Carissa.”
“Howdy stranger. I heard you were out of town. I didn’t have anybody to wrestle with.”
I laughed and heard Carissa laughing on the other end.
“Yeah, I was gone for a few days, but I’m back now. No more interruptions.”
“Good, because this Saturday night there’s a new restaurant opening. My friend, Kassidi got me a reservation for two. I wanted to know if you could join me.”
“Definitely, but what’s the dress code?”
“A shirt, jeans, and a big appetite. This is small town America. We don’t do too fancy too often. We like people just how they are.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Great, so I’ll pick you up at 8:45?”
“You know where I live?”
“From the gym. Your real home.”
We both laughed.
“Deal.”
“Great. I would say see you then, but I’ll see you at the gym before then, so I’ll just say see you soon.”
“See you soon.”
She hung up.
“Sounds like you’ve got a date.”
“Yeah, Carissa knows a new restaurant opening this weekend. Got us a reservation.”
“Botako’s?”
“Botak-what?”
“Botako? Is that the name of the place?”
“No clue. Didn’t ask.”
“It’s impossible to get reservations for that place. Opening night is invite only. I think there are going to be some big wigs there. Politicians, athletes, and such.”
“So I might have to use some covert measures to avoid the paparazzi?”
“No paparazzi in this town.”
“Music to my ears.”
Chapter 18
Botako’s was amazing. I was no culinary expert, but I knew what tasted good and this was amazing. Apparently the chef was from Naples, Italy and had met an American girl on holiday years ago and moved to the States. Now he was getting older and moved to our quieter town and wanted to pursue what would likely be his last business venture. Something from the heart. Something he could put his passion into.
His father ran a pizzeria in Naples, just by the port where you can take the boat to Capri. He had worked there and learned the business. More importantly he learned how to make amazing pasta and pizzas.
Being opening night, no expenses were spared. You could try all the different pizzas and pastas. I think we almost made it through them all. And that was after the bruschetta. After dinner we couldn’t resist the tiramisu, gelato, and Italian cookies. We left stuffed.
“Maybe we should go for a walk. Walk some of this off.”
“Good idea. The Chinese have a proverb about walking 1,000 steps after a meal. I think after this one we might need 10,000 steps.”
“I think I need a million!”
We both laughed.
We walked for a while and came upon a park with some trails.
“It looks spooky. We should try it out!”
“Good idea, partner. If we see any vampires what should we do?”
“Easy. Bite them before they bite us!”
“Does that work?”
“Probably not, but we can try.”
We continued with these goofy jokes down the path. It wasn’t spooky at all. The cedar chips beneath our feet felt perfect and the moonlight gave plenty of illumination. It was beyond a romantic evening.
“You never told me. How was your trip?”
“It was…informative.”
“Informative? Sounds like secret agent talk.”
“Maybe it is. Maybe I was sent here to this forest to remove your kidney for Bulgarian mafia testing purposes.”
“Oh no! Somebody save me.” Carissa started giggling right away. Then her face turned serious.
“But is everything OK?”
“Yeah, everything is OK.”
“OK, that’s all I need to hear.”
We walked and talked and joked for what seemed to be over two hours. We’d stop and sit on a bench for a minute to admire the stars, but mostly just walking. We
“Howdy stranger. I heard you were out of town. I didn’t have anybody to wrestle with.”
I laughed and heard Carissa laughing on the other end.
“Yeah, I was gone for a few days, but I’m back now. No more interruptions.”
“Good, because this Saturday night there’s a new restaurant opening. My friend, Kassidi got me a reservation for two. I wanted to know if you could join me.”
“Definitely, but what’s the dress code?”
“A shirt, jeans, and a big appetite. This is small town America. We don’t do too fancy too often. We like people just how they are.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Great, so I’ll pick you up at 8:45?”
“You know where I live?”
“From the gym. Your real home.”
We both laughed.
“Deal.”
“Great. I would say see you then, but I’ll see you at the gym before then, so I’ll just say see you soon.”
“See you soon.”
She hung up.
“Sounds like you’ve got a date.”
“Yeah, Carissa knows a new restaurant opening this weekend. Got us a reservation.”
“Botako’s?”
“Botak-what?”
“Botako? Is that the name of the place?”
“No clue. Didn’t ask.”
“It’s impossible to get reservations for that place. Opening night is invite only. I think there are going to be some big wigs there. Politicians, athletes, and such.”
“So I might have to use some covert measures to avoid the paparazzi?”
“No paparazzi in this town.”
“Music to my ears.”
Chapter 18
Botako’s was amazing. I was no culinary expert, but I knew what tasted good and this was amazing. Apparently the chef was from Naples, Italy and had met an American girl on holiday years ago and moved to the States. Now he was getting older and moved to our quieter town and wanted to pursue what would likely be his last business venture. Something from the heart. Something he could put his passion into.
His father ran a pizzeria in Naples, just by the port where you can take the boat to Capri. He had worked there and learned the business. More importantly he learned how to make amazing pasta and pizzas.
Being opening night, no expenses were spared. You could try all the different pizzas and pastas. I think we almost made it through them all. And that was after the bruschetta. After dinner we couldn’t resist the tiramisu, gelato, and Italian cookies. We left stuffed.
“Maybe we should go for a walk. Walk some of this off.”
“Good idea. The Chinese have a proverb about walking 1,000 steps after a meal. I think after this one we might need 10,000 steps.”
“I think I need a million!”
We both laughed.
We walked for a while and came upon a park with some trails.
“It looks spooky. We should try it out!”
“Good idea, partner. If we see any vampires what should we do?”
“Easy. Bite them before they bite us!”
“Does that work?”
“Probably not, but we can try.”
We continued with these goofy jokes down the path. It wasn’t spooky at all. The cedar chips beneath our feet felt perfect and the moonlight gave plenty of illumination. It was beyond a romantic evening.
“You never told me. How was your trip?”
“It was…informative.”
“Informative? Sounds like secret agent talk.”
“Maybe it is. Maybe I was sent here to this forest to remove your kidney for Bulgarian mafia testing purposes.”
“Oh no! Somebody save me.” Carissa started giggling right away. Then her face turned serious.
“But is everything OK?”
“Yeah, everything is OK.”
“OK, that’s all I need to hear.”
We walked and talked and joked for what seemed to be over two hours. We’d stop and sit on a bench for a minute to admire the stars, but mostly just walking. We
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