Dinner for Two
Sitting across from you in an overstuffed chair. The furniture forces us in each other’s direction. Uncomfortable. Who are you? Where is my phone? Then, thankfully, a waiter. Someone else to give attention. To take care of us this evening? Us? Me and this other person in the overstuffed chair across from me. I don’t quite understand. What is a waiter? People don’t wait on us. We work together to wait on others. Mac and Cheese. Chicken. Spaghetti. Milk. More Milk. Clear the dishes. Load the dishwasher. Draw the bath. Read the stories. You don’t have a fever. Yes, you have to go to school tomorrow.
The waiter continues with a smile and a shuffling of cloth napkins and cutlery. I change my order. My cutlery changes. Never have I experienced such attention to detail with my desires. Our friendly waiter recommends a dish. I agree. A spoon appears. I turn to the person across from me and smile. I could get used to this.
Back to this other person. We have meals. Mostly with other people. Just the two of us? No. Not for some time. This is the person I text. The person I ask to pick up that last minute item. That person who is running late. But here they are sitting across from me. I melt just a little. Howdy Stranger, I think. They are not as bad as all that. Maybe it is the wine, but they are kinda cute. Another waiter delivers rolls using tongs. Am I the first human to touch this roll? Again the smile across the table. This is certainly not Mac and Cheese. This person is not Mac and Cheese.
Alone. The two of us. A friendly question is asked. A friendly comment is made. An intimate question is asked. An intimate answer is given. The word détente comes to mind. Is it me who is softening or the other party? Definitely them. For all I have done is placed an order and eaten of this incredible “amuse-bouche”. Which I translate, in 8th grade French, into “Happy Mouth”. Like a prophesy, we both break into laughter. Maybe it was the stress of being alone with this person. Maybe the feelings were mutual. But just then, we connected in something so silly that we couldn’t stop laughing. We couldn’t stop looking at each other. And when our lovely waiter returned, we had a secret. Just the two of us.
And I noticed something else. I noticed that our waiter had a knowing smile. Something magical had happened in these overstuffed chairs, in this atmosphere of care and attention, in this incredible food and wine. Two people remembered why they fell in love. The waiter looked at me as if to say “it happens all the time”.