Je t’aime

“You mean at dating?”

“Well, I guess I’m just not sure where all this is going.” She said, avoiding his gaze.

“Oh, I see…” But Kendra interrupted before he could finish.

“It’s just that I’ve had my heart broken and I don’t want to go down that road again.” She said, blushing at the fact she had shared such a personal detail with a man she barely knew.

“Honestly, I don’t know where this is going either, but I will tell you this. I just want to get to know you better. We can take this as slowly as you like. If all we become is friends, I can live with that. I won’t like it but I will live with it.”

“It’s not that I don’t like you, I mean, I’m attracted to you.” She stammered.

“I’m glad to hear that, because I am definitely attracted to you.” With those words, he brought his hands down to her shoulders and gently pulled her to him. Their closeness forced her to look up at him and as she did he lowered his mouth to hers, in a kiss that made it clear to her, just how attracted to her he was.

Breaking the kiss, he pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “I can’t wait until tomorrow night, I won’t push you but expect more kisses just like that one.” With those words, he turned and headed out of the park towards the boulevard.

Speechless, she watched him walk away. Her heart was pounding and to her embarrassment she was a little wet from only that kiss and the promise of what could come.

*****

The night of the date, Kendra was so nervous she changed her outfit five times. She had borrowed some clothes from Margot, who was the same size, but just didn’t feel comfortable in any of them. Finally, she decided that she would wear her own clothes. They may not be the best, but she felt comfortable in them and they were more her style.

Kendra had never been one to keep up with the current trends. Growing up poor and being a chef hadn’t left much room for fancy clothes. Maybe now that she was doing so well, it was time to upgrade her wardrobe, but for now her old clothes would be just fine. I am who I am, take it or leave it she thought.

Remy, was right on time. He pulled up in a fancy sports car, she had no idea what kind, but knew that her brother would have been thrilled. After a quick kiss at the door, they were off.

“I’ve made special plans for tonight. Not trying to brag or anything, but my name gets me into all kinds of places that other people have to work hard to get into. We’re going to hit a couple of clubs, then dinner. Normally I would take you to La Femme, but that won’t work since the chef is sitting in my car.” He said.

Kendra thought that he sounded nervous and was surprised. From all that she’d heard, he was the last man she expected to be nervous around a woman. It actually made her feel less nervous herself to know he was feeling the same way.

“I’m sure whatever you have planned will be wonderful.”

The night, as it turned out, was not going wonderfully. Remy had taken her to three different clubs and the scene had been the same at each. Either the music was so loud that they couldn’t communicate, or Remy was surrounded by women. The language barrier, which hadn’t seemed like that big of a deal when they were in a group, or even at coffee yesterday, proved to be a problem as well.

Kendra hadn’t been particularly impressed either, this scene just wasn’t her. By the time they left the last club for dinner, she had decided that while she was definitely attracted to Remy, she wasn’t going to follow him around Paris like part of his entourage. That might be fine for his other girlfriends, but she wasn’t like them.

Remy could sense that Kendra was not having a good time. She was very quiet in the car, hardly answering him when he asked a question. He was hoping that dinner would save the night. The restaurant was supposed to be one of the best in the city, he had pulled strings to get the reservation. Knowing that Kendra was a chef, he had asked many of his friends for advice before deciding on this one.

“I hope you like the restaurant, I picked it because so many people told me how great the food was. I would guess that it’s not easy to go out for dinner when you’re a chef.” He said.

“Well, I try not to diagnose the food and just enjoy it. When you’re in the business, you all know each other, so we know what to expect.” She said.

“That makes sense. Anyway, here we are, let’s go eat something delightful.”

Remy helped her out of the car, gave the keys to the valet, and escorted her into the restaurant. The sight that greeted them was so over the top Kendra couldn’t believe her eyes. Inside this one small building was enough greenery, urns, statues, and art to fill a small mansion. To say that it was overdone was an understatement.

Hoping that the food would be better than the décor, Remy ordered them an extravagant meal. Four courses followed by dessert. Kendra was eagerly anticipating the first course, escargot, something she had little experience with. She had never cooked them and only eaten them once. But what arrived at their table was less than delightful. The escargot were tough and stringy, over seasoned, and cold.

Remy was horrified, if this was any indication of what was to follow, he should just give up now. The second course arrived just as horrible as the first. He was unsure how to handle this, the perfect restaurant was nothing more than a show. He should have asked different people, he realized. Should have called his mother or even his sister, instead he had called his old friends.

Kendra came to his rescue, “This food is terrible, I’m sorry but it’s practically inedible. Do we have to stay?”

“I’m so embarrassed, here I thought I was going to impress you with this place. I should have just take you to Joe’s.” He said.

“Joe’s?”

“Yeah, it’s my favorite place to eat now that I’m home. I’ve kind of lost my taste for this.” He said, gesturing to the crowded décor.

Remy went on to explain that he had been traveling around the world and one of the things he had learned was that good food was more about the preparation than the ingredients. “You would never believe some of the things that I have eaten only to later discover that it was a part of the animal most people wouldn’t even consider eating. We won’t even talk about the variety of creatures I’ve eaten.”

Finally, Kendra thought, there is a real person in there.

“I learned to cook in my travels. I find it very therapeutic. Honestly, one of the reasons I wanted to meet you was the fact that you’re a chef. I’ve become a bit of a home chef myself.” He finished.

“So we do have something in common after all.” She said.

“Besides the fact that we both want to jump in bed together.” He joked, finally feeling her warming up.

“Very funny. I have an idea, let’s go to my restaurant. We close early on my night off so no one is there. We can make our own feast. I’d be interested to see what you’ve learned. A good chef is always looking for new techniques and flavors.” She said.