Something about his tone made her relax, and Jacqui found herself enjoying the experience of being catered to by the restaurant staff as they walked in. Apparently, Khizar was somebody important, and she decided to just go with it and have fun.
The two were seated immediately at the best table in the house, and a cadre of servers descended on them with water, menus, and bread.
Jacqui looked up as a server asked if she would like a cocktail. She wasn’t quite sure what to answer, but Khizar spoke up quickly.
“I was planning on ordering wine with dinner, but we can start with that if you’d rather.”
“Yes, please, that sounds perfect.”
Khizar expertly ordered a bottle of wine, and the server scurried off to fetch it. Another server explained the specials to them, and then left them to make their decisions.
“So, what is the Milwaukee specialty?” Khizar asked.
Jacqui looked up from studying the menu.
“Fish fry, cheese curds, brats, and beer. Oh, and frozen custard.”
Khizar looked down at his menu and Jacqui laughed.
“This place is far fancier than what most people think of as traditional Milwaukee food,” she said.
“Then you’ll have to take me to a more traditional place for our next meal together,” Khizar said. “I’m not sure I’ve ever had cheese curds or frozen custard.”
Jacqui tried to think of something witty to say, but his offhand comment about their next meal had her brain spinning. Was he saying that he wanted to see her again, already?
Finally, she came up with, “Well, then, we’ll definitely have to fix that. I’m pretty sure they won’t let you leave the state if you haven’t had at least one of those things.”
“What looks good to you?” he asked.
Jacqui took another look at the menu. It all looked amazing, and she wasn’t likely to have a chance to eat at a place like this again, so she wanted to try something she hadn’t had before.
“The quail, and I think the parsnip soup. Or the pickled blueberry salad. What are you having?”
“The duck, or possibly the veal special our waiter mentioned.”
Jacqui nodded, mostly to herself, and waited for the that little awkward silence that always seemed to fall over the table in the first few minutes of a date. Not that this was a date, necessarily. But if it were, now would be when she’d run out of things to say and he’d look at her expectantly and she would get flustered.
“Honestly,” Khizar said, “I’m already looking at the desserts, although I can’t imagine that any of them is anywhere near as good as anything in your bakery.”
Jacqui was surprised. “You tried something of mine?”
He shrugged, and gave her a small, unrepentant grin.
“I might have snagged a piece of pie for myself along the way when you were on the other side of the room.” He thought for a moment. “And maybe a cookie. Or two.”
Jacqui laughed. So much for the awkward silence.
“I would have saved you anything you wanted, you know.”
“I know, but it was more fun that way. I am impressed with your skill at baking, if I haven’t already said that. You’re really talented.”
“I wish more of the city shared that view,” Jacqui said forlornly.
Khizar’s eyebrows knitted together. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Jacqui tried to explain.
“Everyone who comes in leaves a fan, for the most part. And customers I’ve catered for almost always order from me again. But my store doesn’t get enough traffic; even good reviews don’t help when there aren’t enough of them.”
“Of course. It takes some time to get a business off the ground.”
“It’s been three years.” Jacqui smiled wanly.
Just then, the server came back and took their orders. Khizar insisted that Jacqui get everything she was thinking about, even if she only tried a few bites of each dish.
“This is my treat, to thank you for your assistance this afternoon, so please indulge,” he said, and pointed to the different things on the menu that she’d mentioned.
Jacqui grinned and said, “Only if you order all the desserts you were looking at.”
“Done.” Khizar looked at the server. “When it’s time for dessert, we’ll take one of everything, and whatever dessert wine your sommelier deems appropriate.”