"Right this way please," the maitre'd said as he ushered the two of them into the dining room.

The two story ceiling loomed overhead as a wide, bright chandelier sparkled in the center of the room. As they followed along to their table Ulf admired Frida's form, her black dress clung tightly around her midsection then opened to reveal her pale skin between her shoulder blades. Her hair was up in a clip that matched her earrings and accent color on her dress. Her ability to tie in the various parts of her outfit with the others, always impressed him and brought a smile to his face.

The maitre'd pulled a chair out and motioned to Frida with a slight bow, "Ma'am."

"Thank you," she replied as she sat down gently. She looked over to find Ulf grinning at her from across the table. "What's got you grinning?"

"As soon as we walked in, it reminded me of the last time we went out for a fancy dinner. We left that night having formed a hypothesis that if there's a large chandelier in the dining room, the maitre'd is almost guaranteed to take my job and pull the seat out for you. So far now we're 2/2 on that...looking forward to testing that theory for as long as the gods allow us," Ulf replied, smiling gently and looking directly at her the entire time.

Her grin grew and she looked down at the table as their waiter appeared with menus and a bottle of wine.

"The Chardonnay you requested, sir," the waiter said with a slight bow.

"Thank you sir! We'll take care of the bottle service as we look over the menus," Ulf replied as he leaned forward to pour Frida a glass of wine. As their waiter walked off, Ulf continued, "I see you looking at me wondering what the deal is with the surprise wine bottle delivery. Do you remember when we first met last spring on that winery tour and by the end of it we left as sort of a couple?" As he finished the sentence, Ulf set the bottle down to show her the label.

"From the winery on the shore?? You sly dog, you!"

"Fairly certain we agreed it was probably the best wine we've ever had, so I figured we oughta take another run at that theory now that we're so cultured in the ways of wine together," he ended on a chuckle. "There's at least a decent chance it tasted so good because it was our last stop on the tour and we were both a bit bubbly by then."

"I will say that even while sober as most judges, my first sip was incredible and I think I've reached the same conclusion," she said. Her quiet voice filling his head with the magical power of an angel. A room with so much background noise, other couples talking about this, that, and the other thing, kitchen sounds in the distance, etc....for Ulf, that all went completely silent when she spoke, and the volume of her voice was almost never loud. It was the closest thing he'd ever felt to someone's voice being the equivalent of cutting edge noise cancelling headphones directly into his ears. To him, she represented every bit of her namesake..."Peace".

He paused, smiling and staring at her in reflection for many seconds before speaking. "We best take a look at these menus and get our order in, Chipmunk. Got some business to discuss and there's no need to have the waiter stop in in the middle of it. Something we've discussed a tad in the past, but I'd like to continue the discussion in a real way tonight. Now let's look at all this food I can't pronounce and continue post meal selection."

"What all are you playing at here?" she asked, almost sounding annoyed.

"Not a marriage proposal! Sorry if I scared you with the lead up there....I know we're both squarely committed to not getting married. It does involved a commitment nonetheless. A serious one. On both our parts. But that's all I can say for now," he grinned in a smiling, happy way. "Now....let's see if the waiter keeps a straight face when I order the Bouillabaisse."

End Part 1

Thank you to anyone who took the time to read. Happy to receive any feedback (good or bad) but I'm mostly just exploring the genre of writing and seeing where my brain takes it. Don't hesitate to shine, whether your light is extra bright or feeling dimmer. The world needs all the light it can get. Much love 🤍