Date Night

On Sunday night Heidi and I went up to Oakland to see Michael Franks in concert. We stopped for tapas and wine before and had a light snack after.

Heidi had e-mailed me her address. She lives in Los Altos Hills. For those of you who don’t know the silicon valley neighborhoods, this is where all the billionaires live. I thought she might live in an apartment complex. But she didn’t put an apartment number, and she referred to the place as her house.

I drove up to the address she gave me – and the place was amazing. I pulled up in front of a huge colonial style mansion on at least two acres, maybe three. I thought that there must be some mistake, but there she was, standing out in front, just like she said she would be.

OK, here’s the weird thing. The name on the mailbox in front of the house didn’t match her name. I can’t see why she would want me to think this was her house if it wasn’t. I was going to open the truck door for her, but she hoped in before I could get out. “Nice place.” I said.

“Thanks.”

“I bet you got a really good interest rate to afford it. Foreclosure sale?”

“Um, actually, it’s my parent’s house. I live in ze cottage out back.”

“Oh.” Lives with her parents. That’s a little scary. But the bay area is a really expensive place to live – if my folks had a place like that I’d probably stay there too.

We drove for a while and chatted about nothing, but the name on the mailbox thing was really bugging me. So I asked her.

“Oh, um, I vasn’t planning to tell you this until later, but, ahem, uh.” She was having trouble with this. “Um, eet’s my married name.”

“You’re married?” I almost swerved off the road.

“No. Vell, yes, I vas. Divorced. About 4 years now.”

“Oh. OK.”

The concert was great. There was only a small audience. Yoshi's is a great venue. Michael puts on a good show. I was glad to able to see it with someone. She doesn’t listen to Jazz, but she seemed to be enjoying the show.

After the concert we drove back to her house. We parked in the driveway and she led me back behind the house to a cottage near the pool. It is a two bedroom house with a small kitchen. Probably intended as a guest house or a pool house. Certainly adequate for a single person.

She unlocked the door and asked me if I would like to come in for a glass of wine. I accepted. I took a quick peek at the kitchen, and wondered if I could do a hollandaise from memory. She poured some wine, and we went outside and sat at a table by the pool. Yes, this really is a nice place.

We finished our wine. I followed her back into the cottage. She put her glass on the kitchen counter. I put my glass down and kissed her. She kissed back. We stood there in the dark kissing. Here’s where I didn’t know what to do. Do I try to make a move, or is it more gentlemanly to wait for a later date? Will I offend her if I just go home? Will I offend her if I make a move?

She was being rather encouraging. She did invite me back to her place and had me stay for a glass of wine. My mind wandered. My hands followed suit. I slowly went down to the small of her back. She seemed to moan, making an “mmmm” sound as we kissed. I reached down and caressed her bottom. Now she did moan. But it was not a good kind of moan – more of a “hey, what the hell are you doing, you jerk?” kind of moan – you know, an “ewww” type of moan. She quickly reached back and grabbed my hand and moved it up.

“Ve don’t know each other zat vell.” She said.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” How embarrassing. I guessed wrong. “Well, um, I wasn’t sure what you were expecting. You know sometimes… You see…” I was floundering. “Sometimes” I started again more slowly, “a gentleman needs to ask twice, just to make sure that the lady is not saying no just to be lady like.”

“No, tvice.” She said flatly. Mmmmkay.

“Oh, OK, no problem. I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Don’t Worry. Eet’s alright. No harm done.”

I kissed her again, but without the same enthusiasm. Oh well, the moment was gone.

“I had a wonderful time tonight.” I said.

“Me too.”

“Can we do it again?”

“I’d like that.”

“I hope I didn’t offend you with the, uh…”

“Rich, no, don’t worry about it - don't mention it again. We just need to get to know each other better.” She smiled at me.

“OK.”

I gave her a final kiss good night and drove home.