She Asked Him To Dinner

She was a married woman, who loved music.  Because of her small build and height many thought she was a much younger woman.    She easily fit in with the college kids at the hole in the wall music venues, dressed in a pair of low rise Levi’s and an extra small t-shirt.  With her long dark curls, the young males often took notice of her.  But to this, it never mattered.  Sometimes, if she was feeling especially friendly, she would stop and spend a little time with the particularly handsome ones that were able to express them selves intelligently.  None the less, she was married to an incredible man, so the wishful gaze of young boys was just that. 

She first heard his music at a small coffee house.  Well, actually, she first heard his music on the radio but it was at the coffee house where she first saw him play.  He was an exceptionally beautiful young man, although a bit thin, whose spirit made her stare.  Then he sang stories about his childhood in Scotland, his mother’s butterflies and how he once saw a woman on fire all accompanied only with the solo strumming of his guitar.  He struck her as being very intent and passionate about sharing his stories of life and the importance of living in the present.  She was hooked; she had to get to know him.  Although that night, she just locked eyes and smiled at him as she left with her husband to meet his friends downtown. 

A few years later, she still listened to his music and went to see him again as he toured through her city.  When she saw him, she noticed how much he had physically matured.  His long locks had been shed for a little halo of curls which embraced his head.  He now wore a small amount of facial hair which she thought made him look more appealing.  He no longer looked like the beautiful thin college boy she remembered.  He had the look of a man.    He smiled as he sang about how he now understood love and the many wonders it held.  She stared and listened.

After the show, and made braver by two facts, her husband was hundreds of miles away on business and she had enjoyed two glasses of wine, she approached him.  He smiled and embraced her shoulder.  She thanked him for sharing his gift with others.  There was not an immediate energy connection between the two, but a small ember glowed as they both sensed they were similar souls.  He looked at her wedding ring and asked her name.  She answered and hoped the young woman in line behind her would disappear so she could speak longer with him.  The girl would not budge and because she was a very fair and diplomatic woman, she moved on, leaving the singer and allowing the young girl to share her enthusiasm with him.  He flashed his dark eyes once at her, and then was engaged in his next fan.  What a sweet man she thought, and left the campus venue.

The next day, among piles of artichokes at the local market,  she spotted him.  Or rather, he spotted her and smiled. His teeth reminded her of the sharp edges of the artichokes she had just touched, yet still he was beautiful.  He walked over to greet her, she felt unusually shy for she had just left her yoga class and wore only stretch pants, a tank top and no makeup.  Yet, he still had recognized her.  He greeted her by name and after an inspection of her basket, asked what she was making for dinner.  He noticed the food she chose and excitedly stated she probably could cook well since she had so many raw ingredients.  She quickly forgot her shyness.  Food was her forte and she enjoyed the company of others who shared this enthusiasm.  She did not know many men who were knowledgeable in this area.  In her experience, she had often found artist rarely paid attention to what food, if any, went into their body.  She had managed to teach the art of food appreciation to her husband over the years.  She believed because of this, he was a better lover.  Before she married him, he was someone who quickly devoured all plastic wrapped things which posed as food. This had been his approach to a lot of things in life until he slowed down and learned how to savor.
 
He looked down at her with his large dark eyes, imploring her to answer.  She smiled sweetly up at him and asked “would you like to have dinner with me?”    He appeared a bit surprised by her request, but quickly told her yes, he would love it.

He arrived early, dressed in jeans, sneakers and a striped V- neck sweater. She could not help herself and had dressed to show off her better assets.  She had the good fortune of possessing a strikingly beautiful face and many times through out her life complete strangers had stopped her to tell her this.  She also had full soft curves not seen often in women her size and statue.  No plastic surgery for her, she naturally had what so many of her girlfriends had tried to achieve.  She was confident in her body and embraced being sexy; because of this she often was highly desirable to men of all ages.  She knew this and had used it to her advantage at times.  Yet, she was usually modest in her dress because excessive attention was not something she yearned for.  However tonight, she had vamped it up a bit.  She wanted to illicit some desire and felt safe doing this. 

He stared at her when she opened the door, surprised at how beautiful she really was.  He briefly questioned himself silently about his decision to join this married woman for dinner and strained to hear the sounds of children or her husband in the background.  All he heard was one of his favorite forgotten songs he had listened to as a teenager.  Naturally a music hound, he wandered in quickly drawn to the music and her.

He saw the table was set, two delicate porcelain plates and two hand blown wine glasses to accompany them.  He was secretly pleased it would be just her and him, for he realized how much he wanted to get to know this beautiful woman.  She brought him wine of which he knew he would love the taste of it before he even tried it.  Soft golden liquid that it was, he could see it lick at the sides of the glass and leave a golden sheen where it had touched.  It was a full robust white which opened his taste buds the moment it hit his tongue.  Love—this is the image he sensed when his fingers brushed hers as he took the glass.  She toasted to good food and a good life, he immediately was captivated by her simple words.

He followed her to the kitchen where she had steamed the artichokes he had seen her looking at earlier in the day.  She turned her back to him to reach for her wine glass.  He noticed how small she was, probably a foot shorter than him and into his head flashed a scene with a past small lover.  How he had loved to curl her little body up to his and hold her.  He momentarily missed her.

Turning back to him, she seated her self on the kitchen counter, her fitted jeans nicely showing her shapely hips and thighs.  After so much touring, he had grown weary of the shallow, unhealthy look of too much drugs and too little self care so many of the girls who waited backstage for him had.  He noticed she looked nothing like this.  Her eyes sparkled as she spoke and her smooth skin glowed as it hugged the contours of her bone structure.  Her silk tank top revealed lightly sun kissed shoulders, toned arms and a delicate collarbone.  He couldn’t help but notice further down how the tank top arched out to reveal the tops of full breasts which actually made him ache.  He quickly averted his eyes.

As she was now almost to his eye level, she took the artichoke leaf and dipped it into melted butter, then held it out to him.  He reached for it, placed it into his mouth, his teeth grasping onto the tough fibers of the leaf.  He tugged and managed to pull all the meat off of it.  The butter drizzled down the side of his mouth; she laughed and wiped at it with her finger.  Then she asked if he liked it.  He mumbled yes and he reached next to her for more.  Brushing her shoulder he told her how much he loved her hair, so long and curly.  She thanked him for the compliment and jumped off the counter.  Instructing him to sit at the table she pulled a pot from the oven.

She opened the lid, and he smelled an intense warm earthy aroma.  He recognized the smell of garlic but could not place the spicy toasted smell of the other herbs.  She then placed warm fresh bread on the table and he started to salivate.  No need for words, his smile conveyed his pleasure.  She smiled back and joined him at the table. 

Together, they ate, drank wine, and listened to music.  She smelled wonderful as she moved closer to him and he could easily imagine kissing her.  He imagined her in his hand made bed he had crafted recently.  Then and there he knew she had been an unconscious image of inspiration as he chose the warm beautiful wood and constructed the gentle arches of his bed.  He wanted to be in Scotland with the smell of his homeland’s damp raw grasses surrounding them.  He had a fleeting vision of them together happily as a couple.  He quickly changed his thoughts back to the food, startled that this thought had crossed his mind. 
 
She taught him how to crack snow crab legs and open edamame; she even helped pop them into his mouth.  He was struck at how beautiful her lips were.  Her artificial lipstick color had faded as she ate and drank and now revealed the natural deep pink of her lips.  He wanted to chew on her bottom lip as it cupped the lower part of the wine glass.  He reached over and pulled a curl away from her face, twisting it gently around his finger. 

She set out fresh mango drizzled with lime juice for dessert, he loved the juicy texture and wondered why he never took the time to enjoy one of these sensuous fruits.  She taught him how to cut one, even cupped the bottom of his hand as she instructed him.  He was surprised at how simple it was to remove the sweet fruit from the skin.  She told him to place the seed in water to root, and then showed him the type of plant it eventually would grow into.  He wanted to badly reach over and hold her, just let his skin sit against her skin and absorb her.  She looked up at him and he felt her reading his mind, she smiled and touched the side of his face gently.

With more wine, they moved into her living room to enjoy the music. He discovered how diverse her taste was and grew excited as he saw her musical collection.  To a Tom Waits tune, he pulled her next to him, held her and danced to which she allowed.  He touched the small of her back, to which she allowed.  He then pressed close to her, holding her small body next to his, to which she allowed.  At the end of the song, she moved back and gently kissed the exposed skin on his chest and thanked him for his company this evening.  He sensed it was over.  She gently guided him to the front door.  He hugged her grasping at some small hope she would extend the evening.  She hugged him back, and asked for his email address and promised to stay in touch. 

He saw her two years later, at a show in LA.  She was with a tall dark haired man who, when introduced to him, said he knew how much his wife liked his music and it was an honor to meet him.  She gazed at him and asked “would you like to have dinner with us?”  He did not even hesitate with his answer and said yes, he would love it.