The Gentleman's Exchange

Brandon observed his surroundings as he walked, feeling under dressed for the restaurant he’d entered. Everyone he passed was dressed a bit classier than he was used to, from starched collared shirts and slacks to suits. And although he was glad he’d chosen to wear a button down shirt, as well as to tuck it in, he was definitely out of place in the blue jeans he wore.

The man he followed was rather well-groomed and wore a black slim-fit sport jacket and matching pair of sharply creased slacks. He’d greeted Brandon warmly as ‘sir’ when he entered the establishment, enquiring as to how many would be in his party. Very professional, he hadn’t even batted an eye at his attire though Brandon had noticed right away the contrast between himself and those within the restaurant.

“Ah, yes… Welcome, sir. My name is Rob. Right this way,” the host said after Brandon told him that he was there to meet someone, even though he hadn’t been given the name of who he was there to meet. With a smile, he gave Brandon a polite nod and began leading him into the restaurant.

Brandon noted that Rob did not pick up a menu from the greeter’s station but also noted that there were no menus for the man to pick up. Pulling lightly at the cuffs of his sleeve to try and make sure his shirt wasn’t wrinkled, he followed the host to a table beside window looking out onto small well-manicured shrubs along the outside of the building.

“Your guest, sir,” the Rob said to the person seated. He then stepped to the side of the table opposite of its occupant and pulled the chair out.

“Hello, Brandon.” Miguel stood up, offering his hand. “I am glad you could make it.”

“Miguel.” Brandon shook his hand with a nod before taking a seat across from him.

“May I get either of you anything?” Rob asked as the two men sat down.

“Can I get another one of these?” Miguel tapped the base of the martini glass in front of him, and smiled up at the host.

“And for you, sir?” Rob looked to Brandon.

Brandon shook his head. He didn’t particularly want anything. He’d come to the restaurant at a strange but urgent sounding invitation, having been told that there was something important that needed to be discussed in person. He’d tried to refuse but Miguel insisted vehemently. In the end, he’d skipped taking a lunch break so that he could leave work early and meet with this person he barely knew.

“What’ll you have?” Miguel asked. “The drinks here are some of the best around.”

“I’d better not.”

“You’re off of work, right?”

“Uh, yeah, but I’m driving the company vehicle.”

“But it’s your company, isn’t it?” Miguel laughed, glancing again at the host.

Looking away from Miguel, Brandon tried not to smile. He could tell that Miguel was easily likeable. His comments reminded him of Jackson urging him to have a beer when they would go out to lunch during a workday. And honestly, Brandon was only half-owner of the shop he worked in. He wondered how Miguel knew about it; he’d obviously looked into him.

“Whiskey, rum or brandy?”

“Really, Miguel, I shouldn’t-”

“You’re a coffee guy, right?

“…yeah…” Brandon answered, not sure exactly what he was answering.

“Bring him The Gentleman’s Exchange,” Miguel said, smiling again at Rob, who stood patiently beside the table.

“Right away, sir.” The host gave a nod and turned to leave.

Slightly annoyed, Brandon watched as Rob disappeared around a corner leading to the bar. He then looked back at the man across the table from him.

“What is a Gentleman’s Exchange?” he asked.

“If you like coffee, you’ll love it,” Miguel answered before finishing the little that was left of his drink.

“Hey, I uh, didn’t realize that there was a dress code here…”

Brandon glanced at the people at the tables around them, then back to Miguel, who, though he wore jeans, had on a white v-neck under a grey sport jacket.

“There’s not,” Miguel responded coolly. “The food is good, they don’t skimp on the drinks, and it’s one of the few places in the area that don’t make you pay for parking.”

“Ah…” Feeling a little less uncomfortable about his attire, the thought occurred to Brandon that he didn’t know what Miguel did for a living, though he guessed that it was something nearby, possibly in the business district.

“It’s a local place for business meetings and deals over drinks,” Miguel said, gazing out the window they sat beside.

A few moments of silence followed, in which Brandon felt slightly awkward. In that time, he casually glanced at the man across from him, studying him quickly. He’d been asked to meet Miguel in order to discuss what he’d insisted was an important matter, but so far nothing about the meeting seemed that urgent.

He knew that Miguel was a friend of Christina’s sister Ashlie. He also knew that Christina didn’t exactly have anything good to say about him. But that aside, Brandon knew nothing of Miguel, or why he would want to meet with him.

“Not to be rude, but may I ask why it is you wanted to meet?”

“Of course,” Miguel said, turning his head to look at Brandon. “But first, let me thank you for coming. I know, we don’t know each other, and the couple of times we’ve bumped into one another, I was not exactly very polite.”

His jaw tightening, Brandon nodded, recalling the night he’d followed Miguel and a girl he thought to be someone he’d met before into a bar, and then the incident in the coffee shop. He still felt a twinge of embarrassment each time he thought of either occasion. To be fair, although what had transpired in the coffee shop was Jackson’s fault, Miguel was not wrong for having been upset by it.

“Gentlemen, your drinks…”

A martini glass with a burnt umber colored liquid, and what Brandon could only guess was a black cherry in it was placed in front of Miguel, then an etched whiskey glass with a citrus peel of some kind on its rim was place in front of himself. The liquid in the glass before him was a dark reddish brown with the distinct aromas of alcohol as well as something sweet coming from it.

“Thank you, Rob.” Miguel looked up at the host with a wink.

“My pleasure, sir. May I bring you anything else?”

Miguel glanced at Brandon, who gave a small shake of his head.

“Not right now, Rob,” he said with a smile. “I think we’re good here.”

“Very good, sir. Please enjoy.”

Miguel raised his glass, looking again at Brandon.

“Cheers.”

Brandon rather awkwardly picked up the glass in front of him before sipping from it.

A nutty sweetness accompanied by an unmistakable coffee flavor flooded his mouth, followed by a soft burn in his throat as he swallowed, causing Brandon’s eyes to widen in surprise. He coughed softly, meeting Miguel’s gaze.

“They don’t skimp on the drinks.” Miguel sipped his beverage. “It’s good though, right?”

“Well, uh, yeah…” Looking down at his drink, Brandon tried to discern the different flavors he’d tasted. Although strong, it was very good and nicely balanced.

“Like I said, if you like coffee, you’ll like this.”

Brandon sipped from his glass again, then placed it on the table. He turned it a couple of times between his fingers and thumb. Miguel set his glass down as well, his expression becoming serious.

“Thank you for coming,” Miguel repeated what he’d said before. “I just want you to know that I appreciate your agreeing to talk with me.”

“You said that it’s important,” Brandon said, his gaze dropping to the perspiration on the outside of his drink for a moment before returning to the man across from him. “Something about Christina, I’m guessing?”

“Well, yes, but no…” Miguel sighed. “I think it has more to do with you than her.”

“Me?” At this, Brandon raised his eyebrows. Miguel may have looked into him, but could he possibly know enough to call a meeting that would be important?

“I’ll just get to it. There is something I’d like to ask of you. And it’s not for me…” Miguel gave his head a slight shake, as if searching for the words to follow. “It’s in no way for me, but I have to ask you to stop seeing her.”

“Christina…”

“Yes.” Across from him, Miguel nodded solemnly, his expression still serious. He pursed his lips, glancing away. “Without getting into it, it would just be best.”

Leaning back in the chair, Brandon crossed his arms, unsure of what he was hearing.

“You invited me here so that you could tell me to stop seeing Christina?” he asked, studying Miguel’s face.

“Ask you, yes.” Almost timidly, Miguel nodded again. He could see that his guest was uncomfortable.

“And this is somehow best for me?”

Taking a deep breath, Miguel took a sip of his drink.

“It is,” he said.

“May I ask why?”

“It’s complicated, Bandon. So much more complicated than you can even imagine.” Miguel no longer spoke with the playful confidence he seemed to exude earlier. He now sounded nervous and uncertain.

“You could enlighten me…”

“It’s really not that simple.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I might think that perhaps you have feelings for Christina and want me out of the way.” Brandon chuckled, touching the backs of his fingers to the cold glass in front of him.

In truth, he wasn’t ‘in the way’. While he and Christina had seen one another off and on and had connected in that they seemed to like one another and enjoy each other’s company, they were in no way exclusive. They’d never even broached the subject. There was really no subject to broach.

Looking up quickly, Miguel’s expression went from blank surprise to a concerned discomfort. He shook his head as if the very idea was foreign or even repulsive.

“I- I can assure you that is not the case,” he stammered, obviously flustered by the thought. “And even if it were possible, which I can assure is certainly not, Christina hates me.”

“Oh, I know.” Brandon remembered Christina’s reaction to his mention of Miguel the night he walked her home, as well as the few times he’d been mentioned after that night. He’d never pressed the issue as it was never really relevant to the conversations they were having. But each time Christina had mentioned him, Brandon could almost feel her resentment. “That’s why I said if I didn’t know better.”

In the back of his mind, he began to wonder just what fueled Christina’a obvious dislike of Miguel.

“I know that what I’m asking you may make no sense on the surface, but I promise you that I’m only looking out for you here.” Miguel’s eyes held an almost pleading look. He felt a small stab of guilt as he realized that while Brandon’s cessation of contact with Christina would in the long run actually be good for him, it was actually Ashlie’s well-being that Miguel was more concerned about.

“Look,” Brandon said slowly, his mind racing, “I don’t know the reason that the two of you have for disliking one another, but I’m sure it has nothing to do with me. I know that you and Ashlie are good friends, but I can’t see how my… friendship… with Christina has anything to do with whatever it is you and she may have against one another.”

“Again, Brandon, it’s complicated,” Miguel said, “but… Christina is not who you think she is…”

“What?”

“She’s not you’re girlfriend.”

“First, you don’t know what I think of her. Hell, I don’t even know what I think she is, other than a friend, Miguel. I met Christina in a bar in town and gave her a ride home. I’ve seen her a few times since then.” Brandon’s brows furrowed as he spoke. He wasn’t sure what Miguel was getting at but he didn’t like the idea of being told what he could or couldn’t do by a stranger, no matter how nice that stranger seemed. “And not to be rude, but that’s really not any of your business.”

“It shouldn’t be, but it is.” Miguel looked up from the spot on the table he’d been gazing at as they spoke.

“Look, no offense, but I don’t know what this is, and if I want to see someone I will.” Brandon pulled a couple of bills from his pocket as he stood up and placed them on the table next to his glass, turning to leave. “Christina is a friend and I’m not going to stop seeing her just because you, her sister, or anyone else for that matter, doesn’t approve.”

“Wait- what…?

Brandon stopped mid-turn.

“You didn’t need to have me meet you here,” he said curtly. “And it’s not that complicated. I’m not going to stop seeing Christina because you or Ashlie don’t like it.”

“Brandon, wait sec,” Miguel said, getting to his feet, “don’t go. I have to tell you some-”

“You really don’t. I don’t want to sound impolite. It’s not who I am. But it’s really not up to you or Ashlie who I associate with.” Brandon again turned to walk away. “Thanks for the drink.”