This was not a real date, he reminded himself. Don’t get it twisted. Julia had always little-brother-zoned Tae. And he made it a general rule in life not to date anyone out of his league. He didn’t need those insecurities floating around in his head. Maybe that was one of the reasons he was good at this, why women liked him. He only dated women he felt comfortable with, which in turn, made them feel comfortable with him.
This mutual comfort was something he was going to help Julia get used to for her dates.
“Jules, over here.” Tae waved a hand till Julia noticed him. She smiled and walked over.
“You found it okay?”
“Yeah. I hadn’t realized the shabu shabu place went out of business. Is this place good?”
“It’s one of my favorite local spots.”
“Awesome, can’t wait to try it.” Julia pulled the napkin off the table and put it in her lap. She kept her head down, looking at her hands. “So how do we do this?”
Tae smiled even though he knew Julia couldn’t see.
“Hi, I’m Tae.” He reached out a hand. Maybe it was a little cheesy, forcing her to start with an intro, pretending they didn’t know each other. But Tae got the sense Julia took herself too seriously sometimes. Cheesy might be just the trick.
She lifted her head and looked at his outstretched hand. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Oh, the girl likes a little role-playing. Well, okay, then.
“Hi, Tae. I’m Julia.” She shook his hand, and he held it for just a second longer than he needed to.
Tae wondered if Julia had ever engaged in some role-playing behind closed doors. He could imagine her dressed in her CEO best, ordering the local handyman to strip down while she watched.
He quickly cleared his throat and readjusted himself in his chair.
“So what’s good here?” Julia looked away, picked up the menu and started to review. She crinkled her nose and frowned.
Time for Tae to take over. “Considering Michael Lee chose a barbecue restaurant, I looked online to see if their menu had other things you could eat. Now, I recall you don’t particularly like vegetables in general, and unless things have changed, you used to typically avoid spicy stuff. But I thought I’d pick some dishes for you to try here and see if it might be good?”
Julia nodded, but she looked unconvinced.
“Trust me?” Tae asked.
Julia looked up and him, lips puckered, eyes narrowed, taking the time to determine whether she did, in fact, trust Tae or not when it came to food.
“Sure,” she said. “I’ll taste and see.”
Tae released a silent sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure how this would all go, but it seemed Julia was in for the ride. That made all his plans a lot easier. He reached over and picked up the gift bag and put it on the table in front of Julia.
“What’s this?” she asked. She reached into the bag and pulled out a small notebook, examining the cover. Her smile spread as she saw the title. “Tae’s Guide to Dating,” she read aloud.
“I figured you might want to take some notes during our practice sessions. I remember how meticulous you are about research and being prepared.”
“This cover is amazing. How did you do this?” She ran her fingers over the cherry blossoms he’d carved in a thin piece ofbirch plywood. She looked up at him in awe. “I’ve never seen a notebook with a wooden cover.”
Julia’s reaction to the simple woodwork had him floating on cloud nine. “Yeah, just something I made.”
“It’s really gorgeous. You’re really talented. You were always making things and fixing things with your hands. I’m actually surprised you didn’t end up being a carpenter or something like that by trade. No wonder you’ve been so helpful with everyone with their home renovations. My facilities team also says you’ve been instrumental in getting our office-reno project off the ground.”
Tae needed to change the topic before Julia noticed his blush. He cleared his throat to regain his composure.
“It’s nothing. I just answered some basic questions for them. Anyways, write down the things I order, and mark the ones you like so you can remember the dishes.”
Julia nodded and opened up the notebook. She reached into her purse and pulled out two pens, a black one and a red one.
“Still taking notes with multicolored pens, I see.”
“It’s my method. It’s worked for me since high school, and I stick with the things that work.”
