It wasn’t hard to keep his distance from Trixie for the rest of the evening. He had drink orders to fill, and she had customers to greet. If they didn’t have to interact for the rest of their partnership, everything would be fine. Keep emotions out of business. Those types of things only complicated the path to success—according to Trixie anyway.
She was wrong about that. Growing up, he’d seen his mother’s acts of kindness over and over. She wouldn’t call it kindness. Just the right thing to do. Opening her restaurant up to others who needed a helping hand, like their head chef, Luis. He’d knocked on their door and asked if she could teach him how to cook. Instead of asking why a Guatemalan American wanted to learn how to cook soul food, she hired him. They worked side by side for years, becoming part of Luis’s family. He and Keisha attended Luis’s wedding and grew up with his kids.
Family wasn’t all about blood. All the neighbors watched out for each other—especially the kids. Andre couldn’t kick a trash can without someone telling his mom. She’d made him take out the entire block’s trash for a week for disrespecting the neighborhood. Andre had felt suffocated. A teenager was supposed to be able to make his own mistakes. Not here, though. Every move he made was scrutinized by church ladies who sat on their stoop all day. Even Mrs. Harris was always watching him after he was old enough to take care of himself.
That’s why he left for New Orleans. He’d needed to live in a town where no one knew him. Better yet, where no one knew his mother, where he could be more than just Mama Hazel’s boy.
And his mom had stoically let him go. “If that’s what you need right now, go.”
Now he was back in DC with a new perspective. His neighbors came from different backgrounds, but they helped each other out. As cheesy as it sounded, this neighborhood was a family. One he didn’t appreciate until he navigated New Orleans without one.
He wasn’t sure if running Mama Hazel’s was his life’s passion, but his community depended on him. Keisha was excited that he’d made his etouffee for tonight, but he was nervous. Mama had never let him change anything on the menu. No one outside of family had tasted his twists on Mama’s recipes. He promised his sister if the dish went over well, they could put it on the menu. Knowing his Keisha, she probably wanted to revamp the entire menu. They agreed to start with just a couple of dishes as to not upset the regulars. And maybe a small craft cocktail menu while they were at it.
“Andre, you still here, bro?” Xavier waved a hand in front of Andre’s face.
“Sorry.” He picked up the towel and wiped down the bar. “Keisha let you out of the kitchen?”
“Yeah. She figured since it’s a coed pop-up, no one would feel uncomfortable with a male waiter.”
“She’s got a point.” The dining room was completely full. And loud. The energy from the mixed crowd was livelier than the previous pop-ups. “Thanks for coming in on late notice. We’ll pay you for your time.”
“No way! I’ve always wanted to be a fly on the wall at one of these things.” He nodded at Trixie’s table up front. “Maybe I should write a poetry collection about sex toys. I’ll use my experience tonight as research.” Xavier waved at the crowded room.
“You sure I can’t pay you for tonight? It wouldn’t feel right.”
“Being here is more than enough payment for me. That and tips. I’m happy not to be banished to the kitchen with your bossy sister.”
Xavier normally helped on community-dinner nights but mostly in the kitchen. Having him serve paying customers in the dining room meant more of his trash talk every time he walked up to give drink orders. Andre didn’t mind. He looked forward to watching his best friend’s reaction to all the toys on the table.
“Be cool. Don’t embarrass me tonight,” Andre reminded his best friend. Xavier was a lady’s man. Once Trixie began passing her vibrators around, the toys wouldn’t be the only things buzzing. Everyone would be excited and ready for action. “No hookups with future customers.”
“I’m hurt.” Xavier held his chest as if Andre had shot him. “You think I can’t stay cool?”
Andre threw him a skeptical look.
“All right, I’ll be extra good tonight. I’d never hit on one of your customers. At least not while I’m on the job.” Xavier looked back at the dining room. “Can I flirt at least? I’m saving my tips for a new laptop. For my poetry.”
“Fine. What do you need?”
Xavier rattled off several drink orders before a guest waved at him. The brunette wore a body-hugging dress that accentuated her breasts. Xavier’s face broke into a grin. “I’ll be right back. Have orders to take.”
Andre chuckled. Xavier was in his element. No doubt he’d get great tips tonight. He returned his attention to the glasses on the bar. Two rum and Cokes, a gin and tonic, and four glasses of house red.
Plus, an appletini for Trixie. Maybe her favorite cocktail would help her nerves. He could tell she was still shaken up from their earlier . . . well, encounter wasn’t the right word, but he didn’t know how else to describe it. Not without getting another hard-on.
She hadn’t settled down after all the guests arrived and piled their plates full of food. Instead, she paced around her demo table, straightening and adjusting her products. Next, she shuffled and stacked her order forms and counted the pens.
“That her?” Xavier reappeared and moved the drinks to his tray.
“Who?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, man. You’ve been watching her all night.” He picked up the appletini. “I didn’t order this. Either you’re off your game or it’s for her.”
“Fine. It’s for Trixie.”
“Finally! A face for the infamous Trixie.” Xavier whistled. “I can see why you think about her 24/7.”
“I do not think about her all the time.”
“Oh, shit! You want her back! You still got it bad.”
Andre remained silent.
“Andre, I’m just teasing. Having a little fun. We cool?”
“She was upset earlier—before everyone else got here. So I talked to her. Let her cry on my shoulder. I’d forgotten how good things were between us. Then she kissed me, I kissed her back, and one thing led to another. Then Luis interrupted us.”
“He walked in on the two of you?!”
Andre scowled. That would have made the situation much worse.
“Hold up. Let me drop off these drinks. That woman in red has been making eyes at me all night.” Xavier whisked the tray off the bar and strode away.
Andre watched as he charmed every lady—hell, even the one guy—sitting at table seven. If they ever had enough money, he’d hire Xavier to run his front of house and publicity. That brother oozed charmed. People fell over themselves to earn one smile from him.
On the other hand, Andre couldn’t even get Trixie to make eye contact with him tonight.
Xavier zoomed back to the bar. “Talk. I have five minutes before lady in red downs her rum and Coke.”
“No one walked in on us. There was a crash in the kitchen. Ruined the moment.” Andre shrugged. “It didn’t mean anything.”
“Sure. That’s why you’ve been moping behind the bar all night. Frowning at highball glasses and using your soda gun as if it were a weapon.”
“I have not.”
“Your tip jar is proof you’ve been scowling all night.”
The jar was empty, except for the fiver he’d stuck in there earlier.
“That’s because all the tips are going to you tonight.”
“I thought you were going to keep things cool between you. Profesh,” Xavier reminded him.
“We are.”
Xavier snorted.
“I am. Starting now.”
“I’m not the stay-professional police. Do what you want, but don’t sit on the fence. It’s not good for anyone.”
“We have unfinished business. The way I left New Orleans—it wasn’t cool. I need to explain what happened.”
“Are you doing this for you or for her? Because if you’re only doing it to ease whatever unfounded guilt you got, that’s the wrong reason.”
He hated when Xavier knew him better than he knew himself. Andre came home because his family needed him. But how he left was cowardly. Maybe it was better to keep things in the past. That’s what Trixie wanted.
“Crap,” Xavier said through a forced smile. “Lady in red is waving again.”
She was waving wildly and grinning at Xavier. Andre reached for the rum.
“That woman has grabby hands. Let’s hope all she wants is a rum and Coke this time.” Xavier placed the drink on his tray. “If you want to patch things up with Trixie because you still have a boner for her, do it. But don’t force things because you feel guilty about leaving her to come home to take care of Miss Hazel.”
The truth was, Andre wasn’t sure how he felt about Trixie. She didn’t want to talk to him, so his feelings wouldn’t make a difference anyway. But he had to patch things up with her. What did he have to lose if she already hated him?