Monday, September 17
Alimentary was a small restaurant, busy for a week
night, with spicy aromas floating in the air. Rebecca
stepped up to the reception table while scanning the
restaurant for O.E. She was a few minutes early, and he
wasn't there yet. "I'm meeting someone for dinner, a Mr.
Ezzo. Did he make a reservation?"
The maître d' looked at his list. "Sorry, I don't see
anyone by that name. Do you want a table for two?"
Of course he didn't make a reservation. He'd probably
never been there before-just saw it on somebody's list of
trendy restaurants, along with Top of the Park. Was O.E.
even aware that people needed reservations at a place like
this? She shrugged and accepted the maître d's offer of a
table. He consulted his list to see if he could seat her.
As he scanned his reservation book, Rebecca glanced
down and noticed the letters "O.E." written on the list.
"Wait." She pointed to the page. "I see the name-it's O.E."
She was amazed that he would use his initials even
when making a dinner reservation but she was beginning to
suspect that very little about him should amaze her.
The maître d' brightened. "Well of course." He raised
one eyebrow and smiled at her. "I didn't know what his
initials stood for. Right this way." He led her to a table in the
back, a relatively private booth. The restaurant was larger
than she thought, elegant and well lit.
O.E. seems like the sort who would be a regular at fast
food restaurants. Not this upscale eatery with interesting
looking plates of food on every table. It took her by
surprise.
He arrived a few minutes later and spotted her
instantly. He was casually dressed, but not as sloppy as he
had been in his surfer duds. A black, button-down dress
shirt hugged his torso loosely, still managing to showcase
his powerful build, broad shoulders, and sinewy arm
muscles. The shirt was tucked neatly into faded jeans,
which revealed a trim waist and a tight backside. As he
sauntered up to the table, she tried to remind herself that
he was just a beach bum. But thoughts of O.E. as a beach
bum didn't do much to quell her excitement. It only led to
thoughts of him in his beach wear, and worse, him out of
his beach wear.
He looks wonderful. Rebecca had to admit that O.E.'s
appearance exceeded her expectations. He had put his hair
back in a ponytail and even wore fancy shoes and a shiny