First Class Menu (11 page)

*****

Since there was nothing better to do on a Friday night,
Lindsey stayed at work. She’d spent the whole day at The Bourbon, so at five o’clock
she changed out of her dirty apron and jeans and into something a little nicer
and headed over to Aaron’s. She’d spend the evening in the dining room
observing service and chatting with the loyal customers.

There were thousands of restaurants in New York City and so
Lindsey considered it a great compliment when customers chose hers for a meal.
She had trained her staff to consider each guest as if they were the only ones
there; that they should feel as though their experience was more important to the
staff than any of the other customers. And it had paid off. Over the years they
had developed a loyal group of regulars, who in rain, shine, snow, or
hurricane, would show up a few times a month. The hostess was a keeper. She
knew all the regulars by name and made sure to let Lindsey know who was where
so she could stop and say hello. It was a treat to have the Executive Chef come
and welcome you.

That’s what she was doing now. Libby, the hostess, was
discreetly pointing out the regulars and writing their names on paper so
Lindsey could treat them like royalty. The orders were always bigger and the
tips always higher. The staff actually enjoyed having her there.

She was talking to the Norman family. They were real estate
brokers and were bringing their two adult daughters into the family business
now that they had both finished college. The oldest daughter was also engaged
to one of their top agents, Mr. Norman was telling her. She tried to
concentrate but the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Trying to make her
escape, she offered a complimentary bottle of champagne for the family to
celebrate the engagement. Lindsey called over their waiter and had him deal
with the champagne so she could go splash some water on her face. She was
flushed and not sure why.

As Lindsey navigated her way around some of the departing
guests, she stopped mid-step and looked into David’s dark eyes. He smiled. Her
heart stopped momentarily and she had to grab the back of a nearby chair to
steady herself. He caught her completely off guard.

“Hi,” he smiled as he stood. Mark stood up beside him.

“Hello,” Lindsey nodded. “Thank you for choosing Aaron’s
tonight.”

“I’m not allowed to go anywhere else,” Mark chuckled.

“I’m sorry?” Lindsey looked confused.

“Lindsey, this is my brother Mark. Mark, Lindsey.”

They shook hands and said hello.

“Mark and Aaron have been friends since high school,” David
explained.

“Oh, right. I think I’ve heard Aaron say that.”

“I love this place anyway. Friends or not,” Mark smiled.

“Thank you for the flowers. You didn’t have to do that,”
Lindsey told David.

“I know. I wanted to. I wanted to do
something
to say
thank you.”

Lindsey attempted a smile. “Well, enjoy your dinner. David.”
And she hurried back toward the kitchen doors.

“What’s the deal with you two?” Mark said as he returned to
his chair.

“Deal? No deal.”

“Bullshit!” Mark scoffed.

“There was so much electricity in the air I’m surprised this
place didn’t burst into flames.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Did you sleep with her?”

“NO!”

Mark looked at his brother. “You’ve got to be shitting me?”

“What? I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You. Are. A. Moron.”

“You know I can go to work and be abused. I don’t have to
sit here and take it from you,” David whined.

“David. There’s totally a thing between you. Are you blind?”

“You think?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Really?”

“Really. She’s into you.”

“Huh.”

*****

Lindsey hid in the back of the house for the rest of the
night. She hoped they’d just eat quickly and leave. Every now and then, she’d
slide up to the window in the door and see if they were still there.

Finally, she saw Mark stand and walk towards the front of
the restaurant. Lindsey breathed a sigh of relief and after a couple of minutes
headed back out into the dining room to schmooze with the late diners.

As she weaved her way through the tables, the hair on the
back of her neck once again stood at attention and Lindsey swung her head to
see David leaning back in his chair, his eyes following her. He lazily smiled
as their eyes locked.

Lindsey continued to the front of the dining room and
briefly spoke to Libby who shook her head. The regulars had all left. So she
turned and headed back to David. She couldn’t be obviously rude after all.

“I thought you’d left?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I was waiting for you?”

“Me?” she croaked.

“I’d like to take you to dinner tomorrow night.”

“You would?” she smiled.

“I would.”

“What about Lou?” A slight wrinkle appeared across her
forehead.

He frowned. “She’s in Los Angeles.”

“Oh.”

“Well?”

“I guess dinner would be fine.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Seven,” she repeated.

David stood and closed the gap between them. “Seven,” he
said and kissed her on the cheek. And then he walked between the guests to the
front door and was gone.

*****

The charcoal in his hand seemed to move without any effort
on his part. The lines and shadows just appeared on the paper as David sat in
his studio. Her face when she’d said those two words,
You would?
, had
captured him completely. “I’m an idiot,” he muttered to himself as his hand
continued at lightning speed, creating the image in front of him. “But no
longer.”

In no time at all he dropped the charcoal and wiped his
hands on the towel hanging on the side of his desk. She was on the paper; those
hazel eyes that haunted his dreams; the long hair that he longed to reach out
and touch; lips that he realized he wanted, no, needed to taste.

Over the past few years he’d cut himself off from women so
well that when
the
perfect woman for him stood right in front of him, he
didn’t see it. He’d been falling for her slowly over the past few months and it
had taken Mark’s keen eye to wake him up to his own feelings.

“Yeah, I’m an idiot.”

David stood and critiqued his work. He’d captured her
perfectly on paper. Now he had to capture the rest of her.

*****

Lindsey had had the same argument with herself most of the
day. ‘What about Lou?’ ‘Is this a good idea?’ ‘Should I call and cancel?’

But at five o’clock, after spending several hours at the
restaurants, she was home and showering – the lingering question of shaving her
legs filled her mind.

After blow drying her hair and tweezing her eyebrows, she
sat on the edge of her bed and lathered herself in lotion.
How long has it
been?
she asked herself.
How long since I was asked to dinner?
She
tried to remember back. It had been a long time.

“It’s not really a date though is it?” she muttered to
herself. “I mean, he has a girlfriend!”

The thought smothered her in a dark cloud, making it hard to
get excited about going out, even though it was with David.

“I’ll go and have a nice dinner and some good conversation,”
she told herself. “It’ll be fun. Yes. It’ll be fun. He’s a good friend.”

She put on a matching bra and panty set. Not because she
expected anyone but her to be seeing them, but because sometimes it was fun to
have an excuse to get dressed up. And if she felt confident underneath her
clothes, maybe that confidence would seep out to the rest of her.

With it being August, she opted for a strapless teal green
with tiny white polka dots calf length chiffon dress. She’d bought it a year
ago and still hadn’t worn it. This seemed as good a night as any to rip off the
plastic bag and cut off the price tag. She slipped silver gladiator sandals on
her feet and a bunch of silver bangles on her arm. She left her hair straight
and lined her eyes a little darker than usual, adding red lipstick to finish
off the look.

As she stood in the mirror critiquing the reflection staring
back at her, she wondered if she should perhaps hit a tanning salon to get a
bit of color. But she didn’t have the opportunity to consider her thought
because there was a knock at the door. She hurried through the living room and
opened the door to see David dressed in a black suit and pale mint green dress
shirt. He wasn’t wearing a tie; the buttons at his neck were open.

“Hi,” he smiled. “You look great.”

“Thanks.” She bit her lower lip. “I’m going for the
porcelain look.”

“You’re rockin’ it,” he grinned. “Ready to go?” He was still
in his sunglasses, obviously not expecting to be invited in.

“Yep,” she answered and stepped into the hallway, closing
and locking the door behind her.

“You like Italian, right?”

“Love Italian,” she replied.

“Great! Let’s go eat then.” He took her hand in his and
pulled her out into the humid New York air.

*****

Red and white checkered tablecloths were the first thing
Lindsey saw as they entered the nondescript restaurant. Sconces lined the dark
walls and Dean Martin’s smooth voice wafted through the air. The hostess seated
them in a booth and the small candle flickered in the glass hurricane on the
table. A white linen napkin held a knife and two forks and ice water and a
basket of crunchy breadsticks were quickly delivered to them by a young man in
black pants and white collared shirt.

“It’s hard to pick a restaurant when your date is a chef,”
David chuckled. “But my sister-in-law, Janie, assured me that this was a good
place to come.”

A date?
The word took Lindsey by surprise. “I love to
try new places,” she replied. “So…what’s Lou doing in Los Angeles?”

David grabbed a long breadstick from the basket and took a
crunchy bite. “She’s been hired to do a mural in a salon for some big shot hair
guy.”

“Wow! That sounds pretty cool.”

“Yeah it is, considering that just a few months ago she was
harassing strangers on the sidewalk trying to sell her art. It’s amazing what
she’s accomplished in such a short time. And she deserves every bit of it.
She’s exceptionally talented.”

Lindsey could see the…the pride in his eyes as he spoke.

“That’s great for her, and you.”

“Eh, not me. I just offered to show her work and people like
you immediately recognized her skill and talent.”

“People like me?”

“Well you bought one of her pieces…on the first night of the
opening. And you weren’t the only one. I can’t believe how quickly they sold.”

“Oh, right,” Lindsey nodded. It was irritating that she had
to pretend she owned a Lou original.

“Anyway, we didn’t come here to talk about Lou,” David
smiled. “How was work this week?”

They fell into easy conversation about the weeks’ highs and
lows. The waitress came and helped them decide what looked good.

“I came here once years ago for Matt and Janie’s rehearsal
dinner,” he said to the waitress. “You guys served some delicious stuff.”

She smiled and wrote down their orders and disappeared into
the back. Lindsey fidgeted with the fabric of her dress.

“I’ve missed you,” David said out of the blue.

Lindsey’s head whipped up to look at him.

“Saturdays just aren’t the same without our lessons. I
realized that all week long I looked forward to you coming over. My weekends
are boring now,” he chuckled.

“Well you can still cook on Saturdays, you know.”

“I know. And I do. It’s just not as fun.”

The waitress returned with their salads and topped of their
water glasses. The moment was gone.

*****

“Any dessert?” she asked at as she cleaned the dishes from
the table.

Lindsey shook her head. “None for me thanks. I’m stuffed! It
was
really
good,” she smiled.

“And coming from her that’s a
real
compliment,” David
said. “Just the check, thanks.”

Lindsey folded her napkin and placed it on the table. Dinner
had been delicious.

“There’s something about pasta that’s very comforting,” she
said. “I think that’s why everyone in Italy seems happy.”

“You’ve been to Italy?” David asked.

“A couple of times. It’s much easier for me to understand
the food if I’ve experienced it first hand; experienced the culture.”

David tilted his head and nodded. Lindsey continued.

“I stayed in this villa in the middle of a vineyard for a
week. It was awesome! I saw the process of making wine and cheese, real old
school style, the way they’d been doing it for generations. And I picked fresh
tomatoes and basil from the garden and cooked with it and I learned so much
about the culture and it really influenced that way I cooked after that.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun.”

“It was exactly what I needed. My divorce had just been
finalized and I’d only been working for Aaron for a little while but he
encouraged me to go to get my head, and my heart, in a good place and it
worked. I came back rested and focused and the drive was there to see just how
much I could accomplish.”

“Sounds like the perfect prescription,” David agreed.

The bill arrived in a small black leather folder. David
pulled a credit card from his wallet and placed it on the table.

“This was a lot of fun,” he smiled. “We should do it again.”

The waitress arrived before Lindsey had the opportunity to
respond, so she just excused herself and found the restroom.

She was confused…torn…feeling guilty. She’d had a wonderful
time. It was so easy to talk to him. They never had those awkward silences.
Everything just flowed naturally. And he’d said it was a date. And he spoke
about Lou with pride, but no other emotion. She stared at herself in the
mirror.
He wants to do this again.

She took a deep breath and casually strolled back to the
table. David was standing waiting for her. He placed his hand in the small of
her back and led her out onto the sidewalk. They began walking, David’s hand
still on her, making her very conscious of the tingles running up and down her
spine. He obviously had no idea what kind of effect his gentle touch was having
on her.

As he hailed the oncoming cab, he stepped away from her but
the tingling didn’t stop. He held the door as she slid into the backseat and he
followed in behind her and gave the driver her address. Traffic was unusually
light and it didn’t take them long at all before the cab pulled in front of her
building.

“Would you like to come up for coffee?” she asked with a
slight hesitation in her voice.

“I would! Thank you.”

*****

Lindsey’s apartment was small, except for the kitchen.

“I combined the old tiny kitchen and the dining room and
made it a large kitchen,” she explained as she started the coffee maker. “I can
sit and eat anywhere, but I needed my stove,” she chuckled.

David looked at the massive stainless steel appliance. It
had to be twice the size of the stove he had in his kitchen and it had six
burners and some kind of grill. “Impressive,” he nodded.

“Well, I like to cook,” she winked.

The aroma of coffee started to fill the air and the dark
drops of liquid began filling the pot. Lindsey took two mugs from a cupboard
and pulled a box of half and half from the door of the fridge.

“Sugar?” she asked.

David shook his head. “Cream’s good. May I use your
bathroom?”

“Of course! It’s just through the bedroom…that door right
there.” She pointed to a door off the living room and David followed her
directions.

The room was average size, painted a soft pink with a large
ceiling fan overhead. The bed took up a lot of the space and was covered in a
chocolate brown comforter. Standing in her bedroom felt a little like
trespassing, so he looked for the door to the bathroom. It was behind him. As
he turned to the left, he froze. He was staring at his own drawing.