We sat down on the cushions he had brought and he began naming the different dishes he had brought for us. Salade Niçoise, Paella Méditerranéen, Riz a l’Italienne, Plat de côte de Boeuf Braisé, Penne a la Monegasque. There was one more dish that he kept covered, but I had no way of knowing what on earth he was hiding. The food all looked and smelled absolutely diving, but I seemed to gravitate towards the more vegetarian dishes. The Salade Niçoise had greens, bell peppers, green beans, potatoes, black olives, anchovies, egg, tomatoes, and flaked tuna, all of which was organic, which is always a nice touch when it comes to my food; the Riz a l’Italienne was risotto with portabella mushroom, baby spinach, cream, and cheese (probably my favorite dish); I had a small bit of the Penne a la Monegasque, penne pasta with tomatoes, basil, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil, and just to taste, I had a few bites of the Paella Méditerranéen: Shrimp, calamari, mussels, clams, sausage & vegetables over saffron rice.
Dinner was calm and quiet with not much talking, I wasn’t sure about him, but I knew I was horribly nervous. I couldn’t help but stare at him sometimes, looking into his sea green eyes and wonder what was going on behind him. Sometimes he caught me looking at him, studying his eyes, his cheeks, the way his hair fell over his left eyebrow when he was looking down. Once we had finished eating he grabbed the last covered dish and placed it right between us and grabbed two forks.
“Ok, so, how much of a sweet tooth do you have?” He asked.
“Oooh, that must mean you brought dessert!” I said, incredibly excited.
“I do, but we’re going to play a game.” He explained with a mischievous grin. “For every question you answer, you get to ask a question and take a bite of whichever dessert you choose, every question you ask must be different from the one I just asked you, every time you pass on a question, I get to ask another one and I get to take your bite of dessert.”
“You know, I think I like this game.” If it weren’t for the dessert, I wasn’t sure how much I would have enjoyed the game, but my sweet tooth always got the best of me.”
Kayde uncovered the dish sitting in front of me and I saw the most delicious looking desserts I had seen in quite awhile. Crème Brûlée, Chocolate Mousse, Strawberry Tarte, a small Brie and Fruit platter, Panna Cotta, and a bowl containing Floating Islands, one of my all time favorite desserts.
“Ok, let’s do this!” I said, with a new found level of craving for sugar.
“Looks like I made a good choice. Let’s start easy. What is your favorite color?”
“Pink in the spring and fall, green in the summer and winter.” I said quickly, and taking a bite of the Floating Islands. “What’s your favorite season?” I asked him.
“Autumn.” He answered, taking a bite of the Brie.
We continued on with each others favorites until we had eaten seventy five percent of the deserts. Finally, he asked the one question I hoped he wouldn’t. Not because I didn’t want him to know the answer, but because I didn’t want to tell him. “How did your mother die?”
“She was apparently sick her whole life. She had cancer. It went into remission a few weeks before she found out she was pregnant with me. A few weeks after my first birthday, she started getting sick a lot. She went to the doctor and it turned out her cancer had come back. They tried a ton of different things, but nothing worked, they gave her 3 months. The day after my second birthday party, she passed away. Everyone said she held on a few extra months to see one last birthday.” I had managed to keep myself from crying for almost all of it. But as the last words left my mouth, I felt tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. I turned my head west and looked towards the sunset, decided to let the tears take their own course. “I’m changing the rules. I get two bites for that one.” I told him.
“Fair enough.” He said “But first,” He trailed off as he reached his hand towards me and took hold of my chin. “You don’t have to look away if you need to cry. It’s natural, and expected. Don’t be ashamed of your tears.” He told me as he turned my head to face him.
I smiled at him and took a bit of the strawberry tarte and the last bite of the chocolate mousse. “Now it’s my turn, and after that one, don’t think you’re going to get off easy.” I warned him. “What are the plans that you have later tonight that were important enough to not pick me up at eight?” I asked, staring into his eyes, trying to find out whether or not he was being honest with me.
“Pass.” He said, looking surprised. “I’ll tell you, but not right now.”
“Fine”, I said, incredibly annoyed. “What do you like so much about me?” I asked “And this time you’re not allowed to pass.”
“You sure are one for changing the rules, aren’t you?” He asked, playfully. “But it’s ok. I’ll answer. I love your playfulness, I love the way you say what comes to mind without a second thought. I love how curious you can be. But I think the thing I like the most is that you seem to have the aura circling you, showing everyone around you how easy it is to love life.” He said, looking into my eyes. “It’s not only refreshing, it’s captivating. So much so that it’s almost intoxicating.” As I watched his eyes, I could tell that he was being completely honest. “Oh, and you’re a great kisser.” He told me as he took the last bite of the Brie.
“Now”, he said. “Part of the reason I wanted to come out here at five is because I wanted you to see this.” He took my hand and together we walked over to the nearby tree. He lifted me up and sat me on one of the low horizontal limbs and then climbed up next to me. As we sat together looking to the west, we watched the sunset. As it got darker, he pointed out on the horizon. “Watch the buildings.” He told me. As we watched, lights slowly began to come on, not randomly, but seemingly in a wave. It didn’t make any sense, but then I realized it must be because of the mountains in the distance. The closer the houses are to the mountains, the less sun they get because they’re in the mountain’s shadow.
I peeked at my watch and saw it was past eight o’clock. “Kayde, it’s after eight. You’re going to miss your appointment, aren’t you?” I asked, hoping he would blow it off.
“What appointment?” He asked.
“Didn’t you have an appointment at eight tonight?” I asked, reminding him.
“No, I never had an appointment at eight; I just wanted to be here with plenty of time to see the sunset and the lights.” He explained. “Did you really think that I had a time limit on our date?”
“I had hoped not, but keep in mind I didn’t know you that well.” I told him, hoping he wasn’t offended.
