Page 20 of Zimyra

“No, you’re not. Your whole face just turned red.”

I sip water and say, “I’m good.”

The waitress drops our food off, and then leaves quickly. I’m not even in the mood to eat now. Did Axel follow me here? Am I living in an alternate universe all of a sudden? This is crazy.

“Myra, what’s going on? Do you know him? He keeps looking over here.”

“No—I mean, yes,” I say, then angrily bite my burger.” I know him. He’s the—”

Oh, I really don’t want to talk about this man likehe has some relevance in my life. I know he doesn’t. Capri doesn’t. Talking about him will only give her the impression that he’ssomebodywhen he’s reallynobody.

“He’s the what?” she probes.

“He’s the moron who came to my job,insistingI give him a position.”

“As what?”

“The maintenance guy.”

She glances over at him again and says, “He doesn’t look like a maintenance guy.”

“No, he doesn’t.”

She looks at him again and says, “He’s fine, too. Dang!”

I roll my eyes before I’m even aware of it.

With narrowed eyes, and looking like she’s ready to gossip, Capri says, “So, tell me what’sreallygoing on.”

“It’s nothing, Capri.”

“No. It’s something. I can feel the tension.”

“I promise you it’s not. He came in looking for a job, and I gave him an application—” I pause to swallow, then take a sip of my drink.

“What else?”

“What makes you think there’s something else?”

“Because your forehead is still wrinkled. Spill the tea.”

“Okay…” I sigh. I didn’t want to get into all of this, but I also didn’t know this man would show up at the same place I decided to have dinner.

I tell Capri, “He acted like he was interested in an apartment when he really wasn’t. He wanted a maintenance job. But you know me—I’ma do my job if someone comes walking in and shows interest in a unit. So, I took him on a tour and showed him the model unit—the whole nine. I showed him the gym and the clubhouse. I even gave the man some coffee. Come to find out, he just wanted a job application. I cannot tell you how much he pissed me off by wasting my time like that.”

“I mean, do y’all need a maintenance worker, because if you don’t, I will surely hire him to do some maintenance around my house.”

Capri falls back laughing.

“I’m glad you think this is funny.”

“My bad, girl. I was just wondering why he was looking over here like y’all have some unfinished business.”

“Probably because he came by today and dropped off his application. I’m not even going to tell you what else he did. It’s all—he’s—ugh—he’s getting on my nerves. I don’t like my days to be interrupted by nonsense.”

“Yeah. We know. You like the sameordinaryroutine.”

“What’s wrong with that? Structure is important.”

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