“About that date?”

In 3 parts, by Member389. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.

 

School

went quickly, with nobody lingering on a Friday and Ellie got a ride to

work. She thought about what the specials had been today and decided to

whip up something special for Luke. It wasn't easy on a Friday night,

it was pretty busy, but the regular clientele dropped off quickly after

dinner, knowing that the café closed at 8. A couple tables sported

coffee sipping hipsters but for the most part the place had cleared out

by then. Ellie had whipped up a little dish for them to share while she

cleaned up the kitchen.

"Damn."

Came a voice through the little window. Jody, one of the servers had

whispered loud enough to be heard. "He's hot." Ellie popped her head up

and scanned where Jody was looking and saw look scanning back and forth.

She grinned ear to ear.

"Back

off, he's already taken." She said softly, but with a little edge of

threat in her voice. He may not be taken yet, but she didn't need any

competition from the bubbly little server. "Can you sit him over at the

chef's table.

Jody chuckled. "Some chef's table, it's just the table nearest the kitchen door. What's his name?"

"His name is Luke, and be nice, I have a large selection of cutlery at hand, and I know how to use it."

Jody

walked over and introduced herself. Saying that Ellie had told her she

had a friend stopping by. "She said a dark eyed handsome stranger was

coming to pick her up. I told her to snap out of it, Prince Charming

isn't real. Then you have to go and prove me wrong." She smiled, and

steered him over to the table against the wall near the kitchen, and

fawned over him for a moment and got him a drink. Ellie made sure

nothing was burning and wiped her hands on her apron and snuck out of

the kitchen.

A

smile spread across Luke's face when he saw her, which warmed her

heart. She walked over and he stood up, such a gentleman she thought.

She couldn't help herself and walked right up to him and kissed him

softly. At first he seemed surprised but he didn't take long to return

it.

"Hi." She said drawing it out. "Are you hungry?"

"You mentioned dinner, so I haven't eaten since lunch." He grinned.

"Good,

park it, and I'll go whip it up." She winked at him and turned and

wiggled back into the kitchen. Her ponytail danced back and forth as she

peeked over her shoulder to make sure he was watching. She put herself

into work mode and started pulling ingredients together. When in work

mode Ellie was a sight to behold, like a kitchen ninja she got more done

with fewer moves than anybody else in the café.

What

seemed like only a few minutes later she walked out of the kitchen with

two plates of seared scallops and linguine, setting one down in front

of Luke and the other across from him.

"One

second." She said as she reached down and pulled the apron string

sliding it off her waist. She unbuttoned the chef's coat she wore and

dodged back into the kitchen to hang them up.

She

sat down and they began. Ellie peeking up to see if Luke was enjoying

it. The speed with which he was eating told her what she wanted to know.

"I

should have asked you if there was anything you didn't like. I didn't

even think of that beforehand. Seafood can be touchy for some people.

Hell I didn't even think to ask if you were allergic." She said getting

frustrated with herself.

"No,

it's delicious!" He was being completely genuine. He saw her getting

upset and reached across the table to take her hand and rubbed the back

of it with is thumb. "I love seafood. My family used to go out to the

beach in the summer;” He trailed off, his expression softened.

It

was Ellie's turn to comfort, and she took his hand firmly in hers.

"Tell me about it. I bet you had a blast." Luke went on to tell her

about a trip to the beach they'd taken years earlier and he and his dad

had gone fishing and he caught a striper that nearly hauled him

overboard. He went from excited to wistful. She knew he was thinking

about his mother, his dad had told her the previous week, and

sympathized with him.

"I

baked a small batch of cookies when I got here. Want to try one?

They're sort of an experiment, but I think they came out pretty good."

Never one to pass up a cookie he smiled and nodded.

"That's

what I love about working here. I get indulge my creativity, and if

things work out sometimes it makes it on the specials board." She said

setting down the frosted lemon sugar cookies. They talked for a while

longer and a loud scrape of a chair pulled them out of their reverie.

Jody had been sweeping and Ellie noticed the time. They had closed

nearly half an hour before.

"Oh my god. I'm sorry Jody. I lost track of time." Ellie hopped up and started clearing the table.

"No

worries hon. I can see why. You just need to clean up that and we're

out of here. I'd ask if you need a ride home, but I think I already know

the answer to that." She chuckled.

Ellie

wiped down the table and Luke helped out by flipping the last few

chairs up onto the tables so Jodie could finish sweeping. He waited in

the front while the girls finished up in the back. He looked out the

window at the darkened street, the old style street lamps lending small

town charm to the night. They came out of the kitchen whispering between

themselves.

"You're sure you don't need a ride? This one looks a little dangerous." Jodi said laughing.

"I'm fine, besides he knows where I live, he's my landlord." Ellie grinned.

"I

wasn't talking to you, I'm worried for him." They all got a chuckle out

of that as they locked up and made their way to their cars. Luke opened

up the door and held it for Ellie, these small gestures went over much

bigger than he realized.