You Had Me At Merlot

“I just don’t think this is going to work”

“I’m sorry, what?” I ask, unsure if I had heard him correctly the first time. By the look he’s giving me now I can only assume I had heard him right the first time.

“I think we should see other people” he speaks to me gently, as if at any moment I’m going to combust into tears. As if his words are going to send me over the edge.

“And you had to take me out to an expensive restaurant, order an expensive meal, and I had to reorganize my work schedule for you to do this?” I ask him, a little irritated. I had to reschedule a late meeting until tomorrow just to be here. I spent quite a bit of time getting myself ready for tonight, making sure I looked perfect; and for what?

We sat in the corner of the restaurant that remained mostly empty; covid protocols tended to do that to places nowadays. I didn’t want to go anywhere fancy, but Scott, my date, insisted otherwise. I found it hard to believe he wanted to go somewhere so expensive just to tell me things weren’t working out.

“I just didn’t want to lead you on” he becomes defensive, I can hear it in his voice. It’s a valid reason, and I’m glad he at least had the audacity to tell me. Why he had to drag me out, in the middle of a pandemic to tell me this? That was what confused me.

“And I appreciate that, but this could have warranted just a text message” I told him, scoffing. I took the last sip of my water, instantly regretting not getting something stronger. We had only been on three dates previous to this one. While I had thought things were going well, he evidently felt differently. I was fine by this; sometimes, things just don’t work out. As my Dad always says, “that’s just the way she goes!”

“I shouldn’t have wasted my time on you” he mumbles, and I’m not sure he wanted me to hear that. Before I can answer him, the waiter comes over.

“Can I get you anything else to drink?” He asks me, and only me.

“Wine” I blurt out, not even looking at the menu. “Just- a glass of wine” I’m flustered because of this date gone incredibly wrong. I’m sure I’m red in the face, and I’m sure my discomfort is written all over my face.

“What kind?” The waiter asks, a little uneasily. This forces to to look away from my date. I wasn’t much of a wine drinker; I didn’t know many kinds, flavours, or any of that sort.

“You have Marilyn Merlot?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in interest. I had to suppress laughter; the pun was not lost on me. He nods, and knows from the smile I give that this is what I want. He takes down my order and walks away, and as he does the smile disappears from my face.

“Maybe you should just go” I tell my date. “Obviously this isn’t working, we both know it” I’m surprised at how calm I am despite the situation.

“I’m not paying for this” he scoffs, pushing his meal closer to me, as if that was somehow going to emphasize his point. The waiter returns, setting the wine in front of me before taking off on another direction; I think even he can tell things are heated.

“Then don’t” I tell him, taking a sip of the ‘Marilyn Merlot’. I had to admit, it was much better than I had anticipated. “Go.” I was more forceful this time.

“Whatever” he throws his napkin on his plate and gets up, putting his coat on without making eye contact. There are many choice words I have for him, but I keep them all to myself. There was no sense on making a scene, was there? “Later” is the last word he spoke to me before he left the restaurant.

“That could have gone a lot better” I laughed to myself, taking another long drawn out sip of the delicious wine in front of me. Well, at the very least, the wine was good, right?

“Merlot?” A voice startles me out of my thoughts. I look up to see a waiter in front of me. He’s not the same waiter I had before; I can only assume he’s taking over for the previous guy.

“Oh, hello” I say, not realizing I don’t understand him correctly.

“Hello! But I asked if you that was Merlot” he laughs, and my eyes go wide. I want to slap myself on the forehead; I was so lost in my own thoughts I didn’t hear him correctly.

“Oh! Oh my gosh- I’m so sorry- yes, it’s Merlot. Marilyn Merlot, actually” I correct myself. He chuckles, not fazed by my error.

“I’ve heard of a lot of kinds of Merlot- but not this one. I’ve never served it” he tells me, gesturing to the empty seat in front of me. I nod, allowing him to take a seat. He was an attractive man; a tall one at that. He had the nicest smile I had seen in a long time. He seemed genuine, with a sense of humour; I guess that’s why I allowed him to sit with me.

“You should try it- it’s good” I say, taking the last sip of the glass I had sitting in front of me. I am about to flag down my waiter when I realize he’s my waiter. There’s nobody else surrounding me in the restaurant; I can assume that’s why he’s able to take a seat.

“I’ll get us some glasses” he announces, flagging down one of his colleagues. They exchange glances, before his colleague disappeared into the back. “I’m Roger, by the way” he introduces himself while the waiter is off getting our wine. “I didn’t mean to intrude- it just looked like your date wasn’t going well” his face turns serious now.

“I’m Brooke” I smile, not minding the intrusion. It was welcomed tonight; Roger saved me from one of the worst dates I’ve ever had. The new waiter arrives with our drinks, taking the full plate of Scott, and my empty plate. “I don’t mind at all- I got dragged out here just to get dumped” I laugh, taking another sip. He takes one too, looking a little surprised.

“This is good” he comments, and we both smile.

The night goes on, and many more glasses of Merlot are shared. We talked, laughed, and joked for hours; it was turning into the date I had been expecting with Scott, but was currently experiencing with Roger.

We finally left the restaurant a couple hours later, after the restaurant had closed.

“I had fun tonight” Roger tells me, once we reach the parking lot. My apartment is just a few blocks away, and as I’ve had a few I have no intention of driving. The air is chilly, but I feel warm, the Merlot flowing through my veins. “Thanks for letting me sit with you” he says, looking at me with his piercing blue eyes. I simply smile, turning to him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“You had me at Merlot”