A Funny Thing Happened in Texas

Chapter 5

Brian's hands felt a little moist against the steering wheel as he headed towards the Bishop Arts District in Dallas. He didn't know the area at all and had relied on Gennie's suggestion. He did look up the restaurant, Eno's, to browse the menu and the overall vibe. He also wanted to figure out the parking situation since she had mentioned it could be tricky.

But luck was on Brian's side that evening and he was able to find a spot pretty easily and parallel parked on North Bishop Avenue without a problem. He checked his hair in the mirror before exiting the Jeep Wrangler. He had recently gone back to a shorter cut and it was really working for him. He had also gone to a barber and gotten his beard trimmed so it no longer fell so far passed his jawline. If he was going con a date with a younger woman then he needed to look less, well, older, if at all possible.

He flipped the mirror back up to the top of the car and checked to make sure no cars were coming before getting out. He walked the short distance to the restaurant and didn't see Gennie. The hostess asked him how many were in his party and he told her he was still waiting for his date. She smiled and put the menus aside, as if she heard that line regularly. Brian texted Gennie and let her know that he was there and was waiting inside for her.

"OK! I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

He assumed that she may have had more trouble parking. But about four minutes later he saw her getting out of the back of a car with an Uber sticker. He opened the door for her and she smiled.

"Thank you! Sorry I'm late. The driver got stuck behind someone waiting for a parking spot."

"No worries, let's get a table."

The hostess picked up the menus and led them to a table that was far enough away from the live musician that they might be able to talk. Brian noticed Gennie didn't spend too much time looking over the menu.

"Do you come here a lot?" He asked.

"Once in a while. This tends to be my fall back place when I'm in the area."

"Ohhh, so the food must be really good then."

She looked at him kind of confused.

"Food? I thought you said drinks..."

He laughed.

"I did say that. But when you suggested this place I figured dinner was okay, too."

"OH! Okay now I'm embarrassed."

"Why?" He asked quickly.

"You said drinks so I didn't want to assume anything other than that so I ate dinner before I came."

That was odd to Brian. He wasn't used to a date that was actually trying to be considerate and stick to the drinks and not have him pay for a full meal. He often would 'meet for drinks' and pay for drinks, dinner, and dessert.

"So you really meant just drinks?" He looked at her. "Why did you pick this place and not a bar?"

She shrugged, "Because bars are so loud. And Eno's has a decent wine selection."

He couldn't help but smile. She was already different than the women in New York that he usually went out with.

"Well, I hope you won't be offended if I eat."

"Oh by all means! That's fine! I won't shame you."

The waiter came by and took their order. Brian picked out a pizza and then ordered a bottle of wine, a Malbec from Texas High Plains. It wasn't the most expensive wine on the menu but he was interested in trying a Texas red wine.