THE BLIND DATE

THE BLIND DATE
Joan sat at the table fidgeting with the silverware, and staring at the door. She was dressed in her new blue knit pants suit, sliver strapped high heels, face made up special by Neiman Marcus’s beauty experts, polished nails, hair set and trimmed just right. All this for nothing, she thought as she started to get up and gather her belongings. Joan had waited for her blind date for the last forty minutes. Her friend Adele had built up her expectations, praising the guy to all heaven. Wait until she tells Adele he stood her up.
Just as she was starting to leave the table a tall, thin, sandy hair gorgeous young man grabbed her by the elbow. Smiling, he said, “You must be Joanne.”
“The name is Joan, and if you are Adele’s friend Guy, I think you are the rudest person I’ve ever met. Please disarm me and let me go.”
Guy dropped her arm and bent down on one knee. He looked up into Joan’s large brown eyes, “Fair damsel, please, forgive me for being late. I was detained at the hospital. Had I known how beautiful you were I would have left all the bleeding patients and been here on time.
Joan started to laugh. “Please get up. Everyone is staring at us.”
Guy raised himself and turned towards the maitre de. “Sir, could you kindly seat us. We are starving.”
The maitre de directed them back to the table Joan had just left. The maitre de held out the chair for Joan. Guy sat down across from her. “The wine list please” he asked while waving his long thin outstretched hand towards the waiter. When the wine list magically appeared he turned to Joan, “You do drink wine, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Joan answered.
“I think red would be perfect as this restaurant is well known for their steaks,” Guy stated as he opened the menu and pointed to the words; Our Special-10 ounce filet with blue cheese and béarnaise sauce. “Joan, you look like a filet lady.
Joan was quickly warming-up to this funny, gregarious young man. Why she had already forgotten that he had kept her waiting for forty minutes.
They ordered. Actually Guy ordered two filets, two baked potatoes, two caesar salads, and two chocolate soufflés for desert, plus a bottle of St. Michele wine.
After the waiter poured the wine Guy held up his glass and made a toast, “May this first date be the beginning of many.”
Joan was over whelmed by his charm. Smiling she clinked her glass with his.
Putting his hands across the table towards hers, he said, “You know that I am a young struggling doctor working diligently in the E-R of County Hospital, but I don’t know what you do with your days. Let me guess, with that body, I bet you are a model.”
Joan shook her head, “No, I’m actually studying to be a nurse.”
Joan had barely finished her sentence when she heard moaning coming from the booth behind them. As she turned in the direction of the sound she noticed a very fat woman lying across the booth making gasping sounds.
She turned to Guy, “There’s something wrong with that woman.”
Guy looked at the woman. “She’s probably drunk. There’s an empty bottle on her table.”
Joan turned back to her own table and started to eat, when she heard a loud scream coming from the booth.
At the sound of the scream the maitre de and several waiters ran towards the table.
“Maybe they will get her out of here and we can get back to our conversation and dinner.” Guy said annoyed.
Suddenly a man entered the restaurant and ran to the booth with the screaming woman. “Somebody help please, my wife is having her baby under the table.”
Joan looked at Guy, as she exited her chair “Okay doctor, I know you have a gift of gab. Let’s see if you are all talk or if you can perform. That lady you thought was drunk needs a doctor to deliver her baby! Can you deliver?

Charlene Wexler
10010 W. Hillshire Dr.
Richmond, IL60071
toothkey@aol.com
Word count 693