Flight of Fancy

It was one of those beautiful late summer afternoons. There was bit of a breeze, and the warm glow of four o’clock light painted the town a lovely shade of gold. I found a parking spot on the tree-lined street, and made my way towards a small wine bar right off the main boulevard in Solvang. The town, built in 1911, and made to replicate Danish architecture, had quaint cobblestone streets, old-fashioned gas-lit lamps, and an abundance of knickknack shops. It was the perfect place for a first date.

As I drew closer to the bar, I could hear a big band playing at the outdoor gazebo across the way. Crowds of picnickers and daytrippers were sprawled out on the grassy lawn enjoying the magical sights and sounds of summer. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach flittering about. I hadn’t been on a date in so long, and I was out of practice. I had my good friend Caroline to thank for setting me up, and since I liked her, and her circle of friends, I thought, why not? I walked up to the hostess standing on the sidewalk, and looked around in confusion. I didn’t see the bar.

“Excuse me,” I said. “I’m looking for the Bar Behind the Bookcase. Am I in the right place?” The young woman smiled, and pointed to the wall behind her painted to look like a library of wine books. “Just push,” she said. I tentatively pushed on the wall, and it began to swing around, and opened up into an intimate wine bar adorned with twinkle lights and shelves of old books. It was absolutely delightful.

It was then that I saw him. He was seated facing me, and our eyes connected. He looked exactly like the photo he’d sent me, and his smile was big and warm. He stood up and waved me over. “Hi,” I said. “What an amazing place!” He moved the chair to allow me to sit. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, I’m Paul,” he said as we shook hands. “Nice to meet you too,” I said, as I slipped my purse on the back of the chair, and sat down. I could tell Paul was a nice guy just by his manners, and his warm greeting.

As I sat back, one of the waiters glanced over our way. His gaze locked onto mine, and he smiled, eyes twinkling, and nodded, indicating he’d be right over to help us.

“This place is so neat. I had no idea it was here,” I said. “Me either,” Paul replied. “I just liked the name, and this secret room was a bonus.” His smile was engaging. “I’m really glad we could finally do this. My companies in the middle of a big merger, so I’ve been working a lot of overtime, and haven’t had any time to myself.” “Yeah, I get it. It’s hard to do the whole work/life balance thing, isn’t it?” I replied.

Just then our waiter, with the twinkling eyes, appeared. “Merlot?” he asked? I looked up at him in surprise. “Yes, that’s right.” He cocked his head quizzically, brow furrowing. “Do I know you?” I asked. “No, but my name’s Charlie,” he replied. “Oh. Then how do you know my name?” I asked. “I was asking if you’d like a glass of Merlot,” he replied. “Ohhhh.” I could feel my cheeks fill with embarrassed color and I laughed. “My name is Merlot. I thought we knew each other.” Charlie’s grin widened.

“Your name’s Merlot? Really?” “What can I say?” I shrugged. “My parents had Merlot at their wedding and nine months later…” “Well, then it must be fate, because today’s International Merlot Day.” His flirtatious smile was making me blush all over. “Really?” I asked? “No, but I’ll bring you a glass,” he said with a wink.

Paul, having been watching our exchange, cleared his throat to interrupt. Charlie turned his attention back to Paul. “Shall I bring you both a glass? Or would you prefer a flight?” I looked at Paul, questioningly. “A flight?” Paul nodded. Charlie bowed slightly, and walked off. He couldn’t stop smiling as he began to pour wine into some glasses. “What’s with the goofy grin?” asked the heavyset bar manager with interest. Charlie, lost in his own world, didn’t bother to respond.

Paul removed a flower corsage from his pocket and offered it to me. “This is for you. I thought a bouquet might be a little too over the top.” I smiled, charmed. “That’s very sweet, and very original. Thank you.” I immediately pinned it to the front of my dress, feeling very 1950s. This guy was cute, and thoughtful! Before I could say more, Charlie reappeared with our wine.

“I think you’ll be surprisingly pleased by the complexity of this bottle.”

I looked at Charlie, ready to thank him, and again felt a zap of electricity as our eyes connected. The butterflies in my stomach were back. What in the world was going on, I wondered.

Paul picked up his glass, swirling it gently, and held it up for a toast. “To our first date,” he said. As I picked up my glass, my corsage slipped off, and plopped right into the wine. Paul and I burst out laughing. “Oops.” I could feel my cheeks flush. In the mirror on the wall behind Paul, I saw Charlie serving another table, but his eyes kept straying over our way. He was focused on me, I could tell, and I felt even more confused. Was he just being flirty?

Suddenly, Paul’s cell phone rang. “Oh shoot, that’s work. I have to take this, I’m so sorry,” he said. “Go ahead, that’s okay,” I replied. Paul gave me an apologetic smile and walked away to talk. As I fished the flower out of the wine, Charlie appeared beside me with a fresh glass. “This next tasting has a very fruity profile. You can really smell the cherry and plum. See what you think.” I took the glass from him, gave it a swirl and a sip. “Mmmm. You’re right. It’s nice and light,” I replied.

“How’s it going? First date?” he asked. I nodded. “I’ll remove any evidence of this, then.” He winked, conspiratorially, and tossed the ruined corsage onto a nearby tray of dishes. I chuckled. “Thanks.” Charlie set a cheese plate down on the table.

“I thought you might like a little appetizer to go with your wine, compliments of the house.” “Really? That’s nice. I should come here more often.” I replied. “You definitely should. I personally would love to see you again.”

My eyes locked on his. He looked surprised, his cheeks now tinged with color.

“Sorry, did I say that out loud?” My lips began to twitch into a smile. Charlie started to laugh too. DING. DING. DING. Came the bell from the bar for a food order. He grimaced, ignoring it. We both noticed Paul making his way back to the table. With a wink, Charlie turned the cheese dish slightly, and walked away. I glanced down, noticing he’d formed the cheese, nuts, and crackers into a question mark. I couldn’t help giggling.

Paul sat back down. “Sorry, that was work.” He noticed the cheese plate. “Oh, good, I was going to order something.” I quickly moved the plate around to disguise the question mark and took a bite of cheese. “Is everything okay?” I asked. He frowned, shaking his head. “Something’s gone wrong with the presentation we’re supposed to show tomorrow and I need to get back to my office to deal with it. I’m sorry I have to cut things short tonight.” “Oh, no. That’s too bad. I hope you can fix things,” I said.

Paul put some cash down on the table. “Me too. I was really looking forward to doing this with you tonight.” As we both started to get up, his cell phone rang again. He answered and mouthed, “I’m sorry” to me as he continued his conversation, distracted, and made his way out. I grabbed my purse to follow, but it flew out of my hand spilling the contents on the ground.

I kneeled down to pick everything up, and found Charlie kneeling beside me. “Thanks.” He paused and looked at me. “You’re not going, are you?” He asked. “Well, yeah.” I replied. “My date just left.” “You can’t. I mean. You haven’t finished your wine.” We both stood up. He was standing so close I could feel his breath on my cheek. “Will you stay? For one more glass?” Somehow I found myself nodding and sitting back down. His eyes sparkled. ‘I’ll be right back.”

Charlie hurried off to the bar. The manager, eyebrow raised, gazed after him, intrigued. Ignoring him, Charlie filled up two fresh glasses of wine, walked back over to my table and sat down. I looked at him, surprised. “Aren’t you going to get in trouble?” He just smiled. DING, DING, DING, came the bell from the bar once more. The manager hurried over to Charlie, leaning down to speak into his ear. “Yes. That’d be perfectly fine,” said Charlie. The manager grinned, placing a set of keys onto the table, and walked away. “What’s going on?” I asked a bit puzzled. “My manager’s leaving for the night so I’m locking up early,” said Paul. “You can do that?” I asked. “For sure. I’m the owner,” he replied with a radiant smile, then raised his glass of wine. “To first dates, and finding a good Merlot.” “I’ll drink to that,” I said laughingly, as we clinked our glasses together.