Veronica gazed at him, blinking, as he quietly read the menu. She still hadn’t decided when and what she was going to tell him. She could feel a familiar feeling of guilt creep up in her as she watched him.
It had been several weeks since she last saw Calvin, and given how long they had been dating and how intimately she thought they knew each other - Veronica had expected at least a little more excitement when they met after so long. But she had felt nothing when she set her eyes on him. She appreciated the effort he had put into setting up the date, and how polished and handsome he looked. Beyond that however, she didn’t feel that spark. The spark she knew she felt every time she merely set her eyes on Frank.
Calvin looked up at her suddenly, interrupting her thoughts.
“Have you decided what you’ll order?” he asked and Veronica felt her
mouth go dry. After the number of times they had frequented this restaurant, she thought he would have known exactly what she wanted. She had ordered the same main and same side for the past three years, every time they came to this place. She never got bored of it.
But instead of pointing that out to him, she simply nodded her head and Calvin smiled. He shut the menu and placed it with a smack on the table, which caught the attention of one of the waiters.
“I’ll have the Arancini as a side and the Gnocchi with ricotta,” Calvin said, looking up politely at the waiter when he appeared at their side.
“And I’ll have the Linguini in clam sauce as my main, and the pesto and garlic bread on the side,” Veronica said.
“Of course, I forgot you order the same thing!” Calvin said with a nervous laugh escaping his lips.
When their eyes met, Veronica looked away from him. She was feeling guilty again, because even though she was sitting in front of her boyfriend who was trying his best to be sweet and kind to her, all she could think about was being with her boss.
“How’s the food?” Calvin asked her and Veronica looked up from her plate to fix her eyes on him. They had been eating in relative silence since the food arrived. Even though Veronica wanted to make some kind of conversation with him, she couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
“Delicious, as always,” she said finally, wiping the sides of her mouth with the napkin on her lap. Calvin smiled and nodded his head, and after a few moments of silence had passed again, Veronica decided to say something too.
“And how is yours?” she asked, her voice catching a little in her throat.
“Very good,” Calvin replied.
Did they really have nothing left to talk about? They were seeing each other after nearly four weeks. Granted that they spoke over the phone every other day, surely, there would be something more private to discuss? Veronica racked her brain.
“Ashley, Mr Davenport’s older daughter…just won a dance competition,” she said. Veronica had to try very hard to remind herself to refer to him formally, instead of just calling him Frank. She didn’t want to slip up unexpectedly. Any news she wanted to break to Calvin would have to be done gently.
“That’s lovely. Sounds like you’ve grown quite fond of the kids,” Calvin said, with another one of his kindly smiles. It seemed to Veronica that he was trying to please her. They had lost a lot of their comfort and it felt more like a “first date” rather than a hundredth.
She nodded her head vigorously.
“I love them. They’re brilliant kids,” she said with a smile. She noticed that Calvin was looking at her curiously, something was on his mind.
“And what is Frank Davenport like? I’ve heard that he is quite a difficult man to work for,” Calvin said, dropping his fork on his plate. He was gearing himself up to listen to what she had to say.
Veronica felt nervous again. How was she supposed to describe Frank to him? What words could she use to tell Calvin that Frank Davenport was the most interesting and affectionate man she had ever met. She considered if this was the opportunity she needed to confess everything to Calvin.
“Umm…he’s okay. We get along fine,” she blurted out, before she could formulate any other words.
Calvin’s eyes seemed to expand.
“And I suppose you don’t bump into him very often anyway, do you?” he asked and Veronica spooned a mouthful of food into her mouth. She tried to bide her time before committing to a response. She couldn’t decide how to frame a response.
“I see him everyday,” she said flatly, when she was done chewing. Calvin licked his lips and nodded his head, before going back to his food. A deathly silence had descended on their table again. It was evident to Calvin that Veronica didn’t want to talk much about her work for some reason.
“How is your work coming along?” she asked, just as Calvin opened his mouth to ask something else. She wanted to distract him. He closed his mouth shut and nodded his head again.
“Good. The usual. Nothing new,” he said and then cleared his throat.
Veronica was still trying to avoid looking at him directly. She was still trying to find more neutral ground to talk about.
“But, we’re not here to discuss my work,” he said suddenly and she jerked her head up to look at him. Calvin had his eyes narrowed at her, he was studying her face intently. Veronica gulped.
“What are we here to talk about then?” she asked, and she was sure that he could hear the loud thumping of her heart in her chest.