Genevieve's POV
"What'd you do to get sent home?" Ronnie asks looking over at me as I climb into the back seat.
"I haven't gotten a good night's rest in a long time." I say taking off my wet clothes and putting on my warm ups.
"I've seen you run on no sleep before. How bad is it?" I climb back upfront, turn on the overhead light and turn to face him as we approach a red light. He raises his glasses in disbelief and takes a good look at my face. "Sheesh. Here you need these more than me." He takes off his sunglasses and hands them to me with a chuckle. "What do you think it is?"
"Stress." I say softly too tired to explain Mamakoko is visiting my dreams and I keep having nightmares about my career.
"You know what always helps me when I can't sleep? A nice hot meal." He drives us to what appears to be a Chinese restaurant. They smile when he walks in greeting us with enthusiasm. He shakes hands with the man behind the counter.
"Who is this woman? Where is your wife, huh?"
"This is my boss's girlfriend. She hasn't been sleeping well. We're stopping in to get something to eat before she gets some rest."
"What?! No sleep?" A woman says walking out of the kitchen. "Women like us need our beauty sleep, honey." She says bumping me playfully with her hip. "What do you eat, honey? Pork, shrimp, chicken?" I nod quickly. Up until now I've just been following the conversation. "You like vegetables?" I nod again. "I'll have something ready for you in 15 minutes."
"Thank you Mrs. Chen. Make something for my boss too!" She gives him a thumbs up and disappears into the kitchen. Ronnie smiles
"Ronnie, we still on for later?" The man asks.
"Yup, I'll be back after the show is over." Ronnie nods leading me over to a table. "We go way back. They're huge motorcycle riders."
"You're going to ride motorcycles in this weather?"
"No, we aren't crazy! We're just meeting up for drinks."
"That's nice." I smile softly. "What was your life like before you started working for Prince?"
"Not much different. I was working at a venue in St. Paul. I was just extra muscle carrying speakers, moving big boxes things like that. I spent a lot of time with my wife. She works in business development. She sends her employees to other people's businesses to analyze them and help them build or rebuild them. She travels to conventions to see the new research and I would just go with her."
"How are you happily married when you spend every moment in Prince's house?" He smiles softly.
"I'm not there as much as you think. I'm just always available. I come in the morning, do a few things and then leave and come back as he asks. I'm around more when she's away and I'm around less when she gets back. She's been on a lot of back to back trips this past year since she handles all of the high profile clients but our schedules have aligned better this time around. Her business is running itself right now so we've just been following the tour around the country and checking things off our bucket list."
"What've you done so far?"
"We went on a lot of hikes, tried bungee jumping, saw a few shows, tried out some really great restaurants."
"Where is she now?"
"In a hotel one city over. I took her on a spa day and she's just been resting and watching tv since."
"She sounds lovely. I'd love to meet her one day."
"You will. Maybe I'll bring everyone to Chanhassen one of these days. My siblings want to meet you too."
"You have siblings? How many?"
"There's five of us. Donnie, Ronnie, Lonnie, Bonnie, and Connie."
"Oh wow. Did your parents plan that?"
"Not at all." He laughs.
"What's everybody's names?"
"My older sister's name is Donna. I'm Ronaldo. My brother Lonnie's full name is London. Bonnie's name is Esteban and Connie's name is Constance.
"So what is that? Three boys and two girls?"
"Yup and we all look a like even my sisters." I smile thinking about a bunch of people that look like him. Tall and muscular with serious eyes and warm smiles.
"So how'd you get the nicknames?"
"It started when my littlest sister was born. London and Esteban couldn't say Constance. So my parents started calling her Connie and one day we were all playing and London gave us all nicknames like hers. Esteban was pretty upset about it because he felt like it's a girls name but he loves it now that our nieces call him Uncle Bonnie ."
"Esteban. That's Spanish right?"
"Yup, my father spent a lot of time in Cuba when he worked on boats down in Florida. We're all fluent in Spanish. Bonnie is named after one of my father's long time friends."
"Hm." I say my brain mostly empty as I continue to think about what his siblings look like.
"¿Hablas español?" He asks.
"Sí."
"¿Fluidez?"
"Aún no." I chuckle.
"Don't worry I won't quiz you. Not tonight at least." He smiles as Mrs. Chen approaches the table with two large plates. Mine is piled high with dark fried rice,, meat, seafood, and vegetables. The steams rises from the plate meeting my nostrils as I take it all in. Ginger and garlic and basil pork and shrimp and butter.
"Do you like it spicy? I have some Thai chilies."
"She does." Ronnie says around a sip of water. I just noticed the see through red plastic cups on the table.
"Mrs. Chen has a garden where she grows her own chilies and spices. Even the Thai basil in your food."
"I've never had Thai food before."
"Lots of flavor, very spicy, a little sweet." I nod taking in his words. Mrs. Chen return with a small bow of chilies for the table. There are exactly 6 in the bowl. I watch as Ronnie takes one and bites the end before taking a large bite of food. I grab a chili, lift my spoon and do the same. The heat surprises me. I didn't expect there to be so much for such a small pepper.
"I had a large garden back in Thailand. I left it to my sister when we moved to America. So many peppers and basil. She brought me seeds to grow them here during her visit a few years ago."
"These are very good." I say around another bite of food. She smiles walking back to the kitchen allowing Ronnie and I to eat in the quiet of the restaurant.
Before I know it my plate is empty and she returns with more food wrapped up to go. Ronnie thanks her and slides her the money for the food. He gives me a look that tells me I can just pay him pack with Prince's money in the car. I nod standing carefully and we make our way back to the car.
I turn on the car light and read the directions for the pills but it doesn't say anything about sleep. I take one pill out of the blister pack and swallow it with a sip of water , saying a quick prayer, and hoping it will aid in my sleep.