dinner at the florentine

josephine tried desperately to repress her smile as she positioned the cigarette close to her lips. harrington promptly snapped a flame from the slender onyx lighter and extended his hand as she lightly cupped the bottom of his wrist as if to help steady his strong arm. for a brief enchanting moment, the golden glow of the flame held their gaze and the two felt frozen and unable to move. josephine was the first to release her gaze from the light and flashed her sparkling brown eyes up to meet his. harrington regained his composure with a bit of embarrassment and returned the lighter to its home in his dark blue dinner jacket. josephine sat back in the posh high backed chair of the florentine restaurant and wondered what she had ever done in her life to deserve the love and admiration of such a man. although the florentine was filled to its gilded capacity, she felt as though they were the only two people on earth. he had a quiet strength and charm that made her feel completely safe from the mad world that buzzed relentlessly outside. a gentleman in a smart fitting suit noticed the couple and quickly approached the table and spoke softly and sincerely with a slight accent, “mr. harrington, very nice to see you tonight sir, very nice indeed.” the man leaned in towards josephine and she extended her hand to him. “mrs. josephine, you are looking wonderful this evening, absolutely dazzling. mr. harrington arranged for the finest champagne, but i absolutely insisted that it be on the house. but of course, mr. harrington would not hear of it. please talk sense to him mrs. josephine, he is too kind.” the doorbell rang with its hollow off-key reverberation and miss josephine opened her eyes and drew back the dusty drape that hung by her side. she struggled to stand in the small darkened room as she carefully balanced her fragile elderly frame with the majority of her weight on the short mahogany cane. the old dog sat up from the corner and managed a solitary muffled bark. “oh it’s quite alright mr. harrington, it’s just the postman.”