by Glenn, Roy
“Well, Mr. DeVito,” Tyhedra started.
“No need to be so formal. Please, call me Ivan.”
“Okay, Ivan,” Tyhedra said and gave him that smile. “As you know, today’s data center is about more than offering a secure environment which minimizes the chances of a security breach. It is about getting the most from your fully integrated, multi-channel interaction.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Ivan said. He was partially giddy. It was hard for me to keep a straight face.
“You’re using the Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management Enterprise Edition as part of your Unified Computing System. From what I’ve seen thus far, you’re not utilizing the system to its full potential.”
“How so?”
“I’m sure you’re aware that the Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management Enterprise enables you to transparently integrate traditional inbound and outbound voice applications with Internet applications such as real-time chat, Web collaboration, and e-mail. This integration enables a single agent to support multiple interactions simultaneously, regardless of which communications channel the customer has chosen. Because each interaction is unique and may require individualized service, Cisco provides contact center solutions to manage customer interactions based on almost any contact attribute.”
“I see.”
“A Customer Interaction Network extends customer service capabilities across the entire organization, giving your business a more integrated and collaborative approach to customer satisfaction. With that said, what I’d like to do is make an appointment with you to do a complete review of your system. That way I can search for and identify areas that are in need improvement.”
All that sounded good, and as I expected, Ivan ate it all up, but I hoped neither of them thought that I was going to pay for Tyhedra to evaluate their system. Once they had set an appointment for her to come back, I got Tyhedra out of there.
As we walked away from Ivan’s office, Tyhedra quickly put my fears to rest. “Before you say it, don’t worry. I have no plans for sticking you with the bill for this. By the time I’m finished with Ivan, I’ll have him paying for what I do for you.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “That makes me feel a lot better. Now, what do you think of my side of the house?”
“From what I see, your operation is running pretty smooth. There are some procedural issues and some training opportunities that I’ve identified. To that end, you’ll have my written evaluation in a couple of days. I remember you mentioning that you wanted me to do some training on the reporting functions for one of your staff.”
“That would be Kim.”
“I thought as much. She’s sharp.”
“I think so,” I said as I walked her to her car.
“You got any plans for the rest of the afternoon?”
I smiled and looked at her the same way that Ivan was earlier. “What did you have in mind?”
“Easy, big boy. I’m on my way to see one of my clients and I wanted to know if you wanted to come along?”
“Sure. Just give a minute to let the ladies know that I’ll be gone for a while.”
“Good, because I already told them about you and that you’d probably be with me today when I came. They have some issues that I think you can help them with. If you can sell them, I’ll either work it out so you can invoice them or you can invoice me for your time. But either way, you stand to make a pretty good bit of money on them, and they pay.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll get you in the door. All you gotta do is sell it.”
“Then it’s a done deal,” I said, and went inside to let Kim and Tina know that I was gone for the day.
When we got to her client, I looked over their setup. This was something that CJ was better suited for than I was. I called CJ and told her what I was into and what I had in mind, and asked her if she would be available for a conference call. “If it means new business for us, I’ll make myself available.”
Once I finished my evaluation, Tyhedra took me to meet the boss. I went into my pitch and then I got CJ on the phone and she locked them down. When I walked out of that office, I had I firm commitment and promised to have a contract to them the next day.
“I’m impressed,” Tyhedra said as we drove away. “You and your partner work very well together. You feed off each other. I can feel that just from listening to the way the two of you worked to overcome his objections and close the deal.”
“Thank you.” I didn’t think Tyhedra needed to know that the reason we work so well together was that I was in love with CJ.
“I think you and I are going to be able to do big things together, Chris. I’m glad I met you.”
“Are you kidding? I’m glad I hung up the phone so I could talk to you. I think today was a pretty productive day for both of us.”
“Those are the only days I have.”
“Well, not all my days go like this. I think we should celebrate.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Allow me the honor of taking you out for a drink?”
“I’m hungry, so if you include dinner in your offer, you have a deal.”
“Well, let me ask you a question?”
“What’s that?”
“How hungry are you?”
“I haven’t had anything to eat today. So saying that I’m very hungry is an understatement.”
“I know just the place.”
We went to a place I love going to called Fogo de Chão on Piedmont Road. They operate under the service concept of espeto corrido, which translates from Portuguese as continuous service. So instead of ordering from a traditional menu, Fogo de Chão offers a prix-fixe system where guests can sample the entire menu, or just focus on their favorite items.
The menu features unlimited servings of fifteen different, delectable cuts of fire-roasted meats, a sumptuous buffet of gourmet salads and fresh-cut vegetables, and a variety of traditional and Brazilian side dishes.
“This is a very nice place, Chris.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“So how does this work?”
“They are going to bring us a two-sided disk to control the pace of their meal.”
“Okay,” Tyhedra said and looked at me curiously.
“The green side signals the Gaucho chefs to bring out skewers of meats to carve at the table. The red side indicates a stopping point. Turning back to green lets the chefs know to start offering the meats again.”
“I shouldn’t have come here with you.”
“Why?”
“Because we just met, and this is the kind of place where you come to make a pig of yourself. This is the place I’d go with my girlfriends, ’cause they already know what a pig I can be.”
I laughed as the Gaucho chef began bringing out skewers of sizzling fire-roasted meats, along with warm cheese bread, fried bananas, crispy hot polenta, and seasoned mashed potatoes. “I did ask how hungry you were.”
“And I am, so I am about to get mid-evil in here.”
For the next couple of hours, Tyhedra and I drank good wine—quite a bit actually—talked about our new business association, and sampled a variety of meats. I’ll say this for her, Tyhedra can put away some food. The longer we were there, the more I began to like her. She was interesting to talk to, very funny and my God, she was just so damn sexy.
I thought about what I said to Tavarus about my being able to have a professional relationship with a woman. So, here we are having a conversation about network infrastructure, routers, aggregators, repeaters, and other devices that control transmission paths, and I’m thinking about bending her over the table.
“You all right, Chris?” Tyhedra asked.
“Huh?”
“I said are you all right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about how I met you at exactly the right time.”
“You know I was thinking the exact same thing. I have a really good feeling abou
t you and I, Chris. I get the feeling that we are going to do great things for each other.” Tyhedra took a deep breath. “I’m very excited about the possibilities for us.”
After I paid the check, I asked Tyhedra if she wanted to go someplace else. “Have something a little stronger than the fine wine we’ve been drinking.”
“I’m going to take a rain check on that. I promised a friend that I’d meet them a little later this evening. So if you don’t mind giving me a ride back to my car.”
“No problem,” I told her, but it really was.
I drove her back to her car and we said a polite good night. “I know that we’ll be in touch soon,” Tyhedra said and got in her car. I watched her drive off and took out my cell as I got back in my car. I called CJ and told her how the rest of the day went, and then I called Ebony. “Be ready when I get there.”
Chapter Seventeen
Tavarus
For the past few weeks when I get home from work, all I’ve been doing is practicing on the trumpet. And if I have to say so myself, I’ve gotten pretty good, but I know I still need more practice.
I haven’t seen Tyhedra since the last time we went out, but we talk just about every day. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for me to call Kathy and make arrangements to go fuck her while Tyhedra was listening, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Even though we’re still talking, every time I bring up the idea of us getting together again, Tyhedra always gives me some reason why she can’t make it.
That changed the other night when she told me that she had talked to a friend of hers, who has a band. “I was telling him about you and he said that he is looking to add a trumpet player to his band.”
“Thank you, Tyhedra. I really appreciate that.”
“Hey, what are friends for? So you keep practicing and I’ll let you know when and where.”
Well, the when is tonight and ready or not, I’m gonna go for it.
When I got to the club, Tyhedra was waiting for me at the door. It had been a while since I last saw her. When she saw me coming toward her, she smiled. As I got closer, her beautiful smile seemed to fade away.
“Where is your horn?” Tyhedra asked as soon as I got close enough to hear her.
“It’s in the car.”
“Well go get it. They’re waiting to hear you, and they want to do it before it gets crowded.”
As I walked back to the car to get my horn, I kept trying to convince myself that I was ready for this. “You can do this,” I said out loud, and took my trumpet out of the passenger seat. I walked back slowly, and the closer I got the more I knew that I wasn’t ready for this. I was tired from staying up all night fucking Kathy and, on top of that, I knew I could use more practice. One thing was certain, I wasn’t about to back out now. I saw Tyhedra in the sexy black dress she was wearing and knew that I couldn’t. She had put herself out there for me and arranged this audition without even hearing me play. I couldn’t let her or myself down by not even trying.
Tyhedra and I went inside together, and I was glad that there wasn’t much of a crowd, in case I really sucked. “You nervous?” Tyhedra asked, and she immediately walked me to the stage.
“Very,” I told her, and wished that we had stopped at the bar for a shot of liquid courage.
“Well, don’t be, these guys are pretty cool.”
When we got to the stage, the drummer was seated behind his set, as was the pianist, and another man was plugging in his bass.
“Hi, guys,” Tyhedra said to everybody before she turned to the pianist. “Curtis, this is the trumpet player I was telling you about. This is Tavarus.”
“How you doing tonight,” Curtis said shook my hand.
“Thanks for letting me sit in,” I said, and threw up my hand to the other guys.
“No, it’s me who should be thanking you. If you’re as good as Tyhedra says you are, we’re glad to have you.”
I looked at Tyhedra. She just smiled that sexy ass smile. Curtis introduced me to the rest of the guys and then to the saxophone player when he got to the stage. He seemed less than excited about me being there.
I took out my horn and got ready to tune up. Tyhedra kissed me on the cheek. “Don’t worry about him,” she said. “He’s just mad because he was trying to get a friend of his in this spot. But when I told Curtis how good you were, he decided to give you a shot.”
“How do you know how good I am? You’ve never heard me play?”
“I have confidence in you. Good luck,” Tyhedra said and kissed me again, on the lips this time.
“So, Tavarus, let’s see what you got,” Curtis said. “Do you know any Miles Davis?”
“Sure.”
“What about ‘All Blues’?”
“I know it,” I said in a voice that showed my apprehension about playing it. “All Blues” was one of my favorites and I had played it countless times, but I wasn’t expecting him to go there. I thought I would sit in on a few cuts, but not solo.
“What?” Curtis asked.
“To be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting to solo.”
Curtis looked disappointed by my statement. “Tyhedra said it had been a minute since you played with anybody. But like I said, I need to hear what you got.”
The sax player stepped up behind me. “Time to show and prove,” he said and took his position.
Ready or not, here I come, I thought. “You love this song, you’ll be fine,” I told myself. Curtis and the drummer jumped right on. I got through the chorus, but then came the first of my many solos, and I got through that. I was feeling good about it, until I hit my first bad note. I recovered and played through. When my solo was over there was a smattering of applause from what little crowd there was, but I got the feeling that most of it was Tyhedra.
I stepped back and listened as the sax player went through his solo flawlessly. He was good, much better than most of the guys I’ve heard locally. The applause he got at the conclusion of solo let me know that my applause really was mostly Tyhedra. I decided to stop second-guessing myself, let go of my fear, and play my final solo. I closed my eyes and went for it.
Once the song was over, the crowd gave us a round of applause and once again, Tyhedra was the loudest. The bass player and the drummer patted me on the back as they left the stage, but the sax player just put down his horn and walked away. As I packed up my horn, Curtis came up behind me. “I’m gonna be completely honest with you.”
“Do that.”
“That wasn’t bad, but your pace was a little slow. I can tell it’s been a while since you played with anybody.”
“True. It has been a while,” I said, and knew what was coming next.
“Unfortunately, I need somebody that is ready to go right now.” He patted me on the back. “But don’t give up. It would probably do you some good to sit in some more until you really get your lip back.”
“I understand. Thanks for giving me a chance. And for the advice,” I said and shook his hand. “Good meeting you, Curtis.”
“Good meeting you, too, Tavarus. I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” Curtis said and walked away. He passed Tyhedra on his way to the bar and shook his head. It wiped the smile off her face.
“I thought you sounded great,” Tyhedra said when she got to the stage.
“Too bad Curtis didn’t hear what you did.” I closed my case and got ready to leave. “But he was right. I did hit some bad ones. He said it might help if I sat in with some guys, and he’s right.”
“So what now?” Tyhedra looped her arm in mine as we walked away from the stage.
“I’m gonna take his advice. Find some spots that have jam sessions.”
“As long as you’re not giving up.”
“No. Not even close to giving up,” I said as we passed the bar.
“Well, can I buy you a drink?”
“As much as I’d like to, I didn’t get much sleep last night. So I’m gonna call it a night, go home and get some rest.”
“You sure?”<
br />
“Yeah, but I’ll call you tomorrow.”
On the way home, I thought that maybe part of the problem with my pace was that I was tired from fucking Kathy all night. But the truth was that I simply wasn’t ready.
When I got home, I took a long, hot shower and tried to wind down. As soon as I turned off the lights and got comfortable, the phone rang.
It was Kathy. “I’m coming over.”
“Come on.”
Chapter Eighteen
Tyhedra
I took a seat at the bar and watched Tavarus walk out with his head hanging low. My heart went out to him, but he was right: he did hit a few bad notes, and sitting in with some other guys would probably do him some good. “What are you drinking?” the bartender asked.
“Kamikaze.”
When the bartender brought me my drink, I sat and listened to Curtis and them when they came back on for their second set. While I enjoyed their sound, I thought about my circumstances. I had been in Atlanta for a few months now and I had only killed two men. Which was pretty good for me. I have to be honest, part of that was because of what happened to me the last time out. That guy could have killed me, and would have if I didn’t kill him first.
That more than anything, has kept me on the sidelines. I keep flashing back to that night and the ass kicking I took at his hands. I trying to remember if there was anything about him that should have told me what he was capable of, but there wasn’t. He was no different from any other prey, until the door to that room closed and he punched me in the face.
It was fortunate for me that I work for myself. It gave me a chance to let my wounds heal. When I walked out of that room, my lip was busted and I had a black eye, not to mention my whole body hurt. The big test came when I had to meet Chris and his partner CJ for lunch to discuss the work he wanted me to do. I had on so much makeup that day. I don’t think that Chris noticed or cared for that matter, but CJ did. I could tell that she doesn’t like me. Even though she’s married, I think that she is in love with Chris; and doesn’t like me hanging around what she considers her man. I liked Chris, he was smart, good at what he does and he is very good looking.
