***
Per Vertigo’s request, the hostess seated them upstairs. As Vertigo pulled out the chair for Angelique, she couldn’t help but notice that all the other patrons were downstairs. She was practically alone with the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Her heart beat quickened, and her underarms perspired. She was grateful that she’d been generous with her deodorant that morning when she got out of the shower.
“Thank you,” Angelique said to him as she placed a napkin on her lap. Despite his demeaning rap lyrics about women, Vertigo was a perfect gentleman one-on-one; at least, he was with her.
Vertigo grinned as he sat down across from Angelique and observed her etiquette. “I bet you one of them chicks who went to charm school.”
“Actually, I didn’t.”
“Well, maybe you were just born classy.”
But there wasn’t a damn thing classy about my conception, Angelique thought.
“I hope you don’t mind us being up here, away from the crowd. I can do without the paparazzi and shit.”
“I can’t even imagine what you go through.”
“It gets crazy, please believe it. This fame thing is something else; it can take over your whole life if you let it.”
A waiter approached them. “Hello, welcome to B. Smith’s. It’s such a pleasure to have you back again, sir.”
“No doubt. Y’all always treat me right up in here.”
“We try our best.” The waiter turned to Angelique. “And I’d like to extend a special welcome to you. Have you dined with us before?”
“Yes, I’ve been here before, but only for the happy hour,” Angelique explained. The truth was that despite the six-figure salary she’d made at QMI Global, after paying her share of the rent, student loans, credit cards and sending a little money to help Grandma every month, she hadn’t been in a position to splurge on theater district restaurants often. But soon, that was going to change. She was sure she’d probably faint when she saw that check from Mandingo Records. And even though Angelique prided herself on watching her pennies, she was sure she’d treat herself to all types of things from fancy meals to a new wardrobe.
“Well, you might want to try our crab cake special today served with sautéed spinach and garlic mashed potatoes.”
“I really had a taste for the blackened catfish. Could I have that with the roasted vegetables please?” she inquired.
The waiter nodded and said, “You made an excellent choice, ma’am.” He turned to Vertigo. “And how about you, sir? Would you like to try the special?”
“It sounds real good, but I can’t do garlic man. I gots to keep my grill minty fresh.”
The waiter smiled. “If you like, we can substitute garlic mash for another side.”
“That’s what’s up. Let me get the mac and cheese.”
“No problem, I’ll put your orders in right away.” The waiter said as he gathered up the menus and walked back downstairs.
Angelique sipped her ice water. “This was a good idea.”
“You sure you don’t wanna go back to the office and eat that PB&J?”
She smiled. “Have you always had that sense of humor?”
“Where I come from, it ain’t much to smile about. But ever since I was a kid, I used to joke around, try to make people laugh. They called me Lil Rock, you know, kinda like Chris Rock, but I know I ain’t got nothin’ on him.”
“So how did you go from being Li’l Rock to Vertigo?”
“I gave myself that name. I never paid much attention in school. I was a bad ass kid if you wanna know the truth. But anyway, I remember I was in class one day and the teacher was explaining something about vertigo. She said it’s when a person gets dizzy, the room starts spinning, you know, the person is all out of balance. And that’s exactly how my life was...out of balance. So the name stayed with me.
“Me and my boy Malik used to go to these freestyle shows. I’m talkin’ way back in the day… Cats would be standin’ on the corner, just rhymin’, flowin’. One day, Malik dared me to step in the circle, and all eyes were on me. I stuttered and tripped over my words; it was fuckin’ horrible. I got clowned on. And I’ll never forget, me and Malik was on the five comin’ back up to the Bronx, and I told him that I was never gonna do that shit again.
“But he looked at me and said, ‘Nigga, you was wack as hell, but so what. It was your first time. Everybody messes up the first time. Remember the first time you got some pussy? You didn’t last two minutes with Paula’s fine ass, but that didn’t stop you from fuckin’, right? So we comin’ back here next weekend, and we gonna keep on comin’ back till you got the goods to battle any MC.’ And that’s exactly what happened. Next thing, I was gettin’ offers to do shows. Then, I went on tour with Fat Joe, and my manager introduced me to Big Buck.”
“It sounds like your friend Malik really encouraged you to stick to your dreams. I think I remember reading about how you took a bullet for him and…”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of messed up things in my past.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sure the whole thing was very painful for you.”
“Pain is just a part of living. So enough about me and my fucked up life, I wanna know more about you.”
“Like what?”
“Like why are you and your little friend lyin’ to Big Buck? All the consulting in the world couldn’t change Mandingo Records into no family-friendly operation.”
“I disagree. With the right strategies–”
“Come on, you saw for yourself the kind of shit that goes down at the office.”
The waiter came upstairs, holding a tray of their entrees. He placed hot plates down in front of each of them. “I hope you enjoy. Please let me know if I can get you anything else. Perhaps, a bottle of wine?”
“No thank you, this is a business lunch,” Angelique said.
“Of course, well, I’ll be back to check on you momentarily,” the waiter said as he walked back downstairs.
Vertigo took a bite of one of the crab cakes and closed his eyes. “This here is fire!”
Angelique sampled some of her catfish. “This is good!”
“See, I told you. And you almost ended up puttin’ all this down for some PB&J.”
Angelique’s phone rang. She took it out of her purse and saw Mona’s name on the screen. She looked at Vertigo and said, “If you’ll excuse me, this won’t take but a minute …”
“Naw, I ain’t excusin’ you; that’s rude as hell. You ain’t seen me touch my phone the whole time we been here. What kind of businesswoman are you?”
“I’m sorry, but…”
Vertigo smiled, showing his gleaming white teeth. “I’m just messin’ with you girl. Go ahead.”
Angelique chuckled as she answered, “Hey.”
“I’m here at the office; where are you?”
“I’ll be back in a minute; I’m finishing up lunch.”
“I thought you packed a lunch?”
“I did, but I’m actually at B. Smith’s with Vertigo.”
“Well, I can’t blame you as fine as he is. Enjoy your date, little missy. I’ll see you when you guys get back, unless you end up back at his place…”
“It’s a business lunch Mona.”
“You betcha.”
“Mona…”
“Girl, get off the phone with me here, it’s rude to keep your date waiting.”
Before Angelique could reply, she realized that Mona hung up the phone.
“Is everything cool?” Vertigo asked.
“Yeah.”
“So, like I was sayin’ before, I know you and your friend are all about that paper. I respect your hustle; I really do, but I still think it’s wrong for you to gas up Big Buck’s head with all those crazy ideas.”
Angelique looked up from her plate and into his eyes. “Are you implying that we’re taking money from Mandingo Records under false pretenses?”
“Hell yeah. But like I said, I respect your hustle. I even admire it. Being a c
rook in a suit is better than being a kingpin any day of the week. Just ask them Wall Street fat cats.”
She cut her eyes at him. “Well, now that you’ve told me what you think of me, I think it’s time for me to return the favor. You’re nothing but a two-faced phony. On one hand, you put Caliber in his place for disrespecting me, and you pull out my chair like a gentleman, but on the other hand, you make songs that demean sistas. Newsflash, there’s no artistic value in ‘nigga this’ and ‘bitch that’, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself because all those young kids who listen to your music think it’s okay to talk like that. And you’re wrong for thinking that I’m only in this for the money. I took on this contract because I want to be a part of a positive change.” She stood up and grabbed her purse. “And for the record, I would’ve been much happier with my PB&J.”
As Angelique walked toward the steps, Vertigo didn’t dare try to stop her. When she stepped out onto 46th Street, light snowflakes began to fall. Across the street, she noticed a couple walking arm-in-arm, laughing. There was something romantic about the first snowfall. For a split second, in the cozy ambiance of B. Smith’s, Angelique thought that she had a connection with Vertigo. But their conversation had taken a very raw turn, and now it was a foregone conclusion that she’d be spending Christmas alone again this year.