Wooing The Ex-Wife

Liza looked at the place before her in amazement, as Steve glanced around uncomfortably, his smooth and slick mask melting away and being replaced by a man trying to impress the woman he liked. Steve had shown up at Liza's house with potted roses in his hands and a handsome smile on his face, sharp at 7:00. He was wearing black jeans with a forest green button-down, which somehow matched perfectly with the color of Liza's dress. His hair was messily styled and the way he presented the potted roses to Liza with a flourish, no one would have assumed that he was the author of a bestseller. Liza looked at him and her heart fluttered, not with excitement but with uneasiness, as to what was to come.

Liza had taken the flowers from him and had handed them to Melanie, who had gushed over how cute they look, effectively embarrassing Liza and making her feel like a sixteen-year-old teenager going to prom instead of a 28-year-old grown woman. Steve had opened the door with her, with a cheesy bow making her burst out in laughter and the uneasiness that Liza had felt slithered away making a place for a warm fuzzy feeling which Liza was yet to recognize. They drove in comfortable silence with occasional bursts of chatter and after an hour or so, they had finally arrived at their destination. Steve kept shifting his glance, tapping his foot looking every bit as nervous as he felt and Liza couldn't help but find it cute. Their destination was in a secluded part, a little way from the highway but still full of life. People called it 'Literature Lane', which could only be described as a festival of literature. There were huge banners of books and below those banners, people were enacting scenes from books or were reciting them, she also a book discussion group somewhere. The books were from almost all the genres, from classics to contemporary, philosophical to young adult, and by the way, Steve was avoiding a corner she suspected that there was erotica as well. The whole place was decorated with silver and blue fairy lights. Ornate lamps hung low from the rows of fairy lights which twisted and met each other to form a huge chandelier-like structure in the middle of the tent-shaped place. It felt like an otherworldly experience.

"Do you like it?" Steve asked nervously. "I love it" Liza replied honestly. Steve let out a sigh of relief before his nervousness vanished away and he returned to his true smart-ass self. "I knew that you would like it. Didn't I tell you that it would be the best date ever?" he asked with a smirk on his face. Liza rolled her eyes and retorted back "Hold your horses, Steve. We are just getting started with a date." and then both of them delved deep into the place called Literature Lane.

Liza and Steve roamed around till late at night, trying various foods based on books, clicking pictures with various characters, and even dressing up as one. Liza had laughed so much, that her insides hurt and she almost begged Steve from being his dorky self. She had always thought of Steve as a handsome author, who was playful at times but was always sophisticated, however, the date had completely changed her view of him and she wondered if she would ever be able to not see him as the man who dressed up as Rapunzel.

Currently, they were sitting at one of the many candlelit tables at a place in Literature Table called 'Orenjee' eating a variety of fancy dishes which were described as 'White asparagus with lavender infusion, dragon carrot risotto, Sweet Pea sorbet, Green Garlic Gnocchi with red mustard leaves and Cremeux with passion fruit.' Accompanying then was a bottle off wine and though Liza usually resisted Wine and all its near relatives, she loved the taste of this one. "The wine feels like bottled stars don't it?" Steve asked, hoping that Liza would catch on to his reference, after all the whole place was themed after it, from its lavish decor to the small pool beside it with fake elm trees, shedding seeds like pale rose petals.

Liza's eyes suddenly lit up as she caught on to Steve's reference and replied with mirth dancing in her eyes "It sure is. How did you find this place?" she asked. Steve coughed a bit and suddenly looked uncomfortable."I just found it" he replied. Liza narrowed her eyes and asked "Do you bring all your dates here?" she asked, her tone now holding a certain sharpness that tasted bitter on her tongue. Liza hadn' meant to sound sharp, nor had she wanted to pry into his dating life before her, however, her heart which had already suffered once, implored her to ask. Steve's eyes widened, "No, that's not it. I have never brought anyone here before you." he spoke in a rush. Liza felt guilty on seeing the rushed expression on Steve's face, he had done his best to make the date special and even though she wouldn't go as far as saying that she was ready to be in a relationship with him, she knew that she liked him as more than a friend. He made her laugh. did silly things with her and he even shared her passion for books. Not to mention that he looked like a runway model.

On all the previous dates that she had gone on with other men, Liza had always ended up comparing them to Jonathan but with Steve it was different. Jonathan hadn't even crossed her mind when she was with him. Liza looked at Steve's hand which was resting on the table between them she wondered if she would feel tingles on her skin, if she touched his, hesitantly she reached out and placed her left hand over his, Steve was shocked at the sudden touch but he welcomed the warmth which flowed between their skins. Liza squeezed his hand there were no tingles, no fire, just warm energy flowing between them. With soft light lighting their faces, she loved the tenderness of the moment. Liza leaned forward, over the table, and as the classical piece being played in the background ended dramatically, she placed a light peck on Steve's cheek, knowing that something was there, lying down patiently, waiting to be sparked.00000