Did I mention that Gil invited Jane and me to dinner at his house? Jane is my almost wife. Almost because I asked her and she’s not sure what she wants to do. That’s a long story in itself so I won’t go into it now.
An invitation from Gil is no big thing for us. He asks us all the time. Gil’s a gourmet cook you see, and he loves to have us come to dinner. He’s not one of those barbeque guys; he’s the real thing.
No, this invite was unusual because Betty was coming too. Gil was charged up about that. His first party where it was like couples getting together instead of that bachelor guy doing it. Well, it was fun. In more ways than one.
Gil’s a fussy kind of host. He greets us at the door and immediately dashes off to the kitchen and comes back with drinks. Well, Betty doesn’t know his routine. We come in, say hello, and Jane and Betty start talking. Gil does his usual kitchen run right off. Betty’s nervous, fidgety as can be trying to help so she takes our drink orders which is totally unnecessary because Gil knows what we drink. Betty excuses herself and turns to go for the drinks just as Gill returns, red wne in one hand white in the other. Bam. Betty gets the red wine almost in her face, which gets it all over her dress, which was very nice by the way. Now I don’t know about white wine, but red all down the front of a yellow dress is not a good thing. The stuff spattered on Gil’s rug too, but I don’t think he even noticed.
Being a home boy kind of chef Gil always has a towel over his shoulder. He yanks that down and starts wiping Betty’s dress which she is not so sure about. Get the wine of okay, but his hand running up and down her front is a little more intimate than she’s ready for, especially in public. She’s trying to grab his hand and he’s trying to wipe and it takes a second or two before they sort that all out. Then he proceeds to stand there red faced, smiling at her and apologizing. And then the smoke alarm goes off in the kitchen. Gil looks like he’s about to freak. Which way should he turn? Betty shoos him off and he dashes for the kitchen. I’m certainly not going to wipe off the woman’s dress so I follow him. The fish Gil had in the skillet, which he thought he’d be back to in a second? Crisp black, that’s what it is.
“You got any hot dogs in the freezer?” I ask. He just loves that.
Well Betty doesn’t live far away so she decides to go home and change. Jane suggests she could soak the dress and maybe a dry cleaner could get the stain out later, but it’s clear she has little hope of that. But trooper that she is, Betty smiles and says that’s a good idea. So she takes off and Jane goes with her and Gill pours himself a glass of red and downs it in one gulp.
The man is beaten, seems to me, but then he brightens up. He calls Betty’s house and leaves a message. We’re going out to dinner, meet us at the steakhouse in the Merton Mall. He grabs his cell phone and shoves me out the door, laughing all the way. I’m thinking he’s lost his marbles but he waves the cell phone in my face. “I took her picture when she walked in. She bought that dress today and I know where she got it,” he shouts.
So, we get to the Merton Mall and find the dress shop and he whips out his phone. Shows the sales girl the picture. Ten minutes later we have the same dress, same size because the girl remembered Betty. Five minutes after that we’re at the restaurant waiting, with the dress draped over Gil’s arm. Along with the apron still around his waist. No towel though, he left that home.
Well, you can figure out the rest. Betty’s thrilled and goes into the ladies room to change ,with Jane helping of course. Jane come sout and slips her arm in mine and says, “Would you do that for me?”
“Damn right,” I tell her and I would.
THE DATE, by BB Roberts
http://www.nobleromance.com/BrowseListing.aspx?title=true&letter=t
