Hero

Chapter Five

Fuck.  I was always a sucker for a guy with tattoos.  "So, does your ink have any meaning in particular or what?" I asked, pointing at his shoulder and letting my question drop off at the end.  He glanced down, realized that the light was making his tattoo visible, and grinned.

"Oh, yeah."  He pressed the fabric of his shirt flat against his skin, so the black markings underneath were more visible.  I could see that the tattoos covered his entire left shoulder; the ink wove in and around the other lines, tracing intricate designs across his arm.  "It's pretty complicated, I think, but you can pick out a few designs if you look closely.  That's a wheeled triskellion...there's a Carolingian cross...and this one's my favorite.  This is a knot designed specifically for me, given to me by a guy I once knew.  It's from the Book of Kells."

"Was the guy Irish?" I asked as he stopped pulling on his shirt and took another sip of wine.  "I mean, it's all very Celtic sounding.  Is that your background or do you just have a thing for the Irish?"

He smiled briefly as he swallowed the wine.  "You could say I'm part Irish.  I'm pretty mixed, actually.  A virtual United Nations."  He took another swig of wine and put the glass down, picking up his menu.  "So what do you think looks good?"  He seemed eager to change the conversation to something other than his tattoos and I didn't mind.

"I'm...actually not sure," I said, smiling nervously.  "I can't understand what half of these words are."

"Do you trust me?" he asked, smiling back at me comfortingly.  His smile was so nice and cute that it was almost enough to put me at ease in this restaurant where I so clearly did not belong.

Almost.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously, as a young woman approached our table.  Her all black ensemble, delicately pulled back hair, and cradled tablet led me to assume she was our waitress.

"Hello, and welcome to Elemantra's this evening.  My name is Lorena and I'll be helping you this evening.  I see that the two of you already have drinks, so can I interest you in an hors d'oeurve?  We make a lovely foie gras, if you don't mind me saying so."

Ezra snapped the cover of his tablet closed and smiled at the woman.  "Thank you, Lorena, but I think we'll be starting with the canapé and rillettes.  Then I think I'll take a confit de canard and my date will have the coq au Riesling."  He handed the tablet back to Lorena as I closed my own.  "And some bread for the table would be nice, if you have it.  Just something to snack on in the meantime."  Somewhat stunned with the amount Ezra knew about the restaurant, I handed the tablet I was holding back to Lorena in a sort of daze.

"So you know a lot about French food?" I asked casually.  Ezra shrugged in response and took a sip of wine.

"Just enough to get by.  Nothing too fancy."  If the ordering that had just taken place was any indication, that was just about the understatement of the year.  It hit me all of a sudden, harder than it had before, that I was completely out of my league here.  I had no clue what to do now, so I stood up suddenly.  My chair rocked back into another table and a man glared at me angrily.

"Sorry," I muttered, scooping Nova's clutch up in my hands and fiddling with the clasp.  "Um...Ezra, I have to go to the bathroom, so I'll be right back."

"Alright," I heard him say confusedly as I rushed as fast as I could into the bathroom.  By the time I pushed the door open to enter the women's room, I had already called Nova and was anxiously waiting for her to pick up.  The phone rang, heartstoppingly, once...twice...three times...

"Hello?"

"Nova, I need your help.  I'm so out of place here, way out of my league.  Tell me how to act rich and fancy!"  The words tumbled from my lips as I sat down on one of the chairs that decorated the entry way of the restroom.