Eating Out Alone...(Friday Writing Essentials)

I sat alone in the small café, trying to appear worldly and confident enough in myself to have dinner alone. After all, lots of people eat alone. I, myself, had seen many a woman sitting at a table with a cup of coffee in hand, smiling at those around her as she nibbled on her roll and read the paper. I had always wondered if she was reading the paper because she actually wanted to, or if it was a mere cover up for the discomfort she was feeling.

In my case, a newspaper was too big. I wasn't much for drawing attention to myself, so I had brought along a book. Was I really reading it? No. In my case, it was a definite cover up for my embarrassment at not having a dinner companion.

Even though I wasn't actually reading the book, I had chosen it carefully. After all, I didn't want to appear to be reading just ANYTHING in public. If, perchance, Mr. Right was to wander by, I certainly didn't want him to see me reading "Hot Tales for the Single Woman" or " How to Survive Menopause". The book I chose was a simple book of poetry. A book most men would know nothing about. On the other hand, if a poetic man happened by my table, who knows? Worse things could happen.

I slowly sipped my glass of wine, determined to relax and enjoy my evening. Some soft music began to play and I could feel myself beginning to relax. As I waited for my steak and salad, I opened the book and began perusing some of the poems there. I really did love poetry, and it wasn't long before I found myself actually reading a bit of Rumi, one of my favorites.

Every once in awhile, I would glance up to make sure that nobody was looking at me. I was surprised to see a man sitting three tables in front of me, and he was alone. I could not see his face, however...for he was reading a newspaper. I stifled a bit of a chuckle, thinking he would have been less conspicuous with a book. Almost as if he could read my thoughts, he peeked at me from the side of his paper and winked at me, smiling knowingly.

I darted my eyes back to my book, blushing furiously. I had not expected him to see me, nor had I expected him to be quite so handsome.

When my steak and salad arrived, I noticed the waiter also delivered the man's food as well. This made for a new dilemma, and one I had not even anticipated. It was easy to hide behind a book while waiting on your food to arrive, but what was I to do now that I had my food? I could hardly read while eating. That seemed in bad taste. But to eat knowing that this man was facing me, staring at me chew was a bit much to take.

I took a deep breath and decided to just forget he was there. I cut a piece of steak into a tiny bite and put it in my mouth and chewed slowly. The only problem was, I didn't know where to look when I chewed. At the ceiling? At my plate? I couldn't very well look up, because then I would be staring at him. I found myself glancing up and he was chewing slowly too, staring right at me. He had a bit of a grin on his face as if he was amused at my discomfort. However, he did not appear the slightest bit uncomfortable. It was almost as if he was challenging me to look back at him.

I could feel my face turn red, but I decided to play his game. I took another bite of steak and looked him dead in the eyes...and chewed slowly...never averting my gaze. My heart was pounding despite my cool exterior...and I had a feeling that this would be the last time I was going to be eating out alone for quite some time....