7:55 PM.
John quickly boarded his truck and drove towards Sofia’s place.
When John arrived there, he already saw the silhouette of a woman standing by the front door.
The truck came to a stop in front of the house, and John hurriedly got down from it. He walked towards Sofia, who was also walking towards him.
“Good evening Sofia” John greeted, showing his best smile while handing her the bouquet of flowers he bought earlier.
Sofia took the flowers with a smile on her face, then she slowly spun on the spot and said, “What do you think?”
“You..you’re simply gorgeous tonight” John answered, as he allowed his eyes to feast on the sight before him.
Standing in front of him, Sofia is dressed in a black tight fitting dress (noodle strap) that shows off her curves and her bountiful assets, and John could only feel really lucky tonight to be able take this woman out on a dinner.
‘That’s the reaction I was expecting. Man or woman, they really can't hide the desire in their eyes,’ Sofia thought inside while looking at those pair of leering eyes that couldn’t wait to eat her up. Though, she knows that she’s really not in the position to judge them since she also has desires everytime she sees a hot..sexy man. The only thing she can do is to always keep her guard up and to slowly assess if a man is worth it since she’s also aware of her worth and what she can bring to the table.
“Sofia, shall we?” John said as he opened the door for Sofia.
Along the way, John made some small talk and lighthearted jokes which made Sofia laugh a lot, and even she didn’t expect that John was that witty.
Not long after, the duo soon arrived at the restaurant.
It was a medium size Italian establishment, it was a place that the former owner of his body had frequented in the past since they have an array of delicious italian dishes, something a foodie like him couldn’t miss.
“Good evening madam.. John. Reservation for two, right?” The staff asked with a smile, recognizing him.
John also smiled and said, “Yes, for a table of two for 8 pm”
The staff didn’t even bother checking the list before leading the two inside towards their table by the window before giving them the menu.
“What do you think?” John asked the moment they sat down.
Sofia curiously looked around before replying, “It has been a few months since I came to the US, but I’ve never been to an Italian restaurant before, so I’m slightly anticipating, and it seems like the staff here knows you”
“They do, I come here from time to time when I miss the food”
Hearing what she said, John was immediately delighted as he didn’t expect that it would actually be her first time dining at an Italian restaurant. At the same time, since he was the same kind of foodie like the former John Smith, it makes him feel relieved since he was actually worried that the impact of the food on Sofia would be lessened if she had already been to an authentic Italian restaurant before this.
The food might be expensive, but the taste makes up for it.
“Really? So you mean, you only came to the US recently? I thought you had been here for years?” John then reacted like he was hearing something surprising. And based on the memories he had obtained, John knows that there was actually a small family of three living at Sofia’s place just a couple of months ago, he just wasn’t sure when they left since they’re pretty much strangers to him as they live a block away from his house.
“Hello, are you guys ready to order?” A couple of minutes later, a female staff walked over to their table, smiling.
“What’s tonight’s special Jen?” John asked, recognizing the woman.
Jen smiled and answered, “Tonight is spaghetti bolognese, the chef’s personal recipe”
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Hearing about the special, John’s eyes immediately lit up since it has been a while since he had that. Even though spaghetti bolognese isn’t something that would be hard to make, the spaghetti bolognese of this restaurant is very different since there is probably a secret ingredient mixed in it.
“Then I’ll have that for me along with a glass of Americano. What about you Sofia? Do you have any particular dish you’d like to taste?” John said. He didn’t immediately make any suggestions since Sofia doesn’t seem to be in need of it.
Sofia gave one last look at the menu in her hand before looking at Jen and said, “Lasagne looks nice, I’ll have one of that and I’ll have the same drink please, thank you”
Jen took down their orders and left with the menu in her hands.
“What?” Sofia said when she noticed John staring at him.
John smiled and said, “Nothing, I was just thinking how I lucky I am to be able to invite such a beautiful woman like you to have dinner with me tonight”
“I wonder about that too since we barely knew each other” Sofia laughed.
John laughed along with her and said, “Right~? Anyway, you mentioned earlier that you just recently moved to the country?”
“No, it’s more like I came here for vacation..”
It was weird, but Sofia felt very comfortable talking to John, like she had known him for years.
John listened to her, and finally got an answer to his question about why Sofia is in the US this year since she was supposed to only come here in 1998. She actually came to the US from Colombia for a gig during her semester break since this one pays a lot more than the ones she gets back at home, and she would immediately head back to home before the semester break ends, which is the following month of August.
The duo kept the conversation going while they ate, and even John was surprised that it was actually going well.
They slowly got to know each other and John learned that she’s 21 and studies dentistry at National University of Colombia and the shocker was..
“And I have a son called Manolo from my previous marriage” Sofia said as her voice slowly grew softer at the end, before taking a bite of her food as she waited for his reaction.
“I see,” John said, not really bothered about it.
Sofia was prepared to see another horrified expression like every other date she had before. This also explains why she’s very meticulous in finding her partners since single mothers during this time are really frowned upon, especially to a divorcee like her. After all, a lot of men in the 90s are still very traditional and not as open as the men in the 21st century.
But for John, who was from the 21st century, having step children isn’t really new anymore. Especially for him who doesn’t believe in the saying “that blood is thicker than water” anymore.
Clearly, he had some familial issues before the time travel.
“That’s it? I was expecting more than that” Sofia laughed as she didn’t expect such a bland reaction from him. So she didn’t know if she should be annoyed or instead relieved by his reaction that doesn’t seem to really care that she has a son and a divorcee at such a young age.
‘Sh*t’ John cursed inside when he realized he f*cked up by giving such a dry reaction. He had actually forgotten for a second that he’s currently living in the year 1993, and it's also because he wasn’t new to the game of dating single mothers, so he just answered casually. But it was already too late, so John immediately executed his Plan B that he had just come up on the spot!
Placing his utensils down, John slowly and elegantly wiped his mouth while saying, “Actually I’m surprised inside, but I just didn’t want to make you uncomfortable by showing such a reaction. I apologize if it caused a misunderstanding. And since I’m actually interested in you, I didn’t want to leave a bad impression on you before you go back to Colombia”
Sofia felt her heart skip a beat when she heard those while thinking inside, ‘I thought he was just a nice and clumsy guy, but I didn’t expect that he was such a sweet talker. You really can’t judge a person easily without knowing them’
“You really have a way with your words, Mr. Smith,” Sofia said smiling.
John just chuckled and quickly changed the subject, “Anyway, how was the food? Was yours to your liking?”
“It’s good, I’ve had lasagna before but this one taste better”
Their talk continued and John realized that Sofia became a little more open to him after that.
Time passed by and before long, they were already on their way back.
Arriving at Sofia’s place, she didn’t immediately get down from the truck, and with the sudden silence between them, John slowly felt the ambiguous air inside the truck and he couldn’t help but have some expectations inside.
“I had a great time tonight John, thank you” Sofia finally opened her mouth after a short silence.
John smiled, “Me too, and does this mean that I can look forward to a second date with you?”
Listening to his words, Sofia laughed and replied, “We’ll see, since I have a feeling that this won't be the last time we’ll be seeing each other, right?” and John only replied with a vague smile.
“Good night Sofia”
“Good night John, be careful on the way back”
Sofia was about to disembark from the truck when her actions came to a sudden halt, and suddenly, she turned around and grabbed the collar of the startled John towards her and gave the startled guy a kiss on his cheek, just barely touching the edge of his lips.
Sofia shot him a flirty look before finally making her exit while John could only watch her enter her home.
John touched the spot where he was kiss at and chuckled, “I guess I can look forward to that second date soon, and my junior down there, you need to calm down since we’re not getting any action tonight”
He then went back home in high spirits.