Michael smiled at her. He didn’t look mad. He looked... charmed by Julia. She pulled herself together in relief. “I’m so sorry. Can we start over?”
His smile spread, and Julia snuck a longer look. Chiseled features, high cheekbones, straight nose, a few errant eyebrow hairs. Good. Handsome, but not in that overly manscaped way.
“Sure. Our table’s over here.” He led the way, and Julia followed.
When they were both seated, Julia took a second to look around the restaurant. It was just too crowded, and servers were shimmying out of the way of patrons in the aisles, precariously holding trays filled with... raw meat. A wave hit Julia with the smell of the flesh, and she felt slightly nauseous. She grabbed the glass of water sitting on the table and drank the whole thing. She just needed to calm down. She could get through this.
“It’s nice to meet you, Julia.”
Oh, right, talking. Pleasantries. A date like regular people who are not-like-Julia go on.
“Nice to meet you too. This place is, um, very hip.”
Michael smiled. “Yeah, it’s pretty much the most popular restaurant right now. I know the owner. He goes to my parents’ church. So he set us up to with a table. They don’t usually take reservations.”
Julia noted that she’d not likely ever return here until the buzz died down. Oh, and until they stopped serving trays and trays of raw meat. She just didn’t like places that forced you to wait outside for hours for food. She kept this all to herself, of course. She was a reformed conversationalist.
“I apologize, again, for keeping you waiting. The traffic was rough. I think seven thirty might’ve been a good call after all.”
“Oh, I didn’t hit much traffic on the way. But I left a little earlier just in case.”
Julia nodded.Good for you, buddy. Must be nice to be so prepared.
Be nice, Julia, she rebuked herself for her inner snarkiness.
“Since you’re late, I took the liberty to order for us. I got us the chef’s special with the wagyu and kobe. It’s the best here. It will melt in your mouth.”
What was currently in her mouth was bile. If she didn’t say something now, politely, she would likely be vomiting on the table later, impolitely.
“Oh, um, would you mind if I looked at the menu? I’m a vegetarian. Which shouldn’t be a problem despite this being a barbecue restaurant. I know there are plenty of things for me to enjoy.”
Michael looked stricken. Poor guy. Yes, it was a faux pas. But he shouldn’t beat himself up over it. The date could still be saved.
Julia patted herself on the internal back at her positive outlook.
“You don’t eat meat? Is it a political thing? Are you a liberal, Green New Deal, Medicare-for-all type?”
Julia bit down on her cheeks. Hold it. Hold it. She pasted a fake smile on her face. She took a good look at Michael. Lawyer, from Orange County, smug smile all equaled likely Republican. This didn’t have to be a deal-breaker. Okay, so she could cross off marrying the guy. Julia tried not to feel disappointed that date number one was already going to be a bust when it came to love and longevity. But she could still salvage her parents’ good standing in the community by surviving the date and showing him a decent time.
“Now, now. My mother raised me to never talk politics or religion at the dinner table,” she said. At her family dinner table, they reserved the time to talk gossip about everyone in their town instead.
“Fair. Maybe not necessary for first-date conversation.”
“So you’re a lawyer? What kind of law?”
“I do mostly corporate contracts, some mergers and acquisitions,” he answered.
Julia nodded as she kinda sorta listened. “That sounds incredibly...” She couldn’t come up with an appropriate word. Her head screamedboring!and thensnoozerand thencrooked. She finally settled on “...necessary.”
“Oh, it is. Companies could not do work without these contracts reviewed and redlined and signed. I don’t think it would be overstating to say that it’s one of the most important steps to the American economy today.”
Well, it’s good that you didn’t want to overstate, Julia thought. She forced her eyes not to roll back in her head.
“Let’s order drinks while we wait for our food, and then I want to hear all about your little makeup company.” She didn’t feel it necessary to tell him that herlittle makeup companybrought in more money than he’d ever see. Though, she really, really wanted to.
Michael called over the waiter.
“Yes, sir. What can I get for you?”
