Back home, I realized I only had three hours left. I immediately called Carlos, the owner of the Liberty, and explained my request.
"You're lucky the VIP lounge is almost never booked — shouldn't be a problem. But after this, we're even. Normally, that'd cost a fortune, especially with you two eating whatever you want all night," he said.
Relieved, I remembered I didn't even know where Rin lived. I called Rodrigo, got her number, and she told me she lived on Carmago Street — finding it pretty funny how lost I sounded.
I showered, shaved the stubble I'd grown during my coma, put on some cologne, and picked out a white shirt from my closet. Why was I putting so much effort into this dinner? Was it just because it was such a special place?
Time flew, and after one last check in the mirror, I headed out.
When I arrived, she was already outside, even though I was five minutes early.
"Hope you haven't been waiting long," I said.
"All good, I just came down," she laughed.
"Shall we?"
"Sure," she said with a smile, climbing onto the back of my bike.
The ride took about ten minutes, though it somehow felt shorter. It was nice, not riding alone for once — and she seemed to really enjoy it, eyes closed, smiling, holding onto me.
At the restaurant, we were shown to our table — a window seat with a gorgeous view. Only two other couples were in the VIP lounge.
"Welcome, we hope you enjoy your stay," a waitress said, handing us menus.
"Wow, look at all this. Everything looks amazing," Rin said in awe.
"Yeah, I know. Hard to even pick something," I replied.
"I think I'll go with a Wagyu steak, a salad, and a coffee," she decided quickly.
"Just a coffee? Don't people usually go for, like, a Coke or something?" I asked.
"Oh, you didn't know? They make this legendary coffee here — you can't get it anywhere else," she explained.
"Fair enough," I said. "I'll copy you on the steak and coffee, but I'm getting tempura on the side."
We ordered, and the waitress took the menus.
I noticed Rin looked a bit down.
"Something wrong?" I asked.
"Well… there's something I want to ask you, but I'm not sure how…" she said hesitantly.
"What is it?"
"A-about the terrorist thing… Can I publish the story?"
"Sure, why wouldn't you?"
"Really?" she asked, surprised. "I thought you'd be against it."
"Hey, if it helps your career, go for it. Just don't make me the centerpiece."
"Wow… you don't know how much that means to me," she said, beaming.
Soon after, our food arrived, and we enjoyed every bite — this wasn't something you got to experience every day.
Dessert was éclairs and macarons, and after we finished, the kitchen staff and waiters thanked us for coming and wished us well.
"That was such a great evening — thank you for everything. I get now why this place is so popular. They treated us like royalty," she said.
"Yeah, and everything was delicious, right?"
"Absolutely."
It had gotten quite chilly outside. I noticed Rin rubbing her arms against the cold, so I decided to give her my jacket.
"Oh, wow… that's so thoughtful, thank you. You didn't have to. Won't you be cold now?" she asked, laughing shyly as I slipped it onto her shoulders.
"I'll be fine," I said.
We headed home, chatting along the way.
When we reached her place, she thanked me again and disappeared into her building. I rode home, thinking over the night.
That was… really nice. Was I… starting to fall for her?
"No, of course not," I said out loud, abruptly.
I wondered if she liked me — or was just being nice. Oh, right — we'd see each other again on Saturday. Hopefully that would be even better than tonight. But why was I thinking about her so much? For a moment, I'd forgotten all the troubles of the world.
A lot has happened lately, I thought, closing my eyes.