The Man She Dated

05.

______05______
Food For Thought

-•-

Montell enters the restaurant at eight thirty, informing the host of the reservation. With a smile, she grabs the menu and instructs him to follow her. The two maneuver through the tables and stop at the one crowded with Montell's friends.

"It's about damn time." His loud mouth friend Cole chuckles, standing to his feet.

"Man chill out." Montell chuckles as they pull their hands apart.

"We thought you weren't coming." Toby, another friend of his says through chews. Since his hands are sauced from wings he was tearing apart, the two bump arms as Montell has a seat.

"I had some business to handle. Where's Charlie?" Montell questions, taking the menu from the host while thanking her. She nods and walks off.

"Charlie already called and said she'd be late. She had a late photoshoot for some sports magazine." Cole informs and takes a sip of his liquor. Montell nods while skimming the menu for his options.

"Getting that money as she should." Montell supports.

"Between you and her I don't know who works the most." Cole chuckles and shakes his head.

"It's definitely Charlie." Montell assures.

"Definitely." Toby smacks on his food, grabbing the next wing to chew through. Montell and Cole both frown while watching him eat nonstop.

"You need to relax before you choke." Montell warns. Toby swallows his food and washes the remainder of it down with his liquor.

"I'm good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to use the bathroom." He says, licking the sauce off his lips and fingers. Toby then scoots his chair away from table and stands to his feet. Cole shakes his head after watching his friend walk away to the rear of the restaurant. Montell wanted to ask what was up, but decided against it. Maybe they'd talk about it later.

"Anyway, how have you been man?" Cole questions as he skims through the menu.

"Good and yourself? How's the liquor company going?" Montell sits down the menu already knowing what he had a taste for.

"It's going good. We got a new brand and flavor coming out. It'll be on the shelves this fall." Cole informs.

"That's what's up. Maybe I can make an order and put it on the shelf at my club."

"I was going to ask if you'd like to be a customer, but I didn't know if you still had that place. We can definitely set up a taste test in some weeks so you can try it out."

"That's what's up and yea I still have the club. I'm thinking about moving on to something bigger and better. I just started looking for a place for my art gallery." Montell informs as Toby takes a seat.

"You've always been big on art and loved it. When we were in college, I thought that's what you were you going pursue." Cole says and drinks the last of his brown liquor.

"I was at first but you know how flakey I was with that. I only painted when I was in a mood. Now that I'm older though, I'm falling more in love with it." Montell smiles.

"Falling more in love with what?" Toby questions clueless.

"Falling more in love with art. Keep up." Montell chuckles and Cole joins. Toby flags them off and grabs his glass of water.

"Man look. I wasn't at the table when y'all were talking. Anyway, I heard The Red Room is the number one club in Seattle now." He says with a small smile.