Welcome Home / Send Off

After the dress fitting, Sugie, Max and I headed to 203 Lounge. The send off party didn’t start till 9 and it was 7:30 now, but we had no desire to wander the streets of NY in 96 degree weather. We hopped in a cab and headed out to the lounge. We walked in and there were quite a few people there relaxing and unwinding after what was undoubtedly a hectic week / Thursday. There were 4 tables reserved in what seemed to be the prime positioning in the club. I assumed these were the ones reserved for our party. I walked directly to them and Max and sug followed suit as we deflected the daggers being stared into our necks from the crowded parties that longed to spread out if it were not for the fact that these tables were reserved. Even the waitress checked us. She held up the “Reserved” sign (like we didn’t read them when we first got there) and said “These tables are reserved,” with the halfway apologetic / yeah, get up and move bitches smirk on her face. I spoke up, “We’re here for the party at 9:00 with Sean Robertson. “Oh.” she said curtly as she put the sign down and asked us if there was anything she could get for us. I asked for a menu and we sat back as she went to do her job. Max leaned over and commented, “It’s so good to know people.” Sure was.

About 10 minutes later, Sean emerged from the back room. Tall, well built, light-skinned brother wearing a suit and looking fly. He was rocking the beard part of the goatee and nothing more on his face in the way of hair on his head. He came over and hugged me generously and asked me if there was anything that I needed, and was I being taken care of. I nodded and introduced him to my two best friends in the world. He greeted them with just as much love. “What are you drinking tonight?” he asked. A true gentleman. I requested Grey Goose straight up no rocks. He said… alright then, take a seat and relax. I thought for a quick second it was rude that he didn’t ask my girlfriends what they wanted. Until the spread, being carried by 3 waiters / bus boys arrived at our table — 3 carafes of juice, a bucket of ice, 10 tumbler glasses, napkins and stirs…. and one collossal bottle of Grey Goose. All three of us quietly did a little dance in our own minds. I had my straight up but added ice to slow me down. Max had hers with cranberry and Sug with pineapple. We sat there like the queens of the club. Back together again; the three Musketeer… ettes. Sug had been living in Brazil for 6 months and we had not the opportunity to hang out since she came back. 2nd night in the city for her? This was the perfect opportunity. Around 9:00 more and more people showed up for the true purpose of the party – to fete my baby Annessa on her travels to Law School in Florida. Familiar and loved faces filled the room and everyone was treated to the same splendor at each table that was afforded to us when we got there.

As the spirits made their way through our systems, the music was harder and harder to deny. We writhed in our chairs at first but eventually stood up and started shakin it up. The DJ booth was right there and we flirted / laughed / joked with the dj. He was doing his job to the hilt. Eventually my Annessa arrived looking relaxed and tanned from her 6 day stint in Antigua. She received me with love and excitement. I was proud of her and sad at the same time. This was the 3rd farewell I’ve been too in under a month. There is a mass exodus away from NY and it pains me to see these friendships I worked hard to forge being stressed by the constraints of space. After much dancing and battling (between Queens and the Bronx in old school hip hop fashion)… Sean requested that the version of “Over the Rainbow” that they used in “50 First Dates” be played as he brought out champagne and a cake for his fiancee. He gave a toast to her and the room was filled with emotion: love, excitement, longing and best wishes. It was a little surreal and a piece of me wanted to scan the room for cameras. It felt like this was perfectly scripted out of some TV drama or the end of one of my favorite all black casted love movies. But that’s because it was perfect and genuine.

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