Page 61 of Four Weddings to Fall in Love
Her tongue peeks out of her mouth, and she licks her bottom lip.
It’s hard to remain completely in control of myself around Kim.
I swallow.“I find most sitcoms painful to watch.They don’t help me relax; they just annoy me.”
She chuckles.“The characters do too many stupid things?”
“Yes, and in some shows, there’s too much embarrassment.I spend most of the time cringing.It’s not how I want to spend my free time.”
“Are there any you like?”
I think for a moment.“Derry Girls.”
“Derry Girls?”she says incredulously.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, but if you get annoyed by stupid behavior—well, surely you must find the behavior of the teenage girls stupid at times.”
“For some reason, it’s tolerable on that show.Perhaps because I relate to Clare.”
“The short, anxious lesbian?”
“She’s the reasonable one,” I say.
“And you see yourself as the voice of reason?”
“Yes.Plus, I relate to the anxious part—not so much the short lesbian part—though I don’t wear my anxiety on my sleeve like she does.”At least, I try my best not to.
Kim smiles and emits an odd laugh.
“Is something wrong?”I ask.
“You just surprised me, that’s all.Not in a bad way.You could play one of the high school students on that show.Some of the actresses are in their thirties, I think.”
“Dear God,” I mutter.“The last thing I’d willingly do is return to high school.”
But I might willingly watchChu’s Restaurant, just because the woman I’m seeing suggested it.My brothers have mentioned it before—apparently, I have the same name as one of the main characters.I didn’t watch it for them, but maybe for Kim, I’ll try an episode or two.I’m curious about the things she likes.
When we reach the restaurant, I tell the hostess that I have a reservation.
“Follow me,” she says.
“Are we still sitting on the patio?”I ask.“Given…” I gesture outside.
“If you don’t want to, we can move you inside, but our back patio is well covered by umbrellas.As long as the rain isn’t really heavy, you won’t get wet.”
We’re shown to a table under a very, very large red umbrella.Kim immediately begins perusing her menu, but I don’t open mine.First of all, because I studied the menu thoroughly before coming here, and second of all, because she’s wearing a sleeveless purple top that shows off her chest and I can’t seem to drag my eyes away from her.When she glances up and notices me looking, I drop my gaze to my menu.
“Don’t worry,” she says.“I don’t mind if you look.”
I clear my throat.“I will look.Later.But we should eat now.I mean, order food.So we can eat later.”I have lost my ability to speak properly.
We order an appetizer with fresh figs, goat cheese, and prosciutto.It’s a combination I haven’t had before, and it’s delicious.Each component is good by itself, but even better in combination, and the rain falls softly around us as we eat.There aren’t many other people on the patio, and it feels like we’re in our own little world.
I decide I’m not upset about the rain after all.
After the appetizer, I have tagliatelle ai frutti di mare, and Kim has a pizza bianca with artichokes and a few other things.The service isn’t fast, but I don’t mind.
