Corrupted Chapter 6

by Omar Tyree

  Jill listened on and said, “O-kay. But if you ask me, you’re being just as manipulative as you accuse him of being. I mean, it sounds like you’re really trying to set him up with all if this.”

  “And,” Brittney countered. “Did I lie to her at all, just tell me that?”

  Jill shook it off. “No, you didn’t lie, you told her all the truth, but . . .”

  “But what? As long as I tell her the truth, then I feel good about what I’m doing.”

  “Well, I would hope so. But like I told you last night, if go too hard with all of this, it could all backfire. Then Vincent turns around and gives her everything that she asks him for, plus the advance money, and you’re screwed.”

  Brittney thought about it and said, “That’s not gonna happen. He’ll screw up with her somehow. At least, that’s what I’m counting on.”

  Jill paused and shrugged. “Okay,” she repeated.

  As Darlene walked away with Antonio, she was already thinking her own conclusions.

  “So, what do you think about all of that?” she asked Tony.

  Tony shrugged. “I mean, it sounds . . . you know, like she’s really leveling with us about how everything goes.”

  “Yeah, but why? I mean, why be so honest? And she talked to us like, forever.”

  Antonio laughed as they walked along the tall publishing booths that stretched along the BEA’s main floor.

  “You make it sound as if honesty is a bad thing. Would you rather she lie to us?”

  “I mean, at least it would make sense. Like, when Vincent said I was the next big thing last night . . . that was a lie. But it made sense. He wanted to impress me with it, and he did.”

  Tony laughed even harder. He said, “That’s crazy. What’s that song from Rihanna and Eminem, I Love The Way You Lie? That’s just crazy. You don’t get any points for honesty in this world anymore?”

  “No, I mean, I feel like she’s setting me up for something. And the way she keeps talking about not accepting big advance money, it makes me feel like she’s gonna offer five-thousand dollars or something really really small.”

  Tony grinned and said, “I’ll take five thousand dollars. But I mean, how much are you asking for?”

  Darlene paused. Did she want to talk real money with Antonio . . . ? She decided that she would. “My agent said that we should start at a hundred thousand and work our way up from there.”

  Antonio froze and repeated, “A hundred thousand dollars?” He had no idea how serious it was. But Darlene didn’t flinch.

  “Yeah. You don’t get into a bidding war unless you’re talking real money. I had that conversation with my agent this morning.”

  Tony nodded his head and thought before he responded. “Wow. Now I see what you’re saying.”

  “Yeah. So if she’s like, talking way below a hundred thousand, then I can’t do that. That’s just not good business sense. I would be selling myself way too cheaply. I mean, that’s like, when a guy asks you out on a date, and he says, ‘I don’t have a lot of money.’ So he asks you to meet him at McDonald’s or something really ridiculous. I’m not going for that. But if you tell a girl that in advance, then you’re obviously expecting some sort of sympathy, right? So that’s what I’m thinking she’s trying to do.”

  Tony heard that and drew a long face. He said, “Okay, Darlene, before we even go out tonight, I don’t really have a whole lot of money, so . . . would it be okay if we ate at SBarro’s?”

  Darlene stopped and broke up laughing. She playfully pushed him away and covered her face in embarrassment. She gushed, “Oh my God. Now you think I’m a diva.”

  Tony laughed it off. “Nah, I’m just fucking with you. Once you get to a certain age, you gotta save some money for a date. That’s just real life. No one gonna give you good food free.”

  “All you sure?” Darlene asked him, still cringing.

  Tony frowned at her and said, “Yeah, I’m sure. I even borrowed a hundred dollars each from my sisters this morning.”

  Darlene laughed again and shook her head. “Oh my God,” she repeated.

  Tony said, “But nah, I get what you’re saying. Brittney is trying to sell you cheaply. There’s no doubt about that. So you gotta watch out for her first offer.”

  After a few more hours of walking around and discussing books at the many publishing booths at the BEA, as well as sitting in on panel discussions inside the large conference rooms of the Jacob Javits Center, Darlene and Antonio were finally ready for their big New York city date in the Times Square area. Tony took her immediately to the bright lights and entertainment of 42nd Street and 7th Avenue.

  “Oh, this is it,” Darlene purred excitedly, while holding hands, her purse and a yellow canvas BEA bag. She marveled at how the 7th Avenue area had been closed off to car traffic, where chairs and tables were placed out in the middle of the street for the relaxation and enjoyment of the tourists. “Is it like this all day long?” she asked of the festive, people-friendly atmosphere.

  “Oh, not hardly. During the daytime it’s filled with your normal car traffic. They only shut the street off like this at nights. They do have those double deck bus tours all day though.”

  Tony held a BEA bag and his briefcase in his opposite hand.

  Darlene nodded. “Oh, okay.”

  With their bags of signed books from the BEA, and Tony’s briefcase, they looked like a couple meeting straight after work and book store shopping. In the middle of the scenery to the right, Darlene spotted a T.G.I. Fridays restaurant.

  “Is that the Fridays where I called you last night?” she asked Antonio.

  He smiled. “Yeah. That’s where I waiting for you for like, three hours.”

  Darlene squeezed his hand and pulled him into her. “Awww, I’m sorry. But that was yesterday. Now you’ve been with me all day long.”

  “And it feels good too,” he told her.

  “I’m glad.”

  They were close enough to kiss, but Antonio didn’t seize the moment.

  It may be too early for that, he told himself. I don’t want it to seem like I’m rushing anything. But I’m glad she’s seems so open toward me.

  He asked her, “So, where do you want to eat?” instead of kissing her.

  Darlene thought, Awww, he’s such a gentleman. I love this! So she shrugged and looked around. But she didn’t know where to start. There were so many places to choose from. They were in the middle of New York.

  “I don’t know. Where do you want to eat?” she asked Tony.

  He spun her around and pointed with his briefcase to a second-floor restaurant right off of 42nd Street.

  “Bubba Gump’s Shrimp?” she asked him, reading the huge sign above. Then she smiled. “They were able to get the rights for that? Forrest Gump was one of my favorite movies.”

  Tony frowned and said, “Of course they were able to get the rights for it. This is New York, it’s not Denver. This location alone probably cost them more than the name rights.”

  Darlene reevaluated the commercial real estate in the middle of Times Square, and the price tag was undeniable. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

  “You better believe it,” he told her. “But they sell more than shrimp. And if we get a table at the window, we can see everything that’s going on out here.”

  Darlene shrugged and agreed to it, “Okay, let’s do it.”

  Once they walked into the first floor of the seafood, burgers and beer restaurant, there was a long Friday night line in front of them, where everyone waited patiently to walk upstairs.

  “Wow, this looks like a thirty-minute wait, at least,” Darlene commented.

  “You’re gonna wait thirty minutes or more everywhere on a Friday night,” Tony reminded her.

  “I know, I’m just saying.” She gave him another look and was pleased with how handsome he was. She loved his light corduroy sports jacket and the smell of his cologne, lingering in her nose. She loved everything about their day together, discussing books,
writing and the publishing world. It was all perfect. She finally had a man who shared her interest in writing; he was also funny, and a real gentleman with three younger sisters.

  But is he gonna be afraid to kiss me all night? she wondered. Maybe I’ll have to kiss him first to let him know that’s it’s okay.

  “What?” Tony asked her, taking in her deep thoughts.

  “Oh, nothing, I’m just . . . looking at all the decorations on the walls,” she told him. There were oversized, colorful and illustrated beer labels, images and brands names all over the walls, surrounding the stairs that led up to the second floor.

  “Yeah, it’s a cool place to take pictures in. It’s so much atmosphere here,” Tony added.

  “Oh my God, that reminds me. We haven’t taken a picture together all day.”

  She immediately dropped her bags and pulled out her cell phone. She then turned to a couple waiting in line in front of them. They were a white couple in their thirties.

  “Excuse me, could you take our picture?” she asked, almost apologetically.

  “Oh, sure, it’s not a problem,” the woman answered. She was a red-head with an athletic body. She said, “And I like your outfit and pearls.”

  “Thank you,” Darlene gushed.

  Tony followed her lead and pulled out his own cell phone. “Ah, and could you can get mine too? I’m sorry.”

  The man took his phone. He was a dark brown head with a tall and robust football player’s body himself. “It’s all right. We understand.”

  Darlene and Antonio posed in a side-by-side buddy embrace near the colorful walls, where the thirty-something couple took their pictures. With the lighting in the room, Darlene’s white dress and bright yellow jacket, and the flash from both camera phones, their pictures came out fine with plenty of lighting.

  “Oh, those are good,” Darlene cheered. “Thank you.”

  “No problem. Enjoy. Is this your first time to New York?” the woman asked them both.

  “For me, but not for him,” Darlene answered.

  “Yeah, she’s from Denver, so I’m kind of being the surrogate tour guide for the night,” Tony joked.

  Again, Darlene pushed into him. “And you better show me all the right places, too.”

  Antonio smiled it off and held his tongue. “I got ya’.” He didn’t say what he really wanted to say.

  “Well, you guys enjoy yourselves,” the couple told them, moving on.

  “You too, and thanks again,” Darlene repeated.

  By the time they were upstairs and seated to order, Darlene looked at how many different drinks and beers they had to choose from, and she made up her mind. Okay, I’m gonna get drunk, and I’m gonna see how he handles me then. I’m really curious now, she mused.

  Antonio continued to be the perfect gentleman; he was patient with his order and everything. They even had a seat next to the window.

  “Wow, this is just . . . I’m in New York,” Darlene continued to marvel, while looking out the window at all of the bright lights and everything going on out in the streets of Times Square.

  Antonio looked across the table at her pearls and her glow and thought, She’s so beautiful! I don’t want to mess anything up. I want her to have a perfect night. I know it’s a perfect day for me already.

  When the waitress came to take their orders, Darlene told her, “Well, you know I can’t order anything that I have to crack open with this white dress on. I don’t want shrimp or crab leg juice squirting out all over me.”

  “Oh, definitely not,” the waitress agreed with her. She was a short, curvy blonde in an apron that was as colorful as the restaurant’s walls. She said, “I would order the fried shrimp or fish. I wouldn’t even order a burger with what you’re wearing. It’s a nice outfit by the way.”

  “Hey, what about me?” Antonio whined. “I thought I had a nice outfit on today.”

  The waitress looked over his corduroy jacket, white dress shirt and blue tie and nodded. “Yeah, you look nice too.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Well, can I start you guys off with drinks?”

  Darlene decided to make her big announcement. “I would like to try several of the best, sweet-tasting beers.”

  Antonio looked across the table and grinned. “You wanna do what?” He wanted to make sure he heard her right.

  “You heard me. I wanna sample their beers,” she insisted. “I mean, their offering all these different types, so I want to try a few of them. We’re in New York, right? I wanna do what the New Yorkers do.”

  The waitress looked on and smiled. “Okay.”

  By the end of their meal at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp, Darlene had halfway finished her fourth bottle of beer before Antonio stopped her.

  He reached across the table and gently pulled it away from her loose hand. “Okay, that’s enough. You’ve tried four different beers now.”

  “Yeah, but they have like, eighteen more of them,” she stated.

  Antonio hadn’t bothered to count them all, but he knew that she didn’t need another one. She was already glassy-eyed and loose with her words and movements.

  “I have to use the bathroom again,” she told him.

  “Are you gonna be able to make it?” He stood up with her to make sure.

  “Yeah, I can walk. I’m fine.” She took her small purse with her.

  Antonio sat back down and mumbled, “Okay.” But as soon as Darlene had left him, he told himself, “I can’t let her go back to the hotel like that.” So if she can’t walk it off in the next couple of hours, I’m gonna have to go back with her.

  Inside the bathroom, Darlene had her own ideas about the rest of their evening. And while using the stall, she peeled off her multicolored panties and stuffed them neatly into her small purse.

  I hope they don’t fall out when I go to use my cell phone, she thought with a mischievous grin. But now I’ll see how he acts.

  She walked back out to their table, gingerly in her heels, as Antonio squared away the bill with the waitress.

  Darlene saw that and asked him, “We’re leaving?”

  “Yeah, you need to walk it off with some fresh air,” he told her.

  She was in no condition to argue with him. “Okay.”

  As they walked out of the restaurant together, not only did Tony have to carry their bags from the BEA, along with his briefcase, he also had to stay close enough to Darlene’s body to hold her up in case she stumbled. But she seemed to be able to walk just fine, while holding on to him. It was her mouth that was getting her into trouble.

  “You’re so cute. I bet all of your sister’s girlfriends wanted you, especially the older ones, right?”

  Antonio listened to her and shook his head. “You’re drunk, man,” he teased her. “Just because those beers were sweet didn’t mean that they’re not strong. I told you that.”

  “So what? I’m grown,” she snapped. “I can taste a beer or anything else if I want to.”

  She gave Tony a wet-lip look that made his pants tighten.

  Shit, she’s sexy as hell! A smart woman acting flirty. Oh, man! he thought excitedly.