Dinner and a Show

I had never heard of, let alone been to Tony’s before. It was a little out of the place joint with a nondescript exterior that really gave no indication there might be a restaurant inside.

Going up to door, my olfactory senses were rewarded with the delicious and tantalizing aroma of Italian food lingering in the air and making me salivate.

We were greeted at the door by a tall mature voluptuous woman wearing a revealing black dress, dark hair pinned back. I immediately thought of Monica Belluci, the actress who had played Persephone in the Matrix movies.

“Sadie!” exclaimed the buxom woman, rushing forward, arms outstretched. “You look positively radiant,” she announced, pulling the girl in for a hug and exchanging cheek kisses.

“Toni,” Sadie replied pleasantly, returning the affectionate embrace.

“Tony?” I commented.

Sadie rolled her eyes, “Antonia,” she supplied, disengaging from the other woman. “Toni this is my parole officer Lew,” she added, nodding toward me.

Toni laughed and fixed me with an amused look. She began speaking in what I think was Italian and Sadie responded in the same language then they both laughed and looked at me.

“What?” I inquired.

Sadie giggled, “She says you are very handsome,” she answered through a grin. Pretty sure that was a lie.

“Why didn’t she say it in English?” I asked. What did they say?

“Come,” invited Toni, extending a hand and directing us into the dimly lit interior of her place. I was kind of surprised how small it was inside, like no more than a handful of tables and a couple of exclusive booths. The décor was very Italian Renaissance, colored in subdued burgundies and gold, fancy paintings, and bas relief decorations on the walls.

The place was practically empty. There were two little honeys at one table, a blonde and dirtier blonde, and a brown haired woman seated alone in one of the booths.

“Kind of dead,” I mumbled. Hope the food is good. Lack of a crowd making me wary.

Toni showed us to a table with a lit candle and a reserved card on it and sat us there. Lifting the bottle of wine off the table, she presented the label to Sadie and poured a splash into the wine glass in front of the girl. “It’s had an hour and a half to aerate,” she informed.

“Hey now,” I commented, bringing a hand up. Miss Manse didn’t say anything about letting her daughter have a drinky poo.

“You’re trying to deny me a Leroy Musigny 2012?” Sadie asked, arching an eyebrow before taking a sip of the red.

I’m not a wine guy, but I was guessing by the tone of her voice the name of it was supposed to mean something.

Nodding to Toni, “It’s very good,” she said, setting her glass back on the table.

Toni filled Sadie’s glass halfway and moved to put some in the glass in front of me.

“No, no,” interrupted Sadie, “I think Lew is more of a, hmm, Budweiser kind of guy,” she said.

Good guess, Bud is my brand. Looking up at Toni, I smiled and nodded.

“Pagano,” Toni said, shaking her head and setting the wine bottle down.

The way she said it, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t something good. I wish I knew what the Italian word for bitch was.

Taking another sip from her glass, Sadie stared at me, the flicker of candle light making her eyes seem almost iridescent.

“Nice place,” I commented, uncomfortable under her scrutiny. Where was my Bud?

“I think it’s kind of romantic,” she said, putting the glass back down.

“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t what your mother had in mind when she made these arrangements,” I stated, the image of her outstanding breasts popping up in my head.

“What she doesn’t know won’t kill her,” she chuckled slyly, tracing a slender finger around the lip of the wine glass.

“No, it’ll kill me,” I replied. Toni arrived with my beer in a pint glass, setting down a coaster on the dark colored tablecloth before setting the glass atop it.

“We’ll start with bruschetta and each have the penne all’arrabbiata,” she ordered. Toni nodded and left.

No menu? What was penne all’arrabbiatta? I knew penne was pasta, but what was all’arrabbiata? “I could probably have ordered for myself,” I protested, watching Toni retreating before looking at Sadie.

“Relax, you’ll like it,” she assured, sipping on her wine.

Picking up my glass, the ice cold beer already causing condensation to appear on the outside, I took a long drink and set the glass back down making an ah noise. “So, is Sadie short for something?” I asked.

She smiled, “My full name doesn’t translate well in English,” she said, “but to answer your question, yes it is short for something. Llewelyn, that’s not a particularly common first name is it?” she inquired.

I hated when people asked about my name. My mother told me I was named after a Welsh prince from the 12th century, my father said I was named after an actor or character from the TV show Red Dwarf. The fact my two middle names are Charles Bartholomew lend credence to my father’s explanation. Smiling, I nodded, “Not your prototypical first name,” I answered, taking another drink of beer.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Toni by the table with the two blonde women, holding a platter with one of those little silver domes. Pulling the lid away, she extended the platter toward the two women.

The darker blonde reached onto the plate and pulled something small off, but in the dim light it was impossible for me to really tell what it was, though because it was still moving, I knew it was alive. Toni left and the girl with the thing in her hand moved it over the upturned face of her companion and dropped it kind of like a goldfish into the other girl’s waiting mouth. I could tell by her reaction whatever it was, it was moving around in her mouth as she leaned toward the darker blonde and the women shared a long passionate kiss. What the heck was that? Like a little octopus or something?

Sadie snapped her fingers, “Over here,” she said, drawing my attention away as the women separated, the lighter blonde lifting her chin and touching the front of her throat as she swallowed the thing in her mouth. A raw oyster? Didn’t matter. I looked back to Sadie just as Toni arrived with our aperitif.