No Meatloaf
Amy’s conversation with Santiago helped the time pass quickly, and as Santiago pulled up to The Marbled Fin, he said with exuberance, “Here we are! I hope you enjoyed the ride!”
Amy replied, “It was wonderful. Best of luck with your writing. I’ll be looking for your story.”
Ben climbed out of the car, “Thanks. Good luck.”
Amy and Ben entered The Marbled Fin and were seated at their table. The restaurant was elegant, a perfect spot for a romantic, anniversary dinner. It was the kind of place Ben could only dream about when he was growing up, a real steakhouse.
Ben grabbed the wine list, intent on trying to find a nice bottle of wine, but all he could do was jokingly, yet secretly meaning it, suggest they get the $400 bottle. “It is our anniversary after all, Honey?”
“Let’s just ask the server what a decent bottle of wine would be to go along with our meal,” replied Amy in a voice that told Ben this would not be the night for a $400 bottle of wine.
“I’ll bet that bottle of wine goes with anything!” Ben exclaimed, trying to be funny. “I know you’ll probably be having the Sea Bass, right honey? Hey, that’s Chilean Sea Bass. I’ll bet our driver was able to get it for next to nothing.”
Amy rolled her eyes and said to Ben, “He seemed like a really nice guy. He could probably talk for days about all of the people he has met, and customers he has driven. And the fact that he came from Chile to Chicago, thinking he wanted to be a doctor. That’s crazy!”
“Didn’t he say something about living in Patagonia. Wonder if he had their jacket, too?” questioned Ben.
“No, he lived in Puerto Natales, near Patagonia, and the tourists would go through his town. You weren’t really listening even though you started the conversation, were you?” asked Amy.
“You know me, I’m a great listener,” said Ben.
“No, honey, you’ve perfected the art of pretending to listen to people,” commented Amy.
“Ha, ha,” said Ben, “Let me check the menu again for what to get.”
He thought back to when he was young, and his mom saying, “When you get a job you can have a steak, today you get meatloaf.” Ben immediately narrowed in on the 24oz porterhouse steak, although the price of $150 made Ben nervous to tell Amy his choice.
Amy knew exactly what Ben was looking at and sweetly said, “Honey, get the porterhouse. It’s our anniversary.”
Ben smiled, looking at Amy and commented with every bit of gratitude in his body, “I love you.”