I punch the address into his truck's GPS and glance up at him. He's a little skeptical, but willing. It will be hard to top the cemetery, never thought I'd say that, but I think he'll get a kick out of this. "Can I look yet?" he asks impatiently.
"I didn't say you couldn't!" I remind him.
"Pretty sure you did," he tells me.
"Pretty sure I didn't," I laugh.
He chuckles and puts the car in drive. "So lunch before? After? Anywhere in particular you want to go?" He bombards me with questions.
"Let's eat soon, I'm starving." I'm already digging into the peanut butter cups he bought. Sidney looks at me and breaks into a fit of giggles. "What?" He doesn't stop. "Why are you laughing?" Please don't let me be covered in chocolate!
"Enjoying my snack?" Oh God, he bought this for himself, not for me.
"I am, thank you," I reply matter-of-factly. "Would you like some?"
He shakes his head no, but says "Yes."
"Which is it?"
"Huh?" he's confused.
"Well you shook 'no', but said 'yes'," I explain. Seriously, if he wants in on this he'd better let me know soon.
"I was shaking my head at you! And yes, I want one."
I know I'm blushing, but I don't care anymore. I really like this guy. I take the last peanut butter cup from the sleeve and hold it to his mouth. He grins and takes it all in one bite. His lips brush against my fingertips and my heart skips a beat. That's almost a kiss. Well, kind of.
"Thank you for sharing," he teases with his mouth full.
"Anytime."
"So, lunch. Where do you want to go?" He stretches his arm round my headrest. I love when a man does that.
"I don't know, I haven't really been to Pittsburgh before." Okay, I should tell him how fussy I am. There's no way he'll remember and it will just make him feel badly.
"Someplace that isn't big on meat or cheese," he grins at me. I've underestimated him. "There's a little dim-sum place, and it's mostly vegetarian. I haven't been, but I've heard good things."
"Sounds good." There's a pause in the conversation and I consider my next question. He seems relaxed, and I don't want to spoil that, but... "Do you get swarmed wherever you go?" Fair question, especially if we're going to be spending time together.
His mouth twists like he's thinking really hard. "It depends," he starts. Good, he's not annoyed. "Certain places are kind of, well, it's almost like they're off-limits to me. It would be hard to hit a bar that doesn't have a VIP section. Certain restaurants are really good about giving private tables, others announce you're there to kind of pump their business."
"Movies?" That could be a deal-breaker.
"Tough, but not impossible. It depends on the city too. Pittsburgh is tough, and it's hard to be anonymous in Canada, especially since the Olympics, but you get used to it and figure out what works."
Olympics? I should have taken Carter's suggestion and googled him.
"Wow, you were in the Olympics? That's amazing." I must be the most ego-deflating woman he's ever met. He doesn't seem to mind though.
"Yeah, it was a great experience." Now that's PR coaching if I've ever heard it.
"Yeah, and that was a great stock answer," I tease.
He blushes and takes a deep breath. "It's hard to turn it off sometimes," he explains.
"So how did you do?" I don't need to play dumb, I'm actually really stupid about these things. Great.
"At the Olympics?" he looks at me with surprise all over his face. I nod twice and wait. A slow smile creeps across his face, "We won."
"Oh." I'm stunned. "Congratulations." I should just stop talking all together.
"Thanks, you're a few years late, but thanks" he chuckles. "Okay, you got one out of me, now tell me one of yours."
"One of my what?"
"Big moments. If I looked you up, what would I find out?" He pokes my shoulder as he says the last part. More casual touching!
"Oh don't make me answer that, it's so embarrassing!"
"No way," he pulls my hands away from my face, "I gave you one, so you owe me!"
"Well you can probably guess." I hate talking about this kind of thing.
"How big are we talking?" He looks delighted. He loves that I'm uncomfortable.
"It's up there." Don't make me say it.
"Yeah? Like Emmy? Grammy?" I burst out laughing. "What?"
"Grammys are for music." He laughs too.
"Right. So what are the big ones for screenwriters? Golden Globes?"
"That's pretty big, yeah." If I jump out of the car, what are my chances of survival?
"Hmm, but that's not it, is it?"
"That was pretty big for me! Are you kidding?" I hope this satisfies him.
A sneaky grin spreads across his face. "You're an Oscar-winner, aren't you?" I sit dead-silent. "Oh, I've figured you out. Come on, I'm right aren't I?"
He looks at me and I can't help but smirk when I see the gleeful look on his face. "Maybe."
"Say it!"
"You're right." Okay, can we let this torture end?
"No, say the whole thing. Say, 'I Kate, am an Oscar-winning writer.'"
"Absolutely not!" Oh, he's teasing.
Sid rubs my knee, almost like it's his way of asking me to forgive him for putting me through that. He give me a gentle squeeze and then leaves his hand there. Melting! "I thought you were kidding about the trophy case," he says quietly.
We stay like that for a few minutes until we pull into the restaurant parking lot. The place looks like a total dive.
"Uh, you sure about this?" Kind of don't want to get food-poisoning on a date.
"They say it's the best." He puts the truck in park and undoes his seat-belt. "We can go somewhere else if you..."
"Nope, if they say it's the best, it must be true." I climb out of the truck and slip my purse over my shoulder.
The restaurant is packed. That's a good sign. I look around and I wonder if we'll even get a table. Then it occurs me, he can probably get a table anywhere in the city. He makes his way to the hostess station and leans down to talk to the very petite Cantonese woman. She motions to the dining room and then points to her watch. Poor guy, she has no idea who he is. He steps back toward me and shrugs.
"Well apparently Sunday is a big day for dim sum and we're in for a wait. Where do you want to go?" He looks disappointed.
I sit down on the well-worn bench at the entrance and pick up the Sunday paper. "We can wait." I flip to the crossword and pull a pen from my purse. Relief floods his face and he takes a seat beside me. We start working through the Across clues, neither of us terribly skilled, which is especially embarrassing for me, a professional wordsmith, but somehow we're having fun.
We must have been there for at least fifteen minutes when the tiny woman walks up to us and pushes a menu into Sid's hands. "You order." She hands me a slip of paper and walks away.
"I guess we're ordering," he whispers playfully.
With neither of us knowing what's going to be good, we over-order. It's shameful really. When the woman returns to pick up the slip her eyes widen and she holds up two fingers and looks puzzled. Sid assures her it's just the two of us and she walks away shaking her head. Her disapproval has made us both a little bit giddy. A group of four is paying their bill, so we're waved into the dining room.
A few people look up, but no one seems to pay much attention to us. Maybe hockey isn't big in Cantonese culture? We've only been seated for a few minutes when a young guy comes to our table pushing a cart of food. Okay, I get her point. If people weren't paying attention to us before, they will be now.
"You up for this?" It's not a question as much as a challenge.
"Bring it on Sid."
Over an hour and countless dishes later, we're finally ready to throw in the towel. We gave it our best, but we just couldn't beat dim sum. Too much food for two people. Although Sid has quite the capacity to eat. About ten minutes in I gave up any pretense of being a lady, and just joined him in stuffing my face.
"Well we tried," he says, covering his plate with a napkin.
"I could go for a nap." Who knew eating could be so exhausting?
"Later, first I want to visit the mystery location." Later? Does he mean together? My heart starts racing. No, he couldn't have, I dismiss the though. The woman brings us the bill, shaking her head at us again. Before I can slap down my credit card, Sid tucks a few bills into the folder and hands it back to her. "You're gonna have to be faster than that Kate."
We make it to the studio in under ten minutes. That restaurant is dangerously close to work. Sid pulls up to the gate and rolls down his window. I hand him my security pass and he swipes the card. The gate swings open and we pull inside. I haven't been here yet, I've only seen photos of the sets.
Inside, it smells of sawdust, paint and glue. My nerves kick in for a second, but I'm more excited than anything. I turn on the overhead lights and the lead Sidney through the maze of hallways until we reach the actual stages. I search for a minute and find the lights and suddenly everything comes into view.
We're in the strategy room. "Whoa, this is amazing." He walks past me and starts examining the furniture and props that fill the set. He stops in front of the enormous map of Europe that stretches across the back wall. "You can tell this map is from 1941 because this is all Italy-controlled land." He points to territory that is all filled in blue. How does he know that?
"Okay, if you say so."
He grins back at me briefly, but quickly moves his attention back to the props.
"You can touch everything, just don't break anything," I encourage him. He's enjoying this way more than I expected.
"Seriously?" He looks at me incredulously.
"Go for it." That's all he needs to hear. He starts playing with switches, pressing buttons, turning dials. Nothing works of course, but he doesn't seem to mind. He picks up the time-period stationary and office supplies, examining the replicas carefully, admiring everything he touches. "There's more." He looks up, almost like he forgot he wasn't alone. He gives me a mega-watt smile.
"I want to see all of it." He's so cute!
We spend the better part of an hour walking through the sets and looking through the props and wardrobe departments. Most people would get a charge out of a set visit, but it's like a whole other level with him. He really appreciates this.
"Want to come to set one day? When we're actually filming, I mean." I ask and his eyes widen.
"Of course!"
It will look so much better filled with actors and actresses. Actresses. A pang of insecurity and jealousy strikes me. Some of the stars are very pretty, and I mean, they're celebrities. It's hard to compete. You don't have to compete.
"Ready?" I ask him quietly. I have a feeling he'd stay here all day if he could.
He nods and walks toward me and before I have a chance to react, he pulls me toward him and hugs me tight against his chest. "Thanks."
"Thank you." I emphasize. He really made this day great.
"I loved today." He kisses the top of my head (swoon!) and releases me, although I'm not really ready to go. "Let's get you home for that nap."
We're quiet on the drive home, but it's not uncomfortable. Sidney points out the occasional landmark, I tell him a little bit more about the storyline of the series. It's not until we're nearing closer to home that I get a little nervous.
It's late afternoon, so it's not like he'll need to walk me to my door. Do I lean over and kiss him as a thank-you? Just go with it. That's easier said than done for me.
He pulls into my driveway and puts the Range Rover in park. He climbs out and walks around to open my door. Such a gentleman. I take his hand and step out. He doesn't let go of my hand and I don't pull away.
"I'm so glad you phoned," he tells me.
I smile shyly. "You didn't give me much choice," I tease.
"No, I guess not. I had a great time today."
"Me too." Kiss me!
"I want to see you again. Soon." He squeezes my hand.
"You know where to find me." Kiss me!
"Have a good night Kate." I can't stand it. I lean in and press my lips against his. He takes a sharp breath and quickly reacts wrapping his free arm around my waist. He feels so so so good. Just when I think I'm about to faint, I pull back and flash him a wicked grin.
"Good night Sid." Oh, well done Kate!
I turn away and walk toward my house. I can hear he hasn't moved yet, maybe he hasn't quite recovered? I open the front door and turn to give him a little wave.
He has a huge smile on his face and is just starting back to his truck. He nods in my direction and I close the door, collapsing against it.
That was one hell of a first date!