Take a Leap

Eric waited outside a restaurant with the cold Portland air cutting against his face. The big bright letters above the building, which spelled out the restaurant’s name, were slightly blinding to him. He swayed side to side, hugging his arms close to his body, clenching his jaw, anticipating his date would arrive any second. Frustration grew on his face as he felt his pants sag.

“Great,” he said, pulling up his slate gray pants. Normally Eric’s pants fit just perfectly around his waist and hugged him in the most flattering way. Of course, now, when he wants to look his best, those perfect pants disappoint him. He had worn them earlier in the week when he went out for lunch with friends and then they fit just right, but now they were frowning at the dinner guests inside the restaurant.

Eric hoped his date wouldn’t notice or at least wouldn’t mind his sad pants. First impressions are the most important and he wanted tonight to go smoothly. Dating has never been something he was good at or enjoyed, but after turning twenty-seven, and watching his best friend get married after spending five happy years with the same guy, Eric decided it was time to make a real attempt at finding someone he could put his roots down with.

His mind was eased once he remembered they were going to have dinner and his pants would be out of sight. “Just keep the conversation going,” he reminded himself. “No awkward silence and it’ll be alright.”

He turned slightly to look into the restaurant at the other romantic encounters taking place inside. Some were clearly well-established, long lasting relationships and others were painfully new and awkward. Eric’s attention quickly turned to the large lights hanging high above the guests inside. They were covered in stained glass; some sections were reddish orange, some were a dark blue, and others were opaque. He was mesmerized by the colors and the antique-esque appearance of the lights.

“Eric?” a deep and gentle voice broke through to him. Slightly startled, Eric jolted back an inch. “It’s Matt, from Tinder? Sorry, didn’t mean to surprise you.”

Reality often did not live up to expectations for Eric, and never before had anyone exceeded them, but Matt was far better looking in person than he could’ve imagined. His pictures certainly depicted every handsome feature – his defined jawline, deep blue eyes, golden skin, and messy dark brown hair – but still, he wasn’t prepared to see such a beautiful man standing beside him.

“Oh, Matt, hey! Sorry, I was just scouting out the restaurant!” Eric began fidgeting and became very expressive with his hands. He couldn’t maintain eye contact with Matt out of fear he might lose the ability to speak at all. Instead, he angled his line of sight down slightly and unleashed a series of sporadic questions:

“It looks really nice inside; have you ever been here before? I’m a huge fan of Italian food, but I’ve never seen this place! What’s your favorite kind of pasta? I'm a fan of the classics so I love spaghetti and meatballs! Although I don’t actually eat meat so spaghetti and veggie balls I guess! Haha. What about you? Do you eat meat? No judgement if you do! It’s just that I’ve been a vegetarian my whole life and the idea of eating meat kind of scares me, but, I mean, it’s just meat it’s not like it’s going to kill me! Haha...”

Eric became aware of the intensity with which he was speaking; his own voice was irritating to hear. Matt, however, didn’t express any annoyance or confusion. He simply responded with, “You look nice. Let’s go grab our seats.”

——

A young waitress with long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail quickly attended to their table. “What would you two like to drink tonight? Water, soda, wine?” She smiled gently with her mouth closed, pulled out a pen and notepad from her apron and waited patiently for Matt and Eric.

Eric glanced at Matt to share an uncertain look, however, his date’s face was completely relaxed and returned a kind smile. “Normally I’d be dead set on a cocktail, but tonight I feel like trying something different. A glass of Merlot, please.”

“And I’ll take a wine of glass too —.” Eric stumbled over his words. “Sorry. A glass of wine. Cabernet Sauvignon.”

Matt chuckled quietly to himself.

The waitress jotted down their orders, smiled, then promised to return with their drinks.

There was an empty space after she left, a quietness that loomed over Eric but didn’t seem to bother Matt. He thumbed his palm and chewed his top lip, staring at the small lamp sitting on their table standing against the wall. Again, Eric was fascinated by the colorful stained glass haphazardly pieced together. Eric wanted to say something, to ask the beautiful man sitting across from him a question. Take a leap, he told himself – take a leap.

“What made you choose Merlot?” Eric forced the question out of his mouth. His voice directed Matt’s attention away from his menu to Eric's open mouthed half smile. Eric’s heart beat a little faster, a little louder, to the point where he could clearly feel the thumping in his chest.

“Well, it’s kind of strange actually,” Matt started, lifting the corners of his mouth slightly. “I’m a bit of an astrology nerd, you know, like zodiac signs, and a guilty pleasure of mine is reading through those blog posts that match your sign with something kind of random – like your favorite snack food or Disney princess. Apparently I’m a Gemini so that should mean I’ll like Merlot. Supposedly. Guess we’ll find out.”

Eric stared at Matt, interested because he didn’t seem like the type of person who’d be easily entertained by these kinds of things, but he adored the fact that he was. “Wait a sec – how’d you make the connection between Gemini and Merlot?”

“This blog post created by that wine delivery company, Bright Cellars, I think. I was looking into them ‘cause I was curious about ordering some wine as a gift for a friend, then an article popped up about the best wines to taste based on your zodiac sign and I couldn’t resist reading it. Sounds kind of lame as I’m saying out loud.”

Eric didn’t find his interest in random zodiac sign pairings lame; in fact, he enjoyed listening to Matt open up about his guilty pleasure. The more he talked, the more he glowed and stood out distinctly in the dimly lit restaurant.

“Since you asked me, why’d you order the Cabernet?” Matt smirked, laying his hands flat on the table and leaning in.

“To be honest,” Eric said, shifting in his seat, “I don’t know anything about wine! But when I heard you say you wanted to try something different, I remembered a rule I have for myself: do something outside of your comfort zone once a week.”

Matt smiled softly. “Reminds me of a poem.” His eyes connect with Eric's and then, low and soft, recited:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

Eric enjoyed the reference, loved it actually, however the waitress arrived with their drinks before he could say anything back.

“Oh, perfect.” Matt raised his eyebrows and thanked the waitress. She asked the two if they were ready to order food but they told her they had got too lost in conversation and needed a few more minutes to think it over.

“Wow. Robert Frost, huh? Impressive,” Eric said while folding his arms. “Good choice.”

“Thanks. I try.” Matt grinned as he raised his glass to his lips, tilting it so he could get just a quick swig of the deep red liquid. Notes of tart cherries and vanilla swirled around as he swished the liquid side to side in his mouth. He swallowed. “Not too bad. Just sweet enough for me. How’s yours?” he asked, wiping a drop of wine from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.

“Before I try it, you’ve got me curious; could you look at that post and see what wine matches with me? I’m a Leo.” Eric didn’t really care to know what wine matched with his zodiac sign, he just wanted to hold onto this conversation as long as he could. If the wine was bad, so what? If the whole evening falls apart, so what? At least he would have this moment.

Matt pulled up the article on his phone. “Ah, here it is.”

“So, what’s it say? Did I pick the right wine?” Eric sat forward in his chair, staring more intently at Matt’s face lit up by his phone.

“Nope. Says you should’ve ordered Sauvignon Blanc.”