Pho the second time

“Fresh start?” Tanya asks you.

“Fresh start.” you reply.

You and Tanya made your way from that overpriced place you initially brought her to, to this cozy Vietnamese restaurant that’s currently in it’s soft opening. Luckily, there was an empty table for two, and one of the waitresses seated you immediately.

The restaurant is a lot less pretentious than that first place. It has a semi-open kitchen design, as you can see the kitchen through large windows. You look around some more and you can see other diners happily dining and conversing, and you can’t help but compare it to the very intimate setting you brought her to, where there was a live piano performance and the other diners were speaking so softly to one another it barely registered as ambient noise.

A waitress comes by to take your orders and Tanya takes the initiative to order for both of you, “Two medium beef phos, spring rolls, and what are those crispy mini pancakes with shrimp on them?” she asks. “Oh, those are banh khots.” the waitress replies. “One order of those to share.” She confirms.

“What about your drinks?” the waitress asks, and Tanya looks at you to signal she’s not ordering drinks for both of you. Seeing as you’ve already drunk two shots of whiskey in a hurry, you just ordered water and Tanya did the same.

“So, you come here often?” you ask her with a chuckle, and she initially replies with a smile to your cliche question.

“They just opened a week ago. One of the new tenants on our floor is the head chef here, and she invited me to try the place out during their soft opening. All the stuff I ordered were her recommendations when I came here the last time.”

As if the entire first attempt at that overpriced French restaurant never happened, you and Tanya begin to enjoy each other’s company like you did last time. You decided to catch up on each other’s week, and Tanya went first by talking about some goings-on in her office, until eventually the mini pancakes with shrimp arrived with drinks you didn’t order.

“The drinks are compliments of the chef. It’s a sugar cane juice with a bit of calamansi. Calamansi are sort of like mini limes, to balance out the sweetness. We hope you enjoy it.” The waitress explained. She then points her hand towards the kitchen where you see the woman who interrupted your first time with Cassie giving you a kind of casual two finger salute, and Tanya gives her a small wave while you just awkwardly smile at this development. Having been acknowledged by you and Tanya, she turns around to head the kitchen once more.

You try the drink and it’s not even that sweet at all, but the citrus of whatever that lime she mentioned really balances it out. You’d want to give a thumbs up to the kitchen and the head chef who you really can’t remember the name of right now, but she’s focused on her work now so you let go of that idea quickly.

“What about you? How was your week?” Tanya asks you as she takes a bite off of the mini pancake. “I heard you're working out with Brooke now.” she adds, with somewhat a suggestive tone for some reason. “I am.” you answer her, not really sure how much you want to reveal at this point in the date.

“Ay papi, you don’t need to be shy. I’m not the jealous type. Brooke told me there was a girl who made out with you in the middle of the gym. You can admit it.” she tells you casually.

“Don’t blame Brooke by the way. I didn’t tell her we hooked up, and she may have shared thinking it was just a harmless story. After she found out Stella knew of my famous ass and that I knew you, she told me that that’s the story of how you guys met. ” Tanya explains, preempting you from thinking that Brooke was spreading gossip about you behind your back.

There was no point in denying what Tanya already knew, so you admit that that did happen. “Yes. That is how we initially met Brooke.” you answer her. “To be fair to us, Cassie only did it to stop a gym bro from hitting on her.” you add for context.

“Oh, you mean Chad? He makes bad first impressions, but he’s not a bad guy once you set boundaries. I can’t blame this Cassie girl though, Chad can be grating the first time you meet him.” she says. “Then again, maybe she just chose to make out with you because she can’t get enough of those magical lips?” Tanya adds flirtatiously.

Before you can respond, the waitress comes back with the fresh spring rolls, and you and Tanya each get one. The two of you start talking about how good the food has been so far, before Tanya asks more about Cassie, “So, this Cassie… um, is she the same woman you had a date with after our night together?” You rub the back of your neck preemptively embarrassed to admit the truth, but you answer Tanya nonetheless, “Yes. My first date with Cassie was on that night.”

“Hey~, I told you not to be embarrassed about that papi. Like I said, I’m not the jealous type.” she reassures you. “I have to ask though — you went on a date with her last Sunday, went to the gym with her and your daughter the day after, and went back again with her on Wednesday — are you and her getting serious?”

You know there’s no point in half truths since Tanya will have to find out eventually if you really are serious about exploring a possible relationship with her, but outright admitting that Cassie’s your girlfriend still feels like it’ll lead to more confusion than clarity.

Your silence speaks volumes for Tanya. She doesn’t seem shocked or angry at the idea that you, at least only to her knowledge, are getting serious with someone else… even though you’re very much in a serious relationship with Cassie already. Instead, what she’s more concerned about is about something else.

“If you are getting serious with this Cassie, I’ll have to ask it again… what are we doing here Jay?”

…

“Here are your two medium phos. Enjoy your meal!”