hechtheid:
If it had been anybody else Willem had decided to go on a date with, he surely would’ve been mortified at the thought of being this close to his date, but the two of them had known one another a long time. Being this close together had happened before, but he was rarely the one to initiate it; there were always reasons it was a bad idea. She’s his best friend’s sister, it wouldn’t be appropriate, it was too intimate for two people who were only friends, he was emotionally checked out… That was then and this was now, however. It was an entirely different situation, and Wim, while he wasn’t an entirely different man, was feeling more confident. If it made Gemma uncomfortable, she certainly didn’t show it, either.
“It always sounds like you two have fun on your girls nights. I almost envy you, though I suppose I could try something similar with Mathias.” What a stupid, yet amusing, image that put in his head- he obviously wouldn’t sit around with Mat, gossiping and painting one another’s fingernails or whatever it was that went on at a Girls’ Night, but that was the only image his mind would conjure up. Wim could probably paint little Danish and Norwegian flags on his nails, really emphasise the fact that his best friend was constantly a hot mess for his husband. “I’m sure he’d be thrilled if I initiated more interactions with him just to hang out and do….. guy things, I guess.” At her apology, however, he shakes his head. “Don’t apologize, Gemma. I’m interested in hearing what you have to say.”
When she looks at him with a frown, he laughs. “Don’t worry- they’d probably still want to wait on my table even if I stopped tipping; they make good money here. They like to wait on my table because I’m good conversation. I usually come here during the slow times,” he gestures to the mostly empty seating area, “because I like to enjoy my meal without the constant chatter of people who approaching wine-drunk. The servers I don’t like aren’t very knowledgeable about the wines and foods, or don’t take the time to explain things when I ask about them.”
A look of surprise crosses his face when she admits she’s never been to Delft. “Really?” He supposed it’d only been a few years since he’d moved out of Amsterdam, and it wasn’t like he just invited people over to his house (until now, because he’d decided it was the prime location for the party he was throwing for his sister and Mr. Undesirable). Her hand finding his didn’t even make him bat an eye; instead “Well, you’ll get to see a little bit of it when you come to my place for that party I’m planning, since I moved there a few years back. But I’ll have to give you a proper tour sometime soon. We can make a day of it. Perhaps I can even see if Matthew will send me a bottle of Canadian icewine for you to try.”
“Girls’ night is.... kinda that one day that Emmy and I can really let loose and just sort of hang out and forget all of our problems. It’s really nice to just get together with a bunch of the girls and you know, drink wine and stuff.” Mostly, they complained about the boys, plotted, and shit talked, but really Willem didn’t need to know that. Often times they planned the big girls getaway that they usually took to Aruba in July. And then reminisced over their time there.
She smiled slightly and nodded at Willem, giggling behind her hand. “I’m surprised they actually let you tip them; but it must be a huge compliment coming from you. I... got yelled at in the United States for not tipping-- something about me being an entitled European. I didn’t realise that they have to tip there??” She grasped Wim’s arm, eyes wide. “It was crazy to me! I was completely blown away when I was told.” She glanced up and over when the waiter came back with their wine and antipasti. “Oh!” The Andorran raked her eyes over the feast that was set down on their table; from glittering ruby wine and its bottle to the antipasti that was littered with marinated vegetables. “Thank you so much,” Gemma said, smiling up at their waiter. He nodded at them and headed of, catching on that neither were quite ready for their full meal yet. “No!” Gemma supplied, easily slipping some tomato spread onto her bruschetta. “I’ve not! There’s never really been a need, I suppose? But I would always love to see it. And--” Gemma waved her fork teasingly at Willem. “When I come for Emma’s fun little party-- you must show me around more. I’ll stay a few extra days if you wouldn’t mind?” She looks completely enthused at the idea of Canadian ice wine. “I didn’t realise they had an ice wine industry.”












