“Do you see what just happened? That wouldn't have happened if you took this seriously. She’s a professional and we were consulting her. You insulted her and wasted her time.”
I scoffed. “Her job is coaching people to match their socks with their ties. What was I supposed to do? Sit there and take her calling me a slob some more?”
“If it hurt your feelings, that means you know it’s true. Would it have killed you to respect the fact that she’s good at her job no matter whether you think it’s a real job or not? Maybe listen to her explain the things you don’t believe when I say them to you, and actually put them in practice?”
“Why are you so mad about this?”
“You really don't give a fuck, do you? You're so hard-headed, you don't even want to give it a shot. You don't even want to try to hear her out. Hear what she has to say.” The server appeared and placed Toby’s whiskey in front of him. He picked it up and cleared the tumbler in one big swallow.
“Jesus Christ man, it's not even three p.m.” He stood up.
“Yeah, but you are intent on sinking this business so what do I have to lose?” He pulled some bills out of his wallet and tossed them on the table, then started walking out. What the hell?
I knew he was upset but wasn't he taking this too far? He was straight up having a temper tantrum just because I didn't want to play dress-up with the British fashion girl. Part of me was offended that he didn't think I could put on a suit when the time called for it. I could, I just didn't see the point. None of this was serious enough to call in a so-called professional.
I followed him outside. Out on the sidewalk, he hailed a cab. We had walked here, so it didn't look like he was going back to the office, but I asked him anyway.
“Do you still have work to do?” he asked me. He was short. He didn't want to chat. Okay. Okay. Clearly, I was going to be paying for this failed lunch meeting for a long time. I didn't understand where the annoyance came from, but there was no talking to him right now. I had no reason to go back to the office. I could have just gone home but I couldn't let things lie the way they were.
At times like this, I remembered what people said about going into business with your family members or friends and how you shouldn't do it. Toby was more than that, I was closer to him than anybody in my immediate family. All that said, the people you loved the most could also disappoint you the most. That was the risk you took.
The cab pulled up and he climbed in. I jumped in from the other side.
“Where are you going?” I asked him. He ignored me, addressing the cab driver.
“Take me to Lucky Star Gentlemen's Club.”
?
??What? Right now?” I asked.
“Yeah right now,” he barked, leaning back in the seat. A fucking strip club? It was the middle of the day. Most offices hadn’t even let out of work yet. What was it that was so unseemly about going to a strip club before nightfall? Did he really need booze and tits after that?
“Quit it, Toby.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you doing all this shit to get my attention? Because it worked, you have it now. Let's just go back to the office. You're taking this too far. You can't act like this because I refuse to wear a stupid suit and tie.”
“It's not the suit and tie. The fact that you don't understand that by now is the problem.”
“You need to relax, it's not that serious. We’ve had this much success already, obviously if there is a problem it isn’t with my outfits.”
“It’s your whole demeanor. You can’t talk to people like a drill sergeant, not when you want them to give you their money. You need to be nice to them, handle them professionally. You need to act the part. Part of acting the part is looking the part.”
“Back to fucking fashion. Is there something here that you’re not telling me, Toby?”
“You know if we didn’t work together…”
“If we didn’t work together what?” I asked.
Toby sighed. We talked about this often, but it never got this heated. He wasn’t just upset. I was sure that if we weren’t in the back of a cab right now, he’d clock me right in the jaw.
“You’re good at what you do. We wouldn’t have gotten this far if you weren’t, but we aren’t the only fighters in the ring. When someone comes along with better work, and better client relations on top of that, what is supposed to stop our clients from leaving and going to them?”
“Clients that have worked with us wouldn’t jump ship because of how I dress.”
“Maybe not, but they would if we haven’t built strong enough relationships with them. Just stop fighting me on this, okay? I don’t want us to actually lose all our clients for you to finally understand what I’m talking about.”