Miranda sat staring out the window of "Le Bistro" waiting patiently for Taylor to arrive. The two hadn't seen each other in a few months and now that Taylor had come back to Korea the two had planned a reunion lunch at a cute little French restaurant. A waitress walked over and shyly asked if Miranda would like a drink to start off with. Miranda smiled politely and asked for a water before turning her attention back to the shoppers outside. Finally Taylor appeared looking frazzled as she opened the door and looked around for Miranda.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry! Our new bed was being delivered today and they were late and..."
"And you and Jung-su had to break it in!" Miranda said with a knowing smile.
Taylor laughed and gave Miranda a hug.
"It's great to see you!" Taylor said sitting down. "So how about we order and then catch up! Yogio" Taylor called the waitress over.
"Coq au vin, chuseyo" Miranda said handing her menu to the waitress and waiting for Taylor to order before diving into her long list of questions.
Looking around the restaurant Miranda noticed for the first time that the kitchen was visible to where they were sitting and she watched as men and women in white chef's uniforms chopped, sauteed and dressed what ever dish they were working on. One chef in particular grabbed her attention. He was tall, about 6'2" and lean without being overly skinny. He had his hair spiked and his face shone from the heat of the fire screaming up from the pan in front of him. Miranda smiled to herself before turning her attention back to her friend.
They talked and laughed about their lives and discussed how great it was that they had ended up living in the same city without even knowing the other one was there. As they were finishing their meals the waitress walked over with two glasses of white wine.
"From the chef," she said blushing and walking away quickly.
"Wow!" Taylor exclaimed. "Sometimes it really pays to be foreign in this country!"
"To being foreign!" Miranda said raising her glass.
As they clinked their glasses Miranda turned to look at the kitchen and sure enough the chef she had noticed earlier on was looking in their direction. He half smiled and nodded as he went back to work. Miranda felt herself flush and turned to Taylor.
"I think we should make this place our weekly meeting place!"
"Cheers to that!"
A little while later the girls finished their wine and lunch and argued about who would pay the bill before Taylor said that Miranda could get the bill the following week. They hugged goodbye in front of the restaurant and Taylor ran off to pick up the new bedding she'd ordered. Before Miranda headed off she looked back into the restaurant and after seeing the chef bowed slightly smiling a thank-you. He smiled and waved goodbye.
For the next couple months Miranda and Taylor met once a week at "Le Bistro" and every week the chef sent over a couple glasses of wine. During their 9th lunch the chef finally came out to say hello. He introduced himself as Kim Seung-woo as he shook Miranda's hand, holding it a little longer than normal. Miranda couldn't hide the smile that had appeared on her face to save her life and introduced herself and Taylor. His English was quite good and he explained that he had studied to be a chef in France and came back to Korea able to speak English far better than he could speak French!
When they left Seung-woo walked them to the door and held the door for them.
"See you next week...I hope!" he said but only looking at Miranda.
"Of course!" Taylor said also looking at Miranda.
When they were walking down the main street Taylor suddenly stopped.
"Wait, " she practically shouted. "Tonight there is a group of us going out, mostly Jung-su's friends but you should come...and you should invite Seung-woo!"
"HA! Yeah I'll just go back and ask him, what a great idea!" Miranda wasn't so much being serious as she was sarcastic.
"Come on Miranda that man gets a hard on the second you walk into that place!"
"Nice, you know you have such a way with words! It's a good thing you don't teach kids anymore!"
"I'm serious" Taylor said "He looks at you the same way Jung-su looks at me, trust me he'll say yes if you ask him to come."
Miranda stood there just looking at Taylor waiting for her to laugh which never happened. So without a word Miranda turned and nearly ran back to the restaurant. When she walked in Seung-woo was in front of her in seconds.
"Is it next week already!"
