‘I’m so excited we get to eat here, thank you for doing this.’
‘My pleasure.’ He moved his hand to the small of her back as he escorted her inside.
They walked into the foyer and Xander gave his name.
‘I’ll show you to your table,’ the hostess said, grabbing two menus and walking off down some black marble stairs. They followed her.
They stepped down into the main restaurant and Immy looked around eagerly. It was set inside a giant cave cut into the side of the cliff, with one side of the cave open, overlooking the sea. The cave was lit with burning torches along the walls and candles in storm lanterns dotted around the restaurant. It was lovely. The hostess showed them to a table right against the glass balcony.
‘Your waiter tonight is Max, he’ll be with you in a moment.’
She walked off and Xander groaned. Immy laughed, knowing Max was his brother. At least that explained how they had got a table.
Immy looked out over the view, the waves lapping against the cliffs below them, the sun painting scarlet ribbons across the sea.
A few moments later Max arrived at their table. ‘Good evening, I’m Max, I’ll be your waiter for this evening,’ he said, with a big grin on his face.
‘We’d like to request a different waiter,’ Xander said.
‘Oh hell no, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. My brother on an actual date. I thought I’d be more likely to see pigs fly past than see this.’ He turned his attention to Immy. ‘I heard your news, congratulations.’ He bent his head and kissed her on the cheek.
Immy smiled. ‘Thank you.’
‘Hey, hands off my girl,’ Xander said. ‘Or there’ll be no tip for you.’
‘I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose that anyway for all my sarcastic comments and it will be totally worth it.’
Immy couldn’t help smiling; she really liked Max. He had jobs all over town so she always saw him everywhere.
‘So can I get you some drinks to start?’ Max said, taking out his notepad.
They gave him their drinks order and he wrote it down.
‘I’ll go and get those for you and I’ll be back in a moment to take your food order,’ Max said. He turned to go, then hissed loudly at Xander, ‘Hold her hand.’
Xander rolled his eyes as his brother walked away chuckling to himself. ‘Sorry, I thought tonight would be romantic. I hadn’t counted on my brother being the third wheel.’
‘It’s totally fine and you can hold my hand if you want to.’
He smiled and reached across the table to do just that.
She looked down at the menu and tried to concentrate on it as he stroked his thumb gently over the back of her hand, sending goosebumps all over her body.
The food all sounded delicious and she had a hard time choosing, but in the end she opted for the salmon and crab fried rice. Xander went for a pasta dish.
Max returned with their drinks and a big grin on hisface as he spied them holding hands. They placed their order and then Max slid a piece of paper onto the table in front of Xander.
‘Here,’ he muttered, more than loud enough for Immy to hear. ‘I printed this off. It’s ten steps for a perfect first date. Thought you might need it.’
Immy snorted.
‘I think I’m more than capable of going on a date,’ Xander said.
‘I don’t know, it’s your first one. A lot of people struggle, there’s no shame in that. The art of conversation is a tricky one,’ Max said, clearly enjoying every moment of this. ‘I printed off a few conversation starters as well.’
‘How about you go away and leave me to cock it up on my own.’
‘Well, you wouldn’t cock it up if you took my advice.’
