Table Fifty-Two is known better as Art Smith's restaurant. Yes, he is popularly referred as Oprah Winfrey's Chef and he was also on Top Chef Masters. He went pretty far but got beaten by I think, Rick Bayless, another Chicago Chef. Too bad because if I were the judge on Top Chef Masters, I would have chosen Art over Rick.
I felt better already knowing that some cheesy grits and bacon jalapeno cornbread would be coming shortly. I was thinking about the food all the way to the restaurant. Well, I do live and breathe food. It's who I am. It's everything I am. So, no - it's not weird that I look forward to lunch right after eating breakfast. It is not weird that imagining succulent corn bread made me happy. It is not weird that I at times get more satisfaction from eating than having sex. There is such thing as foodgasm. Believe me. Oh, it does exist. My first dinner at the Fat Duck of Heston Blumenthal in London was a pure foodgasm. I couldn't even tell you how crazy of a climax it was eating at Noma in Copenhagen. It was a climax as a climax should be. There was nothing underwhelming about the food. I remember when I put the brown cheese and sloe berry in my mouth, I really wanted to do what Meg Ryan did in "When Harry Met Sally."
Though to tell you the truth, though I love foodgasm, I really could use the regular big O. Preferably not self inflicted either and that a special type of magic wand is being utilized as the happy ending handler. I really needed to stop lusting over Nigel. I just couldn't help myself. He was the only person that was on my mind all day from the moment I woke up this morning. I really could tell him the cheesiest pick up line of "You must be tired, cuz you have been running through my mind all day." I tried to stop thinking about him for maybe five minutes after listening to Victoria chewing my ass about the possibility that my bad day was caused by perhaps that I did something stupid with Nigel. How absurd. If I did something stupid with Nigel, I had a hunch it would be something real good. I might feel bad the next day but at the time, I knew I'd be in heaven.
How come Vic could think I would have a sad long face because I did something bad with Nigel? That was really peculiar now that it occurred to me. Did she think Nigel would have had turn me down? Oh! How could she think that?! She probably really didn't think Nigel Gallagher would go for me. I would have to ask her that at dinner.
Mh...even thinking about the food in Europe did not change my craving for Table Fifty-Two. Xandra was from Dallas, Texas. Now, she loves to eat but she really loves good fried chicken dinner and some sweet tea. I love eating with Xandra. She can put it away and she's the least picky out of all my friends. Eating with Bobbie I would not be satiated. Eating with Vic...mh, it depends on the day. Vic hardly eats anything. Emma loves to eat and she's kind of moderate in the scale. She only likes snob food. I really can't take her eating at hole in the wall restaurants. Xandra on the other hand, she even likes buffet. Euww, I know, realizing how usually buffet is set up. Xandra didn't care though. When it comes to feeding, my friend Xandra is like the honey badger. She's hungry. She doesn't care. She doesn't give a shit.
Vic and Xandra were already enjoying some cocktails at our secluded table on the second floor. The restaurant was quite small but we got a nook to one side and it gave us a tiny bit of extra privacy. I loved the sage green decor. Sage green is one of my favorite colors.
"What took you so long?!" Vic said.
"Oh! Sorry. I drove today." I said. "Gotta walk to the parking garage, and drove here and parked the damn thing." I said.
"You drove?" Xandra asked.
"Yeah..well, I didn't wanna brave it on these heels."
"You need to quit complaining about the heels, Sabrina. Those heels look hot on you." Vic said as she was eyeing the shoes.
"I know." I smiled. "I love how they made my legs looked super long." I said.
"You could be a model, Sabrina." Xandra said. "You're super pretty when you applied yourself."
"Why, thanks." I said and rolled my eyes. I usually am not pretty in the eyes of these two fashionistas. I grabbed her glass and took a sip. "What was that?"
"Sweetheart." Xandra said.
"Ugh..like the candy?"
"Yeah...Valentine's Day is coming."
"Ugh....Good God." I said. "Don't even go there." I said.
"We could have used her for our shot today." Vic said. "That Giambattista dress!" Vic said.
"Oh!" Xandra gasped. "I couldn't find one model to look good in it." Xandra said.
"Give it to me." I said. "Really? I would look good in it?"
"Yeah. I think you would." Vic said
"Can I have it?" I asked. Vic laughed. "Maybe...but it won't look good with an apron."
"I'll rock it." I said and laughed. "So tired..." I said. "Oh...and before I left, Eric Phillips was looking for me. He snuck up behind me, out of nowhere. He scared the hell out of me."
"Whaaaat?"
"I just jumped and screamed, cuz he startled me." I laughed.
"Oh that guy." Vic smirked. "What did he want from you?"
"No idea. He said it could wait. So I said then it waits."
"Who's Eric Phillips?" Xandra asked.
"The hottie CFO of SGE" Vic said. "He's real easy on the eyes." Vic said as she was smiling and obviously had Eric in her mind. Eric Phillips is definitely the hottie CFO of Stearns Gallagher Enterprises.
"Have you slept with him, Vic?" I asked, curious. "From the look of you, I had a hunch you had. If he's not married. Is he married?"
"Eric? Oh, heavens no." Vic said.
"No what?" I asked.
"No, I have not slept with him, and No, he's not married. Besides, if I did, you would know."
"Oh good!" I said. "Cuz if he was married, that poor wife of his."
"Why poor wife of his? Not lucky wife of his?" Vic asked confused. "He's handsome and loaded."
"I just imagined him being totally high maintenance and I can't see him being satisfied with one woman." I said. Vic smirked. "Wow, who's judgmental now?"
I exhaled. "I know. I told that to myself just now." I said. "Well, he had every single girl at work giving him the gooch eye."
"Well, but that's not his fault he's hot."
"No...but I hate guys that know that they're hot." I said. "He had that aura about him."
"He's a nice guy." Vic said. "But, yeah...I agree. He can get any girl he wants. It'll be hard to feel secure being with that guy if you want to be the only woman in his heart."
"Won't be your problem, Vic." Xandra said and laughed. "What stops you from jumping his bone?" Vic gracefully turned her pretty head towards Xandra.
"Alexandra!" She said. "I happen to look for love too, you know."
"Oh." Xandra said sarcastically. "Could've fooled me."
"Me second." I said and laughed.
"I always had a good intention when I dated a guy hoping that it would become something meaningful."
"Yeah, except that good intention isn't the only thing that counts on this case." I said.
"Hahaha...yeah, you actually had to give it a chance and not just judge a guy based on how he performs in bed."
Vic shook her head. "I'm shocked!" She said. "I thought you two know me well. You're just my bffs for pete's sake."
"Of course we knew you well." I laughed. "You're just in denial that you use men solely for sex."
"Well, I'm not." She said. "That's what they're good for. Because when you gave them your heart, what do they do to you? Sabrina, you should know."
I pursed my lips, knowing it all to well.
"Yeah...look who's talking now?" Vic said. "Is it better that you make love out of love and get your heart broken royally; or, you participate on the cycle, except you're in control and you're the one who do the breaking heart part?"
"I don't know." I said as I mused. "It sure was nice when you made love with someone and you were utterly and totally in love with him." I said.
Vic was quiet too. Her eyes looked afar outside the window. I could almost see pain in those big sparkly eyes of hers. In fact, it was pure pain in Victoria's eyes.
She then said..."Yes, I really forgot how that felt." She looked down and ate a piece of biscuit. She ate a biscuit. That's carb.
"I don't think you did." I said. Vic turned to see me and smiled curtly.
"I did forget." She said."Anyway, Eric actually asked me a couple of times about you."
"About me? What did he want to know? My food budget? I had to eat in expensive restaurants at times." I said. "I have a job to do."
Vic laughed. "No, he never asked me about your budget."
"So what did he ask?" Xandra said.
"Uh, just little thing...like where's Sabrina today, or what's Sabrina making today." Vic said. "Little things but it made me wonder at times since he seems to pay attention to what you are up to."
"Huh, I would not know." I said.
"Well, Sab...unless you're interested in the guy, you are so oblivious to people around you, especially men." Vic said.
"That, I agree." Xandra said. "Like that guy over there." Xandra said pointing her chin towards a gentleman across the room from us eating dinner with another male, perhaps an associate. "He's been taking a glance at your several times now. Sure you didn't notice."
"What guy?" I asked.
"Case in point!" Vic said and laughed.
"Ah, of course he is looking at you or Xandra."
"Oh no, honey." Xandra said. "I know exactly when a guy is looking at me."
"Me too." Vic said. "I have sixth and seventh sense when it comes to that."
"He's looking at you." Xandra said. "You couldn't even tell. You need to be a lot more cognizant of these things, Sab. Make eye contact! I don't know how many times I told you that."
"Uh...... I'm not interested anyway." I said. "I am not in the mood to pick up or being picked up. What am I gonna do with it anyway?"
"It?"Vic laughed. "Are you talking about the man or the penis?"
"If it's the man, take him home and have fun with him. If it's the penis, I think you know what to do with it. At least, I sure hell hope so." Vic said.
"I just want Nigel." I said as I stared at my water glass. "Just him."
"Honey, if you got what you want, you would feel a lot worse in the morning than if you would just have a one night stand with that guy."
I exhaled quite hard. "For all we know that guy could be married too."
"Why don't you find out?" Vic said. "You don't have to sleep with him. But who knows! He might be a great guy."
I shook my head. "Nuh. Not tonight." I said.
"Stubborn ass girl." Vic said.
"Hey, back to Eric." Xandra tried to change the subject. "How come you didn't go for him, Vic?" Vic was thinking..
"Huh?" She said. "Eric? I don't know. No chemistry. Whenever he's around me, though I think he's more than tantalizing, but there's just no pull." Vic said. "Besides, I don't think he's attracted to me. Never got that vibe from him."
"And here's Sabrina painting a picture that he will hit anything that moves."
"It's just my take on him." I said. "He just seems to be a player."I said. "I just didn't care for him. He's the type that will take your heart in a heartbeat and stomp on it."
"Too bad then Vic." Xandra said. "Wish you could take his heart and stomp on it."
"He doesn't go for anyone prettier than him." Vic said.
I never said Victoria didn't have self esteem. She is beautiful and she knows it too. Just like Eric. They could have been the perfect couple. They could out-stage each other daily. She may talk big about breaking hearts, going on dates like the slut of the town; however, in reality, I think Victoria is lonely. She always tries hard to convince all of us that she doesn't need love. I saw that look on her eyes today when I talked about making love out of love. Her mouth could lie, but her eyes couldn't.
At times, we called ourselves "The Famous Five" from childhood mystery book series that Emma and Roberta used to read when they were young written by British Author, Enid Blyton. There's nothing cool about the name, and there was no special reason why we refer to ourselves as that. It just sort of happened. We're definitely not famous either. Well, we have names. Many people know of us. However, famous? Hardly. My mom also loved those books but she read those books in Indonesian. She read me some of them and I vaguely remembered it. However, in Indonesian, the five bunch was translated into two words that meant just five friends. I liked that better.
But out of the five friends, only Roberta and Emma are in a relationship. Xandra, Vic, and I are on the prowl. How I wish Roberta would be single too. Not that I wished she would become single again. However, I think it would be more fun to go out with her men hunting than with Vic and Xandra. Vic and Xandra are so confident with men. Vic is always out for blood. She is never afraid getting hurt because she will do the hurting part. Xandra is another story. She's one of the warmest friends I have; but she can turn into an ice queen so easily. Anyone crosses her line, she can just turn it off and you're cut. I am on the other hand, I'm not very confident when it comes to men. I always second guess myself. I always worry about making the right move or saying the right words. Plus, I am so afraid of getting hurt. Out of the bunch, I'm the only one who keeps getting heartache after heartache. All my friends seem to always help me nurse my wound.
It has been a long time since Vic and Xandra cried for help about the matter of the heart. Roberta is having a blast with Sam. She complained here and there, but nothing big. Emma always flaunts her happiness with John to a point you just want to tell her, "shut up, bitch."
When it comes to me - I am the one who is so scared getting hurt, but I always take chances. However, almost as sure as tax day on April 15th, I get my heart broken. They all say I am too nice and nice girl finish last. It has been proven true. However, I just couldn't turn myself into Victoria. I couldn't turn myself into ice cold like Xandra. I have never been able to draw a vivid boundaries with people I care about like Roberta. I let them crossed it and then the bullet hits.
I know Vic, Xandra, and Roberta were hard on me thus far about Nigel because they didn't want to see me get hurt again. They probably were all exasperated by my choice in men. However, to tell you the thruth, I really thought I went for the nice guys. I thought I surely did target the nice guy. Even, Nigel - yes, he's a married man. However, if you took that out of the equation, you would find a guy that's just kind, sweet, with smiley eyes, and that he would treat you like a queen.
"Snap out of it!" Vic said as she hit the table with her fist. It really snapped me back into reality.
"Foods are here!" She said and smiled.
Dinner was so marvelous. It was super great. The bacon jalapeno cornbread with honey butter was so tasty. I had one of Xandra's fried chickens and mac and cheese as well. My cornmeal crusted catfish was so yummy. It just hit the spot.
Vic kept on texting throughout the dinner. She was busy fiddling with her phone, texting a guy obviously, and then she cracked a big smile every time she got another text. We were nosy asking who. However, she was really secretive about it and just dismissed us. She said nobody we would know. Xandra wasn't too interested as she knows those guys are a dime a dozen when it comes to Victoria.
Some of you wanted a climax. Nice. I haven't had a climax in a very long time and I had to produce one? The climax to me tonight as well as for Victoria was the pecan pie. The sweet caramelized pecan nestled in the flaky pie crust, with whipped cream to one side, and vanilla bean ice cream. It was hot, and melting, and ever so creamy. When it entered your pie hole, it did its work like it should - creating all kinds of sweet pleasing sensations that made you wanting to moan.
"Mhhhhhhhhh........" Xandra closed her eyes as she let out a moan.
"Ohhhh...that's so goood." Vic said ever so softly, almost in wither "Oh..God."
"Oh yeah.....Oh yeah! I love it....oh..." I said trying to finish the last bite.
"Ahhhh." Vic said again. "Whewww! That's amazing." She shook her head trying to live up the pleasure she just experienced.
Did I say dinner was marvelous? It was! It gave a great ending to an awful day. Now, it's time for me to head south. Homebound.
