I sucked my teeth. “I see we’re going to have to agree to disagree on that topic.”
“Yeah, I guess we will.”
“So, this dude that got you trippin’ all over yourself in love, what’s he do?” he asked, switching the subject back to Axel.
“He’s a musician, a saxophonist. This is probably TMI, but I’ll be leaving the city with him after the wedding, right before his next tour starts.”
“Oh, so you’re a roadie like me?”
I shook my head. “Not exactly. This will be my first time moving away from Potomac Falls. I’ve been on vacations and things. I have my passport, but I’ve never called anywhere else home but here.”
“Yeah, you gotta get out and live,” he suggested.
“Now, you sound like my fiancé.”
“He’s right, you know? Life is too short to spend it all in one place.”
“I don’t know; I guess a part of me felt obligated to stay here after my father and brother died. My baby sister left and never looked back. I was the only family my mom had left. I didn’t feel right abandoning her. So, I graduated high school here. I went to college here. I got a job here.”
“I know a thing or two about loss, but you can’t let your survivor’s remorse hold you back from living out your days how you want to.”
“Is that what you’re doing? Living your days how you want to?” I asked him.
He spread his arms wide. “Look around you. I’m my family’s wildest dream. Next to no fuckin’ body makes it out of Seven Pines to do shit I’m doing. It’s a blessing. I’m blessed, and I know that shit. I don’t take that shit for granted either. I’m extremely humble.”
“You’re a bit cocky too,” I added.
“Wouldn’t you be if you made it out of the mud like I did?”
I shrugged. “I suppose. There’s something sexy about a humble man, though. A little food for thought for the chef, respectfully.”
He chuckled. “Touché. So, uh, are we done? Did we get through all your questions and everything you wanted to know?”
I looked down at my notebook, which barely had anything written on the page. I’d been so caught up in everything he had to say; that I hardly took any notes. “Uh, yeah. I think we’re done.”
“Did you get everything you needed for real this time?”
“Definitely. Thank you for, uh, everything; the food and conversation.”
“Anytime.”
Although I was initially against it, I was grateful for his persistence in doing a second interview. All along, I thought he wasn’t worth my time, but the more time I spent with him, I realized there was so more to his story, so much more to him.