Cassiopeia Odette.
Manhattan
July 5th, 2021
12:30 noon
"Hi gorgeous" Mom wraps me in a tight hug "I missed you"
"I missed you too" I smile and hug her for a second longer before letting go
"Hi, Melo. How are you doing?" she leans in for a hug, which he accepts
"I'm good. How are you, Mrs. Rutherford"
"Oh, please. You know you can call me Jaz or mom" she smiles warmly at him before motioning us inside "Come on in, I don't bite"
"When you got this?" I look at the painting of me hanging on the wall in foyer
"Umm... I don't know. I had them paint it from that gorgeous picture that I love of you when you were a kid"
"I can see that," I nod and turn away
"You was a chubby lil thing" Melo examines the painting
"So were you, Tina showed me them pictures boy" I raise my eyebrow at him
"We don't speak on that" Melo side eyes me
"Y'all hungry? I made stuffed plantains with spanish rice and beans"
"Ooohhh," my mouth waters just thinking about it. Stuffed plantains are my absolute favorite meal. It's just regular plantains, but stuffed with meat and olives and cheese and ugh- so good. The sweet flavor of the plantains mixed with that salty from the olives and meat is to die for! Can't never get enough
"You ever had this before?" I take out plates and begin serving myself and Melo
"Nah, what is it?"
"It's exactly what she said. Stuffed plantains, rice, and beans"
"Why's it orange" Melo curiously eyes the rice
"It's from the sazon. It's just seasoning. There's like olives and beans in it, it's really good" I stuff a spoonful of rice onto his plate, a spoon of beans on the side, and half a plantain before placing it in front of him where he sits at the island. Melo looks down at his plate and smiles
"It look good" he nods, picking up his fork "I'm supposed to eat the beans by itself?"
"Mmm..." I think for a second "You can do it either way. I usually just switch it up with every bite. Sometimes with the rice, sometimes with the plantain, sometimes alone. It's good either way"
"What's plantain?" he looks at the long fruit stuffed with meat on his plate "It's just banana?"
"I guess? It's cooked though. It's really good, Try it, luv" I sit next to him and dig in. Mom walks into the kitchen with paperwork and plops it on the counter
"Can I eat first?" I ask
"Of course. I'm just organizing some things, I know you don't like to be talked to when you eat"
"Mkay" I smile and continue eating
Melo doesn't say a word until he's finished eating
"Can I have some more?" he looks at my mom pleadingly
"Of course, hun" she smiles and takes his plate, piling food high onto it. Two scoops of rice, a pool of beans, and a plantain and a half,
"Thank you, this sh- stuff good, Ms. Jaz" Melo nods before beginning to eat again
"Me too, please" I push my plate to her and smile
"Y'all are gonna have to do a lot of grocery shopping. Both have humongous appetites" mom loads my plate up before handing it to me
YOU ARE READING
Him and I
RomanceCassiopeia is a twenty-one year old, freshly graduated college student, trying to find her position in the world. When her parents inform her of an arranged marriage and no ultimatum but to get married and take over the family business she's pressed...
