I check my watch for the 9th time.

9:05.

I check my phone again and go through the messages I've exchanged with Anna this afternoon. And it checks out: 9pm at Daniel, on the Upper East Side.

I picked out this restaurant because I've hired chef and owner of this restaurant, Daniel Boulud, for a party at my house once and every since that party, he's been asking me to dine at one of his restaurants in New York City, but I've been waiting for someone special to join me and… I finally found her.

I check again, 9:08 and when I look up, I see the hostess and Anna right behind her. She looks both amazing and amazed.

"Right here, ma'am" the hostess shows Anna her seat, but I stand up to greet her.

"Thank you." I thank the hostess, who excuses herself, and then I look at Anna "You look absolutely amazing!"

"Are you freaking kidding me?" she whispers in an angry tone of voice "Daniel? Freaking Daniel?" I don't understand why she's so mad, so I just look at her puzzled "I thought you meant someplace else, some other Daniel restaurant in NYC, but I typed in the address you gave me and realized, a little too late by the way, because I had just left the shower, it was freaking Daniel Boulud's restaurant and I didn't have anything to wear to come here!"

I look at her incredulous. She's kidding me, right? I look her up and down and she looks stunning! She is wearing a very classic, very poised little black dress that hugs her curves in all the right places.

"But you look absolutely sensational in that dress."

"Last time I wore this was to my aunt's funeral 6 years ago!" she sounds furious but I just can't handle it and burst out laughing "Seth!" she says through her teeth, embarrassed because everyone seems to be looking at us, well, at me for laughing so loud "Seth, please, stop it, the whole restaurant is looking at you. Sit down!" she pretty much pulls me down to my seat.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I realize I'm actually crying from laughing so hard. I take a deep breath, manage to control myself and smile at her. My smile almost fades away at the look of her serious face "I'm so sorry, but… everything… just amazing!"

"I'm glad you find this situation amusing, because I don't!"

"Come on, Anna. Put yourself in my shoes. It is amusing. You can see it, right?" it takes her 2 seconds and she smiles lightly.

"Maybe." she shrugs.

"But you do look absolutely sensational!"

"I know. This dress got me the number of 3 guys at my aunt's funeral." I laugh again, but not so loud "Seriously, Seth, this is a Michelin and James Beard Award winning restaurant, a heads up would have been nice!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I think I may have heard those terms zapping through food shows, but that's about it."

"Then why would you choose this place, then?"

"The chef has catered for a party at my house once."

"What?" she says a little too loud and a few heads turn our way.

"Daniel has catered for a party I through last year at my house."

"I'm sorry, but a chef like Daniel Boulud doesn't cater a party! He cooks private dinners! He doesn't cater!" she sounds a little offended.

"Sorry, I clearly don't know how to use the right terms of your world, I didn't mean to offend you… Nor chef Daniel…"

"That's ok…" she takes a deep breath "I'm sorry I'm exasperated, it's just too much to handle at once: you showing up out of the blue, asking me to have dinner with you in a two-star Michelin restaurant… Too much going in a 8-hour window…"

"I know and I'm sorry. But I need you to know how happy I am that you agreed on doing this. Thank you so much." I touch her hand over the table and smile at her. She smiles back and my heart jumps. This girl has powers over me and I don't even know how to explain them.

"Good evening. My name is Joel and I'll be your server tonight. Here are the menus and I'll be right back to take your order."

"Thank you." Anna and I say in unison as the polite waiter hands us the menus and leaves our table.

I look over at Anna and her eyes are just glued to the menu, she's eating it all up and the sight makes me smile. I'm glad I decided to come here; it clearly makes her happy to be in an awarded restaurant. Note taken. She goes over the pages, back and forth. I just watch her. I love watching her.

"So, are you guys ready to order?" Joel approaches our table again and I realize I didn't even open my menu.

"I'm sorry, I can't decide!" Anna looks overwhelmed.

"What do you recommend, Joel?" I ask our courteous server.

"Well, sir, if you would like a starter, I highly recommend our foie gras, we'll have it finished for you at your table and…"

"Yes! I want that!" Anna sounded a little too excited. I smile and carry on.

"You heard the lady, we'll definitely have that."

"Perfect. And for your main course?"

"I'll have the lamb." she smiles and hands Joel her menu.

"Great choice, ma'am. And you, sir?"

I open the menu for the first time and just go with the first thing I read.

"I'll have the Wagyu Beef."

"And how would you like that cooked, sir?"

"Medium rare, please."

"Perfect. And would you like a glass of the House Red Wine to go with that?"

"Yes, we would." I answer for both of us.

"Perfect. I'll be right back with your wine."

"Thank you." Anna thanks him as he leaves our side.

"So, you seem excited about dinner!"

"I am, Seth, thank you so much. I've been meaning to come here for a while now, but New York has too many great restaurants and my pockets are not that deep, so I have to do my homework of going to a Michelin star restaurant just once every two months. So thank you for crossing this one off of my list."

"My pleasure."

Anna looks around the room and Joel returns with our wine.

"There you go, guys. Enjoy!"

"To a fresh start." I raise my glass to Anna.

It takes her a while, but she picks up her glass and joins me.

"To a fresh start."

We both take a sip and I start saying what I came here for.

"So, I just want to start by apologizing for being so stupid and not coming clean right there and then. I should have told you what you heard was not the entire conversation I was having with myself, as stupid as it may sound, and that you heard just the part that I was trying to fool myself into thinking I could just forget about you."

"To be fair, I didn't give you the chance to apologize…"

"But still, I should have insisted. Maybe then we wouldn't have lost these 3 months and… Ok, I'm not gonna mull over this. What I want is for you to know what I actually said that morning." I take a deep breath and look at her. She's holding on to her breath and so I hold her hand over the table and carry on "It's actually pretty cliché and I wish I had a better story to tell you, but, sorry, I don't… So, a long time ago, I had my heart broken. Since then, I've put up a wall and just had meaningless relationships. Told you, total cliché." I roll my eyes at my myself, embarrassed at how lame I am "That wall was pretty damn strong, until you came along. And you were able to just destroy that wall within hours and it freaked me out! I was not ready to live outside that wall, so a part of me was happy you were leaving because it meant I didn't have to deal with the feelings that came with living outside it. That wall had been there for so long I thought I wouldn't be strong enough to live without it. These past 3 months actually made me realized what I'm not strong enough to live without is you…"

There. Poured my heart out.

Anna is staring at me. She's not saying a word. Not even moving her lips. Just staring at me. And then, almost as in slow motion, her mouth opens and she speaks.

"Seth, I…" and right there her voice is interrupted by another one.

"Sir, ma'am, my name is Antoine and I'll be preparing your Foie Gras."