CHAPTER TWO
“Oh, and it’s from Germany. Did you know Scharzhofberger have been known for their wine since the 1300’s?”
There is a momentary pause as Max takes another sip of the Reisling. The sound of him smacking his tongue against the roof of his mouth breaks the temporary silence.
“It’s truly profound,” he begins again with a nod of his head and wag of his finger, “and there is just the right amount of sweet.”
He glances at the ceiling as he says this last part. Jewel can only imagine it’s because his world is so boring that he hallucinates objects into existence for his own entertainment. That is what Jewel feels like doing right now, if only to distract herself from him. Sadly, Jewel doesn’t even find him that attractive, so she can’t focus on finding his appeal. He’s a blond man with thin hair, a bony facial structure, and pretty slight stature. His posture is pretty bad. Even the slightest lean forward looks like a slouch.
“You really like the wine, huh? It’s too sweet for me, I’m more of a beer girl, actually.” Jewel drops the hint, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
This date is slowly driving me insane…
Max’s voice fades into the background once again as Jewel groans to herself. This isn’t the first of his long-winded rants that Jewel has sat through tonight. The first one was about some food the restaurant has on the menu. Something about how it’s been a long-standing tradition for some culture that does this or that and the restaurant owner’s family came from there. Jewel doesn’t really listen to him as he goes on and on about it. Instead, while he’s rambling, she secretly wishes for a beer to magically appear in front of her, or a waiter to bring one by mistake, anything.
I still need a beer. Any beer will work!
With Max intently focused on the wine he hasn’t noticed that Jewel has been staring off into the distance, looking at other diners, imagining bludgeoning him to death, and on occasion trying to summon something to drink. Her hand is rested against her cheek, pushing it up slightly. She nods on occasion as if she is actually listening to him, though it may be a bit outlandish because she doubts anyone would really want to listen to his inane drivel.
Face it, Jewel. You gave up on this guy before you even met him. You’re such a bitch. But how long has been droning on about the wine anyway? As she complains to herself, she accidentally lets out an audible sigh.
“Erm. Excuse me.” Jewel says as she stands up.
Max stands too.
“I’m going to go to the ladies’ room.” With that, she departs with a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness.” She mutters as she enters the bathroom. When she stands in front of the mirror she can’t resist the urge to look at her outfit. She chose a one shoulder, shimmering light-blue blouse. She added a curve-complementing, fading blue skirt to match, with a slit up the left side.
“How can he be so caught up in wine with such a fine-looking lady across from him?” she asks herself disdainfully.
Slowly, she turns around in the mirror to look herself over. “I wonder how often he gets opportunities like this.”
In the midst of admiring her outfit, her phone vibrates. She pulls it out of her purse to take a look. It’s her friend Alyssa.
“Hey girrrl! Going to a concert. Got an extra ticket. Wanna come?” Alyssa asks.
Jewel thinks a silent Thank God! before responding, “Definitely!”
She turns around, checking herself over in the mirror before leaving the restroom.
“There’s no point wasting any time. I gotta get out of here,” she exclaims to herself.
With grace and poise she returns to the table to rush the date along toward its inevitable conclusion. She tells Max something came up and she’s got to leave a little early. They eat quickly without much more conversation. Jewel feels bad for ending the date so awkwardly, but doesn’t see a better option. After saying goodbye and exiting the restaurant, she takes a glance back at her date to see him daydreaming about something, his hands moving around, drawing invisible things in the air.
“Optometrist? What was I thinking?” she asks herself, a bit appalled at her own choice in following through with the blind date. At the curb, Jewel flags down a cab and climbs in. She dials Alyssa’s number and waits for her to pick up.
“Hey Alyssa. I’m on my way now.”
“Ok! I guess you don’t need a ride.”
“Yeah, I drove, so I’ll meet you there. That man was beyond boring. All he talked about was the fish and the wine. Can you believe that? He just droned on and on about how it tasted, or was made, or where it came from.” Jewel responds.
“Jewel, I could have told you how this date was going to go! He doesn’t sound like your type.”
“I know, totally. I don’t know how Cathy thought she should set me up with him. It was the most boring date ever. EVER! And that’s saying something.”
“Well, it’s all over now. I can’t wait to see you! Seven Ravens is playing tonight, have you heard of them?” Alyssa asks enthusiastically.
“No. I’ve never heard of them. Seven Ravens? Nope. Oh, but Ash Steele… that name… it sounds familiar. I’ve heard it somewhere. Oh my... he was that hottie on American Voice! Ha. I had a huge crush on him.”
“Oh, really? I had no idea! Maybe we’re in for a treat, then.”
“Yeah. He made it onto American Voice for his music. He wasn’t one of the winners though, which was kind of sad. He had a personality. It showed on the stage too, mmm. Everyone seemed to like it.”
“That’s too bad, at least he’s still singing and didn’t give up.”
“Yeah, but actually, after that show he disappeared. There were a few stories about him in the news, said he was getting into drugs or something like that. He got arrested a few times. Guess he finally made it back to music. A guy like that...”
Jewel cuts herself off. “...is someone I need to stay away from.”
“Oh please, Jewel! You said you had a crush on him! You should try and meet him tonight.”
“What? No, I’m no longer dating musicians, remember? He’s the exact opposite of what I’m looking for.” Jewel pauses to consider if she meant what she said.
“Hey, I’m almost there. I’ll talk to you in a few.”