Chapter 3

Bzzt-ding!

Liz’s phone vibrated and made a familiar chime, as she was lounging on her hotel bed the next evening, watching TV and getting ready for bed. Liz picked up her phone, and saw that Sarah had sent her a text message. Liz hesitated for a few seconds, then unlocked her phone to open the message.

“Hi Liz, I’m so sorry about last night. I had a wonderful time with you. Can we meet again for a meal?” Sarah wrote in her message.

Liz put the phone back down on the bed. She had enjoyed spending time with Sarah, but the evening hadn’t ended on the best note. Liz wasn’t sure if she was ready to handle Sarah’s insecurities again so soon. Sarah’s face flashed across Liz’s mind, as well as the soft feel of her lips and body. With a small sigh, Liz picked up her phone again, and replied.

After some small pleasantries, they settled on meeting at a restaurant at the Embarcadero the following night. Liz looked up the reviews of the restaurant and they were excellent. It was also sufficiently far from her hotel that she could take an Uber back alone afterwards, since she wasn’t keen on repeating how the previous night had ended.

Both women had small smiles on their faces as they put their respective phones away before falling asleep.

Liz stepped out of the Uber, took out her phone from her jeans pocket, and checked the time. Good! The traffic in the city had been bad, but she was still on time. Liz walked quickly towards the restaurant, and kept a look out for Sarah.

Wow, she’s gorgeous! Liz thought as she caught sight of Sarah waiting by the restaurant. Sarah was dressed in a salmon pink blouse, that had a deep-V and revealed Sarah’s small but enticing cleavage. To match her blouse, Sarah had worn a long black skirt with small wavy, glittery lines, that reminded Liz of fish scales, which was probably the look that Sarah had been going for. To top it off, Sarah had on some dangle earrings that glittered in the light as Sarah fidgeted around looking at her phone, and Liz would not have been surprised if they were of a pink tone too.

Sarah glanced up from her phone, panned her head around, and noticed Liz looking towards her. A bright smile grew on Sarah’s face as she waved at Liz. The smile was infectious as Liz walked closer to Sarah. Sarah opened her arms out for a hug, and Liz happily obliged. For some reason, Liz felt strangely comforted to be hugging Sarah.

“You look absolutely gorgeous tonight!” Liz exclaimed as they unwinded from their hug. “I feel like I could eat you right up,” Liz continued and then put her hand on her mouth as she realized the double meaning to what she just said. “I mean, not like that, but-”

Sarah blushed and interrupted, “Thanks, Liz! I was going for a look that’d fit the restaurant and this area.”

Liz took a second to take in all of Sarah’s outfit, and looked around the area. “Well, sweetie, I’m not sure if anyone else looks like a fish around here, but you’re definitely a beautiful fish.”

Sarah giggled. “Bloop bloop. How would you like me? Steamed? Grilled? Raw?”

Liz laughed and replied, “I’m not sure, I think a warm and moist fish is my favorite.”

Sarah said, “The black dress I wore the other day would have been perfect for tonight. But, since I’d already worn that, I couldn’t possibly wear it again.”

Liz shrugged. She had only brought jeans and t-shirts on her trip here, so that’s all she wore.

“So, I took it as an excuse to do some shopping!” Sarah continued excitedly. “I pretty much bought this outfit today.”

“Oh wow,” Liz exclaimed. “You didn’t need to.”

Sarah grinned. “No, but I wanted to. I love shopping now, but I don’t usually have a good reason to do so, and tonight was a perfect opportunity.”

Liz laughed. “I see. You have great taste.”

Sarah winked and replied, “So do you.” Sarah took out her phone from her purse, and glanced at the time. “Oh, it’s time. Shall we?”

There was a small crowd milling around waiting for a table, and Liz was happy that Sarah had called ahead to make a reservation. They walked by a cylinder fish tank as they were brought to their table, and Sarah had to resist an urge to snap a photo.

After they were settled into their seats, Sarah started, “Thanks for coming to dinner tonight. I’m sorry about the other night.”

Liz waved her off and replied, “There’s no need to apologize. I enjoyed myself that night, and I hope you did too.”

Sarah nodded.

Liz continued, “Anyway, I’m also sorry for going too fast too quickly. I had promised to take it as slowly as you were comfortable with, yet I pushed you too much.”

Sarah said, “No, you were wonderful. I was comfortable and enjoying it, right until I wasn’t. I can’t really explain it.”

“That’s ok. You don’t have to explain yourself. It’s totally okay for you to feel as you did.”

Sarah smiled, and had a small tear in her eye. “Thanks. It’s unbelievable how accepting you are.”

Liz replied, “Trust me, I’ve had my own issues over the years too.”