The car rolls to a stop, and I look to catch Bernard’s eye in the rearview mirror. We’re here. I turn and smile at Candy’s already blissful expression, knowing it’s only going to get better from here. “Come on,” I tell her. “It’s time for dinner.”
“Where are we going?” Candy asks, but Bernard is opening her door, and I give her a devilish smile before turning to get out myself. She’s going to see, soon enough.
Not everyone knows about this place or how well-considered it is, given that we’re out here and not in the city. But that doesn’t matter, because as soon as you look at the place, you can see that it’s something special. The tall glass front of the building shimmers darkly so that everyone inside appears to be hidden in a haze of shadow, the lights on each floor shining out like stars. A penguin suited waiter stands out front, and I move to the trunk to pull out a much nicer suit jacket to shrug on over my daywear. I had this all planned from the beginning, and I wasn’t going to turn up here unable to meet the dress code.
There are a number of women in cocktail dresses and men in suits standing by the doorway in a small roped-off section, but the waiter waves Candy and me through as soon as he sees me. I nod to him in acknowledgment, not failing to catch the way Candy stares agog at the people who have to wait – and they stare back, wondering how important she is that she gets shown in before they do.
Inside, the brilliance of the lights increases, each of them standing out like constellations above tables – some long and fitted with many chairs, others set for just two. The waiter hands us off to the maître d, who leads us across the room to my favorite spot, a table overlooking the railing around the center of the restaurant, looking right down into the kitchen in the basement. A glance to your side, and you can always see what the extremely accomplished chefs are up to.
Around us, the tables are full of people sparkling in diamond jewelry, young women who look like models and older men with grey hair but designer suits and gold watches. Among them all, Candy looks like a queen. I lean close and murmur as much in her ear before the maître d pulls out her chair and allows her to sit, with a slightly dazed expression, still staring at everything around us.
I take my seat, smoothing my hands over the black tablecloth. Soon, I know, it will be set with gold-rimmed plates and glasses, to match the heavy gold cutlery and the gold-dripped vase holding a single black rose. This place has a very particular aesthetic, and a price tag that goes with it. But it’s all about the experience.
I see Candy looking everywhere from the black marble floors to the stylish bar at the opposite end of the room and the black-carpeted staircase with golden rails leading upstairs. “Is everything here…?”
“Black and gold,” I smile. “It’s something of a theme. It can come across as a bit gauche from time to time, but it’s done with purpose. The menu is themed, too.”
“Oh,” Candy looks down at the menu the maître d handed her before disappearing as if recognizing it for the first time. “Oh. What’s…?”
I smile at her uncertainty. The menu here also takes a bit of getting used to – if you’re not already used to dining in these kinds of places. “Don’t worry,” I tell her. “If you’d like, I can pick out something that I think you’d like.”
She nods, and I scan my eyes down the menu, thinking. Only a few of the dishes change whenever I’m here, it’s hard, after all, to constantly think of new dishes that fit within a very constrictive theme. There’s a lot of squid ink in play for the most part, as well as natural golds like honeycomb and roasted parsnip.
I look at her over the table as I pick out the meal that I know she will enjoy the most, and I can’t help but be even more enchanted by her now than I was before. She looks like a princess, all decked out in her new finery, and not a single person has looked at her as if she doesn’t belong.
Because she does belong – here, in my life, at my side. And I don’t think I’m going to be able to accept any other outcome.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Candy
I sit back after finishing the most exquisite dessert, a dark chocolate and honeycomb cheesecake slathered with gold flakes and dripping gold sauce all flavored to match. I don’t think I can move for a while, let alone eat anything else. It’s not that the portions were large, but that the food was so rich – so amazing in every bite. I could taste fine butter and sugar, truffle oils, and all kinds of other wonderful and excessive things.