It was 6:30pm. Perry Mason parked in a parking lot and he and Della Street got out of the car. Steps led down to a beach. They walked down them and walked over towards the surf.
"Excuse me a moment, Perry." She slipped her shoes off. "I love walking barefoot in the surf! You should do it, too."
He smiled. "Good idea, Della!" He slipped off his shoes and socks and rolled up his pants legs.
Barefooted, they walked in the water.
"You're right, this feels very nice, barefooted!"
She smiled. "You should listen to your Aunt Della!"
"I try to!"
She then grew serious. "Perry, this is one of the most expensive restaurants in the area. If you—"
"I know what you're going to say, Della. Price is no object! If you want to get a $50 bottle of champaign and a $20 lobster, that's fine with me!"
"Ok, just making sure!"
They continued walking. The tide came in while they walked, so they walked closer to the shore.
"Perry, I have a question: When did you first realize that you were in love with me?"
"Good question. I'll have to think about that, a bit." He grew silent. "Why don't you answer that question first."
"All right! Remember the time you asked me to work two hours overtime?"
"That was a lot of times!"
"True! But this time, you offered to take me to dinner afterwards, as a 'reward' for it."
"That made you fall in love with me?"
"It wasn't so much that; it was your expression that did it. You were genuinely upset about forcing me to stay longer on a Friday night."
"Oh, yes, I remember it now. We went to Sebastian's."
"You have a good memory, Perry."
"I'm a lawyer, remember!"
"True!"
"Ok, what about you?"
"Ironically, I was going to say it was same time."
"Really?"
"I could see how hurt you were about my demand. I didn't want to take it back because I really needed you to be there with me. So, I felt that offering to take you to dinner maybe would be a good… 'reimbursement.' And yes, that did make me start to develop romantic feelings towards you. But to be honest, I did try to fight it, for a while."
"Because we are lawyer/secretary."
"Yes, that's correct."
"Well, I must admit I also tried to fight it for a while, too. But you know, sometimes it's better to not fight those feelings."
"You're right, Della. And also, I spent so many years trying to be the best lawyer I could be—I guess I felt I didn't have time for romance."
"Very true."
They kissed.
Suddenly, a big wave came along, soaking the bottoms of their clothes.
"Guess we should head back, now."
Something really upset Della. "PERRY!"
'What is it?"
"Our shoes!"
"Oh, my gosh!"
They ran back to where they had taken off their shoes—but they weren't there; the tide had now come up to where they were! They frantically searched for them, even wading out into the surf. But they couldn't find them, so they eventually gave up.
"We should've carried our shoes," said Della.
"That's a moot issue, Della! We could go to a shoe store and buy two new pairs. Our we could go back to our hotel and put some on."
She looked at her watch. "Perry, it's 6:55; our reservation is for 7:00!"
"Oh, yeah! Well, let's go on to the restaurant. Worse comes to worse, they'll ask us to come back later."
"Ok, Perry."
They started back to the car. As they got in, he stared at her for a bit.
"You look kinda cute, barefooted!"
She smiled. "Thanks, Perry! I hope the maître d' also thinks so!"
They made it to the restaurant at 7:03pm. The maître d' met them. "Hello, how may I help you?"
"Hi. I have a 7:00 reservation."
"Ah, you must be Perry Mason and Della Street."
"Yes, that's correct. Now, before we continue, I sure you've noticed that we are both barefooted. I assure you, this wasn't planned. You see, before coming here, we took a walk on the beach near to your restaurant, and we took our shoes off, at first. Unfortunately, the tide washed our shoes away, and we didn't have time to get new ones. If our bare feet are a violation of your rules, we can leave now and postpone our reservation until 7:30, if that's ok with you. Or perhaps even 8:00."
He smiled. "Mr. Mason, do not worry about that! We do not wish to upset a guest with a reputation such as yours. Therefore, you may still have dinner with us, despite your lack of shoes! And I have a nice quiet area for the two of you, away from most of the other guests."
"Why, thank you, sir."
He pulled out his wallet and offered a $20 bill, but the maître d' waived it away. "That will not be necessary, Mr. Mason. Follow me, and have a nice meal!"
"Perhaps you'll accept this," said Della. She then kissed him on the cheek!
He smiled again. "Now, that I'll accept!"
He led them to a booth that was in a quiet area of the restaurant. They sat down. He gave them menus and left.
"Well, I must admit this is a first!" Perry said.
She smiled. "I kinda like it."
"You do?"
"It seems to be more relaxing. They should open a special restaurant where the guests are required to be barefooted!"
He smiled. "Good idea! I can check on the legality of that!"
"You do that!" She began rubbing his leg with her left foot. "That was a one of your best ever summations, Perry!"
He smiled. "Thank you, Della!"
