in our homes as opposed to on the streets where it needed to be. As expensive as I knew it was, I made up my mind that I wouldn't stop grinding until I accomplished what I had set out to do.

It was hard, being married young and in between working an everyday job on top of bartending on the side. Not only that, but I had to be tight fisted in order to even come close to the amount I needed for a down payment for a storefront here in LA. Yup, LA and I wasn't going to compromise no matter how much I was encouraged to. I wasn't rich, nor was I born into money, but I had a dream and if there's one thing Egypt Cunningham believed in, it was; not stopping until that dream became a reality.

For example, my wife. Her and I grew up as complete opposites, but she was the woman I had dreamed of for as long as I could remember. A trophy wife, the woman that every man wanted but I worked my ass off in order to get. Many thought it was impossible; a guy like me from the streets of Crenshaw? Bagging a silver-spoon baby from the Hills. Didn't happen often but I, made it possible because I didn't give up until I got what my heart desired.

Speak of the devil.

The front door opened, and I heard Alexis' heels before I saw her walk around the corner, placing her purse down onto the front table. Alexis glanced over at me before kicking off her shoes and heading for the door.

I sighed as I grabbed the dish towel, wiping my hands off on it before I headed to the bedroom where she stood getting undressed.

"You left out early this morning." I said. Last night, after the gala; I had made the mistake of bringing up having children to her. Although I knew it was something, we both wanted, I was just trying to figure out; when. Every time I brought it up, it was swept under the carpet. The last thing I wanted to do was rush her, but like I said, it was something I wanted to make sure was still on the table. That conversation turned into an uproar about me not being the man I told her I'd be, us not being as successful as we should've been, me getting a real job, etc. etc. etc.

A normal man would've walked out and left her ungrateful ass, because Lord knows that I'd give Alexis the world and more if she asked it of me. However, the moment I mentioned going back to focusing on potentially owning my restaurant; she switched and turned into a huge enemy of progress and I just couldn't put my finger on why.

"Yeah. I had a business meeting." She answered, in her usual tense tone.

"How did that go?"

"It went well, as usual." She turned to face me, folding her arms across her chest. "Did you get a call back from any of those job interviews you went to down here?"