Dinner Date from Heaven

by Nikki
(Norfolk, VA)

That old saying about what absence makes the heart do is so true. My most lovingly memorable date was my first date in over a year, on the first cool night in a muggy Virginia August heat wave and at dinnertime when my only nourishment was a “continental breakfast” compliments of the budget hotel I was staying at. From the beginning, everything just kind of fell into place- earlier rains had both cleansed the dirty air and tempered the day’s heat, my subway train pulled into the station just as I stepped on the platform and it just got better as the evening progressed.

I worry so much about being rusty, that those muscles you use to charm a potential mate might be atrophied from neglect as I knocked on the door that I forgot how hungry I was. No one answered so I opened the door and stepped inside, not knowing what to expect and was pleasantly surprised at the amazing art tastefully placed everywhere in the modern living room.

Then my date appears and the smile on his face tells me that his day has been made as well as mine, we introduce ourselves as we size each other up and there is the mandatory chit-chat before proceeding to the next step. Compulsory small talk completed, we get down to business- deciding on where to dine.

He selects a place he knows well after asking me about my preferences and we are off. So, this happy couple walks close together, smiling and sneaking glances at each other as we walk under a baby-blue sky that is slowly turning pink and orange. A few minutes later, the happy couple (us) is escorted by an enthusiastically friendly maître d’hôtel to a lovely patio in a quiet garden with a handful of guest.


The conversation flows like a fine-tuned machine, pausing only enjoy the chef’s amazing creations and stare into each others eyes. I feel like I have met the most amazing person ever born and like fate has brought me the rightest place, at the rightest time if that is possible. Dessert, was just as wonderful as the previous four courses- the confections second only to perfection of my companion.

Looking back, I believe that my need for some romance and literal hunger had heightened my senses, so that I was keenly aware of each kindness he bestowed on me. Each one of those tokens of affection made me feel more and more like the most important person in the world to him and think I did the same for him, which is why it was the perfect date. Perhaps, if I had not been so starved for emotional and physical sustenance I might have seen things differently, but that will remain purely theoretical while my memories of this night will always be fond ones.

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