AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey Knight, where y’at?” A female bartender came up and laid down two new napkins for drinks and looked at them expectantly.
“Awrite." He winked at the bartender.
It was the second time Anastacia noticed the flirting Knight did with women. Has he charmed every woman in the restaurant business in the city? Has he done more than charm them? Not that she had anything to say about it, she did tell him to “keep it professional.” So far, he’s been keeping to the dynamic in the office. She wondered if that would continue after hours. And more surprisingly, she wondered if she wanted him to.
“Two gumbos and two specials,” Knight ordered.
“You got it.” She nodded, slapping her palm on the bar top before making her way to a computer screen where she tapped in their order.
“You’ve been here before too, huh?” Anastacia couldn’t stop her mind from wandering back to the last time she and Knight walked into a restaurant. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, pressing the onslaught of images away.
“I promise, there's no one I need to interrogate here,” he joked, a glimmer of mischief in his green eyes.
“I’m sorry if I messed everything up with Sammy.” Knight had been quiet the last few days, and she didn't know what to make of it. Maybe it was normal for him, or maybe he was angry with her. Either way, an apology felt appropriate.
“It wasn’t your fault. I saw the gun, and I just thought—” He caught himself, staring into the wood grain of the bar counter. “Nah, you’re fine. I don’t blame you and you shouldn’t blame yourself. I’m the one who needs to apologize to you. I’ve been in my head too much lately to help you process this like I should have. It’s just… it’s never easy, ya know?”
Anastacia nodded with a smile, understanding completely. It was one thing to see the aftereffects of death, but to be the one to cause it was so much worse. She wanted to help people. Shit, she wanted to help the souls who reached out to her. Maybe the thing eating at her had to do with not finding the ability in herself to help, like Knight had been beating himself over not being able to help Sammy.
Well, now was a good time to change the subject.
“Okay, I’m not sure if I can take too much spice in my gumbo," she admitted, asking another bartender for water while she waited for the house's special drink.
“Trust me, it’s the only way to enjoy this place.” Knight side-eyed with a saucy grin before adding, “And I have a feeling you need some more spice in your life.”
Anastacia took a sip and scanned the restaurant. There were so many people crammed into the narrow space that she wasn’t sure how the wait staff managed, though she was sure half of the crowd were spirits. None of them were dark and they all minded their own business. None noticed her yet. When she looked over her shoulder, she found Mel guarding her back. She smiled into her cup and cleared her throat. “My life is plenty spicy, thank you, Knight.”
“Says the single girl with questionable taste in clothes.”
“You’ve only seen me in business attire, sir. And you should know I’m happily single. Relationships are extra drama I certainly don’t need.”
“What makes you say so? And don’t call me ‘sir.’ We’re off the clock. It makes me feel ten times older off the clock.” He gingerly accepted their drinks from the bartender, placing one in front of her and holding the other in his hand, waiting for her to pick up the glass.
“You trying to interrogate me?” She lifted the glass and sniffed the drink, trying to gauge how strong it was.
“You kiddin’? You’d be too easy to crack.”
“Oh, challenge accepted,sir.” She teased with a clink to his glass.
Mel leaned close to Anastacia’s other ear, away from Knight. “I’m checking on the other ghosts to make sure they stay away, and to feel out the place. It’s small, but it’s amazing.”
She nodded to let him know she heard him, her attention never leaving Knight. Mel waved even though she wasn’t looking at him and waded into the crowd.
The bartender placed a steaming bowl of seafood gumbo in front of Anastacia, the decadent aromas of shrimp, sausage, and spices floating up on steam to her nose. She was in danger of drooling.
“Thank you.” She pulled the bowl closer to her as if to protect it from the spoons of anyone else within sniffing distance.
“My pleasure, baby.” The bartender beamed as her eyes flipped between Anastacia and Knight before landing on Knight. “You both good here, dawlin’?”
He bobbed his head, mouth already full.
“I got a question,” Anastacia started before Knight could get another spoonful in his mouth. “What’s with all the nicknames?”
“Nicknames?” He took a bite with a slurp.
“Yeah, ‘baby,’ ‘darling,’‘cher’? Normally little love names… but from strangers?” she clarified and took her first bite. It wasn’t spicy. At least it didn’t burn off her taste buds immediately like some Mexican food she knew of. It was delicious, a little heat mixed in with the shrimp was perfect. The sausage was seasoned perfectly, the meat packed in each slice a perfect mouthful marinated in the broth. Her head fell back, her body relaxed into the chair. A moan usually reserved for private moments escaped between her lips while the last of the broth trickled down her throat.
“Good, huh?” Knight smirked as she opened her eyes. She didn’t even know she had closed them.
