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"So, that's good news?"
I nodded. "It's a direct statement about the talent of the team I've put together and the quality of the work we've done so far, but…"
"But?" Tyler pushed a little.
"It makes me wonder about my role." I found myself admitting to feeling vulnerable to Tyler. I was rarely so open with anyone. "If the company can run so well without my input, am I making myself obsolete?"
Tyler reached across the table to take my hand. I found his warm touch comforting. "You know, from everything you've told me, you've built an extraordinary system and company. You should be celebrating that, not worrying that it's too good."
I lowered my head and sighed. "Of course, you're right."
The server returned to take our orders and interrupted our conversation. I chose osso bucco and Tyler picked seafood risotto. While we waited for the food, our conversation lightened up. We chatted about food we liked as kids, from peanut butter and jelly to fried bologna. Along the way, we both laughed a lot and cast smoldering glances across the table.
When our food arrived, we were both ready to dig in. My osso bucco, a veal shank, was so tender that it nearly fell off the bone on its own.
Tyler's seafood risotto was also a stunning dish. It featured chunks of locally caught whitefish along with tender Gulf shrimp.
As he looked from his plate to mine and back again, Tyler shook his head. "This looks incredible. It's hard to believe you can get food like this in Blue Harbor now. We all celebrated when they built the Taco Bell when I was a kid. That was exotic for our little town."
I chuckled. Lifting my first bite of food on my fork, I made a suggestion. "First bites together?"
"Oh, fun, yeah."
As I took my first bite, the flavors exploded across my tongue. It was so good that I had to close my eyes to savor the moment.
When I opened my eyes, I saw an amused expression playing at the corners of Tyler's mouth. "That good, huh?"
"Food heaven. What about your risotto?"
Tyler speared one of his shrimp with a few grains of rice and held his fork out across the table to me. "Check it out."
It was a wonderfully intimate gesture. I leaned forward and closed my lips over the fork, taking the morsel into my mouth. The shrimp was perfectly tender, and the flavors of the risotto were warm and comforting.
"Fantastic," I whispered.
Tyler beamed. "I know, right?"
As the meal continued, we shared bites and traded notes about the flavors we tasted. We came from different angles and had unique insights into the food which made the entire meal a more expansive experience than usual.
Tyler had a revelatory moment. "When people talk about eating good food being an experience, I don't usually get it. They sound like they're trying to put a fancy dress on something kind of ordinary, but you know, this meal… I get it."
"It's not just how the food tastes, right? It's the entire package including who you're with, the atmosphere of the restaurant… "
"Yep, that makes sense." A thoughtful expression appeared on Tyler's face. "It's a little like us, right?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Tell me more."
His cheeks flushed as he continued the comment. "Well, we're two different people from entirely different backgrounds. At heart, I'm just a small-town jock, I'll admit to that, and you, you're… "
I interrupted. "A nerd. You can say it. I won't be offended."
Tyler laughed. "The label isn't important. I just mean your everyday life, working in high tech, everything sparkling and shiny and slick… on paper it doesn't sound like we'd work. But… " His voice trailed off while he rolled his head back.
I tried to help. "Together, we're something even better than the sum of our parts."
"Yeah, that's what I mean. You get it."
When we finished our meals, I didn't want the evening to end. Dinner was magical, and I wanted the spell cast over us to continue.
