Chapter Seven

Just in time they entered the restaurant.

“Miss Anderson, your regular table.” A waiter greeted her. She bit on her bottom lip and smiled apologetic at Jon. He laughed.

“You didn’t tell that this is your second home. We can take the regular table of Miss Anderson, but then you better cancel my reservation.” He told the waiter.

“Of course Mr. Bon Jovi.” Well, at least he recognized me.

“Jon, I’m sorry…” Kimberly started when they sat down at the table.

“Kimi stop it. It’s ok. We all have our favorite spots here in the city. It’s just a good thing that we like the same restaurant.” She stared at him. Kimi. He called me Kimi.

“Are you ok?” He waved his hand in front of her face.

“What? Oh, yeah…” she grabbed the menu and pretended to look at it closely.

“Did I say something wrong?” he asked worried. The lunch hadn’t started yet; he’d already pissed her off. Great!

“No, no you didn’t.“ She looked at him unsure and sighed. “It’s just…you called me Kimi.”

“Don’t you like it? I can call you by your full name if…” she raised her hand and stopped him. He looked at her confused.

“The only persons ever called me Kimi…were my parents. Nobody else was allowed to use the nickname.” She explained and kneaded her hands nervously.

Jon’s expression softened. He reached over the table and softly touched her left hand. She looked up and he could see the tears in her eyes. Even though she was pretending that she was no longer grieving, it still seemed to hurt her to talk about them. Was she all alone when her parents passed away? Were there no other family members?

She smiled softly. “Maybe it’s time to let some else call me Kimi.”

“Thank you.” He said equally soft.

They were interrupted by the waiter. “Did you already choose?”

“Uhm… no, give us another minute, ok?” Jon said and had a look at the menu himself.

“Sure, sir.” The waiter replied and left again.

“So, what will you take?” Jon asked while he scanned the menu with his eyes.

“Well, I think I will take a whole three-course meal. If that’s ok with you.”

“Sure. No problem.” Jon replied a bit surprised. It wasn’t common that he met a woman who really enjoyed eating. He expected her to take a salad maybe some chicken, but not a three-course meal.

“I have to make sure I won’t get hungry tonight. It’s hard to tell when you have time to eat when you are in a night shift.”

“I see…” Jon said and had a quick glance at the wine card. “You won’t have a glass of wine with me, right?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Sorry. Wouldn’t be professional to go to work after I drunk something. But you can have some wine. It’s perfect for this great food.” Kimberly encouraged him. He smiled and ordered a glass of red wine and some water for Kimberly when the waiter came back.

“So, are you often eating here?” Jon asked when they both had their Fresh Spring salad of asparagus, favas, peas & Spring onions tossed in a Chardonnay vinegar and hard-boiled eggs, finished with young Pecorino Sardo. It already sounded delicious.

“Well, maybe once a week. They also have great take away.” She said and spread the vinegar over the asparagus.

“They have take away here?” Jon asked surprised.

She smirked. “Well, when you ask nicely…” she baited her eye lashes. “…they also have take away.” He laughed and thanked god that there was a table between them.

“You know very well what to do to get what you want, right?” he said grinning.

“Nah, I’m just a normal girl.” She declined. His eyebrows rose. “What?” she asked.

“Kimi. You are anything but definitely not a normal girl.” Jon said. She stared at him for a second.

“You mean because of the money.” She followed up. They had finished the salads and the waiter came to take the empty dishes away. Jon waited til he couldn’t hear their conversation anymore.

“No, not only because of the money. You are a beautiful, intelligent, self-confident and very independent young woman. I haven’t met a lot other women who are like you…honestly I’m not sure I ever met someone who was like you.”

She blushed deeply and wanted to reply something, but Jon stopped her. “You have really no idea what you do to men, right?” He asked with a small smile.

Kimberly bowed her head and played with her napkin. “You know…” She stopped, because the waiter returned with their antipasti.

Jon watched her carefully and hardly paid attention to his assortment of marinated & grilled seasonal vegetables with assorted seafood preparations.

Kimberly picked at her crispy baked shrimp with spicy tomato sauce. “Jon, I may be intelligent and independent…”

“And beautiful.” He added. She smiled. “Yeah, maybe even that.”

“You are. We can ask the men here, you’ll see.” Jon only half joked. She smiled lightly.

“But I’m not as self-confident as you think. At work, yeah of course. Doesn’t come good when the doc shows insecurity, I know what I can and what to do when there are complicated cases, but I never…” She stopped briefly and took a deep breath before she continued.

“…I never was in a relationship before or on a date. I was always focused on school, college, work…I have absolutely no idea what to do or to say to you. I feel completely out of place. I…” Jon could see panic creeping in her eyes; maybe because she told him, maybe because she was realizing that she was spilling out her secrets and didn’t even know whether he wanted to be together with. He slowly got up and slid down on the place next to her.

“Kimi.” She looked at him reluctant and was surprised by his smile. “I can tell you so far you did really well.” She smiled sadly. “And in case you don’t know I have been married for the last 20 years, I have no idea what to do on a date either.” She laughed shortly.

“But you know how to act in a relationship. I don’t even now whether I can live in one. I never had one. You have kids. So, you had intercourse…” she became silent. Jon looked at her curious and suddenly it hit him. Never in a relationship…never been together with…never on a date…oh, shit. She’s a virgin. Now it made sense. This whole innocence that was surrounding her and was driving him crazy and the other men as well. She simply didn’t know it.

Kimberly saw the realisation sinking in and nodded at his questing look. “I even have to say I have never been kissed before.”

“What the hell is wrong with those guys around here?” Jon asked angry. This lack of interest in her seemed completely take away her self-confidence. She seemed to think she wasn’t good enough for a man and probably focused on work even more.

“Maybe it’s me and not the men.” Kim said sadly.

“No, it’s not.” Jon replied and slowly leaned forward. He searched her eyes and he could see a mixture of hope, fear and curiosity there. Softly his lips touched hers. She pulled back slightly for a second and looked at him unsure. He gave her the time; let her decide whether to continue or to stop. And he prayed she wouldn’t run away screaming.

Carefully she leaned forward again and her lips found his. This time he deepened the kiss softly. He could feel her pressing to closer to him and put his arms loosely around her waist. When the tip of his tongue touched her bottom lip she hesitant shortly, but then invited him into her mouth. His tongue softly touched hers, showed her how to dance.

After a while they both separated breathless. Kim ran her tongue over her lips and tried to get herself under control. He smiled and pulled her closer to his body. For her first kiss that was awesome. She would turn him into a puddle of mush when she would gain more self-confidence in it.

“I think we should continue our lunch.” Jon said and took his plate from his old place over to sit next to her. She smiled.

“Can I try some of the grilled vegetables?” she asked.

“When I get some shrimps?” he smiled and they both picked at the other one’s plate and shared their food.

The waiter cleared his throat. “Are you ready for your next course?”

“Yes, we are.” Jon smiled and squeezed Kim’s hand when she flushed imagining what kind of show they gave the other people at the restaurant earlier.

“Sautéed boneless chicken breast with lemon, Cerignola olives, Selina caper berries & sautéed Mesa greens for the lady.” the waiter placed the plate in front of her. “…and Grilled Black Angus rib eye, dry-aged & rubbed with porcini mushrooms with garlic mashed potatoes & seasonal vegetables for the gentleman.”

“Thank you.” Jon said and stole an olive from her plate.

“Hey. That’s mine.” She laughed and tried some of the garlic mashed potatoes. “Oh, that’s good. If I wouldn’t have to talk to people later…”

“Well, you should try some more.” She looked at him questing. “I plane to kiss you goodbye and I will taste like garlic.” He grinned when she flushed and placed a quick kiss on her lips.