Just Another Silly Love Song - Rich Amooi Page 0,33
to me. “I have to admit, this is not how I visualized this meeting.”
I nodded. “You know . . . I think this is the first time all morning that I agree with you.”
Chapter Eleven
LORI
Surprisingly, Ben and I agreed almost immediately on a place to eat for lunch. No fussing, no fighting, no bickering. It was certainly a nice change of pace and a little bit odd, to be honest.
It just so happened that we were going to one of my favorite Italian places, Piazza 1909, located just down the street from where I ate with Grandma Joyce yesterday in downtown La Jolla.
When I arrived, Ben was already inside drinking a beer at a table, looking relaxed. He waved me over and watched me as I walked toward him, his eyes never leaving mine.
Maybe he was hoping he could distract me and make me trip.
Focus. Put one foot in front of the other.
Ben stood up when I arrived at the table, and I swear we had one of those moments where we didn’t know if we should shake hands, hug, or fist bump.
We did none of those things.
He surprisingly pulled out the chair for me. “Welcome, partner.”
I forced a phony smile and said through gritted teeth, “Thanks, partner.”
Something felt weird.
Honestly, it was hard to describe, but it almost felt like the first date jitters.
It was nuts, because I had no interest in dating this man.
After the waiter brought me the beer that I had ordered, Ben and I silently browsed the menu, trying to decide what to order.
I looked up from my menu and pointed at his. “Sorry to inform you that they don’t have pineapple pizza. I know how much you love it.”
“My day is ruined. Burger King then?” He grinned.
A few minutes later, the waiter returned. “Ready?”
We both nodded.
“Great.” The waiter turned to me. “What would you like?”
“I’ll have the lasagna.”
“Make that two lasagnas,” Ben added.
I held up a finger. “Oh, and some garlic bread.”
“You got it.” The waiter took the menus from us and walked away.
I gestured to Ben’s beer. “You drink beer with Italian food.”
He eyed my bottle. “You do, too. Odd, isn’t it?”
I glanced around at the other diners in the restaurant, almost all of them drinking wine. “Yeah. Weird.”
“And we both ordered lasagna.” He chuckled.
I took a swig of my beer and set the bottle down. “True. Just don’t order the tiramisu for dessert or I’ll get all wigged out.”
“I always order the tiramisu.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
I nodded, surprised. “Go figure—you have good taste in food. I guess I’ve already learned something new about you. Am I supposed to be taking notes?”
“Not necessary.” He smirked. “I will be happy to remind you of all of my positive qualities.”
I laughed. “You really are full of yourself.”
“Confident.”
“And I still think you’re way too harsh with the listeners.”
“Direct.” He took another sip of his beer. “Come on, you know men are stubborn and hard-headed. I told you before, it takes a lot to get through to them. My approach breaks through the crud and gives them a wakeup call.”
“Why are you talking about them in the third person, like you’re not a member of the male species?”
He leaned back, confident. “I’d like to think that I’m not like other men.”
I laughed. “Have I mentioned you’re full of yourself recently?”
“As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure it was only a minute ago. And I have a feeling it won’t be the last time.” He smiled. “But you play it safe.”
“How’s that?”
He leaned forward. “Haven’t you ever wanted to tell someone something different than what actually came out of your mouth?”
I was honest with him. “Sometimes.”
“And why don’t you?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess there’s enough negativity in the world and I don’t want to contribute to it.”
Ben nodded. “Ahhhhh, but can the truth really be that negative?”
I set my bottle down. “I’ll give you a good example. One thousand people just died when a boat capsized off the coast of California. Here you have an example of the truth, but it’s also negative.”
Ben shook his head. “I disagree. That’s just sad.”
“Sad is a negative emotion, is it not?”
“Not as negative as if all those people were poisoned by a pirate and then tossed, one by one, into the shark-infested waters where they were later eaten limb-by-limb while being forced to listen to Celine Dion songs.”
I laughed. “Okay, now you’re scaring me.” I was abnormally surprised by my real and sincere laughter. When had he become slightly amusing to me?