Taking Chances

The fire crackled from the fire place, setting up aura of shadows on the dim parts of Santorini Kouz͔ína, the newest opening in the block. Electric candles hang from the crystal chandeliers situated every few feet away from each other, lending the place an intimate atmosphere.

Spending his first free Friday night in months waiting on a stranger is not Joseph's idea of fun. If he only has the heart to tell his best friend Gertie "no" then he probably wouldn't be in his current predicament in the first place.

"Sir, are you ready to order or would you like more time?" The waitress with a sleek looking blonde hair asked for the second time that night.

"I'm still waiting for my associate but I'd like to have another glass of Black Label, on the rocks please." Joseph suppressed a sigh as he gives his order.

Its bad enough going on a date you didn't want to be in, in the first place but to be waiting on the supposed date forty-five minutes later after he's supposed to meet you is almost worse than sitting alone at home on a Friday night. Even the ambiance of the restaurant isn't helping Joseph's escalating ire towards the situation and his late associate.

As he was contemplating on leaving, he saw the maître de coming his way followed by a tall and muscular guy wearing a cheap suit.

"Sir, your party has arrived. Your server will be with you shortly." She bid with a polite smile before leaving the two men alone.

"I am so sorry for being so late." Kage preempted. "Kage Harcourt." He offered his hand to the prettiest man he has set his eyes on. Tall with a swimmer's build, with green eyes that glittered in the dim light of the place. "Something came up at work that I had to take care of last minute." He's hoping the man would give him a chance and not leave, which he has every right to do with how long he kept him waiting.

"Joseph Petrakis. Nice meeting you, Mr. Harcourt." He said after accepting the other man's hand for a shake. The suit might be cheap but it sure as hell didn't detract from the man's over-all appeal. He probably came straight from work if he's five o'clock shadow is to go by.

"It's my pleasure," Kage said, squeezing his hand.

"So what do you do?" Joseph asks after they both sat down. He guessed it's as good as any question to start with since the man had offered the excuse of his job for being late anyway.

"I'm a homicide detective for the PD. We just got some development in one of our cases." Kage replied. Sipping his water to relieve some of his residual tension. "I really am sorry for making you wait that long. I wanted to at least send Gertrude a message so she could relay it to you but one thing after another took me away from doing so."

"I should have known that her husband knew you from work." Joseph internally cringed. Gertie's husband works as a Vice Detective on the same police district.

"Yeah, I met Ronnie in last month's function. He didn't tell me anything about you either, all he told me is that you're his wife's best friend, wouldn't even give me your name." Kage said, smiling. "So, what is it that you do?"

"I practice Family Law with Burke, Bellamy, and Petrakis," Joseph replied while opening his menu.

I guess he's staying then. Feeling relieved with the man's decision. "Do you have any recommendations? I must admit, I don't know much about Mediterranean Cuisine." Kage asked after perusing his own menu.

"This is my first time in here, to be honest, but I heard from several co-workers that their Pastitsio if you want some pasta, Spanakopita if you're vegetarian, Youvetsi if you like lamb, are all to die for," Joseph said while showing him the pictures of each food on the menu as he lists them.

"Which one would you go for? I'm thinking with your last name, you're part Greek yourself?" Kage prodded.

"My father is but we're both born and grew up here in the states," Joseph replied looking over his menu. "My grandma, I heard, loved to cook but unfortunately she passed away before I was born and both my father and grandfather are hopeless in the kitchen so I never really grew up on Mediterranean foods myself."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Kage said reaching for his hand.

"Thank you. She was beautiful and my grandfather is still wholly devoted to her." Joseph smile, accepting Kage's sympathy with a squeeze of his hand.

"I'm thinking Youvetsi would be the winner for me. I'm totally famished." Kage said while looking at the picture longingly, successfully changing the subject to a lighter topic.

Joseph couldn't help himself for the snicker that came out. "Should we order then, Detective?" He asked smiling.

Right on cue, their waitress arrived to get their orders.

The food tastes fantastic and even better than that is his dinner companion. They talked about nonsensical things, shying away from subjects that might be too heavy a conversation for a first meeting. Joseph couldn't believe that he's actually having fun. Kage has been attentive since he arrived and he didn't want their night together to end.

"So counselor, how am I doing so far?" Kage asks after draining his glass of soda.

"Unbelievably good, to be honest, considering the night's rocky beginning." Joseph laughs in surprise to Kage's prodding. "Gertie had set me up on enough blind dates over the years to actually be astounded right now that she actually found someone as decent as you." Joseph continued while pointing his glass in Kage's direction.

"I think the last blind date I went to was before I joined the academy." Kage shudders remembering that God-awful night.

"It was that bad?"

"I think the guy missed a couple of information. He thought I already graduated from the academy and wanted to watch me handcuff someone." Kage said, wide-eyed. "He wanted us to walk around and catch bad guys," He continued, raising his fingers as quotation marks.

"That's weird." Joseph proclaimed, tilting his head to the side.

"I know! That's not even the worst part."

"Geeze! There's more?"

Kage lowered his voice and leaned closer to Joseph to make sure the couple from the other table wouldn't overhear. "He wants us to do it after we put the supposed bad guy at the back of my supposed patrol car and make him watch."

Joseph looks at Kage with eyes wide and mouth open. "Wow!"

"I know!" Kage quietly exclaimed with respect to the other patrons. Trying hard not to burst out laughing. "I had to get out of there as fast as I could."

Shaking his head, Joseph couldn't believe some people's kinks. "Gertie tries to make it her life's mission that my love life doesn't get left behind by my career, 'tries' being the operative word."

"I hear you." He chuckled. "I barely made it here tonight before you could leave."

"Here's to career driven individuals." Raising my almost empty glass of scotch towards him.

"May our love lives not suffer any longer because of it." He said, raising his glass, tapping it with mine.

They shared an intimate smile, looking into each other's eyes. 

-1237 words.