25. Talia
TALIA
ONE YEAR LATER
From the red brick building to its emerald-green French doors, the restaurant is quaint and charming. Planters hang outside of the building in front of every picture window. Step inside and be greeted by lovely hosts and hostesses who instantly equip you with a colorful 11x17 tabloid map of the restaurant. You start at Welcome Way and maneuver through the restaurant based on your table selection or your use of the clean, well-lit bathroom facilities.
Pastel-colored street signs are posted at every corner to guide you to your destination. Gas lamps hanging beside each table provide enough lighting to see your menu and food selection, but it is just dim enough to give that cozy ambiance you’re looking for. It’s perfect for date night or an evening with the girls. During an overcast day, the lamps are turned up to bring more light to your dining experience, and on sunny days, the large picture windows allow the sun to radiate through.
Attentive, well-trained servers are available and ready to serve your needs from the moment that you are seated. While all of this is lovely and impacts the dining experience, I was more focused on the menu selections.
I visited the restaurant with a group of five friends. We ordered a smorgasbord of food and sampled from one another’s plates. Y’all know that I’m a Georgia girl, and we don’t play about our Southern sweet tea. I’ve always said that my mommy makes the best Southern sweet tea. Well…shhh…y’all don’t tell her that I said this, but she’s got serious competition. Their sweet tea has enough sugar to put you into a diabetic coma while still preserving the balance of the black tea. It was refreshing as was their lemonade and strawberry lemonade, both of which were freshly squeezed.
Fried chicken and waffles, chicken wings, fried green tomatoes, biscuits and gravy, shrimp and grits, Brunswick stew, barbeque ribs, catfish, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, black-eyed peas, hoe cakes, fried okra, pimento cheese corn, green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, pecan pie, and peach cobbler. I bet you thought I was lying when I said a smorgasbord of foods. I wasn’t lying, y’all.
Yes, your girl sampled some of everything until I had to release the button on my pants. Honey, I pulled out a chair and propped my feet up on it to relax. Since their greeting is “Come in, relax, and stay for a while,” that’s exactly what we did.
I was ready to be picked up off the floor, y’all. The food was lip-smacking delicious, and I gave my compliments to Chef Adler. I literally asked for him to be brought out, and when he was, I gave him the chef’s kiss and then kissed him on his cheek.
Under the tutelage of Chef Caesar of Pearls & Swine in Atlanta, not just Chef Adler but the entire kitchen staff and team at River & 3 rd got it right this time. There was a complete overhaul of their practices and menu, and I’m here for it. Special kudos to the owners of River & 3 rd , Izael Ellis and Jaylen Simmons, for not giving up but taking the time to take the necessary steps to make their restaurant deserving of the James Beard Award nomination and…
Five silver chef spoons.
Chef’s Kiss,
T.
* * *
I stared into the audience, mesmerized by how far I had come in a little over a year and a half since I’d left Atlanta and returned home. I tuned back into what was happening around me and caught the tail end of a statement.
“…and they are passionate about what they do. For outstanding restaurateur, the nominees are…”
I stood next to comedian Adrian Rutherford, the emcee for tonight’s award show. I listened as she announced the nominees. I was proud to hear my baby’s name listed.
When Adrienne finished, I pulled the envelope that I held open. I looked out into the crowd and wiggled my eyebrows before I read the statement from the teleprompter.
“For two seconds, I’ll have a secret that the rest of you wish you knew.”
The audience laughed.
“And the winner for the outstanding restaurateur is…Izael Ellis and Jaylen Simmons!” I screeched into the microphone.
People clapped and cheered. I watched as Jaylen and Izael made their way to the front of the opera house.
As they made their way to the stage, I began to share the story about River & 3 rd and how it came to be. I shared how his aunt died in the accident and that she left the restaurant to Izael because of her love for him. He told me that she’d left her house and car to Rashad who had always admired them. Rashad still lived in her house. As I shared the story about the restaurant, I swear there wasn’t a dry eye in the opera house.
After I passed the award to Izael, Jaylen spoke a few brief words about his gratitude to the James Beard Foundation, the restaurant staff, the community, and its patrons. He thanked Izael for allowing him to become an investor in the restaurant and being part of seeing the dream come to fruition. Then he turned the mic over to Izael. He held the round medallion up so that everyone could see it, and the crowd cheered. Adrian and I stood between Jaylen and Izael.
“I am honored to be standing here before you today, accepting this award. It’s been a long time coming.”
There was a thunderous applause that lasted almost a minute before Izael was able to speak again.
“While Jaylen and I are both grateful for our staff, the James Beard Foundation, the patrons, and the community, I have a special thank you to share tonight. We thought we were doing everything right. We thought we set the bar and excelled in every area, but we kept falling short.
“We had this large community who loved us. We received accolades from a variety of sources, and we were nominated for the JBA. But we received repeat negative reviews from one particular source, T’s Tasty Temptations . And the more she left critical reviews, the more our customers complained.”
My hand shook as I covered my mouth to hide my giggle.
“No matter how hard we tried, we could not please T. But T pushed us to excel in ways that we never would have known that we could. She made us take a step back and look at what we were doing. T forced us to challenge ourselves, bring in Chef Caesar from Pearls & Swine in Atlanta to review our practices, and do a complete overhaul on the way we cooked, did business, and operated within the community. Tonight, we honor T with this award because if it were not for her pushing us to the level that she did, we would not be on this stage accepting this award.”
Izael turned and looked at me. “T, would you mind standing here beside me?”
I did as he asked, and he continued.
“If you don’t mind, would you please help me read from the teleprompter?” Izael asked as he pointed to the teleprompter.
I turned to face it and noticed that he stepped back just a little. I didn’t think too much about it, though, because I was too busy being nervous about what I was supposed to be reading. The producers had not prepared me for this.
“It is an honor to stand on this stage and share the spotlight with you tonight,” I read.
He placed his hand on me and whispered, “Look into that camera right there, baby.”
I did as he directed, but I was still confused as to what was going on. His hand remained on my shoulder as he continued to speak.
“T, I have known you almost all your life. You have been by my side, believing in me, trusting me, and honoring me in every possible way since our youth. You became my biggest opponent and champion at the same time, and you had no idea you were doing that. You have prayed for me, stayed with me, forgave me, and pushed me to new levels. I cannot continue doing life without you by my side, T, not when I know in my heart that God created me for you and you for me. I was made to love you, girl. I’m not good at giving speeches, so let me put it like this…read with me, baby.” He whispered the last part.
My hands were shaking, my belly was tight, and I was so nervous. I didn’t have a clue what was going on. But I read the next part.
“Talia RaChè Campbell, will you be my sous chef?”
I stared at the teleprompter, certain that I was reading something incorrectly.
“Huh?”
The audience cheered, and there were some loud gasps as well. I was still confused until I noticed one of the producers, Regan, pointing frantically behind me. When I turned around, I found Izael kneeling on the stage behind me. I shrieked when I saw him holding a small box. Adrian and the rest of the audience clapped wildly. Jaylen smiled like crazy, and when I looked back at Izael, I noticed he was sweating something awful.
“I think he’s waiting for an answer, honey,” Adrian stated sweetly.
My hands trembled as I pulled them to my mouth. Slowly, I nodded my head.
Jaylen shouted, “She said yes!”
The entire audience erupted with applause, and somehow, I became the sole image on the large screen onstage as Izael stood and slid the platinum solitaire diamond ring onto my finger and then lifted me into his arms.
I threw my arms around him, and although I could be extremely shy, I kissed my man with all my might. If no one had known that I belonged to him before and he belonged to me, now they knew.
* * *
We attended the walk-around reception at Union Station and then went for dessert and drinks with Jaylen and his wife, Renee, at Roanoke, not too far from the Lyric Opera of Chicago where the awards were held. We walked back to our hotel afterward and said goodnight to them.
“This is the most beautiful view that I’ve ever seen, Zae,” I murmured as we looked at the lake from our balcony at the Swissotel in Chicago.
“You’re the most beautiful view that I’ve ever seen,” he muttered as he kissed the side of my neck. “So damn beautiful. And with you wearing my ring, I don’t think you can get any more beautiful than you already are.”
“Except when I’m carrying your last name, which I will gladly do, Zae.”
His hands moved from my waist to caress my face. “How could a man like me get so blessed?”
“Same reason God chose to bless me with you. I have always loved you, Izael Amir Ellis.”
“And I have always loved you. Although that love has changed through the years, it has existed since I met you. The day you ran up to our moving truck and stuck out your hand.” He chuckled as he recalled that day. “You said, ‘My name is Talia RaChè Campbell, but my friends call me Chè. You can call me Chè. You gonna be my friend? I’m five, but I’ll be your friend so you don’t gotta be lonely.’”
I laughed with him. “Oh, God. Please don’t remind me what a corny little kid I used to be.”
“Yeah, but I instantly thought that corny little kid was the coolest one I ever met. I didn’t think that you could matter more to me until that day six years ago when I saw you for the first time in a long time. I thought to myself, That’s my future wife. That’s the one I want to see walking down the aisle to me. And then I kicked myself internally because I knew that was impossible. I knew that Tahj would whup my ass. I also knew it would be worth it to have you in my life. I never imagined you felt the same way. And every day since, I’ve fallen deeper in love with you. I will never stop falling for you, Talia. God made me solely to love you.”
Izael pushed the sleeves of my gown down my shoulders and bared my breasts to him. Lights twinkled below and all around us, but we were hidden in the darkness. We had left our lights in the room off, and the balcony lights were off.
“These hands were made to touch you and please you, to wipe away all your tears now and forever. These lips were made to kiss you and taste you,” Izael stated and lowered to his knees.
When my man disappeared underneath the skirt of my ball gown and licked along my flesh, I hissed loudly and gripped his head through the fabric of my dress. His fingers, tongue, and lips alternated, pleasing me until I cried out as I came explosively inside of his mouth.
Izael pulled back with his lips glistening and his eyes sparkling with love for me. He unzipped his pants and pulled out his arousal before he took a seat on one of the balcony chairs. He helped me move the skirt of my gown around so that when I straddled him, I was able to slide down his hard erection.
“And this dick? This dick was made to penetrate you, to please you, to make your fantasies come true, and to fill your belly with my seed, baby,” he stated as he pulsed inside of me.
I slid up and down and rode Izael hard. His hands gripped my ass, and my fingers squeezed his shoulders. He lowered his head and used his teeth and lips to pull my nipple into his mouth.
The feeling of his tongue and lips on my nipple almost made me cum immediately, but I held on, holding out for the ride. My hips gyrated around him and called him to drive deeper into my folds, and when the connection was secure, I remained in place and worked him over.
He sprinkled kisses between my breasts and showered my face with them before he moved his hands, grabbed my face, and kissed me so passionately. As I came, I did so, moaning inside of his mouth.
“That’s my girl. Give it all to me. Don’t stop, baby,” Izael coaxed after he pulled back from the kiss.
My head dropped back, and I came again within seconds of the first time. Izael lifted me off him and turned me around to face the Chicago River below.
“I want you to keep looking at all that beauty below while I fill you with my seed. I want you to remember this moment, the day that you learn you’re pregnant.”
“Okay.” I whimpered as he lifted my leg and hooked it over his arm. He dipped down while I held the folds of my skirt, and he slid inside of me.
Izael pumped hard and furious as if he had so many pent-up emotions inside of him. I welcomed every thrust and every gyration that he gave me. My body trembled as I ached to give him everything he sought and more.
Izael released my leg and pushed me forward until my chest rested on the balcony. He spread my legs, gripped my hips, and dug up inside of me.
“Oh shit, Zae!” I hollered as he snatched my hair back.
He slowed his gyrations as he leaned forward and kissed the side of my neck. He nibbled there, and I groaned as I came a third time.
His hands slid down my shoulders and cupped my breasts as he thrust up inside of me until he exploded and shouted his release in the night air. When we finished, he pulled me back up to standing. His hands rested on my belly.
“You think I accomplished my goal?”
“If you did, I guess we’ll be having a quick wedding.”
“We can do whatever it is your heart desires, baby. Your time, your way, my dime.”
I giggled.
“I think I like the sound of that.”