“Tina, I saw you at the airport. Is that why you ended it with me?”

“No Shana, Bette is not why you and I ended. We ended because I wanted it to end. Please just let it go.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“I can make it easy for you. We have to work together. I just landed a huge deal. Don’t fuck with me Shana. Get over this or at least learn how to work with me or it will be addressed through Aaron. I didn’t know you were there this morning. I really wasn’t trying to be cruel. If it appeared so, I’m sorry.” At that moment, the elevator opened on my floor and I got off without looking back.

I entered the room, let out a deep breath and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. On my way to the bed, I grabbed the envelope with the number 1 and my phone. I got comfy and prepared for anything as I opened the envelope. I burst into laughter and reminisced. Inside was an index card with a note attached.

This is a copy of the menu you prepared from the first dinner party we had together. This night was the night that some of your friends and some of mine came together. I knew we were taking a big step as we were inviting those who meant something to us individually to know us a couple. You made a simple dinner into an event as we all gathered in the kitchen to taste wine and watch as you prepared the Paella. It was also the 1st time you banned me from the kitchen while you prepared due to my lack of culinary skills. I’ve improved on those skills and would love to have this evening again sometime in the future with both of us doing the work to make it successful. You outdid yourself and showed me how special you were going to be to me and how much you cared for me. This night stands out as one the best ones we shared because you wanted to show me off to the world and I knew you wouldn’t do that unless you were serious about us. Here’s hoping to many more dinner parties in our future.

Easy Paella Dinner

Aperitif: Wine Tasting of three Oregon pinot noir wines

First Course: Gourmet Crab Dip with baguette bread slices

Second Course: Avocado on the Half Shell

Third Course (Main Course): Shrimp Paella and Homemade Sourdough Bread

Desert: Chocolate Pots de Crème

She was right. That was an incredible evening and I called her to talk about it. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.