hinking of expanding this business and employing more workers" he says. "That would be great sir, we could really use more hands around here." I smile but it didn't settle well because, paym

on this one" The waiteress brings a plate of food and walks to our table to drop it, "here you go, the very best on the list" she says as she places the food on the table. I stare at the meal placed before me and take in the aroma, "Nice aroma" I say, looking at the plate that has been adorned with steaks, creamy mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables with southern fried chicken served with buttery corn bread by the side. "It looks good" I compliment and the waitress grins before walking away to attend to others. "What are you waiting for? Dig in" Stewart backon as he takes a spoonful of each ingredient on the plate and smiles with satisfaction. "Hmmm" I hum with utmost satisfaction after taking a bite off the plate too, "how could they have made mashed potatoes taste this good?" I ask after swallowing and taking another mouthful of food in. "You must really love mashed potatoes" I didn't even notice he stopped eating and was looking at me. "Of course I do" I say while eating and grinning from ear to ear. "If you don't mind, I could get you a take home meal too" "Oh no, thank you" I reject, trying to maintain the classy look. "It's not nice to reject offers given to you" He persists. "Okay then, fine" I remember that Kendra tried to reach me and I ignored and realized that she would've been worried sick about me, so I texted her telling her I'm alright and that she doesn't have to stay up waiting for me. The ride back was lively, unlike the ride to the restaurant. "Any traumatic scars?" Stewart asks as he turns down the volume of the music and I stare at him in shock but decide to answer anyway. For a minute, i felt he saw through me or maybe knows me from somewhere. "We all have traumatic scars, don't get me started with that conversation" I say to him. "Well then, friendship takes time to build, and I know we'll get there" he says, taking his eyes off the road to smile at me. "It sure does, you've just got to be patient." I say smiling back at him, "There is where i live. You can park just around the corner." I point. "At the end of the day, I didn't kidnap you" he teases, as he stops. "Yes, you didn't. Yeahhh" I cheer. "Well, have a goodnight rest and don't think about me too much" he winks. "You wish" I giggle. "Can I at least have your digits now that you know that I'm not a kidnapper?" Stewart asks, and I can see he's scared of what my answer might be. "Sure you can," I say as I collect the phone from Stewart's hand. I type in my phone number and hand it back to him. "Thanks for tonight! It really helped me to relax a little" I say. "Friendships with me come with more than free lunches" he says going backwards. "Till then, bye" I wave to him as I turn my back to head into my apartment and I hear the car zoom off from where he parked. "I hope you had a great night Mrs. Anastasia" Kendra says while standing at the door. "Forgive me Kendra, but I texted you to know I would be coming back late today" "Yeah after I called you like 25 times" Kendra folds her hand. "Stop fucking around girl, you called me just once" I correct her as there an urgent to laugh. "Busted girl! You saw my call and didn't pick up" Kendra still attacking. "If it makes you feel any better, I brought a bribe" I say while stretching the takeaway ba