Letters from Spring Street

Chapter 11.3

He holds out his hand in front of her as he slowly stood up, "It's a little too late for tea Ms. Maine, how about I take you out to dinner instead?"

*********

It dawns on her that they had never spent time together outside Le Chateau as walk through the glass revolving doors and step out into the cobble-stonned streets. He had not let go of her hand since they walked out of the lobby cafe and she found comfort in how their hands fit perfectly intertwined.

She looks up at him as the walk, and sees a serene smile creeping upon his face, his eyes twinkling against the street lamps that illuminated Spring Street.

"You seem excited." She asks.

"Siguro nga. I just realized, hindi pa tayo lumabas ng hotel ng magkasama. It feels different being with you outside."

"How different?" He noticed the slight tone of hesitation in her voice.

"It feels refreshing. I wonder why we don't do this more often." Richard replies as he leads her to the Italian restaurant two streets away, 'Nonna Ruby's'.

Maine has been here before, but never for dinner, never with someone else. The ding of the bell as they entered the restaurant was the same, but her heartbeat was quickening every second that ticked away.

Are we on a date?

Am I on a date with Richard?

She smiles nervously as he helped her sit down and she suddenly became aware of how she looked like.

Maine was wearing a yellow off the shoulder top with washed out jeans, and white sneakers. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she even had her glasses on.

Great, I look like crap.

I'm sort of on a date with this amazing guy and I look like crap.

She's startled when Richard reaches out his hand to cover hers, and stares at her. "You look beautiful, Ms Maine. Thank you for coming with me."

Maine feels her cheeks heat up and replies, "Ang bolero mo, Richard! Tignan mo nga ung suot ko, compared to that suit you're wearing."

"Anong masama sa suot mo? You look good every time I see you. And this suit?" He asks as he starts to take off the garment, "It's too stuffy for me anyway. I'm not really a suit-wearing kind of guy."

"What do you mean? You wear suits all the time!", she chuckles in reply.

"It's not by choice, Ms. Maine. The real Richard would prefer t-shirts and jeans any day." He continues, as he removed the first few buttons of shit dress shirt.

It was her turn to stare at him, the yellow light from the candles in front of them making him slightly paler, the dark shadows around his eyes more prominent, but he remained as handsome as ever. "I still marvel at how incredibly humble you are, despite everything that's going for you."

"And I still marvel at how unassumingly beautiful you are." He smiles at her naughtily, but she sensed his sincerity. His eyes always, always give him away.

She rolls his eyes at him playfully, "That marvels me most of all, Mr. Faulkerson, how much of a sweet talker you are. I could only imagine how many girls swoon over you."

"Hanggang swoon lang naman sila."

She was about to ask him why when she sees the waiter coming over with the menus. As he arrived and handed each of them menus, she pretends to skim over it, but she knew what she wanted.

"I'll have my usual tagliatelle in truffle sauce with prosciutto, Maine, how about we share the rib-eye?" Richard asks, as he remained looking at the menu. She stares at him curiously, and smiles inwardly at the coincidence--that was her staple at Nonna Ruby's too, "That would be perfect, Richard. I'll be having the tagliatelle too."