Ayoluwa called into the back of her family's restaurant where there was an industrial kitchen set with stainless steel appliances.

Oasis Cuisine was a medium sized Jamaican restaurant set in the southeastern section of Los Angeles, California.

The baby blue walls were lit with sconces, creating a slightly romantic island ambiance.

All the tables and chairs were a walnut finish, and the cushions in the booths were a pure white.

A playlist of soca, calypso and reggae played softly through the establishment, meshing with the heavy conversation from the patrons.

Ayoluwa was dressed in a plain black tee with two buttons undone near the collar, ripped jeans, low top black Vans and her white half apron that had the restaurant's name in yellow with a palm tree adjacent.

Her long, almost waist length locs were tied in a tight bun at the base of her neck and her gold hoops that matched the gold necklace that read out her name was glinting in the sun that shone through the windows in the restaurant.

"Got it!," Her grandmother, Camille, called back in a strong Jamaican accent, "I have three beef patties and a jerk chicken for you for table twelve!"

Ayoluwa carefully slid the new plates onto her server's tray and speedily walked over to the designated table where an elderly Hispanic couple were sitting.

"One jerk chicken meal and three beef patties?" Ayoluwa asked with a smile.

The woman nodded with a smile as Ayoluwa placed the food in front of the couple.

"Can I get you anything else? Any refills?" Ayoluwa placed the tray by her side.

"Uh, no. I think we're good, right hermosa?" The man asked his wife.

"Yeah, thank you." The woman smiled at her husband then at Ayoluwa.

Ayoluwa smiled back then walked away to the kitchen's window.

When she looked back to the couple, they were praying together, their hands clasped together.

Once the couple had finished their prayer, the man shakily moved his wife's hand to his lips and kissed it.

The woman blushed considerably and started to say something to the man.

Slight longing filled Ayoluwa as she watched the couple interact.

"Ayo. Ayo!" A voice called to her.

Ayoluwa jumped then turned around to spot one of her coworkers.

"What?" Ayoluwa asked.

"Shareef and them are here. I put them in your section." The boy responded then turned away to grab a large order of shrimp rasta pasta.

Ayoluwa scanned her section then broke into a wide grin when she saw four boys sitting at a table in the middle of her section.

Shareef O'Neal and Bronny James were sitting on the left side of the table while Dior Johnson and Shaqir O'Neal were on the right side.

She had first met Shareef through her older sister, Imani as the three all grew up together, due to the sisters living in the same neighborhood as his grandparents.

Through Shareef she had become acquainted with Bronny, Shaqir and Dior.

Ayoluwa approached them quickly and the four greeted her.

Dior smiled at her while Shareef reached his hand out for the two to do their usual complex handshake.

"Hey y'all." Ayoluwa smiled down at Shaqir as he wrapped one arm around her waist to embrace and pull her closer.

"What'd I say? My girl." Shaqir gave Bronny a boastful smirk.

Ayoluwa immediately shook her head, "Nope. I'm gang, remember?"

Bronny ignored her last set of words and pulled Ayoluwa to him, "And like I said to you, she's my girl."

Ayoluwa rolled her eyes at the exchange, "Do y'all want Ting like usual?"

"Sorry I'm late, traffic was bad." A deep masculine voice sounded behind her.

Ayoluwa immediately sucked her teeth in annoyance and turned around.

Joshua Christopher was standing behind her and his face held the same level of disdain that Ayoluwa's did.

Ayoluwa and Joshua had never liked each other due to them being polar opposites in everything that mattered in this life.

She was music and poetry and peace.

Joshua on the other hand, was aggression and sports and competition.

Seeing them in the same room was like mixing oil with water, it just wasn't meant to be.

"You said she wasn't working today." Joshua spoke to Shareef who shrugged.

"It's my family's restaurant. Stop bringing your Shrek looking ass here if you don't wanna see me." Ayoluwa replied in an indignant tone.

"My bad for thinking that you finally got a life. I forgot that no one likes you, Palmer."

"Aye. Can y'all not do this today?" Shareef cut in with an exasperated expression.

"You better stop playing with Ayo before she poison yo' food." Dior contributed with a laugh.

Ayoluwa smirked at the remark and Joshua rolled his eyes.

Joshua sat down next to Dior and Ayoluwa flipped over her small notepad, "What do y'all want to drink?"

"Ting." Shaqir said and Dior nodded.

"Lemonade." Bronny remarked.

"A Sprite."

"Two Sprites, please." Shareef corrected Joshua.

Ayoluwa wrote down their drink order then walked down the aisle to check on some of her other tables.

"How are we doing?" Ayoluwa asked the elderly couple with a smile.

"Just fine. A check would be great." The man said warmly then put two fives into her hand, "Your tip, dear. It's always good having you as our server."

"Thank you. It's always a pleasure serving you." Ayoluwa smiled put the checkbook down then took the empty plates away.

She quickly filled the drink orders then brought them to the table where her friends and Joshua were sitting.

"Here you go. Y'all ready to order?" Ayoluwa took out her notepad and pen again.

"Clearly." Joshua muttered.

Ayoluwa ignored him, took their respective orders then went to the kitchen to hand the order in.

Another couple, around her age this time, came in and was sat in her section by the host.

So Ayoluwa pushed down her deep feeling of want, forced a light smile on her face and walked to their table.

"Hi, my name is Ayo! Welcome to Oasis! Can I get you guys anything to drink?"

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