'Til Sun Beams Find You [COMPLETE]

Thirty-five

It was such a sunny day outside.

Nico sat in the diner across from Marcus, folding up the case of her tablet once she was done discussing different properties. She figured the best course of action for picky clients like Marcus was to just prep everything on a screen for him to see and narrow it down that way, because cold calls to seeing different apartments were a waste of both of their time.

"When are you free?" She asked him as she pulled out her planner and planted it on the table.

Marcus laughed at how bulky the thing looked in her small hands.

"I'm free any day."

"You don't work?" Nico quipped sarcastically as she flipped to the upcoming week that was mostly blank.

It was a Friday afternoon, and she had only been back to work Wednesday after her weekend getaway, so she had a lot of catching up to do. Since she had no service the entire weekend, she spent all of Thursday just going through emails and replying to different clients and developers and the millions of other little things she didn't realize would pile up through the days.

"I do work, but my work is flexible."

"Not preparing for any big trials?"

Marcus couldn't help but laugh. "I'm a corporate lawyer, Nicolette. I don't go to trial. I read for a living."

"That sounds.. boring," she muttered to herself mostly as she circled next Wednesday. "How about Wednesday the 25th? After lunch, maybe? I can probably get a couple keys together then and have some good places to look at."

Marcus leaned back into his seat and nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

He glanced around the hole-in-the-wall diner he had suggested they meet up at for lunch, mostly because it was right outside of his office. Working downtown meant a lot of fancy restaurants that served salads and soups for lunch, but through some aimless searching, he had found this amazing place, and it was family owned. They served authentic soul food that he missed being so far from the south, so it was like his little home away from home.

He didn't show it to many people, especially not his snobby, uptight coworkers, so he was going out on a limb suggesting they have their meeting here instead of their regular coffeeshop meets in the city.

Nico tried okra gumbo for the first time, and surprisingly enjoyed it.

She closed her planner just as the waitress serving them arrived at their table.

"All done baby?" The elderly woman asked with a warm smile.

Her accent was similar to Marcus', and Nico wasn't too great at geography but if she were a betting woman, she'd bet they probably came from the same place... whichever those southern states may have been.

"Yes," Nico pushed her bowl towards the edge of the table. "It was delicious. My first time trying soul food too and I give it five stars. I will definitely be back."

The woman, whose name tag read Marie, smiled even wider. "You better. Marcus, you bring this one around," she told him with a pointed finger, addressing him like he was family, as he had practically become one with how much time he spent here.

He chuckled as Nico became flustered, blushing deeply.

"Oh no.. it's not," she shook her head immediately. "It's nothing like that," she clarified quickly to the older woman. "This is work," she explained, gesturing towards the tablet she had on the table as well as the planner and her pens.

Besides, he was still dressed in his suit and set to return to the office.. so this was nothing.

Marie smiled a knowing smile. "Oh I'm sure it is." She scooped the empty bowls off the table and winked at her. "I hope to see you soon, Nicolette."