* * *
Aaron looked up from his blackboard where he was trying to break down the properties of the broken heart plant. Yes, that was what he’d been calling it until he had the chemical formula. Then he could come up with a better name.
Gaia stood there, a few feet to his side.She looks beautiful.Her long white hair had been gathered up behind her head with a few tendrils falling down. And someone must have given her a fashion stylist, because she was wearing a clingy dress that showed a moderate amount of cleavage. The color complemented her eyes, sky blue.
He didn’t know where she was taking him, so he’d tried to dress for anything. Just some khakis and a white button-down shirt, nice and crisp. He had a tie with him in case that was something he would need for dinner. But it was too hot in Puerto Rico for a jacket, so he hadn’t even brought one. Hopefully, she wouldn’t want to go anywhere that fancy.
“You look stunning, Gaia. How are you tonight?”
“I’m happy, and you?”
Happy. That’s so much better than ‘fine’ or ‘well’.“Very happy. I have a new granddaughter, and I have a date with a beautiful woman.”
Gaia actually blushed. He didn’t think that was possible.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“Oh! I thought since you asked me on the date, you had a plan. I hadn’t made any reservations.”
“Oh dear. Neither did I. Do we need reservations to do anything?”
“No, there are many places we can go without them. Why don’t we figure out something we would like to do together. Do you enjoy the beach or the mountains or just walking down a country lane?”
Gaia smiled. “I like everything, as long as it’s left natural. If they pave my country lane, that kind of ruins it for me. How about if I take us to one of my favorite places?”
Aaron wondered what one of her favorite places would be, since she had her choice of the whole world. “Sure. I’m up for everything. As long as I’m dressed appropriately.”
She grinned. “I think you’ll be fine.”
He took her outstretched hand, and before he knew it, he’d stepped into someplace cool and foggy. Then a moment later, he was following her out of that and into a beautiful mountain valley with several other mountains all around it. He was chilly but not cold.
“This is beautiful. Where are we?”
“I think you people call it Switzerland. I just call it my beautiful, beautiful mountains. And I understand that dinner is something we should have on a date?”
“Yes, that would be great, but I don’t see a restaurant anywhere.”
Gaia snapped her fingers, and a table appeared, laden with every imaginable raw fruit, nuts, berries, along with other foods that were more or less man-made but not processed to the extreme. Some cheeses, some whole grain breads, and a bottle of red wine.
“This looks delicious,” he said. “Shall we?” He held out her chair. She went to sit in the other one. “Oh, would you like to sit there instead?” Aaron quickly moved behind it, pulling the chair out for her.
Gaia put her hands on her hips. “Well, make up your mind. Which one do you want? I’ll just pick the other one.”
Aaron chuckled. “I was holding the chair out for you, because that’s what a gentleman does. I was planning on pushing it in when you were seated.”
“Oh? I guess that’s very nice of you then. I’m not used to gentlemen.”
Aaron tipped his head. “Not used to gentlemen? That’s a shame. You should have met many of them in your long life.”
As soon as she was comfortably pushed up to the table, he took the other chair and noticed the bottle of wine next to him was already open. There were two glasses, so he assumed she wanted some as well. He took her glass, poured it half full, and put it in front of her. Then he poured himself a glass. He had to try to remember that she wasn’t used to dating, or etiquette for that matter. He wondered what else they would come upon that might be a tad embarrassing.
Gaia cleared her throat. “Thank you for the wine. And for agreeing to come out with me.”
“I’m delighted you asked.”
“You are? Why?”
Aaron grinned. “You have no idea what an honor it is for me to know you. Or how beautiful you are, do you? I hope we will be good friends if nothing else.”
