Date Night

“I can't even!”

It was Friday afternoon, just hours after Poppy tried to convince Kadie to sign her as a client, and we were both sitting in my living room flipping through magazines. It was a struggle, but Adam and I were finally able to pull Kadie away.

Poppy was saying all the right things to Kadie, and Adam knew that if he left the two of them together for even a second something, that she'd later regret, would happen. So I insisted on having Kadie come back to my place for lunch, just until Adam was able to finish up his work and head back over to Kadie's office.

Neither one of us was even hungry. I was completely irritated with the situation while Kadie couldn't stop day dreaming about the possibilities.

“You can't even what, Lynn?” She closed her magazine and tossed it to the empty space on the couch next to her.

I looked up from the article I was reading and gave her a wide eyed look. “Deal with you right now!”

“Why don't you and Adam get it?...”

My phone vibrated as Kadie was talking. I ignored her while I read a text from Jonah.

Hey beautiful. I miss you.

He always knew how to put a smile on my face.

“What are you smiling at? Are you even listening to me?” Kadie asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you.” I waved my hand as my eyes were glued to the screen.

“Anyway, I was saying if Poppy was to bring on clients...”

I tuned her out again as I texted Jonah back.

Why don't you just quit your job so we can be together.

Right after you drop out of school.

Deal.

How bout I take you out to dinner tonight in the mean time?

Double Deal? Is that a thing?

Sho' is! I'll pick you up at 6! ;)

Did you really just say “sho' is?”

Dinner. Tonight. 6!

I looked up when I heard a violent grunting noise coming from Kadie. “You're so annoying.”

“Kadie, there's absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing, you could say to me to convince me that signing Poppy as a client is a good idea.”

Kadie leaned over, her elbows sat on her knees and her head in her hands, defeated. “I'm going to get my way, just watch!”

“I really hope you don't, K.” I sat up right, hoping my change in posture would some how make things clear to Kadie. “Poppy is obsessed with Adam. Why don't you see it? She's been after him since he stopped talking to her in college. She was was using you as leverage to bribe Adam into signing her as a client. After all of Adam's hard work to protect you from her, and you're considering signing her?Should I remind you who was the reason you and Adam took a “break” earlier this year?” Kadie sat quietly. “POPPY! All mangled roads lead to hell, and she just happens to be the gatekeeper.”

It took Kadie a second before she had a reaction. “I don't know what I'm doing” She covered her face with her hands.

I walked over and sat next to her. “It's okay, Kadie. You didn't do anything wrong. You're seeing the quick ride to success your company can have and it's hard to imagine doing it any other way. But, it can happen. Just not with Poppy being involved.”

She sighed heavily. “I guess” Her phone started ringing. It was Adam.

He was back at her office, so Kadie left to go meet him.

I spent the rest of my afternoon prepping for my hot date. Something was telling me I was going to get lucky.

Ten minutes after six and there was a knock on my door. I opened it to find Jonah looking more handsome than ever. He wore a fitted suit with a plaid button up shirt and oxford shoes. His hands were behind his back before he handed me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers.

I gasped. “These are beautiful! You shouldn't have!” I quickly snatched them from his hands and went into the kitchen to pull out a vase.

Jonah laughed. “No hello? No kiss?” He stood with his hands in his pocket as he watched me run around. I untied the paper wrapping from around the bouquet and dropped it back onto the counter to give Jonah a kiss.

“What do you have planned for tonight?” I asked.

“Well, you were craving sushi, so sushi it is!” He smiled as he held out his hand. I grabbed my clutch and we headed out.

Our cab stopped in front of a building that looked nothing like a restaurant and more like an office building. Jonah noticed the confused look on my face. “Trust me, it'll make sense in a second.”

“As long as there's food involved I'll be happy.”

I followed him into the building and onto the elevators. He pressed the button for the 25^th floor and our slow ride up began.

“Have you ever heard of Chef Harumi Kenichi?” Jonah asked. I shook my head. “She's one of the most successful chefs out of Japan. She single handedly raised the rating of each one of the restaurants she's worked for. Eventually she opened up 4 of the most popular sushi restaurants in the world. One is in Japan, one is in London, one is in L.A, and one” He paused for dramatic effect “is here.”

I knew exactly which restaurant he was referring to. It was one of those places where paparazzi would always snap pictures of A list celebrities coming out of.“Isn't that place impossible to get into? Don't you have to be on the wait list for, like, a year?”

Jonah shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, which is why we aren't going.”

“Jonah!” I slapped his arm with my clutch, but he swayed out of the way just in time. “What was the point of that story?”

“Because, I wanted to brief you on the woman who's about to teach us how to make sushi.”

“What?” I stood still as the elevator came to a stop.

He tugged at my arm. “Come on!” The door opened directly into a massive room with floor to ceiling windows on three of it's four walls. There were rows and rows of kitchen counters that went on the entire length of the room. We were obviously in a culinary classroom. A Japanese woman in a chef hat stood at the front of the room. It was also the only area in the room that was lit. Which made it that much more romantic with the twinkling lights of the New York City skyline around us.

Jonah quietly whispered as we approached the table. “She's a friend of the executive producer on my show. She was a frequent guest chef on the last show he was on. She came by to see him at my studio today. Apparently she's a sucker for romantics and couldn't say no when I asked for the favor.”

“What a sweet talker” I nudged him with my elbow. Jonah pretended to adjust an imaginary tie around his neck.

Chef Kenichi bowed her head as we approached.

“You must be Lynn” She held out her hand to shake. As she did she leaned in “You're a very lucky lady.”

I felt myself blush. I knew what she was saying was right. I couldn't believe Jonah had gone out of his way to make this happen. All because I was craving sushi.

Both of our schedules had been hectic the last few days. We hadn't seen much of each other and instead of taking me out on a regular quiet dinner, he made an activity out of it instead. He knew I loved moments like these. Moments that would be our memories to keep. I tried, but I couldn't think of a good enough reason that I deserved someone like him.

Jonah took off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Chef Kenichi taught us the basics of cooking sushi. I was in charge of the fishes and crab, while Jonah made the sauces. Chef Kenichi wasn't too shocked by Jonah's lack of skills and left him with the easy job. After everything was prepared she showed us how to properly roll the rice.

The time had flown by before we even knew it. Since Chef Kenichi was restricted on time we packed our sushi in boxes and headed over to Washington Square park. We sat on the lawn by the fountain as we ate.

“Can I just say” I tried to finish my last bite before I spoke. “That this is amazing. You're amazing.”

Jonah smiled. “I think the sauce is what really makes it taste so good, right?” We both laughed. “I'm glad you enjoyed it.”

I leaned over until we were shoulder to shoulder. “I really think you should stop spoiling me. It's going to turn into a bad habit.” I teased him as I grinned.

“I just” He sighed. “I just want to enjoy everything now before things get crazy. I want you to remember this and know how much I appreciate you. Know that no matter what happens I love you.”

“Jonah” I whispered as I wrapped my hand around his chin. “I love you.” I pulled his face towards mine and gave him a kiss.

Jonah rested his hand on my neck as we continued to make out. The more into it we got the lower his hand went. I pulled away from him and looked around. “Jonah, someone might see us.”

“Shh” He leaned in to kiss me again. “No one can see us.” His hand move down to my waist and pulled me in towards him.

“Let's go back to my place.”