Ivan figured he had no choice. He had not joined the Urban League before, but now that he wanted them to help him, he would have to join them in some of the things that they wanted to accomplish. Business was business.

He nodded and mumbled through his food, “All right. I can do that.”

“Good. We’re glad to finally have you on board,” Thomas told him. “Now, what’s this new promotion business you were telling me about?” he asked before stuffing his mouth with ribs.

Ivan wiped his fingers and lips with a napkin before he spoke. “I want to start organizing events where we can pull together—you know, different people from San Diego’s black business community.”

Henry looked at him, confused. “That’s what we do in the Urban League. You’re trying to start your own Urban League now?”

Ivan smiled it off and was ready to explain his ideas again. “Well, it’s not just the business community, but the black people of San Diego in general. I wanna give them different places and events where they can come together and enjoy themselves for a few hours. And what I would do is use my website to promote the events and give spotlights to the movers and shakers of black San Diego. I can even set up an events calendar page to push the Urban League meetings.”

That gained Thomas’s full attention. He nodded and said, “That makes good sense. So basically, you wanna be a San Diego mixer man.”

“Whatever you wanna call it,” Ivan told him.

Thomas looked around their surroundings and said, “Well, you can start that with this place right here. They’re in the middle of a bunch of Spanish restaurants. Carol could use an event here. And I know her personally.”

Ivan nodded, thinking it over. He said, “I’ve always liked the Old Town area. It’s in the perfect spot, right off the highway and only minutes away from downtown.”

The restaurant had a nice size to it, with paintings of African-American historical figures on the walls. Since the furniture was lightweight and modern, Ivan figured they would have no problem rearranging the place for dancing if they needed to.

Thomas moved on the idea fast. “All right, well, let me introduce you to Carol, then.” He stood up from their table and waited for Ivan to follow him back toward the kitchen area. He hadn’t even finished with his food yet. He addressed one of the cooks, who was wearing a white apron and a hairnet.

“Hey, Jesse, let Carol know I got somebody out here to meet her. He wants to throw a networking party over here in a couple of weeks.”

Jesse heard that and started smiling from behind the tall counter that separated the customers from the kitchen. But Ivan didn’t even have a date yet.