He grabbed an Uber to Trattoria Romana.

It was a nearly impossible thing to jump from chasing the trail of a Jack the Ripper copycat, who was about to strike again in two days, to enjoying a quaint Italian dinner with a beautiful woman he’d just met. If anyone was worth the mental energy it took to make that shit, it was Samantha, he thought. And the way he figured it, that was the job of all cops—at least the ones who wanted to have any semblance of a real life—to find a way to leave the job at work, otherwise you’d end up a lonely old man with nothing but your memories of police work.

He didn’t want that. In fact, he’d seen too many cops end up with that exact fate. The divorce rate in the department was way higher than that in the general population, and Riley didn’t want to fall into all of those old cop clichés. He didn’t want to be the married guy who couldn’t talk to his kids, or the hardened detective who drank in the evenings to deal with what he saw during the day. And more than anything else, he didn’t want to end up alone. It would be work, he knew, but he could have it all. 

When his Uber got to the curb outside of the trattoria he could see Samantha. Jesus, did she clean up well, he thought. She was wearing a black cocktail dress, and her hair was braided in a way that left her face emphasized. She was wearing makeup, but it did what makeup was meant to do—accentuate her natural beauty. Riley could see guys walking past her breaking their necks to catch another glance. Step away, boys, she’s mine tonight. Her dress wasn’t too fancy, but enough to show off how amazing her body was. He looked her up and down from the car, taking in the curve of her hips and the shape of her body.

The two of them made eye contact through the window of the car and she gavea little wave. It was a small gesture, nothing crazy, but it lightened his mood right away. He waved back, and as the car parked, he instantly forgot where he was coming from. “Jesus, you look amazing, Samantha.”

“You don’t waste any time, do you? And you don’t look so bad yourself.”

“Terrible lie,” he joked. “I look like shit, but I guess, technically, I’m coming from work, so you can’t fault me too much.”

“You’re too hard on yourself,” she said, reaching up and fixing his collar. “You look great.”

“Thanks. Let’s go inside and see if our table’s ready.”

“Okay,” she said, putting her hand on his arm and stopping him dead in his tracks. “But before we go in just one thing.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Sam,” she said softly.

“Huh?”

“No more Samantha. Call me Sam, okay.”

“Let’s go inside, Sam.”

The place wasn’t anything extravagant on the inside, but it was subtle, elegant, beautiful, and filled with the types of smells that made your mouth water in anticipation of the food you were about to eat.. It was crowded enough, but not so much so that it ruined the experience. There were just enough people to give the place a quaint feeling, yet still allowed you to hear the person you were sitting across from. Their waitress sat them down at a nice table by the window and gave them menus, but all Riley saw in the sea of food choices was the beauty of his date. She really did clean up well. At the coffee place, Riley could see that she was gorgeous, but when she was all made up she was completely stunning. 

“Wine?” he asked.

“Like I said, you don’t waste any time. You trying to get me drunk?”

“Of course I am, am I that transparent? Dammit!”

She giggled and he ordered. “A bottle of your best Pinot Noir, please. That’s just for me, though; make sure to ask her what she wants, too.” He pointed to Samantha and the waitress looked genuinely confused at his humor. 

“He’s an idiot, that’s for both of us.”

“Oh, okay,” the confused waitress said before walking away.

“Don’t be a dick!”

“It’s a challenge sometimes. Why is it my fault if she doesn’t get my sarcasm?”

“Cause she’s every day of sixteen years old, that’s why.”

“Excuses, excuses.” he joked. 

A minute later the waitress brought them a bottle and two wine glasses. Riley tasted to make sure it was acceptable and then asked her to leave the bottle. He poured Samantha’s glass half full, and his own just a little more than that.

“Rough day?” she asked him.

“Something like that. Rougher for the cop I’m working with, though. I’m kind of a consultant at this point.”

“What’s his name?”

“Her name, you sexist pig.” He smiled at her. “And it’s Emily. Detective Emily Curtis, to be precise.”

“I see,” she said. “So Emily had a bad day, then? How come?”

“Sort of. Something like that.” 

He stopped talking and looked at the window onto the street “Hey,” she said, reaching across the table and gently pulling his face back towards hers. “I’m here. Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Be afraid to talk about the job. I know what you do, remember? I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know. You don’t need to get into all the details but you can talk to me.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, realizing that he’d had a minor shut down when she asked about his day. “Bad habit, I guess. I’m used to keeping things in unless I’m talking. . .”

“To other cops? I know this speech.”

“Your dad?”

“Uh-huh.” This time she looked away. “I loved that my dad was a hero, and that he helped so many people, but I also saw what the job did to him at home. He’d hold everything in, get mad, and never talk to my mom about what he was doing. I’m not looking to replicate what I grew up with.”

“Are you asking me to marry you already? Don’t you think that’s a little premature?”

“I’m serious, Riley. I know it’s our first date and that we met by accident a day ago, but I like you, and you can talk to me. Otherwise what are we doing?”

Her words were firm, calmly spoken, and completely fair. Riley thought about them a minute and took a sip of his wine. “Fair enough,” he said. “There are a series of murders happening on this part of the island. Sex workers. Gruesome stuff. No one cares because the victims are prostitutes, and I spent the afternoon with the lead detective on the case who needs my help, and I’m a little emotionally drained. That was my day.”

“Now, was that so hard?”

“Kinda, yeah,” he said, only half joking. “But worth it. Sorry.”

“I know how it is, you don’t need to apologize, but you do need to talk to me. Deal?”

“You have my word.”

The waitress came and took their order. Riley went through all the motions—he ordered appetizers and entrees, sipped wine, made small talk—but all the while he was deeply inside of his own head. This woman was amazing and he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. She was beautiful, of course, that much he already knew, but it was way more than that. She was tuned into him in a way that was almost unfathomable. She made intense eye contact, and she just seemed to get him, and that turned him on in a totally different way than her face and body did. It made him feel warm. 

As they ate their meals, Riley knew that he’d chosen the right place. He knew Staten Island about as well as he knew the Steppes of Mongolia, so he’d put his trust entirely in a Yelp search. It had paid off. The food was amazing, the service was top notch, and once they were heading towards the end of their meal, he found himself staring at Samantha’s face in the dim lighting. 

“What?” she asked coyly. 

“Nothing,” he said, unable to look away from her. “Just enjoying the evening.”

“That makes two of us. I’m stuffed, by the way.”

“Me, too. That was honestly the best meal I’ve had in a very long time.”

“Same.”

When the waitress asked if they’d like to see dessert menus Riley almost puked. He waved and shook his head, so instead she just brought the check, which he took immediately. “Such a gentleman,” Samantha said, smiling in a way that looked like more than just a friendly ‘thank you.’ 

After Riley paid, they stepped out onto the street, and even though he really wouldn’t have described himself as impulsive, he also didn’t want the night end just yet. He was feeling things for this woman, and he didn’t want to say goodnight to her just yet. “I don’t know what you have going on tomorrow.”

“Nothing, really. I do a lot of freelance consulting for interior design companies, so I kind of make my own hours.”

“Oh, that’s cool; it just occurred to me that I didn’t know what you did for a living.”

“That’s cause we’ve known each other for about two minutes.”

“Don’t devalue our relationship like that. It’s been at least five minutes, and I could tell how into me you were right from the jump.”

“Oh, really?”

“Oh, come on! The way you kept flirting with me in that coffee line. You might as well have stripped naked and told me to come get some.”

“I was thinking of doing that, actually, but I didn’t want to embarrass you.”

“Me? Why would I have been embarrassed?”

“Cause I can tell you can’t handle assertive women who know what they want.”

“Shots fired. Wow. And just so you know, I can handle assertive women just fine. No problems there.”

“Oh yeah?” Samantha reached up, grabbed his face, pulled him in, and kissed him. Riley went with it because he was taken by surprise, but at first he forgot to move his lips. “You can kiss me back, you know,” she said, pulling away for the quickest of seconds. He wrapped his arm around her waist and did exactly that, kissing her back passionately. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He wasn’t so much freaked out that she had kissed him, as he was turned on. It felt so natural that after about two seconds he stopped thinking altogether and just went with it. 

“You’re really good at that,” he said. “Like, really good.”

“Thank you. You too.” She licked her lips, and for a second he forgot that they were standing on the street in front of a restaurant. He was really turned on but this wasn’t the place to take things further than he had. 

“Do you want to grab a drink? There has to be a bar around here somewhere, right?”

“I’m sure there are a hundred bars around here. And I’d love to.”

The next two hours were pure magic. The horrors of the case and the stress of the day melted away when he was with her. For those few hours there was no serial killer, no cops, no victims, there was only that one thing he’d been missing in his life—a great time with a great woman. She wasn’t nuts, or a drunk, or some random hook up, she was a great person who he was starting to get to know better. They found a bar, had a nightcap, and enjoyed each other’s company until it was time to head back. They caught the 11:00 ferry together, and before helping get Samantha an Uber, Riley kissed her one last time.

“What was that one for?” she asked.

“For the best time I’ve had in a long time. Maybe best first date of all time.”

“Awww,” she said. “You’re sweet.”

“Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Your secret’s safe with me.”

He kissed her one more time and it was epic. His whole body lit up with excitement, and as he watched her get into the car and drive off into the night he whispered to the air, “I can’t wait for our next date, Samantha. I really can’t.”