AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The waitress returns with steaming bowls of miso soup and a small salad for each of us. Ethan asks for a couple chopsticks. He opens his own and then hands another package to me.
I shake my head. “I’m not very good at those.”
“That’s half the fun,” Ethan jokes. “Will I get the food to my mouth before it drops on the floor? It’s like a game and dinner combined.”
I slowly tear the white paper off the top of the package and slide the chopsticks out. I follow Ethan by breaking the two chopsticks apart and rubbing them together. I awkwardly grip the wood and immediately lose one of them. It clinks against my bowl and rolls across the table. I pick it up and try again. Ethan shows me what to do and I copy him. Then he wraps his hand over mine and shows me how to pinch a piece of lettuce and let it go again.
Our sushi arrives as we’re both sipping soup. The slimy, colorful looking balls of rice are placed on a tray between us. I make a face.
“I’m not sure about this,” I say. “It looks and smells weird. Not usually an indication that’s something I want to eat.”
Ethan grips his chopsticks again and pinches a piece of sushi between them. He dips it in a small bowl of brown liquid and pops the whole concoction into his mouth in one bite. He finishes chewing before he picks up another piece. “A couple tips,” he says. “First, don’t ever attempt to take a bite out of sushi. It will fail and you will look like an idiot. You put an entire piece in your mouth at once. And second, dip it in a little bit of soy sauce. It makes all the difference.” Ethan eats his second bite while I continue to stare at him. “Come on,” he says. “You can do it. I believe in you.”
It takes a couple tries to secure a piece of the slimy fish ball between my chopsticks. I stare at it for a while, like I’m having a showdown with this piece of raw fish. I take a deep breath and dip it in the brown liquid. “Here goes nothing,” I say. I raise the chopsticks to my lips and freeze again.
Ethan is nodding and watching me eagerly. I finally squeeze my eyes shut and push the piece of sushi onto my tongue. It feels both squishy and crunchy. A combination of flavors meld together and burst in my mouth. I’m blown away. “That was delicious!”
Ethan beams. He pushes the plate toward me. “Have another one,” he says. I grab a second piece and without hesitation pop it into my mouth.
“I can’t believe I’ve never had sushi before,” I say, reaching for a third piece. “This is surprisingly good.”
“Next time I’ll take you out just for sushi and we can try a bunch of different rolls,” he says.
I smile. But not at the thought of more sushi. I smile because he said next time so nonchalantly. Like of course we’ll be going out again.
Our chef walks up, pushing a cart with all the food on it.
“Oh wait,” Ethan says. “I need to capture this.” He pulls his phone out and turns on his stream.
I watch as the chef pours something onto the hot griddle and lights a match. The flames shoot up and cause goosebumps to pop up on my skin. Ethan and I both smile and wave to his now ample audience.
He makes jokes as he prepares our meal. I watch in awe as he flips spatulas into the air and tosses eggs into his hat. Then he stacks rings of onion on top of each other and creates a volcano. I’m so enthralled with him that I barely notice Ethan rest his hand on my thigh. When he finishes with everyone’s meals, he sets eight pieces of shrimp off to the side. Then he points a spatula at Ethan and scoops up one of the saved shrimps.
Ethan nods his head and says yes. He hands me his phone and I take over recording. The chef then tosses the shrimp into the air and Ethan catches it in his mouth. We all cheer.
“That was awesome,” I say.
Ethan looks at me. “Your turn.”
I put a hand up and shake my head. “Oh no, I wouldn’t be able to do that,” I say.
He goes on to the older lady next to me and she nods enthusiastically. He tosses the shrimp into her mouth, followed by her husband. Every person at our table catches it without a problem.
“Come on, Emma, give it a try,” Ethan gives my thigh a little squeeze.
“What if he misses? Or what if I do it wrong and can’t catch it?” I ask.
“Exactly,” Ethan says. “What if? You just wouldn’t catch it. No biggie. No harm done. What’s the problem?”
“That would be embarrassing,” I say, looking down at my food.
“More embarrassing than Steve?” Ethan asks.
I laugh. He has a point.
“Come on, Emma. You’ve tried sushi today, you’ve mastered chopsticks, now you can catch the shrimp. You can’t say you’ve eaten at a hibachi grill and never caught shrimp before, it’s practically a law.”
I look up at the chef who is eagerly waiting my final decision. I slowly nod.
