Wooing The Ex-Wife

Chapter 28: The Date

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't 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.