Pinot Noir

“Thank you for meeting me here tonight,” Martin says as Asha walks towards him, after exiting the limo he sent to pick her up.

“Did I have a choice?” Asha haughtily asks as she takes his proffered arm so that he could escort her into the restaurant.

“Of course, you had a choice, we always have a choice in life but oftentimes we fail to think about the consequences of those choices,” Martin says as the doorman holds the door open for them to walk through, admiring her beauty as she walks in ahead of him. She looked gorgeous in her curve-hugging, lace white cocktail dress, curly hair, gold heels, and simple jewelry, which perfectly accentuated her smooth chocolate brown skin. Looking at her now, he hated the fact that he had to harass her and bribe her with a design job, just to get her here tonight, but he was a desperate man, and desperate times called for desperate measures.

“So, why am I here?” Asha quietly asks as she looks around the beautifully decorated art deco lobby as they walk to the hostess station. “This place is beautiful.” she absently says.

“So, are you going to answer my question?” Asha asks as they wait behind the couple in front of them, to be seated.

Patting her hand, Martin leans over to whisper in her ear “I see patience still isn’t one of your virtue’s?” he says deeply breathing in her jasmine scent, it was truly going to take a miracle for him to retain his sanity tonight around her, but he had one mission and that was not one of seduction, he had a bigger prize in mind.

“My question has nothing to do with me being impatient, I simply want to know why you’ve asked me here tonight, sending a limo at that, after dropping off the face of the earth and not speaking to me for a year?” Asha tightly says, trying her hardest to keep her voice down and not cuss him clean out as he deserved. Removing her arm from his, she looks over at the gorgeous caramel skinned man who turned her world completely upside down a year ago and one she currently wished would just disappear again and let her go on with her life, without replaying that one night they spent together repeatedly in her head for the rest of her life. She was almost there; she didn’t think about him for a full 6 hours yesterday before he called asking her to meet him here tonight. Looking at the man standing there in his tuxedo and jet-black beard, she stiffly asks “Well?”

Shoot, he was lucky she was even there, if only she did not get fired for turning her boss in for being the lying, cheating, idea stealing rat that she was, how was Asha to know that her boss’s dad owned the design company? “Well good luck designing for your clients now you thief, what I gave you wasn’t even my best work.” She thought to herself, while Martin was also thinking of what to say in response.

Cringing at his poor choice of words, Martin silently abashed himself as he apologizes to Asha “I’m sorry Asha, you’re right, I have no right to ask for your patience, I think you have been more than patient over the last year and the fact that you’re not currently beating the shit out of me right now after I seduced you and never called you back, proves that.” He says looking around the lobby, with its elegantly dressed patrons and dimmed lights “I’m just asking for you to wait a little bit longer so that I can explain in private.” He says looking her in the eyes.

Rolling her eyes, she says “First of all, I seduced you, and secondly, who says I wanted you to call me? I just want to know why I’m here” When he gives her a pleading look, she sighs a simply “Ok.” taking his arm again, just as the Josephine Baker look-alike hostess greets them with a smile, takes their name, and passes their menus off to another hostess, a “Baby Esther” (the real “Betty Boop”), look-alike, who beckons for them to follow her.

“What kind of restaurant is this?” Asha asks as they walk down a beautifully decorated hallway and not into a dining area.

“It’s a member’s only restaurant, one of my boys from college owns it. Harlem Nights is his favorite movie, so everything is decorated with the Harlem Renaissance and 1920’s black cinema in mind. They have a speakeasy-themed dining room, a jazz club-themed dining room, and a casino-themed dining room or you can reserve one of the movie-themed private dining rooms, which is what I’ve done for tonight.” Martin explains as they walk down the long hallway towards the room, but when he suddenly thinks a private room might make her uncomfortable, which is the last thing he wanted to do, he asks “Is that ok with you? I mean we can eat in one of the dining rooms or outside on the covered patio.”

Taking her eyes off the beautifully decorated wallpaper, wondering if she can get a swatch of the fabric for her newest client, Asha again softly answers “No, it’s ok, the hallway is so beautiful, I can’t wait to see what the room is going to look like” she says, just as they stop at the last door, at the end of the corridor.

“I hope this room is to your liking Mr. GlenMorgan.” The hostess says as she turns the glass handle to the most exquisite mahogany door Asha had ever seen, exposing a sumptuously decorated white and gold themed room, complete with white bear skin rugs, roaring fireplace, gilded mirrors, sparkling crystal chandelier, and sheer curtains covering French doors that lead onto a private, torch-lit balcony, which was covered in her favorite flower, the white Hyacinth, and had a romantic table set for 2 to complete the awe-inducing look.

“Wow” was all Asha said as she walked into the room ahead of Martin, who was excusing the hostess, as he handed her a tip. “This is beautiful.” She says walking around the room and admiring its gilded beauty. A room like this could easily look gaudy but whoever designed this room, captured all the opulence of the gilded age while keeping the room simple yet elegant.

“Would you like to have a glass of champagne before we sit down to dinner?” Martin asks as he picks up the champagne bottle that was chilling on the mirrored console table.

Remembering how champagne got her into trouble with this man the last time they spent an evening together, Asha shakes her head in the negative “No thank you, champagne goes right to my head” she says touching her temple “but I will take a glass of Merlot, please.” She says as she walks around admiring the room's white velvet furniture.

Thinking she made a good decision, Martin puts the bottle back, because he too remembers the last time, they were together and his unfortunate reaction afterward and walks over to the mirrored wall to the right of the fireplace, which concealed a hidden bar, pushing the secret button he says “Dope, huh?” as he watches Asha face through the reflection, shine in amazement, as the wall revealed its secret.

“Super dope,” Asha says in awe as she sits down on one of the newly exposed bar stools and Martin walks behind the counter to check the wine fridge.

Bending down behind the counter, he takes a moment to calm his rapidly beating heart, after seeing the look of awe on Asha’s face, well, he had never seen anything so beautiful in his life and he swore to make it his life’s work to put that look on her face daily, he just had to convince her to be there daily. Taking a deep breath, he opens the wine fridge “Um, I'm sorry to say, but there’s no Merlot” he says standing up holding a bottle “there is a however a bottle of Pinot, is that cool or would you like to order a bottle of Merlot?” he asks searching for the wine list.

“No, the Pinot is fine.” She says as she spins the stool around to look out the French doors to the beautifully decorated balcony. “How did your friend do all this, I’ve been living in this city my whole life and never knew there was even a building big enough to hold an establishment this big, I mean we're in Jersey but I’m looking at Palm Trees.” She laughingly says turning back around to see him staring at her “What?” she asks absentmindedly fixing her hair.

Shaking his head, Martin answers “Um, nothing, I was just enjoying your reaction.” he says clearing his throat, taking a moment to “search” for the wine opener before he begins to talk again “Uh, yeah well, it’s fairly new and actually, this is a full city block of buildings. His father had owned a few, including the old movie theater, he bought the rest and connected them to form the restaurant on inside but kept the facades the same on the outside, hiding its true identity, kind of like the speakeasies of the ’20s. That’s probably why you never noticed before and as far as the palm tree, he had those shipped in and the ceiling above them is retractable glass, the balcony overlooks a courtyard, where they hold weddings and special events.” he says feeling like a babbling fool as he poured their wine.

“Interesting.” She says picking up her glass, taking a sip of the deepest glass of wine she has ever had, licking her lips she says "Mmmm, this is delicious, what’s the brand?”

Swallowing hard, focusing on the bottle instead of her lips, Martin answers “Ponzi 1999” remembering to order a case for the future.

“Ah, I’ll have to see if they have it on Bright Cellars.” Asha says as they fall into a few awkward moments of silence before Asha couldn't take it anymore and asks, “So are you going to tell me why you’ve asked me to meet you here, especially since you made it clear a year ago that you weren’t ready for a relationship so, what’s up?”

“Yeah right, that.” Martin says as he walks around the bar to sit on the barstool next to her, taking her hands in his, he begins his long explanation “You’re right I do owe you an explanation, a year ago I wasn’t ready for a relationship, I was being fully honest when I said that. There were just too many things going on in my life that I had to straighten out, ties I needed to cut, and obligations I needed to meet before I could be the man, I wanted to be for you. That night I met you, you completely changed my world, my whole outlook on the world. You were, are, the smartest, funniest, most beautiful woman I’ve ever met and well, I instantly fell in love, but I knew I wasn’t right for you. So, I spent the last year doing things I should have been doing all along. I wanted to come to you correct, showing you the man I am now, hoping I'm the man you would want to spend the rest of your life with. So, in a sense, I guess I asked you here to propose to you.”

Snatching her hands out of his Asha exclaims “WHAT! Propose, after one mind-blowing night? Are you insane, I don’t even know you, shoot I just learned your last name 2 minutes ago, I mean where have you been?”

With one simple word, Martin says “Jail.”

Laughing Asha repeats “Jail?”

“Yes, Jail” Martin repeats.

“Well, this should be good,” Asha says as she picks up her wine, ready to hear the story of her life.