"Have you decided on your order?" The waiter asked in a soft spoken tone.

My guess was that they behaved with an air of servitude to make the money set feel better about themselves. I panicked a bit thinking that we had no idea what the menu said, but to my surprise Aiden closed his menu with a flourish and spoke with confidence.

"Do you have any chef recommendations?" he said, matching the tone of the other patron.

I lifted my napkin to hide the smirk on my face that I had difficulty suppressing as I watched his performance.

"But of course," the server said. "For our appetizer we can bring you the fromage with caviar, served alongside our toasted baguette. Tonight’s entrees include your choice of the Chef's special Cordon Bleu, or the Steak tartar." He nodded when he finished speaking.

"We will have one of the appetizers that you described, and the lady and I will both have the steak." Aiden sounded as if he had been to this kind of restaurant for all of his life.

"Thank you sir,” the server said as he took our menus.

Once he had left I looked down at the small glass in front of me. "What is this supposed to do?" I asked.

Aiden answered in an effected French accent. "It is the aperitif to cleanse our palate, so as to better taste the eloquent combinations of flavours that are to be presented to us."

I snickered and picked up the tiny glass. "Do we sip it or just shoot it?" I wondered.

"Is it booze?" Aiden said. "I say we shoot it."

"Okay, I guess." I touched the edge of the glass to my lips.

"Bottoms up," he said, lifting his glass to his mouth and then threw his head back in the classic college student method.

I followed suit finding the liquid refreshing and smooth on my tongue. I also noticed some of the other patrons around us giving us a side glance. It was then that I noticed one of the other women across the restaurant sipping delicately on her small glass. Oh well.

"What did we get as an appetizer?" I asked.

"I have no idea. Whatever the guy said,” he answered as we both suppressed laughter once more.

The evening continued and I felt quite at ease with him. We were both pleasantly surprised to find the appetizers consisted of toasted bread and a nice cheese spread alongside the caviar, which I had never had before. I found the taste wonderful, clear and smooth with hind of saltiness. When the entrees arrived however, we were both surprised to find a small dome of something pink, surrounded by a green garnish, and some water crackers.

"I thought we ordered the steak,” I said.

"I think we did," he answered, peering down at his plate.

"Wait," I said. "Did he say steak tartare?"

"Yeah, why?" Aiden asked.

"Aiden, this is raw meat."

I watched him peer down at the presentation on his plate with serious consideration as he realized my statement was true. Once more we both erupted into laughter.

"Oh, wow,” he said. "Well, I hope this doesn’t ruin your night."

"Of course not," I said. "I'm having fun." He looked relieved at my words. "So what do you say, should we give it a try?"

"Might as well,” he said.

I picked up a morsel with my fork and placed it on my tongue. The taste wasn’t unpleasant and I nodded towards Aiden.

"Not bad," I said.

He tried a bite and agreed.

"Though I will say that the food is not bad here, I think we can both agree on one thing."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Next time we are going back to that oyster bar."

"Definitely." I nodded.

I took another sip of wine, having lost count how many glasses I had already had. We finished our meal, continuing to enjoy ourselves and making quiet fun of the upper crust patronage of the restaurant.

We decided to walk down by the beach for a bit, but as we stepped off the patio onto the sand by foot twisted just a bit causing me to tumble. Aiden caught me by the elbows which prevented me from falling all the way to the ground.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks,” I said, pulling myself away from him although hesitantly as I enjoyed the feeling of securing in his steady touch.

"I might be a bit tipsier than I realized,” I explained.

"I have an idea,” he said. "My apartment isn't far from here, just about a ten minutes’ walk if we stay along the shore. Why don't we go there and have a night cap. Then we'll call it an evening."

"That sounds great,” I said.

I kicked off my shoes and we walked along the sand. I enjoyed the feeling of the sand through my toes and every once in a while a bold wave would wash close to us enough that I could dip my bare toes in. Aiden still wore his shoes and stayed well away from the salt water.

The night air was warm, but the breeze of the ocean did much to add to the magic of the night. Within about ten minutes we arrived at his apartment. His porch looked out over the water, and I find myself amazed at how nice the place is once we stepped inside, with an off-white plush carpet and sleek, modern furniture.

How the hell could afford this place?

"How long have you lived here?" I asked.

"I got this place while I was still in school so I guess a couple of years,” he said.

"How on earth did you afford to find a place like this as a student?!" I asked.

"I had a bunch of roommates at first," he said as handed me a glass of scotch over ice. "We wanted to live by the water, so we agreed that we would bunk up. You should have seen the place. Each of us pretty much lived in the corner. But all we did was sleep here, so it made little difference. We spent most of our time out on the water if we were here. They all moved out one by one over time. About six months ago the last one moved out and it was just me then. I figured I would keep it since I could afford to with the new job."

He won’t be able to afford it after I win the competition.

"Wow," I said gazing out at the view, taking in the white sand gleaming in the moonlight. "You got lucky."

"I had the furniture changed out so it wouldn't look so much like a frat boy dorm room."

"I can see that," I said. "It looks great. This view is spectacular."

"Yeah, it is,” he said.

I sipped the tumbler of scotch he had given me and realized that this one was pushing me over edge from a little bit tipsy to feeling quite a bit wobbly. We had both been in a laughing mood all night, and now seemed no different. My inhibitions were practically gone and I no longer had any concern about anything outside of tonight.

I had developed a serious case of tunnel vision.

I turned towards Aiden, to ask him a question. Something rather important and pressing I remained certain. But as soon as I turned to look at him I felt a bit overcome. The whole night so far we had maintained the playful nature of our friendship, but in this moment I realized just how sexy he looked, tan and blonde, the moonlight streaming through the window and the effects of the alcohol coursing through my system all contributed to what happened next.

I stepped forward and nudged his arm, so he turned to face me. I had positioned myself so that when he turned his head he would be mere inches away from my face. He noticed our closeness and took a motion as if to step backwards.

"Aiden," I said, keeping his attention with my gaze.

He hesitated staying close to me. A moment of silence hung between us, both of us saying nothing and everything at once.