“I…”
“Good evening.” Annie and I looked up at our server, who was standing there holding two bottles of wine.
“Could we have a few more minutes, please? And we’ll take a bottle of your 1985 Jefferson Shiraz.” The server nodded and then left. “I’ve had shiraz on several occasions. You’ll love this brand and year.” I went back to reading my menu, deciding not to tell Annie after all.
“Were you going to say something?”
“I, uh, was going to suggest their lasagna. It’s won a few local food contests… But you probably already are aware of that.”
Annie smiled and nodded, then went back to reading her menu.
We spent the entire dinner talking about Jake and Julianna’s wedding, what they were probably doing on their honeymoon and some River Valley gossip.
“Did you hear about the Johnson’s getting a divorce?”
Annie nodded while sipping her wine. “I was just telling my dad about it. And you’re right. This wine is delicious.”
“I’m surprised they’re getting divorced. Both the husband and wife were fooling around on each other. It sounds like they should just be in an open marriage.”
Annie smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
“Some people just don’t do well with commitment,” she said. I knew what she was suggesting.
It didn’t surprise me that she was apprehensive about us dating each other. She had lived in River Valley her entire life. Annie knew the kind of life that I had and that I was a serial bachelor.
“That can change over time, though.”
“What do you mean?”
I smiled as she looked at me; her eyes were brightening up. “Some people, you know, they’re afraid of being hurt. So, they decide to fool around and have consensual, sexual relationships. It’s a way of having your cake, but without fear of gaining any weight. If that makes any sense.”
She laughed at my failed attempt to use a metaphor.
“They have the intimacy without putting their trust in another person,” she said, once again using that soft, sensual voice that drove me wild.
“Exactly. Not everyone who sleeps around is incapable of settling down one day. It just takes the right person.” I placed my hand over hers, and she immediately began to melt.
It was like I’d just put a flame up to an ice statue. “That makes sense. It’s natural for humans to crave companionship, but that often comes at a price.”
We spent the rest of the evening talking about our career goals. I knew that Annie wanted to have her own line of holistic foods and supplements. “So, tell me more about the health line that you want to start.”
“Well, it’s a lot more complicated than I’d originally thought. Holistic health is my true calling in life, and it’s so much more than yoga. It’s about taking care of your body from the inside out.”
I nodded. “Absolutely. I try to exercise every day, but I still feel like crap after eating a cheeseburger and fries.”
She laughed. “Everything in moderation. I say excess in moderation.”
“That’s an interesting phrase,” I said.
“Between you and I, I don’t eat healthy all the time. It just doesn’t taste as good as, well, cheeseburgers and fries. In addition to supplements, I want to find a way to make healthy food taste like, well, junk food.”
Annie discussed the various nutritional supplements she was interested in offering in her studio.
“Will you be making anything for grey hair?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Why on earth would you want to get rid of that gorgeous, sexy grey hair?”
I could tell that she’d had a few too many glasses of shiraz, but she was also starting to open up to me.
