Saturday morning ...

When Abbie arrived at a few minutes before eleven, Jake had already taken his seat at La Mesa. Jake was dressed casually in a t-shirt and jeans. Abbie wore a white linen blouse, a thin cardigan, and a flowing green skirt that went to her knees.

He saw her come in, and stood up to greet her. He reached out a hand to her, and said, "would it be okay if I greeted you with a kiss?"

Abbie smiled and said, "of course! That's so sweet." Jake put his hand on her arm, and kissed her cheek.

They sat at a table that had a bench on one side and two chairs on the other. Abbie looked at the set-up with a questioning glance. Jake replied, "How about we both sit on the bench?"

"Great!" agreed Abbie. She slid onto the bench. To her left was a window facing the sidewalk and street. Jake sat to her right.

As they both looked over the menu, the waitress arrived. "Good morning, folks. My name is Becky, and I'll be your server today. Have you been to La Mesa before?"

Jake shook his head. "First time."

"Great! Glad to have you here. Would you like some coffee or juice to start?"

Abbie said, "coffee, please."

"Same."

"I'll go get that for you, be back in a minute."

Becky quickly left to fetch their coffee, and Jake and Abbie looked over the menu.

"It all looks great!" Abbie said. "Thanks for inviting me to join you today, Jake."

"It's my pleasure, Abbie. Thanks for being here!"

They looked at each other for a moment -- Jake's mind was full of images of what he had seen and felt and experienced with Abbie, but her face betrayed no such similarity. Anyone looking at Abbie would guess she was thinking of cooking or travel or something completely innocent.

Jake never stopped thinking about testing Abbie's boundaries. He paused, and thought, this isn't the office. What will he reaction be if I ask her a question? The more he thought about it, the more his mind became awkwardly divided. On the one hand, he thought, what if this is limited to the office, and now that we're somewhere else, she'll refuse me? But on the other hand, he thought, how exciting will it be to push her limits in a new, strange, and public place?